1978 Idaho Vandals football team

1978 Idaho Vandals football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	2–9 (2–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jerry Davitch (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Tripp (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Veer
Defensive coordinator	Greg McMackin (2nd season)
Base defense	5–2
Home stadium	Kibbie Dome
Seasons ←  1977 1979  →

1978 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Northern Arizona $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. T–9 Montana State	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Montana	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Boise State	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Weber State	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Idaho	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Idaho State	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA AP Poll

The 1978 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference during the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by new head coach Jerry Davitch, the Vandals played home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho.

With sophomore quarterbacks Jay Goodenbour and Mike McCurdy running the veer offense, ^{[1] [2] [3]} the Vandals were 2–9 overall (2–4 in Big Sky, fifth). ^{[4] [5]} Projected starter Rocky Tuttle injured an ankle in the final scrimmage, had tendon surgery, and redshirted; ^{[1] [6]} as a fifth-year senior in 1979, he started as a running back and receiver.

The final win was an unplayed forfeit by Idaho State for a scheduled night game in Moscow in November. Flying from Pocatello to the Palouse on the afternoon of the game to forego lodging, one of ISU's two chartered Convair 440 aircraft had carburetor problems soon after takeoff and had to land. It carried the defensive players; the other with the offense landed safely at the Moscow-Pullman airport two hours later. ^{[7] [8]} After difficulties in arranging a viable makeup date, a forfeit win was awarded to the Vandals. ^{[9] [10]} It was the conference finale for both, ^[11] and ISU finished winless in the Big Sky for the second time in three seasons.

This was the first season for the newly created Division I-AA, ^{[12] [13]} which the Big Sky joined. In  Division I for other sports, it was previously a Division II conference for football, except for Division I member Idaho, which moved down to I-AA this season. Idaho had maintained its upper division status in the NCAA by playing Division I non-conference opponents.

Hired in January, Davitch was previously an assistant at the Air Force Academy for five seasons under longtime head coach Ben Martin, preceded by four years as a high school head coach in Tucson, Arizona. ^{[14] [15] [16] [17]}

Season tickets for the five home games cost thirty-two dollars. ^[18]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	7:00 pm	at San Jose State (Div. I-A) *	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	L 14–31	10,011	[19]
September 16	1:00 pm	at Washington State (Div. I-A)*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA ( Battle of the Palouse )	L 0–28	16,950	[20]
September 23	5:30 pm	at Wichita State (Div. I-A)*	Cessna Stadium Wichita, KS	L 6–28	13,123	[21]
September 30	7:00 pm	No. 9 Northern Arizona	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 29–34	8,200	[22]
October 7	7:30 pm	at UNLV (Div. I-A)*	Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	L 14–53	18,944	[23]
October 14	1:00 pm	at Montana	Dornblaser Field Missoula, MT ( Little Brown Stein )	W 34–30	8,286	[24]
October 21	7:00 pm	No. 1 Montana State	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 21–57	9,000	[25]
October 28	2:00 pm	Weber State	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 6–51	13,500	[26]
November 4	12:30 pm	at Boise State	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (rivalry)	L 10–48	20,235	[27]
November 11	7:00 pm	Idaho State	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)	W 1–0	Forfeit	[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
November 18	7:00 pm	Fresno State (Div. I-A)*	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	L 28–41	5,600	[28]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP poll (Div. I-AA), top ten only All times are in Pacific time

Roster

1978 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class FL 1 Jett Taylor Jr SE 7 Jack Klein So QB 10 Jay Goodenbour So QB 11 Mike McCurdy So QB 12 Rocky Tuttle   Sr SE 18 Kirk Allen Sr RB 25 Robert Brooks Sr RB 30 Tim Lappano    Sr RB 32 Glen White So RB 33 Terry Idler Fr RB 35 Glenn Ford So RB 40 Randy Davenport So LG 58 Dan Cozzetto Sr RG 61 Dick Wilkin Sr RT 68 Bryan Zimmermann Sr C 69 Larry Coombs Jr OL 69 Kyle Riddell Jr OL 77 Tom Randel Sr TE 84 Rick Mayfield Sr TE 82 Al Swenson Fr FL, TE 88 Mike Hagadone   Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 3 Russell Davis Fr FS 4 Ron Powell So CB 20 Ron Jessie Jr SS 24 Rick Linehan Sr CB 35 Mike Keough So DE 42 Brian Rekofke Sr LB 43 Larry Barker So LB 51 Chris Eads Jr LB 52 Bob Cafferty Sr LB 53 Kelly Grimes Jr DT 71 Mark McNeal Jr NG 75 Monty Elder So DT 78 Steve Parker Jr LB 83 Phil Vance Jr DE 84 Jay Hayes Fr DE 80 Lloyd Williamson Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 2 Dion Jergo Fr PK 5 Jeff Wellmann Fr P 6 Pete O'Brien Fr	Head coach Jerry Davitch (1st year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Bill Tripp (OC) Greg McMackin (DC) Fred Manuel (DB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source: ^{[29] [30]}

