Chris Petersen 'hangs on for dear life' during plane ride with Blue Angels

The Boise State football coach hits speeds of 800 mph during his ride with the Blue Angels.

SALT LAKE CITY - Boise State football coach Chris Petersen enjoyed his ride with the Blue Angels on Wednesday in Twin Falls - but he had trouble giving a play-by-play description.

"I didn't know if I was upside down or right-side up," he said, "or if I was going away from the Earth or toward the Earth. I was just hanging on for dear life."

Petersen was invited to ride in a two-seat F/A-18 Hornet to help promote the Navy and this weekend's Air Magic Valley Air Show.

His ride lasted more than 30 minutes with speeds over 800 mph and up to 5.5 G-forces, he said.

"I'd look and I was upside down and I didn't know how I got in that position," he said, "because I was just trying not to pass out."

Petersen avoided passing out because of techniques taught to him before the flight and didn't vomit because he got on the jet with an empty stomach, he said.

Without the lesson and meal planning, he said, he would have been in trouble.

Late in the flight, with only about 2.5 G-forces, he had to fight to stay alert.

"I could really feel it closing in on me," he said. " It's a roller coaster times 20. Your body doesn't ever get this type of feeling."

His most nervous moment was on the runway, when the pilot asked if he was ready.

"I said yes and he pulled the stick and we shot straight up in the air like a rocket," Petersen said.

The flight left Petersen tired - and impressed with combat pilots, who might fly a mission lasting several hours.

"(The pilot) was really a good teacher," Petersen said. "He is telling you everything that is going on. He was what you'd want in a fighter pilot - very calm, in control. He was really, really impressive."

Petersen will get on a conventional airplane Thursday to travel to Salt Lake City for the WAC football media preview, where he is scheduled to meet the media in the afternoon.

"It will probably feel like I'm taking a ship down to Salt Lake compared to what I went through," Petersen said.

QUICK WITH A QUOTE

Idaho football coach Robb Akey has established himself as one of the best quotes in college football. Here are a few of his zingers from Wednesday morning's press conference with print media:

On last season's 1-11 finish:

"I couldn't live through another year like last year - there's no way," Akey said. "My wife got all of the sharp objects and things like that out of our house. That was miserable. ... I've never been through a year like what we went through last year. I've never lost that many games. It was unbelievable, and I can also tell you that I'm not going to let that happen again."

On the team's situation at defensive tackle, a position that was decimated last season when Akey had to remove several players from the program for a variety of reasons.

"Finally at least I've got some names I can talk to you about at defensive tackle," he said. "This time a year ago, one was sitting in prison or wherever the hell he was. It's a better situation."

On comparing this season to his first new season:

"This spring, we went out there and practiced football. We got better doing things," Akey said. "The spring a year ago I was playing detective and principal and all that other crap and my coaches and players were all trying to figure each other out. ... That was ugly, and it was what needed to be done. ... it's night and day and I'm grateful for that."

HELP ON THE LINE

Akey said Tuesday that former defensive tackle Alex Toailoa is enrolled in summer school and could rejoin the team this fall if he completes a substantial amount of work to become eligible.

Tariq Ikharo is in the same situation, though the 6-foot-4 wide receiver did participate in spring drills.

Ikharo and Toailoa were two of the 17 players that Akey removed from the program a year ago. Their dismissals were for academic reasons, but Akey said both players could return if they got their academics shored up.

Both players are walk-ons and are paying their own way for summer school, and Akey said it would be a great story if they're able to regain eligibility this year.

Toailoa played in 23 games for the Vandals in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, when he registered 16 tackles and a sack. Ikharo caught six passes for 75 yards that season. He was one of the players brought in by former coach Dennis Erickson.

A 'FRIDAY NIGHT FRANCHISE?'

WAC commissioner Karl Benson was not prepared to talk about a reported contract extension with ESPN on Wednesday.

But Benson said the league is "close to becoming a Friday night franchise for ESPN."

WAC teams will play five Friday night games on ESPN/ESPN2 this season. Boise State is involved in three of them - vs. Hawaii (Oct. 17), at San Jose State (Oct. 24) and vs. Fresno State (Nov. 28).

Benson acknowledged the conflicts with high school football, but "it has become a window we're taking advantage of and growing."

ROSE BOWL VISIT

Three of the four Bowl Championship Series bowls sent representatives to the WAC media preview - the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl. That group included Mitch Dorger, CEO of the Tournament of Roses.

Dorger said the performances by Utah in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and Boise State in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl - as well as the outpouring of fan support for Utah in 2005, Boise State in 2007 and Hawaii in the 2008 Sugar Bowl - have increased the chances of a WAC team playing in the Granddaddy of Them All.

"The candidacy of the WAC is becoming stronger and stronger," Dorger said.

NO QB CONTROVERSY AT NEVADA

Nevada coach Chris Ault diffused any notion of a quarterback situation Wednesday, declaring that WAC Freshman of the Year Colin Kaepernick will open fall practice with the No. 1 offense and his job is not in real jeopardy.

Kaepernick became the starter when Nick Graziano broke his foot in the fifth game of the season. Graziano, who had won the job last fall, passed for 1,119 yards and 10 touchdowns before being injured.

Kaepernick threw for 2,175 yards and 19 touchdowns (and just three interceptions). He also rushed for six touchdowns.

"Kap will run the ones. There is no quarterback controversy at the University of Nevada," Ault said.

Ault said that the goal was to get Graziano, who missed all of spring practice, "back into the swing of being a quarterback in the Pistol offense." The goal for Kaepernick is to develop him "from being a thrower to being a passer."

NEVADA'S 'BITTER PILL'

Ault is still not happy about the Wolf Pack's 23-0 loss to New Mexico in last year's New Mexico Bowl. It was the first time Nevada has been shut out since Sept. 27, 1990 - a span of 329 games, the longest active streak and the second longest in history.

"That's a real bitter, bitter pill. If that isn't enough motivation for the guys coming back, they don't need to come back," Ault said.