THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Wood looks to strike a balance as Vandals' dual-threat quarterback

Fans of the Idaho Vandals football team did not get the full Joshua Wood experience last season. 

The transfer from Fresno State showed up on campus in Moscow in the spring of 2025 as a dual-threat quarterback. 

And he showed it — when he was healthy. 

Wood suffered a sprained knee in the Vandals' fifth game, at Montana, and sat out the next two games, both losses. 

Idaho finished 4-8 and failed to reach the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2021. 

"It was definitely frustrating," Wood said last month, at the Big Sky Football Kickoff media day at Airway Heights outside Spokane. "I had a lot of talks with God, a lot of praying ... " 

IDAHO PUT a scare into Washington State in last year's season opener — Wood's debut in Moscow as well as Thomas Ford Jr.'s debut as Vandal head coach — before losing 13-10 when the Cougars kicked a field goal with 3 seconds left. 

Wood dazzled with his legs, rushing for 101 yards on 12 carries. But he passed for just 33 yards. 

"After that first game at Washington State, that taught me a big lesson," said Wood, a 6-2, 215-pound product of Graham-Kapowsin High in western Washington. "You've got to go through the progressions as a quarterback, instead of just taking off and running. I was a running back when I was a kid, so I have the instincts to take off." 

Idaho finished 2-2 in nonconference play after a 31-28 loss to San Jose State of the Mountain West. 

The next week, in the Big Sky opener against Montana on Sept. 27, Wood passed for 262 yards, and rushed for 47 yards and three touchdowns. He was hurt during the game, but finished the 41-30 loss in Missoula. 

After a bye, Wood sat out Idaho's next game, a 49-33 loss to Northern Colorado at the Kibbie Dome.  

He also missed the following week, an unsightly 21-14 loss at Eastern Washington that didn't seem that close. 

Wood said he tried to make the most of being sidelined, helping coach the other Vandal quarterbacks in the two games he was injured. 

Wood returned on Oct. 25, a 45-6 home victory over Portland State, passing for 259 yards and four touchdowns, and running for 24 yards on three carries. 

He finished the season with 663 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, and 1,898 passing yards and 14 TDs. 

Wood likes the indecision it puts on a defense by being a dual-threat quarterback. 

"If they come at me too fast, I can sneak around and get out of the pocket; it slows them down," he said. "It makes them have to make a decision – do I want to rush high, or do I just want to sit back and contain him? And that's when I can sit back in the pocket and be able to beat them."

IN AN era where players can transfer every year if they choose, Wood elected to return to Moscow, though undoubtedly he could have had other suitors. 

Why? 

"This guy right here," Wood said, looking to his right at his head coach, Ford, seated next to him at a table. "And just understanding how many guys are coming back. Some guys have left our team, but ... I know that guys are going to step up and take over those roles. And being able to have a championship-contending team, that's the other thing that got me coming back, knowing that we have a team that can go win a championship." 

Wood, who has one more year of eligibility following this season, said he was sold on Idaho by Ford's vision of winning a championship. 

This year, with the prospects of Wood healthy for an entire season, last year's inexperienced players now having a year of experience under their belts, and a handful of transfers to increase the talent level ... 

"That's the whole point of why I came back, to make that run and trying to win a championship," Wood said. "We have a championship-contending team. We have the roster, we have the guys, we have the staff as well. It's really going to be a great year. 

"Being able to see a team from the Big Sky (Montana State) win the (national) championship is definitely motivating, and it's like, 'Hey, we can be that team as well.' We can do the same thing."   

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.