All-conference

No Vandals were chosen for All-Big Sky first team, but seven were selected for the second team; the two picks on offense were tackle Kyle Riddell and center Larry Coombs. The five on the defense were linebacker Brian Rekofke, defensive linemen Mark McNeal and Steve Parker, and defensive backs Rick Linehan and Ron Jessie. ^{[31] [32]}

NFL Draft

No Vandals were selected in the 1979 NFL draft, which lasted twelve rounds (330 selections).

One Vandal junior was later selected in the 1980 NFL draft, ^{[33] [34]} also twelve rounds (333 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Mark McNeal	DE	6th	153	Seattle Seahawks

References

1. "Goodenbour's one guy not worried". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 6, 1978. p. 21.
2. Stewart, Chuck (September 11, 1978). "'Future' arrives fast for young Vandal QB". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. p. 21.
3. "McCurdy snares quarterback job". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. September 26, 1978. p. 17.
4. Barrows, Bob (November 20, 1978). "Idaho football". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
5. Payne, Bob (November 26, 1978). "Vandals kiss this sort of season goodbye". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C5.
6. "Vandals' QB looking fine". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). September 6, 1978. p. 22.
7. Barrows, Bob (November 12, 1978). "No Vandal game, ISU can't make it". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
8. "One platoon arrived, one did not – sorry". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. November 12, 1978. p. C2.
9. "Bengals forfeit to Idaho". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. November 14, 1978. p. 15.
10. Drosendahl, Glenn (November 12, 1978). "Vandals claim a forfeit". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
11. Barrows, Bob (November 11, 1978). "Vandals, Idaho State try to salvage something". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 3B.
12. "Big schools win battle". St. Petersburg Independent. Florida. Associated Press. January 13, 1978. p. 5C.
13. Underwood, John (January 23, 1978). "The NCAA splits its decision". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
14. "UI names grid boss". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). January 10, 1978. p. 18.
15. Emerson, Paul (January 11, 1978). "Davitch named UI coach". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. B1.
16. Missildine, Harry (January 11, 1978). "Davitch new Idaho football coach". Spokesman Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 15.
17. "Vandal cagers investigated". Spokesman Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 12, 1978. p. 25.
18. "UI season ticket holders have time". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). July 7, 1978. p. 3B.
19. "San Jose State whips Idaho, 31–14". Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 10, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
20. "Error-prone UI falls to Cougars". The Spokesman-Review. September 17, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
21. "WSU trounces Idaho 28–6". The Wichita Eagle. September 24, 1978. Retrieved February 26, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
22. "Win special for Loggers". The Arizona Republic. October 1, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
23. "Runnin' Rebels explode". The Spokesman-Review. October 8, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
24. "64 points later, Vandals win by 4". The Missoulian. October 15, 1978. Retrieved September 8, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
25. "Dennehy's arm carries Bobcats". The Billings Gazette. October 22, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
26. "Weber lets Hill run wild, 51–6". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 29, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
27. Barrows, Bob (November 5, 1978). "A punter's nightmare". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Google News Archive.
28. "Fresno State captures 41–28 victory over Idaho". The Idaho Statesman. November 19, 1978. Retrieved September 9, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
29. "Rosters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 16, 1978. p. 21.
30. Payne, Bob (November 17, 1978). "Vandals to end frustrating season". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 35.
31. "All Big Sky (offense)". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 21, 1978. p. 3B.
32. "Big Sky Defensive teams named". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 24, 1978. p. 3B.
33. "NFL Draft: Two Palouse players go in early rounds". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 30, 1980. p. 1B.
34. "Patera: We got the best". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 30, 1980. p. C2.

External links

• Gem of the Mountains: 1979 University of Idaho yearbook – 1978 football season
• Idaho Argonaut – student newspaper – 1978 editions
• Game program: Idaho at Washington State – September 16, 1978