Moscow-Pullman Daily News Blogs

I had a great talk with defensive coordinator Mark Criner yesterday. He’s energetic, obviously loves football and is realistic about what’s happening with the Vandals.

He says numbers  wise they are about a year away from where he and coach Akey want to be, but he also said they are getting bigger, they have more depth and in some situations they have the ability to specialize.

One thing that stood out the most came when he said he and Akey were having lunch together and they wondered why the  winning mentality wasn’t there. It’s not that the kids don’t want to win, nor do they think they can’t win, but the last few years of history haven’t been kind to the Vandals and it weighs on the kids’ minds. In addition to sets and lifting and conditioning and hard work, they are trying to teach the kids to expect to win.

That was also something Irv Stevens told me. He said they have to remember that when they were in high  school all of the players wearing an Idaho uniform were stars. Some were all Americans and everyone was an all star. He said they need to remember that and play with confidence.

Saturday’s game is big in many aspects. It’s a game Idaho should win, and if they don’t, the mental anguish could be great. It’s a conference game and it’s Idaho’s first game on  the road, so there’s a lot of pressure. It’s the kind of pressure the team must endure and learn to thrive under if they are going to be successful.

And going back to my visit  with Criner, things seem to be progressing even in  that area. Saturday will tell us all  a lot.

I”m excited for kick off!