SPOKANE, Wash. — Football season is just around the corner! Big Sky Media Day was held at Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Spokane this afternoon. For the Idaho Vandals, what a difference a year can make.
Last season, the Vandals were an underdog that wound up making the FCS playoffs. Now in the second year under head coach Jason Eck, Idaho is one of the favorites to win the Big Sky Conference title.
"Preseason polls never mattered. They do not matter," said redshirt senior wide receiver Jermaine Jackson. "They didn't matter last year when we were ranked nine and we did what we had to do."
The Vandals are picked to finish second in the Big Sky media preseason poll and fifth in the coaches, but polls are just polls.
"We can all fantasize and think we're gonna go undefeated. But, you know, plans change," said redshirt junior wide receiver Hayden Hatten.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about this year's Idaho Vandals football team, especially on offense.
Wide receiver Hayden Hatten has been chosen as the Big Sky Preseason Offensive MVP. Then there's the All-Conference team where redshirt sophomore quarterback Gevani McCoy, sophomore running back Anthony Woods and wide receivers Jermaine Jackson and Hatten were all given preseason honors.
"A lot of weapons that are coming back this fall for us," said Jackson. "It's gonna be so exciting to see us this year. I can't wait for the season."
With high expectations comes pressure.
"We just got to embrace it. We have to embrace that we're gonna get people's best shots," said head coach Jason Eck. "You know, last year maybe we snuck up on some people or people, you know, weren't as excited to play Idaho or didn't have the game circled where I think more people they're gonna be ready to play. And that's our challenge."
"When you don't have expectations or you have expectations, you have your own. If we went 0-11 last year, I'd want to come out and win games and go undefeated. If we went undefeated last year, I'd want to come out win games and go undefeated. So, your mindset really doesn't change much," said Hatten.
The Vandals start fall camp on Monday, July 31st. KREM 2 News will have continued coverage of Idaho football as the season approaches.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.