The highly anticipated 2023 Idaho Vandal football season is set to begin in Coastal East Texas. The Lamar Cardinals and first year head coach Pete Rossomando hope to replicate the Vandals' 2022 success and earn a winning record in the first season under a new head coach. Idaho is one of the darlings of the FCS this preseason, but now is the time for the Vandals to prove that the excitement was more than hype. 

ABOUT IDAHO: All eyes are on preseason Big Sky Offensive MVP Hayden Hatten after scoring 16 touchdowns and racking up 1,209 yards receiving a season ago. He won't be the only weapon for reigning Jerry Rice Award winner sophomore quarterback Gevani McCoy. The Vandals have another 1,000-yard receiver in Jermaine Jackson and an elite running back in HERO Sports Freshman All-American in Anthony Woods. The defense again looks solid in the secondary led by HERO Sports Sophomore All-American Marcus Harris. The interior of the defensive line is carrying more weight and looks stouter against the run. 

ABOUT LAMAR: New coach Pete Rossomando is a program builder with a 67-49 career record. He led DII New Haven to back-to-back league titles and brought Central Connecticut to an NEC title and a trip to the FCS playoffs. He takes over a Lamar program that finished 1-10 in 2022 but is just five years removed from a playoff appearance. Wide receiver Sevonne Rhea and defensive backs Javon Davis and Kristian Pugh earned Southland preseason Second-Team All-Conference honors. Last year's leading rusher, Junior running back Khalan Griffin returns to lead Lamar's offense. Lamar has yet to announce a starting quarterback. 
1. PRESEASON HONORS: After earning consensus All-American honors after the season last year, Hayden Hatten racked up preseason honors.  He was named the Big Sky Conference Preseason Offensive MVP and was named to every preseason All-American team. Gevani McCoy joined Hatten on the Big Sky Conference Preseason Team and the duo were both named to the Walter Payton Award Watch List. Marcus Harris also earned preseason All-Big Sky recognition and Hatten and Harris were named to the Stats Perform Preseason All-American list. Jermaine Jackson, Anthony Woods and Ricardo Chavez were also named tot he Big Sky Preseason All-Conference team. Joining Hayden Hatten on the Phil Steele preseason All-American list, is his brother, Hogan Hatten, who was named a preseason All-American at longsnapper. 

2. THE BEST RECEIVING CORPS IN THE FCS?: Idaho is the only school in the FCS and one of just three in Division I to return two 1,000-yard receivers in 2023. Hayden Hatten had a record-breaking season with 16 touchdowns and 1,209 yards, but he was joined by Jermaine Jackson with 1,051 yards and four TDs of his own. Terez Traynor missed most of last season with an injury, but was an All-Big Sky Performer in 2021 when he racked up 737 yards and three TDs while the Vandals struggled to find consistency in the QB position. Redshirt freshman Jordan Dwyer also had a pair of TDs before his season was cut short with injuries as well. 

3. IMPACT TRANSFERS: Twelve transfers joined the Idaho roster since the conclusion of last season. Eight of the 12 transfers are listed on the Vandal two-deep and three players, defensive tackle Jahkari Larmond, linebacker Tre Thomas and edge rusher Keyshawn James-Newby are listed as starters for the Vandals. Larmond has made his presence felt with disruptive play in the middle of the Vandal defense. Thomas brings three-years of starting experience from South Dakota and James-Newby racked up nine sacks and 14.5 tackles, leading the NAIA's Frontier Conference while at Montana Tech. 

4. YEAR-TO-YEAR IMPROVEMENT: If the Vandals keep pace with the improvement in year one of the Eck era, Idaho will be among the elite of the FCS. The Idaho offense jumped from 25.36 points per game in 2021 to 35.92 in year one under Eck and the Vandal staff while the defense held opponents to 25.42 points per game, compared to 31.55 in the previous season. The Vandals also increased turnovers from eight to 21 year-to-year. The 2022 defense allowed more than 70 fewer yards per game than the season before, ranking 24th in the FCS for total defense (336.8).

In Big Sky play, the Vandals were the best team in the league in Yards Per Game and led the league in interceptions. The Vandals averaged 23.38 PPG in conference games in 2022, compared to 31.13 in fall of 2021.

5. MORE BEEF IN THE TRENCHES: The biggest difference year-to-year on the offensive line and defensive line for the Vandals may be improved strength and weight. Of the nine returners on the Vandal two-deep for the offensive line, the weight gain is over 11 pounds on average per player. Last year, not a single player who started a game at defensive tackle weighed over 270. This season, not a single player on the defensive line two-deep weighs less than 275. 

6. STAFF CONSISTENCY: With an FCS program that had a winning season, it is not unreasonable to assume that many members of the successful coaching staff would get poached by bigger programs. In the case of the 2022 Idaho Vandals only one coach, safeties coach Tyler Yelk, left and he took an assistant job with the Philadelphia Eagles. Coach Jason Eck hired Bobby Jay, the Defensive Coordinator of the University of San Diego Toreros.