Idaho State entered the 2015 season with high expectations after one of the most successful campaigns in modern ISU history played out last fall. Over the last three months, a three-headed monster of injuries, interceptions and incompetence on special teams have thwarted the Bengals.
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Last fall, ISU put together its best regular season in more than a decade. After an 0-2 start that included losses at Utah and Utah State, ISU won seven out of eight leading up to a late-season matchup against Montana State. The Bengals fell 44-39 in Bozeman in single-digit temperatures, a loss that likely cost ISU a playoff berth. Idaho State rallied for a 46-28 win over rival Weber State to get to 8-4 overall, 6-2 in Big Sky Conference play. The Bengals did not make the playoffs but the eight wins were the highest total since 2003’s Big Sky championship season.
Between 2007 and 2010, John Zamberlain won just six games as the head coach at Idaho State. The Bengals put together just six victories, including two Big Sky wins, in Mike Kramer’s first three seasons. Idaho State entered the current campaign with high aspirations following last year’s second-place Big Sky finish as the majority of the core players from 2014 returned.
In August, Mario Jenkins and Taison Manu suffered season-ending knee injuries. Jenkins, the Big Sky’s Freshman of the Year in 2014, was the star the ISU defense hoped to build around. Manu, a third-team All-Big Sky selection at safety, gave ISU a crucial stopgap on the back end of its defense. Both have proved irreplaceable as ISU has given up 41.2 points per game while posting a 2-7 record.
“We lost two star players as a defense but we had a defensive meeting saying that, ‘That’s life and things happen in life,’” ISU senior defensive tackle Tyler Kuder said. “We decided we had to overcome it and make our weakness our strength and perform. It hasn’t quite played out like that.”
The Bengals returned four of five starters along the offensive line, including seniors tackle Terrence Carey, guard Wesley Wingrove and center Christian Diehm, a group that has been a unit for three years. The offense also returned Xavier Finney, the league’s leading rusher from 2014, along with a talented wide receiver corps led by first-team All-Big Sky selection Madison Mangum. Idaho State needed to replace Walter Payton award finalist Justin Arias at quarterback, a task that has proven difficult this fall.
After a 55-0 win over Black Hills State in which the Yellowjackets offered no resistance, ISU’s season began to spiral almost instantly in its Week 2 Big Sky opener against Portland State. Idaho State’s first drive of the conference season was a methodical 10-play march capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Michael Sanders to Hagen Graves. On the ensuing kickoff, Portland State sophomore defensive back Khalil Dawson ripped off a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to spark Portland State to a 34-14 victory.
ISU gave up 861 yards rushing over the next two weeks as the Bengals emerged bruised and battered after a 52-0 loss at FBS Boise State and an 80-8 loss at UNLV. Idaho State jumped back into conference play by giving up 499 yards rushing to Cal Poly’s vaunted triple option offense. A four-game losing streak coupled with waning confidence and a slew of injuries had ISU reeling before October even began.
“It’s rough for everybody when you lose guys, you lose games, games that are close, game you should’ve won, it’s rough,” said Diehm, a preseason All-Big Sky selection. “But we try to not let it phase us too much and keep going forward.”
Idaho State enters Saturday’s matchup with Montana State last in the Big Sky in kickoff coverage. Opponents are averaging nearly 34 yards per return against ISU. The Bengals have returned just three punts this season for 19 total yards. Kicker Zak Johnson has had two field goals blocked and has made just 3-of-6 attempts this season. He’s also had two punts blocked as ISU has given up a total of six blocked kicks this season.
“One of the losses from last year’s graduation was not necessarily 19 seniors or the starters but it was a lot of seniors that played very well on kick teams,” said Kramer, the reigning Big Sky Coach of the Year. “Our kick team units have just fallen by the wayside. It’s not necessarily just the kickers and the punters and the snappers. It’s been the soldiers in that group that have not played very well.
“We are asking Zak Johnson to do things he’s not prepared to do and it’s had a God awful impact on our overall kick game. They are unathletic enough to not make plays in the open field. If we kick the ball incorrectly at all, we have paid a hellacious price for it.”
Idaho State is dead last in the FCS in turnover margin. ISU is -19 in turnovers because Sanders and redshirt freshman Tanner Gueller have combined to throw 19 interceptions while the ISU defense has mustered just seven takeaways. Of the 19 interceptions, five have been returned for touchdowns, including J.R. Nelson’s pick-six in Montana’s win at ISU last week.
“It’s been a set back in a lot of ways but when you ask a quarterback with little or no experience in your system to hold the tiller on this ship, it can go sideways,” Kramer said. “Tanner Gueller as a redshirt freshman has augured the ball into too many tight windows unsuccessfully. When you are young and you learn, you are going to be better in the future. But I think he’s had enough learning for a season.”
Kramer said Sanders, who has thrown 17 touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions, is back healthy and will likely play against Montana State.
Idaho State’s hard-luck season was encapsulated in a single moment last Saturday. With perennial power Montana in Pocatello, the Bengals had a chance to win the game in overtime. ISU lined up for a 34-yard game-winning field goal after forcing a fumble by UM quarterback Makena Simis on the first possession of the extra period. But the snap went over the holder’s head, JR Nelson recovered the loose ball and pitched it to a streaking Eric Johnson. Forty yards later, Montana had a 33-27 victory and ISU continued to search.
“It was great mental toughness by the University of Montana,” Kramer said. “They had a chance to really let down but they played until the final year. In the year when Yogi Berra died, it was over when it was only over.
“The season has just been catastrophic. We’ve seen it about every way it can happen. We are going to use all our bad luck in one season. I’m fine with that.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez or noted. All Rights Reserved.
