Idaho is chasing its first winning streak since 2010; offensive coordinator said the plan is to ?catch fire.?
Only one team in the Football Bowl Subdivision has produced points every time it has pushed the ball inside the opponents? 20-yard line:
The Idaho Vandals (2-4, 1-2), who take on Louisiana-Monroe (1-5, 0-2) in a Sun Belt game in Moscow (3 p.m., ESPN3, 630 AM).
The Vandals are 21-of-21 in red-zone opportunities, scoring 13 touchdowns and eight field goals. Memphis, Oklahoma State, Michigan and BYU are right behind, but each has one trip that didn?t result in a score.
?I think it?s something that, No. 1, we haven?t turned the ball over down there. ... No. 2, we?ve done a good job not getting penalties down there,? coach Paul Petrino said.
In last Saturday?s 19-16 victory at Troy, the Vandals were 4-for-4, and the Trojans were 1-for-3.
Last season, the Vandals converted 36-of-50 red-zone chances (72 percent).
This season, they?ve used 230-pound bulldozer running back Elijhaa Penny and 6-foot-6 backup quarterback Jake Luton to great success, with the pair combining for seven touchdown runs. It?s a focus late each week in practice.
?We do it every Thursday, and I think that?s why we?re doing better in the red zone,? Penny said.
Another factor is having a reliable kicker when the offense stalls. Junior Austin Rehkow has hit all 11 of his field goal attempts inside of 50 yards this season. A back injury sidelined him most of the spring before his sophomore year when he made 11-of-19 field goals.
?One thing that?s helped Austin was this offseason, he was healthy. ... All the work he put in the offseason, he?s a competitor, he wants to be the very best at everything he does. He?s improved so much in his accuracy,? Petrino said.
The Vandals could use some red-zone defensive help, as they?ve allowed foes to score on 26-of-29 attempts.
And the offense?s numbers could be more impressive, and possibly translate to more wins, if the unit had just picked up a few more yards. Rehkow had three 20-yard field goals in the Vandals? first three games, and has two 18-yarders and a 19-yarder.
Rehkow had four field goals in the Troy victory.
?Our goal board ... said we didn?t play (that) well,? offensive coordinator Kris Cinkovich said. ?We left some things on the field.?
Louisiana-Monroe?s defense has been middle of the pack in key situations, allowing 82.8 percent of red-zone chances to result in points (tied for 62nd nationally). Sixty-nine percent of those chances ended in touchdowns, which is tied for 104th with ... Idaho.
As the Vandals seek to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2010, they feel they can eye improvements like scoring touchdowns instead of settling for field goals.
?If you can (capture the momentum) and really get better this week and take it to Saturday, then you can catch fire,?? Cinkovich said. ?That?s our goal right now, to catch fire.??
Only one team in the Football Bowl Subdivision has produced points every time it has pushed the ball inside the opponents? 20-yard line:
The Idaho Vandals (2-4, 1-2), who take on Louisiana-Monroe (1-5, 0-2) in a Sun Belt game in Moscow (3 p.m., ESPN3, 630 AM).
The Vandals are 21-of-21 in red-zone opportunities, scoring 13 touchdowns and eight field goals. Memphis, Oklahoma State, Michigan and BYU are right behind, but each has one trip that didn?t result in a score.
?I think it?s something that, No. 1, we haven?t turned the ball over down there. ... No. 2, we?ve done a good job not getting penalties down there,? coach Paul Petrino said.
In last Saturday?s 19-16 victory at Troy, the Vandals were 4-for-4, and the Trojans were 1-for-3.
Last season, the Vandals converted 36-of-50 red-zone chances (72 percent).
This season, they?ve used 230-pound bulldozer running back Elijhaa Penny and 6-foot-6 backup quarterback Jake Luton to great success, with the pair combining for seven touchdown runs. It?s a focus late each week in practice.
?We do it every Thursday, and I think that?s why we?re doing better in the red zone,? Penny said.
Another factor is having a reliable kicker when the offense stalls. Junior Austin Rehkow has hit all 11 of his field goal attempts inside of 50 yards this season. A back injury sidelined him most of the spring before his sophomore year when he made 11-of-19 field goals.
?One thing that?s helped Austin was this offseason, he was healthy. ... All the work he put in the offseason, he?s a competitor, he wants to be the very best at everything he does. He?s improved so much in his accuracy,? Petrino said.
The Vandals could use some red-zone defensive help, as they?ve allowed foes to score on 26-of-29 attempts.
And the offense?s numbers could be more impressive, and possibly translate to more wins, if the unit had just picked up a few more yards. Rehkow had three 20-yard field goals in the Vandals? first three games, and has two 18-yarders and a 19-yarder.
Rehkow had four field goals in the Troy victory.
?Our goal board ... said we didn?t play (that) well,? offensive coordinator Kris Cinkovich said. ?We left some things on the field.?
Louisiana-Monroe?s defense has been middle of the pack in key situations, allowing 82.8 percent of red-zone chances to result in points (tied for 62nd nationally). Sixty-nine percent of those chances ended in touchdowns, which is tied for 104th with ... Idaho.
As the Vandals seek to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2010, they feel they can eye improvements like scoring touchdowns instead of settling for field goals.
?If you can (capture the momentum) and really get better this week and take it to Saturday, then you can catch fire,?? Cinkovich said. ?That?s our goal right now, to catch fire.??
