Idaho Vandals 2026 Season Preview

A Clean Slate

Thomas Ford Jr. inherits a program that finished 4-8 and 2-6 in Big Sky play, but he did not have any hand in that ledger. What matters for 2026 is the gap between that record and a power rating that sits at No. 26, a sign the roster and structure underneath were better than last year's results showed. Ford gets a full offseason to bend that talent toward the win column rather than clean up someone else's scheme.

Wood's Numbers Beat the Record

Idaho went 4-8 last year, but the underlying numbers, a rushing attack that ranked 30th nationally in yards per game and a defense that gave up points at a middling clip, point to a team that lost close and got unlucky more than it got outplayed. Joshua Wood, back after throwing for 1,898 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2025, gives new coach Thomas Jr. Jr. Jr. a settled answer at quarterback rather than a question mark, which matters most for a group that went 2-4 in one-score games and finished on the wrong side of a -3 turnover margin. None of that is repeatable in the same direction, and with Wood running the offense again, Idaho looks built to close that gap between performance and record in 2026.

Joshua Wood is not a name in a competition, he is the answer Idaho already has: 1,898 yards and 14 touchdowns against just 5 interceptions last season, numbers that outpaced an offense ranked 70th in passing yards per game. That gap between Wood's production and the unit's overall standing is the real story for new head coach Thomas Jr. Jr. Jr., who inherits a passer capable of more than a 25.2 points-per-game attack allowed. The room adds high school signee Blitz McCarty out of Grandview and Britton DeWitt from American Leadership Academy for depth behind Wood, but 2026 is built around handing him better weapons, not replacing him.

Art Williams heads into 2026 as the clear lead back after piling up 291 yards a season ago, but he was never the workhorse on that offense, Elisha Cummings (365 yards, 2 TD) and Nate Thomas (453 yards, 3 TD) combined for more production than Williams and both are gone. That leaves Williams and Carlos Matheney, who managed just 75 yards, as the only backs with any carries on record, with Markhi McKinnon, Wyatt Mickelberry and Taeshaun Reese unproven but part of the returning room. Idaho ran for 175 yards a game (30th nationally) under new coach Thomas Jr. Jr. Jr., and Williams' ability to approach a lead-back workload will decide whether that ground identity survives the loss of its top two producers.

Marquawn McCraney and Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar shared the room's top production a year ago, each hauling in 22 catches, but neither found the end zone more than once, and that lack of a finishing threat is the room's real issue heading into 2026. Michael Graves, who turned just 7 catches into 3 touchdowns, is gone, leaving Nolan McWilliams and Tony Harste to try to supply the scoring punch this group otherwise lacked. Bishop Kelly product Dominic Wolthuis joins a passing attack that ranked 70th in yards per game, with Idaho's downfield explosiveness also sitting outside the top half of the country, so the answer for new coach Thomas Jr. Jr. Jr. may need to come from someone in this returning group taking on a bigger role rather than a like-for-like replacement.

Chance Bogan's 13 catches for 107 yards top the returning production at tight end, but Jake Cox and his 2 touchdowns are gone, leaving the position without a proven scoring threat. Hayden Kincheloe adds a wrinkle as a rushing option after his 40 yards and a touchdown on the ground last year, while Gabe Hoffmann, Mason Culmer, Gus Donnerberg and Alex Moore give new coach Thomas Jr. Jr. Jr. bodies to sort through in an offense that ranked just 70th in passing yards per game. Idaho's ground game (30th nationally in rushing yards per game) suggests the tight ends may matter more as blockers than as pass catchers in year one under Jr..

Idaho's ground game held up fine last season, 175 yards per game rushing (30th nationally) behind a line that still leaked enough to help sink the offense to 25.2 points per game. Thomas Ford Jr. brings in four true offensive linemen to reshape the trenches, tackles Kingston Kerkhoff, Carter Paul and Omar Kaba alongside interior addition Jace Winchester, none of whom have a snap on file yet but all arriving to a group that lost Nate Azzopardi and Garrison Hickle. The bet for 2026 is that four new bodies up front can push the ball control identity forward while the passing game, 70th in yards per game and 71st in explosiveness, finds a way to catch up.

Idaho's front gave up 5.98 yards per play in 2025, a number that put the line at the root of a defense ranked 82nd in that category, and the entire two-deep of contributing edges is gone with Donovan Parham and Matyus McLain both off the roster. Thomas Ford Jr. rebuilds the room almost from scratch, pairing Cincinnati transfer Darrell Gipson with high school signees Nui Meyers and Ocean Taufa and Coastal Carolina transfer Javen Augustus. None of that group has produced meaningful stats yet, so the 160 rushing yards allowed per game Idaho posted last season is the baseline this rebuilt line has to beat, not a floor it can lean on.

Isiah King's departure strips away the linebacker corps' top playmaker, a 14-tackle, 2.5-TFL producer who paced a defense that gave up 5.98 yards per play, 82nd nationally, and let opponents stay on schedule at a 68th-ranked clip. Thomas Ford Jr. brings in Tau Mareko and Geovoney Burks as three-star additions, plus Nash O'Kelley, to remake the room around Idaho's move to the Big Sky in 2026. None carries prior stats on file, so the rushing defense that ranked 60th in yards allowed per game will lean on whichever of the newcomers translates fastest from high school speed to college run fits.

No Idaho defensive back topped 4 tackles a year ago, with Tim Jackson leading that group of returners, and none of last season's departures (including Matt Irwin's 8 tackles and Caleb Ricks' 5) got replaced by big-name production either. Thomas Ford Jr. instead leans on transfer Ishaan Daniels, who brings actual disruption from Weber State with 7 tackles, a sack and a TFL, to a back end that ranked 68th in pass yards allowed per game and 82nd in yards per play allowed. With Jerry Allen III and Jermell Green also arriving at corner, the bet is that fresh bodies with clean slates outperform a returning group that combined for almost nothing on tape last fall.

Owen Adams made 5 of 6 field goals with a 44-yard long last fall, and he heads a kicking room that actually looks crowded rather than thin, with Owen Forsman (4 of 4, 49-yard long) and Cameron Pope (2 of 4) both back too. The bigger question is on punts, where LJ Harm's 37.2-yard average is gone and no returning punter in the facts carries prior numbers to replace it. Long snapper Dylan Fischer returns without a stat line, which at least keeps continuity at a spot Idaho lost Xander Echols from, but the net punting job is the one real void heading into 2026.

Joshua Wood

Idaho's season rides on Joshua Wood, who already threw for 1898 yards and 14 touchdowns and now has to carry an offense that just lost its lead back in Elisha Cummings. With Art Williams stepping in at running back and Marquawn McCraney his top proven target after 22 catches for 306 yards, Wood has to cut down the interceptions and turn what was a passing operation into the whole engine under a new staff.

Thomas Ford Jr.'s Home Cover Drought

Idaho straight up on the road was ugly at 1-5, but bettors backing those same road trips cashed at an 80% clip as underdogs, going 4-1 while Vandal teams kept games close against favorites. Flip to Kellogg Field and the market got burned, with home favorites covering just 20% and the overall home mark sitting at 1-5 ATS. Thomas Ford Jr. takes over a program that could not be trusted at home last year, and until that number moves, the road underdog ticket is the live angle for 2026.