VANDALS: Vandals tailbacks provide contrasting running styles

MOSCOW - Finally, there's a combination of thunder and lighting on the Palouse that won't trigger rampant forest fires.

But the Idaho Vandals still expect their newly renovated backfield to generate a spark here or there and don't be surprised if Elijhaa Penny and Aaron Duckworth set off a round of fireworks every now and then.

The duo will lead a group of tailbacks that, at the very least, appears to be Paul Petrino's deepest in three years at the helm.

Duckworth is the group's home run hitter - a 5-8 sophomore who can split defenses with his burst and dust them with his wheels.

Penny, meanwhile, is the feature back the Vandals will turn to when they want to establish the ground game in the first quarter and bolster it in the fourth.

"Petrino talked to me a lot about that," Penny said. "When it's like four minutes left in the game, just being the running back, being in good enough shape to just wear defenses out. Get first downs, get first downs and run the clock out to win the game."

Penny, who shed 20 pounds during the offseason, finally has the engine to do that. The JC transfer from Norwalk College (Calif.) gained nearly 600 yards on the ground last year and totaled 13 all-purpose touchdowns, often pummeling his way into the end zone from a few yards out.

"That's what they say, we work hand-in-hand," Penny said, commenting on the thunder-and-lightning nature of his partnership with Duckworth. "So it's just when I'm in there, wearing a defense out. When he comes in, he makes his big play to spark the offense."

The Vandals look forward to the day they can run their workhorse to victory.

"The ability to run the ball when you have the lead," Petrino has said, is one of three objectives he believes his team must meet, "to go out there and win a bunch of games."

But sitting on a late lead may not be as problematic for Idaho as attaining it in the first place.

That's where Petrino's sophomore signal-caller figures into this puzzle. On three occasions last season, the Vandals were with seven points of an opponent in the fourth quarter. At Louisiana-Monroe, five seconds remained when Matt Linehan flung a Hail Mary into the waiting arms of a Warhawk defender. It was a six-point game in Athens, Ohio, when Linehan was intercepted by an Ohio Bobcat with nearly 10 minutes to play. The opponents converted on the other end and then led by two scores when Idaho's starter was picked off for the third time.

Linehan wouldn't shoulder the blame after a 14-point loss at San Diego State, when Jerrel Brown coughed up the ball on the Aztecs' 8-yard line just minutes into the final period.

But Idaho's gunslinger has digested more than enough film to build up resentment from last season and he'll try to extract revenge from the Bobcats one week from today when Ohio and Idaho meet in the season opener at the Kibbie Dome.

"I've been waiting for this game since the clock hit zeroes at App. State last year," Linehan said. "Then walking off Ohio's field last year, I had a bad taste in my mouth. Knowing that I could've played better and if I played better, we could've won."

But Linehan's rookie season wasn't all bad from a statistical standpoint, despite the 18 interceptions. He threw for more than 2,500 yards in 11 games and the 381 he tossed for at Ohio were the most in a single game by an Idaho freshman not named Nathan Enderle.

And while we're comparing the two, wasn't it Enderle who also threw 18 picks as a redshirt freshman before piecing together one of the most prolific careers by an Idaho QB? As a rookie, Linehan also compiled a better completion percentage - 58 percent to Enderle's 44.

"I think number one his confidence has improved tremendously," UI quarterbacks coach Bryce Erickson said. "I think this is by far Matt's best camp. He just needs to work on being more consistent. Fundamentally, throwing the football and with his checks and seeing the defense."

Added Erickson: "I'm excited, I'm anxious, I can't wait to see No. 10 out there lead us to victory there on Thursday night."

Linehan will take the first snaps of the season, and if all goes well, hopefully the last, but the Vandals have a strong backup plan with redshirt freshman Jake Luton, who boasts an arm that looks as good as any on the Palouse.

"What Jake lacks, and I've stated it before, is just game-time experience," Erickson said.

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Lawson may be contacted at tlawson@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2260. Follow him on Twitter @TheoLawson_Trib.