Lost in Montana State’s cruise control 44-20 victory over Idaho State was a celebration of the final home game for 19 ISU seniors, including one that set the school’s career rushing record.
Mike Kramer took over at Idaho State before the 2011 season. He signed a recruiting class that included safety Cody Sorensen, center Christian Diehm (at the time a tight end) and linebacker CJ Langlow. The majority of the class has either already graduated or did not make it to their fifth seasons. Transfers like left tackle Terrence Carey (Florida State), defensive tackle Tyler Kuder (Montana Western), Madison Mangum (BYU) and CJ Hatchett (Montana) joined the group of fifth-year players.
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In 2012, Kramer signed a class that included offensive guard Wesley Wingrove, tailback Xavier Finney, linebacker Kurt Karstetter and safety Taison Manu, who will return next season. Manu tore his ACL during fall camp. Wingrove, Finney and Karstetter have contributed since they were true freshmen.
The collection of veterans will finish with no more than two Division I wins this season. ISU is 2-8 this season with a Division II victory. Kramer is 16-39 at ISU since signing his first class. When the former Eastern Washington and Montana State head coach took over at Idaho State, the Bengals were awash with Academic Progress Rating troubles. The Bengals were on full academic probation from the NCAA, down four scholarships, docked practice time and forbade from recruiting junior college transfers.
Five years later thanks to the collective effort of the players who made it to their final seasons, ISU has a four-year APR of 962, an all-time high for the program.
“I’m proud of this senior class,” Kramer said. “The guys have acclimated themselves better than you can possibly imagine in so many ways that are under the radar. In the classroom, in the classroom and in the classroom. Man. Their overall GPA is not only outstanding but it formed the core of what we were trying to get to APR-wise when we were, along with a few other have-not schools, one of the worst in the United States. I’m proud of what those guys have accomplished.”
Last season, Mangum, Finney, Diehm and Manu earned All-Big Sky honors as Idaho State posted an 8-4 record. Finney led the Big Sky in rushing last season with 1,405 yards and 14 touchdowns to earn first-team All-Big Sky honors. The three-year starter surpassed 100 yards rushing for the fourth time this season with a season-high 145 yards on 15 carries against Montana State.
Finney needed 66 yards to surpass Josh Barnett’s program record of 3,408 yards in his career entering Saturday’s game. Finney broke the record on his ninth carry of the game, a 10-yard burst with less than five minutes to play in the first half.
“It’s an honor,” the San Diego native said. “To be in this program for four years and to be able to accomplish something like that is an amazing feeling. I will never forget this moment and I will carry it with me for the rest of my life.”
Finney surpassed 100 yards rushing for the 17th time in his career on a season-long 35-yard burst early in the second half. Finney will need 164 yards against rival Weber State next week for a second straight 1,000-yard season. He now has 3,487 yards.
“In the beginning, it wasn’t important, winning the game was all that was important,” said the El Camino High product. “But now that I’ve accomplished it, it’s an insane feeling, it’s surreal and I feel so honored and appreciative and this record.
“It’s a bittersweet moment but to go out with all the guys I came in with, it’s a great feeling. We left it all out on the field and we gave it everything we had.”
Finney has scored 26 rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns in his career, including a 3-yard TD catch on an inside screen on Saturday against MSU. Finney has hauled in 101 passes to go with 721 carries. Finney’s 721 carries are 164 more carries than Cal Poly quarterback Chris Brown for the most carries in the Big Sky over the last four seasons. He set an ISU record and led the Big Sky with 259 carries last season. He carried the ball 199 times in 2013 and has 186 carries this season.
“He’s (Finney) the best running back that’s ever played at this school and he’s got the numbers to prove it,” Kramer said. “He’s played behind maybe the best center I’ve coached in a long time (Diehm), one of the finest outstanding left guards had he been able to stay healthy all season long Wesley Wingrove, and one of the outstanding versatile offensive linemen we’ve ever had in Terrence Carey. They play their guts out.”
