Idaho
No. 3 Oregon introduces QB Dillon Gabriel in opener against Idaho
With all the excitement over joining the Big Ten this season, it’s important for the third-ranked Oregon Ducks to be ready for their non-conference opponents, too.
“You can’t come out sleepwalking. I think that happens from year to year, people just come out sleepwalking and if you fall into that you just dig yourself in a hole,” new Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “So, it’s all about starting fast, dominating the middle eight, and then finishing strong.”
The Ducks open the season Saturday against Idaho as one of the newest members of the Big Ten. There are lofty expectations for Oregon with Gabriel under center.
The sixth-year senior joins the Ducks after two seasons at Oklahoma. Last year, he threw for 3,660 yards and 30 touchdowns, with just six interceptions. He also ran for 12 touchdowns, second most nationally among QBs.
Idaho also has a new quarterback in Jack Layne — an Oregon native — after last year’s starter Gevani McCoy transferred to Oregon State. Layne, a redshirt sophomore, started in one game last season, throwing for 275 yards and six touchdowns.
The Vandals were picked to finish third in the conference in both the Big Sky coaches and medial polls. They’ll certainly be challenged by the Ducks, who are 44 1/2-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning said it doesn’t matter the opponent, the Ducks’ focus is always on improving in all facets of the game.
Oregon’s Autzen Stadium is viewed during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Washington, Nov. 6, 2010, in Eugene, Ore. Credit: AP/Rick Bowmer
“We know that we want to set the bar for us: What’s our bar? What’s our standard? What do we want it to look like? And being self-aware enough that you can go attack the things that you have to improve,” Lanning said. “And regardless of who you’re playing, when you’re playing, we always talk about our biggest opponent is Oregon, right? We have to go play or do the best to be the best version of Oregon that we can be.”
TV trouble
An apparent carriage dispute between Comcast and the FOX/Big Ten Network may mean that the games involving Big Ten’s four new West Coast teams won’t be available to Comcast viewers — at least for now.
According to a statement from a league spokesperson: “As the one distribution partner that declined to expand along with us, Comcast Xfinity viewers in many areas will not have access to live broadcasts of the highly anticipated inaugural B1G season games for Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.”
Comcast said in a statement that it is sensitive to the impact on Xfinity customers and hopes for a fair agreement with Fox and the Big Ten Network.
Then-Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) scrambles during the first half of the team’s NCAA college football game against Kansas, Oct. 28, 2023 in Lawrence, Kan. Credit: AP/Colin E Braley
Starting center
Lanning wasn’t going to reveal Oregon’s starting center against Idaho. Among those in contention for the job during fall camp were Iapani Laloulu and Charlie Pickard.
The Ducks need to replace Jackson Powers-Johnson, last season’s Rimington Trophy winner who was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the second round of the NFL draft.
Laloulu started for the Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl while Pickard is a former walk-on whose dad went to Oregon.
“We’ll send out the group that we think has done the best in fall camp to start the game. But I think for us to think long-term we have to be able to prepare and have multiple guys play at multiple positions,” Lanning said.
A look back
Oregon finished last season 12-2, with a loss to rival Washington in the final Pac-12 championship game before capping the season with a 45-6 drubbing of Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl. Oregon’s offense averaged 531.4 yards and 44.2 points per game, second nationally in both categories.
Idaho, which plays in the Big Sky, went 9-4 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs before losing to Albany, 30-22.
In addition to losing McCoy to the Beavers, wide receivers Hayden Hatten and Jermaine Jackson both went to the NFL. Six other starters for the Vandals went to the transfer portal.
Idaho
Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances
For the second year in a row, House lawmakers will consider urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The nonbinding resolution, which carries no legal weight, says the decision in Obergefel v. Hodges violates the longstanding religious definition of marriage between one man and one woman.
“The current definition of marriage that allows for same-sex marriages is a defilement of the word marriage,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R-Post Falls), who sponsors the measure.
The resolution further states that the Obergefel decision “arbitrarily and unjustly” rejects the historical definition of marriage.
Idaho voters passed a constitution amendment in 2006 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, which was invalidated by the Obergefel ruling.
Wisniewski said regulating marriages should be a power left to the states.
Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) agrees.
“If you want to get things … closer to the people with respect to some of these more complex social issues, I think the best place for those things to happen is in the states,” Crane said.
Doing so is a risk, he said.
“You may have states that choose to acknowledge [polyamorous relationships]. You may have states that choose to have relationships between adults and younger children,” Crane said.
Cities in neighboring Oregon and Washington, for example, are considering giving those in polyamorous relationships legal recognition.
But he said that risk is worth it to allow other states that choose to only recognize traditional marriages.
Four lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee opposed the resolution.
Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls) said she’s tried to balance her own religious beliefs with those of others while considering the measure.
“I do feel like that it is important for us to work together, to find ways to compromise and to live together in peace and mutual respect,” Bingham said.
The resolution now goes to the House floor for consideration.
House lawmakers last year passed a similar measure, but it never received a hearing in a Senate committee.
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio
Idaho
University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders
A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.
A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.
“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.
The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.
Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.
Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”
The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.
Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.
In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.
During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.
She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.
It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.
The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
With Post wires
Idaho
Gas prices expected to exceed $3 as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages
BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.
“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”
On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.
State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline
- Washington / $4.37
- Oregon / $3.92
- Nevada / $3.70
- Idaho / $2.97
- Colorado / $2.89
- Montana / $2.82
- Utah / $2.74
- Wyoming / $2.73
In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.
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