UI stalwart Keo relishes chance to return to field

VANDAL NOTES

MOSCOW - When Idaho went on road trips during the second half of last season, strong safety Shiloh Keo would come along and wander into the stadium next to his teammates.

Then the adrenaline would start kicking in, and pretty soon he'd be ready to take the field and make some hits.

There was just one problem.

"I'd be ready to play, but I couldn't - they wouldn't give me my pads," said Keo, who missed the final eight games last season after a bone chip in his right shoulder required surgery.

It was a trying season for the safety, who was a captain and important part of the defense. After injuring the shoulder against Utah State, he was forced to the sidelines and ended up there for the rest of the year once he opted for the procedure.

The decision allowed him to qualify for a medical redshirt and get another shot at his junior season, but that didn't make it any easier to watch his unit give up a whopping 472 yards a game (262.4 of them through the air).

"It was brutal for him. Because football, he has a great passion, and you see that in the way that he plays," Idaho coach Robb Akey said.

"... It was hard. He's a competitive son of a gun, a warrior, so to speak. And so not being able to do what he loves, it tore him up. It really tore him up."

Keo had been especially eager to get a shot at Fresno State quarterback Tom Brandstater, whom he'd become friends with at a previous WAC event.

But that went out the window, too, and Keo had to sit back while Brandstater's Bulldogs put up 45 points to knock off the Vandals.

"It was tough," he said. "It was tough for me because I hated it, I hated being on the sideline."

Keo had several one-on-one talks with both Akey and defensive coordinator Mark Criner, and besides dealing with the frustration, those encounters helped drill into him both that he was making the right decision and the need to give the injury time.

And while he wasn't able to contribute on the field, the safety did make his presence felt on the sidelines by helping to coach his teammates and even donning a headset.

"Things happen for a reason, and I had to step back and let the younger guys get in there, and kind of assume a leadership role as a coach," he said.

"Being one of the older guys on defense, and understanding the defense as well as I do, it was my job to help those younger guys along."

Now, though, Keo has finally been able to get himself back on the field.

During Wednesday's scrimmage he was verbally directing the cornerbacks from his safety postion - rather than the sidelines - and lowering his pads without hesitation to make tackles near the sidelines.

After rehabbing the injury, he's pain-free and "good to go."

"It's been a long, grueling, tough offseason," he said. "But it's paid off, definitely."

COSGROVE OK: The injury to the knee of sophomore defensive tackle Michael Cosgrove during Wednesday's scrimmage doesn't appear to be serious.

Akey said it's just a strain and will not require surgery.

"He got his knee, his hip and his ankle all on the same play," the coach said.

Cosgrove is expected back "fairly soon."

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Baumgartner may be contacted at jbaumgartner@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2277.