VOTE: Who can the Vandals least afford to lose?

There are plenty of key components to this year's UI football team. But I'd love to read your answers to this question: Which player can the Vandals least afford to lose to injury?

A Vandal storyline worth following

Recent conference realignment news has left many talking more about dotted i's and crossed t's than X's and O's, but with the first game of UI's season coming up  Thursday, there actually are some football-related storylines worth tracking.

Deonte' Jackson is one of those storylines.

This guy should be the face of the program this season because he's a true Vandal — meaning he's still here.

A) Jackson stuck around in Moscow even though Dennis "Benedict Arnold" Erickson, the head coach who recruited him, left after just 10 months on the job. Jackson celebrated his decision by rambling for nearly 1,200 yards as a redshirt freshman.

(You can't see it, but I was sticking my tongue out at Coach Erickson as I typed that last sentence.)

B) This senior running back from Arkansas has been through a frustrating four years — redshirt and three years of playing — fighting off injuries. Leg stuff. Ankle tweaks. Back problems.

C) The 5-foot-9-inch, 199-pound battler has gone from redshirt to unquestioned starter to talented-yet-injured sideline pacer to third-stringer — and he's still here. Last season he was consistently put in awful, destined-to-fail situations as basically a direct-snap specialist.

And he still averaged 4.4 yards per carry.

This season he'll likely have a chance to go out on a high note as one of two featured backs. He has a great opportunity to prove wrong everyone who has called him a washed-up nobody.

How do you disparage a guy who's stuck through this much stuff and remained devoted to his team? You can't. Or, at least, you shouldn't.

Here's to 800 yards and happy endings.

BLOG NOTE: Comments situation all squared away

To anyone who may have unsuccessfully tried to comment today: The problem has been fixed. Anyone can comment on Vandals United. This blog is for the people, by a person.

Hungry for UI news? Chew on the roster.

Sometimes a sheet of paper can tell you more than a dozen sports stories.

I've read (OK, scanned) no fewer than half a dozen articles about the University of Idaho football team's offensive line. They all say the same the thing: Four of five starters from the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl team are gone, including first-round NFL draft pick Mike Iupati; no one knows for sure how well this year's version will perform; and returning starter Matt Cleveland will be the anchor.

Snooze. Give me something original — such as the media guide, which finally was released a couple weeks ago. A fresh roster is like a new bike on Christmas morning — and least, it is in my sports-frenzied world (feel free to send my wife flowers as a display of your condolences).

Actually, you can learn a lot, albeit broad-strokes stuff, from the list of returners and newbies. Here are a few points to consider after glancing at UI's 2010 roster:

• The Vandals have uncommonly big passing targets. Eric Greenwood: 6 feet 7 inches tall, 223 pounds. Maurice Shaw: 6-3, 205. Preston Davis: 6-2, 201. Daniel Hardy, 6-4, 242. Armauni Johnson: 6-4, 194.
  The average size of this core group of pass-catchers would be considered big in a BCS conference, let alone in the Western Athletic Conference. Add in a good mix of leaping and sprinting ability, and you're looking at some really intriguing options for senior quarterback Nathan Enderle.
  The size factor gives Enderle a number of safety valves underneath — a key development when you consider that the Vandals' running game is utterly unproven with a new line and without DeMaundray Woolridge and his 18 touchdowns.
• It's nice to have a couple of huge quarterbacks on the roster. Speaking of Enderle, he's 6-5, 233 — and coming off a highly impressive 2009 campaign. Also on the roster is true freshman Justin Podrabsky, 6-6, 238. This Lewiston product won't contribute this year, but it's intriguing to see both his size and his considerable athletic ability; in high school he also proved himself to be a stellar basketball player and 400-meter runner. It's this combination that sets him apart, at least in terms of potential, from the lead-footed Enderle and probably any UI signal-caller in the past decade.
• The offensive line is gargantuan. Much has been made of this unit's status as the heaviest line in all of college football. Big whoop — just ask Tyrone Willingham.
  The former University of Washington coach sported one of the Pac-10's biggest quintuplets two seasons ago — you know, the year the Huskies went 0-12. Bigger doesn't always mean anything, especially if the men in question are huffing and puffing beyond the norm before the fourth quarter begins.
  If by week 3 these huge maulers haven't been able to consistently clear paths for backs Deonte' Jackson and Princeton McCarty, it might be time for "The Biggest Loser: Emergency in Moscow."  

Oh yeah, and don't forget about the four starters who aren't coming back this year. Better yet, just be reminded by the next stale UI piece that comes your way.