While Finney broke a record that has stood since 2007, Dakota Prukop continued to climb the Montana State record books despite entering the game with a myriad of injuries.
“General all over, there’s multiple things that hurt,” Prukop said. “My ankle, my knee. My neck, that’s why I didn’t wear a helmet all week (in practice). My ankle was pretty bummed up. It all hurts.”
Despite being a few steps slow, Prukop threw two touchdowns and rushed for a third as MSU built a 27-0 lead before halftime. Prukop’s flick of the wrist 34-yard touchdown to Justin Paige put MSU put 34-0. Prukop’s fourth TD to Mitchell Herbert gave MSU a 41-14 lead. Prukop finished the game 23-of-36 for 263 yards and four scores. He also rushed five times for 40 yards, giving him 303 yards of total offense.
“I’m really amazed it all came together,” MSU head coach Rob Ash said. “First of all, Dakota Prukop is a warrior. He’s injured, couldn’t practice all week, he had to go through rounds and rounds of treatment and adapt to practice things. He couldn’t wear a helmet for a couple of days. He had a ton of massage treatments. He took a bunch of ghost reps behind Jake when Jake was running plays. He threw a lot during the week. Just the fact that he was able to play so well is a testimony to his determination.”
This season, Prukop has thrown for 2,712 yards, the seventh most in Montana State history. Prukop needs 288 more yards in MSU’s season-finale against Montana to become the fifth Bobcat quarterback to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. Kelly Bradley threw for 3,508 in 1984 and still holds the single-season record.
Prukop now has 5,271 passing yards, the fifth-most in program history. DeNarius McGhee threw for 11,203 yards in four years as the starter immediately preceding Prukop.
Prukop now has 25 touchdown passes this season, one more than McGhee ever threw in a single season. Only Bradley’s 30 in 1984 is more than Prukop’s TD total in 2015. Prukop now has 35 total touchdowns this season, tying Bradley’s single-season record also set during MSU’s national championship season 31 years ago. Prukop has 63 total touchdowns in his career, the fifth-most in school history. Prukop has thrown 43 touchdowns, also fifth in school history. McGhee threw 79 TDs and totaled 95 between 2010 and 2013.
Prukop now has 3,470 yards of total offense this season, the fourth-most in a single season at MSU. He needs 387 total yards to break Travis Lulay’s 2004 record. Prukop became the fourth Bobcat to surpass 7,000 yards of total offense. Prukop trails McGhee (12,336), Lulay (12,205) and Bradley (7,730) in school history.
“We know Dakota is always going to play,” said junior captain running back Chad Newell following his second 100-yard day of the season. “He’s one of the toughest guys out here.”
Despite the celebratory ending to the game — most Bengals smiled during the post-game festivities — Kramer expressed strong displeasure by the performance both on Saturday afternoon and for the entirety of the season.
Idaho State entered the season with a No. 23 ranking. ISU piled up more than 725 yards of offense in a 55-0 win over Black Hills State to start the season. The following week, ISU mounted an 11-play drive to take a 7-0 lead on Portland State. The Vikings took the ensuing kickoff to the house and the Bengals have been in a tailspin ever since.
“We tried everything in our power to right it,” Kramer said. “We haven’t been able to fix it. Part of it has to do with the cadre of our defense. The cadre of defense is not good enough to play kick games and when you can’t play kick games, then everything else falls apart and it means your starting unit isn’t good either.
“We don’t pay listen, we don’t pay attention, we don’t do what you are asked to do. A lot of people think they know how to play a certain position. They have a pre-conceived notion. We have to fight a lot of previous coaching. Guys won’t accept the coaching. They’ve proven it over and over and over again.
“The home season was done after Portland State ran the kickoff back after we went down the field against a very good defense and scored a touchdown. You could’ve rolled us up and put us away right then and there.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
