THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: The way the pigskin bounced — or is still bouncing — for area teams

Most folks likely assumed the Idaho Vandals would be an FCS playoff team for a fourth straight year. 

In Cheney, the playoffs may not have been a realistic hope for Eastern Washington, but improvement was. 

And who knew what to make of Washington State’s patchwork schedule — and now Coug fans are wondering, "Does anybody want to stay here?" 

And Boise State? After last year, you figured the machine would just keep on churning. 

Here’s a look back at the four football teams — two of which did not reach the postseason, the other two to find out their bowl assignments today.

Idaho: Not only did the Vandals slip to a four-win season after three straight trips to the FCS playoffs, but the coach who left Idaho after those three successful seasons, Jason Eck, guided New Mexico to nine victories and a bowl berth, and was named the Mountain West Conference’s Coach of the Year. 

Did he take all of the Vandals’ resurgence mojo with him?  

I don’t think so. 

Yes, he restored Idaho to Big Sky prominence almost from the moment he showed up in 2022. 

But it’s also possible for Thomas Ford Jr. to do the same thing. 

Give Ford a mulligan for his first season as Vandal head coach. His dual-threat quarterback missed a couple of games due to injury, and maybe more importantly, the Vandals were unable to fully replace the level of talent that departed through the transfer portal — including the handful who followed Eck to New Mexico. 

Idaho parting ways with three assistant coaches after the season was also telling. 

Give Ford another recruiting class or two, hopefully his roster won’t be gutted by the portal, maybe the three new assistant coaches make a difference, see if the current (mostly younger) players improve (and stay), and then let’s see what happens. 

Washington State: We originally began this exercise wondering whether or not the Cougar football coach deserved praise for producing a .500 season in what turned out to be his only year in Pullman — but capped by another bowl berth for WSU, its ninth in the last 10 seasons. 

Now ... who cares? 

However, to be fair to those who remain ... 

Yes, there 75 new players as well. 

But it wasn’t like the schedule was a Murderer’s Row of opponents — certainly not as challenging (or, at least as prestigious) overall as their Pac-12 schedule was. 

Yes, WSU played three ranked teams, but two of them would elicit a “Really?” if you said they were ranked. 

Yes, the Cougs admirably played all three tough, on the road, and could have won any or all of the three. 

And eight of the 12 opponents are going to bowl games. 

But they also had Oregon State — twice! — on the schedule, and managed to lose one of those — after the Beavers had fired their coach. 

And they gave up 59 points to North Texas — which, admittedly, is 11-1, and hung a half a hundred on seven other teams as well. 

Still, the Cougs are headed for another bowl game — albeit with an interim coach for the second straight year. 

Even Husky fans are expressing sympathy for the Cougars.

Good luck to whoever rents the head coaching position next. 

Eastern Washington: Hopefully any buzzards who may have been circling over coach Aaron Best have moved on. 

After three straight losing seasons for a team which had been to the playoffs 12 times in the previous 18 years (including a national title in 2010), the Eagles improved to 5-7, their most wins since going 10-3 in 2021. 

This while having to go four-deep in the quarterback room due to injuries.  

Before he was hurt, Jake Schakel showed what he could do as a redshirt freshman. So did Kaden Rolfsness, a true freshman. 

Both are “passing” quarterbacks. 

With Nate Bell, a “running” quarterback, eligible to return, Best could have a quandry — play the more experienced, run-first quarterback, or air it out with one of the youngsters. 

Combine that with a defense that finally stopped somebody, and the Eagles could threaten for an FCS playoff berth in 2026.  

The Big Sky is a better league (or at least, more fun) when Eastern is one of its top teams. 

Boise State: Even in a down year by their standards, the Broncos were still the best team in the Mountain West Conference. 

Not sure what to make of that. 

Thanks to the expansion to 12 teams, Boise State was coming off an appearance in the College Football Playoff (a shot Kellen Moore’s Boise State teams would have loved in their day). 

But a return to the CFP this year was dashed quickly, punctuated by back-to-back losses to Fresno State (at home!) and San Diego State. 

(Yes, I know the starting quarterback was hurt, but so what? You’re Boise State. Have the proper depth.) 

Up here, we’re used to seeing what Gonzaga does to the rest of the West Coast Conference in men’s basketball.  

And that’s what I envisioned Boise State doing to the rest of the Mountain West in football — having one “rival” that is competitive, and both teams win their fair share, maybe another team or two that challenges you.  

And basically, you destroy the rest of the teams. 

Boise State didn’t exactly do that, but the Broncos were clearly the best team in the Mountain West during their 15-year stay. 

The only two teams that have challenged Boise State in recent years have been Fresno State and San Diego State — and, to a lesser extent, Air Force.  

The Broncos owned the rest of the Mountain West teams — but, rallying to beat Utah State by one point isn’t the same as the Zags winning WCC games by 40. 

Still, Boise was the best overall, by a length or two. Not quite like Secretariat by 31 lengths, but a clear winner. 

In any event, once the Pac-12 II debuts next fall, Boise State and Washington State (even if it continues on its literal run of coach of the year) should be the teams fighting it out for the conference title on a yearly basis, with the other “State” schools taking turns challenging the Broncos and Cougars, then falling back. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.