Vandals kick off spring football on Thursday

MOSCOW — A foot injury from last fall will sideline Idaho starting quarterback Matt Linehan when spring practice begins Thursday, Vandals coach Paul Petrino said Tuesday.

“He's in a boot right now,” Petrino said in a teleconference with area media.

Petrino wouldn't go into specifics, but Linehan apparently played through the injury last fall.

“It's something where he showed great toughness, and played a lot with last year, and they fixed it up here in the offseason,” Petrino said. “He won't take any reps this spring.”

Linehan, a junior started nearly every game the last two years for Idaho.

That will leave most — if not all — of the reps at quarterback for Jake Luton, a sophomore who saw action in several games last year, and freshman Gunnar Amos, the former Coeur d'Alene High standout who redshirted last year.

“It's a great opportunity for both Jake and Gunnar to get all kinds of reps. It'll be a great opportunity to basically take all the reps between the two of them.”

Petrino said Linehan should be healthy by this summer.

The Vandals will hold the first of their allotted 15 spring practices Thursday at 4:30 p.m. They were originally scheduled to begin spring drills today, but on Tuesday pushed the start date back one day.

Idaho lost a 1,000-yard rusher from last season in Elijah Penny. But back with experience is junior Aaron Duckworth and sophomore Isaiah Saunders. Petrino said freshman Denzal Brantley, who redshirted last year, “has got all kinds of talent. He can really run, make cuts. He did a lot of good things in practice last year.”

And true freshmen Dylan Thigpen comes in this fall.

On the coaching front, Petrino essentially hired Troy Purcell to replace Bryce Erickson, who was recently named head football coach at Lake City High. Purcell will coach inside linebackers at Idaho.

“He's probably the best high school coach in the state of Montana,” Petrino said. “He's had all kinds of success, won state championships at a couple different high schools. He'll bring great knowledge and fire and enthusiasm to our defense.”

Erickson, son of former Vandals head coach Dennis Erickson, coached quarterbacks at Idaho. Asked about Bryce Erickson leaving, Petrino reiterated what Erickson said when he took the Lake City job — he did so to be able to spend more time with his family.”

Petrino said he will move receivers coach Charley Molnar to quarterbacks coach, and Petrino will coach the receivers.

Most of Idaho's offensive linemen return. Among those trying to wedge their way in as the fifth or sixth lineman is former Lake City standout Zion Dixon, who redshirted last year.

Among the many grayshirts, the Vandals moved former Capital High of Boise star Tarik Littlejohn from linebacker to safety, “which is a position he hasn't played a bunch ... but he definitely has the talent,” Petrino said.

Idaho returns 38 lettermen, including nine full-time starters.

With the Vandals coming off a 4-8 season — with two of the losses coming after Idaho blew big leads in the fourth quarter — Petrino reiterated that becoming bowl eligible is “a goal that we should accomplish this year.”

The Vandals practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week and will follow a similar schedule for the next five weeks, culminating with the Silver and Gold game April 22 at 6 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome.

“I'm just really excited going into this spring, because there are so many guys who have played football for us already, and know the systems on both sides of the ball,” Petrino said. “And we've just got to go out there and really improve.”

As for Idaho playing two more seasons before getting booted out of the Sun Belt, Petrino said it could be of some motivation in conference play in 2016 and '17, but other than that ...

“You control what you can control,” Petrino said. “We're in that league for two more years. We've got a chance to be a very good team this year, so we're just going to get fired up and excited, and have the best year we can.”