Sep. 5—MOSCOW, Idaho — Idaho running backs Elisha Cummings and Nate Thomas have a new quarterback to assist.
The two combined for 53 rushing yards and 51 receiving yards Saturday to help new redshirt sophomore starting quarterback Jack Layne during a 24-14 loss against No. 3 Oregon in the season opener. Cummings, as a wildcat quarterback, also pitched to Layne for Idaho’s second touchdown.
Unfortunately, Layne finished the game in the locker room after breaking his collarbone on the next-to-last series.
As he roamed practice this week with his right arm in a sling, Layne watched Cummings and Thomas continue to do their thing for backup quarterback Jack Wagner, a redshirt freshman, who will be the starter when the Vandals (0-1) take on host Wyoming (0-1) in Laramie on Saturday.
“It is important for us to pick up a young quarterback, help him through the process, processing those things that come naturally to us,” said Cummings, a redshirt junior.
“We definitely plan on running the ball more this week,” added Thomas, another redshirt junior.
Cummings, at about 190 pounds, and Thomas (210) combine size and speed to clear the line of scrimmage.
Against the Ducks, Cummings averaged 5.4 yards on the ground on eight carries and added35 receiving yards, including a 34-yard screen that set up a score. Thomas added 5 yards per carry on a pair of attempts and caught a pass for 16 yards.
“I felt like it was just another game,” Thomas said of facing the heavily favored Ducks at their Autzen Stadium. “It came down to us executing better. You can’t get caught up in the game. You can’t star gaze.
“But I think a lot of guys on our team are Oregon fans.”
Going into Idaho’s second game, coach Jason Eck is still figuring out how to maximize the many talents of Cummings and Thomas, including using them as wildcats.
After throwing a tight, 20-yard spiral to a split-out Wagner in practice Wednesday that went for a score, Cummings said, “I am 1 for 1 with a touchdown. … When I am throwing it, for sure, it’s another different feeling.”
“It is pretty fun switching positions at quarterback,” Thomas said. “We are definitely going to have fun.”
Thomas, a Chicago-area native, came to Idaho last spring as a transfer from the University of South Dakota, where he averaged 6 yards per carry rushing in two seasons. He said he left the Coyotes for the Vandals because he believes Idaho’s strength and conditioning program and on-field coaching can help him develop his full potential. Working against Idaho’s defense every day is another bonus.
“I honestly believe we will not play against a better defense than what we play against every day in practice,” he said.
Thomas said he also thinks the Vandals have a chance to win a national championship.
Cummings, by contrast, could have gone the other way. He missed last season, when Idaho made the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs, because he was academically ineligible. But he didn’t look at the transfer portal.
“I was always planning on coming back,” Cummings said. … “Because I didn’t redshirt as a freshman, I treated last year as being a freshman. I wanted to come back bigger, stronger, faster. Get better. That was the role I embraced.”
Cummings, who was recruited to Idaho by former coach Paul Petrino in 2021, said he had a message when Thomas arrived in Moscow,
“I told him there wasn’t much to do here,” Cummings said. “You are going to see me every day.”
“He was right, too,” Thomas said.
But the two have embraced what Cummings calls a special, team-oriented culture.
“That family culture has always been here since I have been here,” Cummings said. “(In the Eck era) the coaching staff is much younger.”
Idaho had gone through five losing seasons when Cummings arrived in Moscow from Texas.
“(Now) there is a much different style, new playbook,” and an emphasis on keeping players fresh for a long season, “to try to change this thing around,” Cummings said.
It has resulted in back-to-back winning seasons and FCS playoff appearances.
Thomas has only been a Vandal in Eck’s tenure.
“There is a great feeling of culture and brotherhood here,” Thomas said.
Whoever their quarterback is going forward, the reliable running back promise to have his back.
