Click here for a photo gallery of ISU vs Simon Fraser.

    The Bengals have been on the receiving end of a few beatings like this.

    That makes Saturday’s win that much sweeter.

    Idaho State’s offensive machine kicked into overdrive and the Bengals whipped Simon Fraser 66-14 in front of 4,422 fans Saturday at Holt Arena.

    “I thought we were respectful of the game today and I felt like our mental focus, our mental synergy was good throughout,” said ISU head coach Mike Kramer “And I credit a very good coaching staff. They really found a way to put this thing in a groove.”

    Bengals quarterback Justin Arias was missing two of his top targets against the Clan, a team from Burnaby, British Columbia, that competes in the NCAA as a Division II program.

    ISU wide receivers Madison Mangum and Broc Malcom both sat out Saturday’s game against Simon Fraser (1-5). The duo combined for 888 yards and 11 touchdowns receiving in Idaho State’s first five games.

    But you never would have known they were missing.

    Arias led the Bengals (3-3, 1-1 BSC) to touchdowns on six of their first seven possessions.

    ISU pounded into the end zone in all sorts of ways. Running back Xavier Finney danced and juked and scored twice, finishing with 122 yards and two touchdowns.

    Where Idaho State really punished Simon Fraser was in the passing game. Arias had all the time he needed to surgically pick apart the Clan’s secondary. Arias had 321 yards and four touchdowns by half.

    The senior finished with 404 yards through the air and five touchdowns. It’s his third straight game with at least 400 yards passing.

    Including the Simon Fraser game, the Bengals senior quarterback has thrown for 1,556 yards and 17 touchdowns in his has last four games.

    “It just comes down to how well we prepare throughout the week,” Arias said. “… We just practice really well and we know what we’re trying to do on offense. It’s just hard to defend us now that we can run the ball and pass so well.”

    Arias threw two touchdown passes to Hagen Graves, a freshman from Skyview High School. Graves was starting in the place of Mangum. On the other side of the field, tight end Josh Cook started in Malcom’s spot.

    Cook had one reception, a 37-yard touchdown. Cook’s long TD catch was one of several. Arias also connected on scoring passes of 72 and 50.

    In the running game, sophomore Jakori Ford ripped off TD runs of 72 and 69 yards.

    “We were clicking. Justin was throwing the ball pretty well,” said ISU offensive coordinator Don Bailey. “I think we loosened them up a little bit with the passing game early. Then we just started to get going.”

    Idaho State’s offense set a torrid pace and the Bengals’ defense did their job, too. At half, the Clan had run for a minus-8 yards and mustered 117 total yards of offense.

    The Bengals were good on third down — holding SFU to six conversions on 18 attempts — and aggressive, forcing four turnovers. Idaho State challenged its defense to have a better outing than it did at Eastern Washington the week before.

    Junior safety Cody Sorensen said the Bengals missed 38 tackles against the Eagles and that was a major emphasis to correct versus Simon Fraser.    

    “This whole week we were working on that,” Sorensen said. “We just control what we do. We don’t worry about who we’re playing. We’re just going to go out there and play our game and execute.”

    Now Idaho State hits the biggest stretch of conference games on its schedule. The Bengals close out the regular season with six straight matchups versus Big Sky opponents.

    First up, Southern Utah on Oct. 18 at Holt Arena. The Thunderbirds beat ISU 19-9 a season ago and held the Bengals to 254 yards of offense.

    “We’re not in new territory,” Kramer said. “We won three games last year, so we’ve been at this stage before. Let’s see if we can rise to the occasion and play up to our capability."