1. Will Western Michigan shore up its tackling? Idaho may not be a revered program, but it does have a few impressive athletes, including sophomore running back Deonte Jackson, who rushed for 1,175 yards as a redshirt-freshman.The 5-foot-8, 190-pound Jackson is considered among the elite -- if not the best -- rushers in the Western Athletic Conference. After a 42-27 victory over Idaho State and 100 yards on 12 carries by Jackson last week, the Vandals are feeling a bit better about themselves than after a 70-0 Week 1 thrashing at Arizona. If WMU misses another 35 tackles and allows another 135 yards in missed-tackles yardage (as it did against NIU), Idaho's offense might find a groove. Almost 2,000 miles from home, in a strange venue, facing higher elevation, the Broncos are better off putting the clamps on Jackson and Co. early.
2. Focused favorites. By the time WMU lands in Philadelphia for its Sept. 27 date with Temple, it ought to be 3-1. How it's 3-1 will say a ton about this team. The Broncos are eight-point favorites on the road today at Idaho and, if there were point spreads against Division I-AA competition, WMU would be at least a four-touchdown pick a week from now at home against Tennessee Tech. To "Just finish" -- the team's season-long rallying cry -- against the Vandals and Golden Eagles means a pair of crisp, decisive victories. If either of these games are sloppy efforts with close outcomes, that falls more under the mantra of "Just hold on."
3. Kibbie Dome. From the sky, the University of Idaho's football stadium looks like a super-sized beer can submerged in the ground. Inside, at least from pictures, it's sort of like the Broncos' Seelye Center on steroids, and with 16,000 seats. Based on last year's attendance there against Northern Illinois and other recent crowds, 12,000 fans would be a fair guess for today. In an arena this small, you only need about half of that for a difficult atmosphere for the visiting team.
4. Tim Hiller. If WMU is going to roll off four or five victories in a row, it's going to start with its junior quarterback. All Hiller has to do is what he did against Northern Illinois -- play turnover-free football and continue to make the correct reads and audibles. Hiller is smart, always has been (the kid's already in grad school), and it's starting to show on the football field.
5. Help for Brandon West. WMU's junior running back was outstanding last week. In two games, he's touched the ball 53 times, including 25 carries against Northern Illinois, while handling kick returns. At some point, someone else is going to have to shoulder some of West's load, or he isn't going to make it through 12 games. That might be freshman Aaron Winchester both in the return game and running the football, or junior Glenis Thompson carrying the ball more than four times in two games (and hanging onto it). The next two games are both out-of-league contests in which WMU should be favored -- a great time to find West help.
Bottom Line:
WMU truly sounds like a team that respects Idaho, especially offensively. Broncos coach Bill Cubit and his players have said the right things and actually sounded sincere in saying them. It is a road game and Idaho is coming off a victory and played a few respectable foes tough in the Kibbie Dome a year ago. WMU simply has more playmakers, a better quarterback and a defense that's motivated by its struggles a week ago. Northern Illinois is better than realized, and that'll reflect on today's scoreboard in Moscow. Idaho, at the top of ESPN.com's "Bottom 10" throughout the preseason, needs more than a win over absolutely awful Idaho State to justify a closer prediction.
2. Focused favorites. By the time WMU lands in Philadelphia for its Sept. 27 date with Temple, it ought to be 3-1. How it's 3-1 will say a ton about this team. The Broncos are eight-point favorites on the road today at Idaho and, if there were point spreads against Division I-AA competition, WMU would be at least a four-touchdown pick a week from now at home against Tennessee Tech. To "Just finish" -- the team's season-long rallying cry -- against the Vandals and Golden Eagles means a pair of crisp, decisive victories. If either of these games are sloppy efforts with close outcomes, that falls more under the mantra of "Just hold on."
3. Kibbie Dome. From the sky, the University of Idaho's football stadium looks like a super-sized beer can submerged in the ground. Inside, at least from pictures, it's sort of like the Broncos' Seelye Center on steroids, and with 16,000 seats. Based on last year's attendance there against Northern Illinois and other recent crowds, 12,000 fans would be a fair guess for today. In an arena this small, you only need about half of that for a difficult atmosphere for the visiting team.
4. Tim Hiller. If WMU is going to roll off four or five victories in a row, it's going to start with its junior quarterback. All Hiller has to do is what he did against Northern Illinois -- play turnover-free football and continue to make the correct reads and audibles. Hiller is smart, always has been (the kid's already in grad school), and it's starting to show on the football field.
5. Help for Brandon West. WMU's junior running back was outstanding last week. In two games, he's touched the ball 53 times, including 25 carries against Northern Illinois, while handling kick returns. At some point, someone else is going to have to shoulder some of West's load, or he isn't going to make it through 12 games. That might be freshman Aaron Winchester both in the return game and running the football, or junior Glenis Thompson carrying the ball more than four times in two games (and hanging onto it). The next two games are both out-of-league contests in which WMU should be favored -- a great time to find West help.
Bottom Line:
WMU truly sounds like a team that respects Idaho, especially offensively. Broncos coach Bill Cubit and his players have said the right things and actually sounded sincere in saying them. It is a road game and Idaho is coming off a victory and played a few respectable foes tough in the Kibbie Dome a year ago. WMU simply has more playmakers, a better quarterback and a defense that's motivated by its struggles a week ago. Northern Illinois is better than realized, and that'll reflect on today's scoreboard in Moscow. Idaho, at the top of ESPN.com's "Bottom 10" throughout the preseason, needs more than a win over absolutely awful Idaho State to justify a closer prediction.
