BOISE, Idaho — It seems like forever ago that Idaho won five consecutive games to become bowl eligible.

The good news for the Vandals and their fans — starting quarterback Nathan Enderle feels almost as good now as he did during that winning streak that spanned September and October.
Enderle missed two full games and couldn’t finish a third in November because of a shoulder injury, and the Vandals lost each of those games.
Now Idaho (7-5) is hoping that a healthy Enderle will lead the Vandals to a win Wednesday in the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl against Bowling Green (7-5).
“It’s good — I’m feeling pretty confident about it,” Enderle said of the injury.
The junior from North Platte, Neb., was hurt while leading the Vandals to a 35-34 come-from-behind win over Louisiana Tech that gave Idaho its seventh win and pretty much locked the Vandals into their first bowl game since 1998 and first winning season since 1999.
He sat out losses to Fresno State and Boise State, and then after a bye week, returned in the regular-season finale against Utah State. He “re-tweaked” the injury when he was tackled and landed hard on his throwing shoulder and had to come out of the 52-49 loss.
Before he left that game, Enderle had completed 16-of-25 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns.
“I felt good, but I knew I wasn’t completely better,” Enderle said. “It’s way better now than it was then.” The injury did not require surgery, and he’s had a month to recover. Vandal coaches like what they’ve seen from the 6-foot-5, 227-pounder who led the WAC in passing yards per game (267.1) this season.
“He looks really, really good,” Idaho coach Robb Akey said. “He’s consistently improved. I look at him now and he looks like his old self to me. He’s throwing the ball with confidence. I think we’re in great shape there.” Offensive coordinator Steve Axman sees his quarterback getting angry when he misses a throw, which he said is a good sign.
“I can almost tell that he’s getting into full form because he’s starting to get hard on himself again — he gets real frustrated if he’s not being perfect on every throw,” Axman said. “A couple weeks ago, I think he was realizing he had a ways to come before he could get to that position again. I’m feeling pretty good when I see him being a little grumpy on the field about his performance.” Idaho will be operating against a Bowling Green defense that allowed 393.8 yards per game. The Falcons allowed 14 touchdown passes and intercepted nine passes in 12 games.
Enderle said the key for the Vandals will be to continue what they’ve done all year. Idaho averages 31.8 points per game and 450.9 yards per game.
“We’ve had success all season long and have been scoring some points,” Enderle said. “In this game, I think we need to start a little bit faster on offense.”