NEW ORLEANS — To some, Idaho could be looked at as one of the Sun Belt Conference's lame-duck teams.
The Vandals will be in the league it joined as a football-only member in 2014 for two more seasons, but then they'll move down to the Football Championship Subdivision, where they were until 1996. The move was made, mostly, out of necessity. If not in the Sun Belt, and with no invite from the Mountain West coming, the Vandals don't have an FBS league in which to play.
So back to the Big Sky they'll go. Until then, Coach Paul Petrino and a team of players recruited in hopes of winning as an FBS program have two seasons to prove that they can. That's the motivator for Idaho the next two seasons — reach a bowl game before it's no longer possible.
"Definitely," Petrino said at Sun Belt media day. "It's their last couple of years playing for both the senior and junior class; they will finish out the level they came in at. And I think they want to go out proving it's a division they should have been at and they can go win it."
It's a tough argument given recent history.
Idaho last reached a bowl game in 2009 and has won only 15 games in the six seasons since, including six in Petrino's first three seasons. But four of those came last season, when quarterback Matt Linehan, a second-team preseason all-Sun Belt pick, completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 2,972 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Idaho lost leading rusher Elijhaa Penny, now in camp with the Arizona Cardinals, but along with Linehan, return seven other offensive starters. That includes receiver Calen Hightower, who caught 61 passes for 807 yards; Trent Cowen, 44 catches for 536 yards; and tight end Deon Watson, 47 catches for 675 yards; and three offensive linemen.
"Everything on offense starts with your quarterback and your offensive line," Petrino said.
Defensively, Idaho struggled last year, but Petrino boasted of a depth that he hopes can prevent the Vandals from fading like they did a year ago.
They trailed Georgia Southern by only three at halftime of a loss, took New Mexico State to overtime before losing and lost at South Alabama after leading 31-28 heading into the fourth quarter. If Idaho had turned two of those close losses into victories, it would have played in a bowl game last year.
"This is the first year that I can think of that we have depth on defense where we can run two different groups in there," Petrino said. "We've really played with anybody for three quarters in the league the last couple of years, but then we kind of got worn down in the end."
FOOTBALL PREVIEWS
Arkansas State reporter Troy Schulte previewed each team in the Sun Belt conference. Read each one below:
Idaho at a glance
2015 RECORD 4-8, 3-5 Sun Belt
ALL-TIME SUN BELT RECORD 11-31 in six seasons
COACH Paul Petrino (6-29 in fourth season at Idaho and overall)
RETURNING STARTERS 13 (7 on offense, 6 on defense)
KEY PLAYERS QB Matt Linehan, WR Calen Hightower, TE Deon Watson, P/K Austin Rehkow
KEY LOSSES RB Elijah Penny, DL Quinton Bradley, LB Brock Westlake, LB Marc Millan
TITLE SCENARIO Idaho got good news when the Sun Belt schedule remade itself before this season, and it could help push it into the top half of the standings. The Vandals have to make the 2,500-mile trip to favorite Appalachian State in Boone, N.C., but they don't play Arkansas State or Georgia Southern. And two of their road games are at Texas State and Louisiana-Monroe, picked 10th and 11th in the Sun Belt, respectively. The Vandals play Washington and Washington State in the nonconference, but if they beat Montana State and UNLV, picked fifth in the Mountain West's West Division, a four-win Sun Belt season gets them to a bowl game. Idaho's Sun Belt home games include Troy, picked in a tie for fifth; New Mexico State, ninth; South Alabama, seventh; and Georgia State, fourth. The season finale against Georgia State at the Kibbie Dome could be for a bowl game for both teams.