Idaho doesn’t miss a beat from successful season, impresses at first spring camp scrimmage

MOSCOW, Idaho – For University of Idaho football fans, Saturday’s scrimmage was a reassuring event.

Jerry Rice Award-winning quarterback Gevani McCoy was still accurately  throwing passes for the Vandals, who finished 7-5 last year and made the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Wide receiver Jermaine Jackson and running back Anthony Woods still had a burst of speed once they hit the linebacker level of the defense. It almost made the handful of fans forget All-American wide receiver Hayden Hatten was watching from the sideline with a minor ankle injury.

Defensive backfield anchor Tommy McCormick broke up a pass, and new defensive lineman Jahkari Larmond, 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds, did enough good work stopping the run to win the daily battle ax practice award.

“I thought about giving McCormick the ax,” Vandals coach Jason Eck said. “But the big fella’ was too good. He has done a good job practicing all spring.”

The Vandals’ defensive front, as it did last year, regularly played three down linemen with an end in an upright stance. But on a couple of occasions, it lined up with four down linemen.

The scrimmage also marked the return of wide receiver Terez Traynor, who missed all of last season with a lisfranc foot injury. Traynor  caught a half-dozen passes months ahead of a rehabilitation schedule.

“We definitely had some talks over the offseason,” McCoy said of Traynor. “It is great to get a guy like that back.”

“It felt unbelievable,” Traynor said. “(Healing) was supposed to take eight months. I was ready in four.”

Traynor spent his year away from football in the weight room. He put on about 13 pounds and packs 208 pounds on his 6-3 frame.

The Vandals ran 85 plays in 1 hour, 20 minutes. Eck said Idaho accomplished its goals of getting the first team some live  work without incurring injury, and the second and third teams got to show what they could do.

Senior running back Nick Romano can’t match Woods’ athleticism, but he made a sliding pass reception from second-team quarterback Jack Layne and  hit holes with a forward lean that bought him extra yards.

“He is clearly our  No. 2 back right now,” Eck said of Romano. “He has been getting better.”

Idaho scripted early series  to allow Woods to get a couple of short-yardage runs. With McCoy at quarterback, Woods bounced to the right corner for a 5-yard touchdown.

All three quarterbacks, McCoy, Layne and Ridge Docekal,  had solid moments. Following a fumbled snap, Docekal rallied with a pass over the middle to sophomore wide receiver Tommy Hauser, from Post Falls, that gained 9 yards.

The most impressive series in the scrimmage began at the 45-yard line. McCoy completed a pair of passes to Jackson, followed by a pair of runs from Woods.

McCoy then hit tight end Jake Cox over the middle at the 20-yard line. On the following play, Woods spun off contact to take the ball to the 14-yard line. From there, McCormick  perfectly timed a hit against Cox to break up a pass and effectively end the drive.

Kickers also had a notable scrimmage. Ricardo Chavez was perfect on five field-goal attempts, with a long of 45 yards, and redshirt freshman Cameron Pope  hit 4 of 5 attempts.

Returning long snapper Hogan Hatten and new holder Jack Wagner, a freshman quarterback from Tualatin, Oregon, delivered perfect placements for the kickers. Chavez ended the scrimmage on a high note, making a 40-yarder that allowed his teammates to avoid a practice-ending sprint.