THE GOOD AND THE BAD

{child_byline} By Madison Guernsey mguernsey@journalnet.com {/child_byline}

On the surface, Idaho State did exactly what it should have in Saturday’s season opener against Simon Fraser.

The Bengals won by 44 points, cranked out over 500 yards of offense and dominated the Clan is almost every statistical category.

ISU’s defense showed how dominant it can be, with crushing hits in the open field and multiple bodies chasing down the quarterback.

But beyond skin deep? The Bengals are banged up on the offensive line, struggle with outside contain and won despite a handful of turnovers.

Here are the pluses and minuses from ISU’s 47-3 win.

PLUS: ISU’s linebackers and run defense

Every fan at Holt Arena on Saturday had more success running the ball than Simon Fraser did against the Bengals.

The Clan rushed for minus-22 yards on 23 carries, an average of minus-1 yards per attempt.

Idaho State’s tackles and linebackers busted through SFU’s offensive line and snuffed out running plays with regularity, smothering 230-pound running back Ante Milanovic-Litre and backfield mate Jalen Jana at or behind the line of scrimmage on nearly every touch.

“Our defense played outstanding,” Bengals head coach Mike Kramer said following the game. “We gave them some bad field position.”

ISU’s starting linebacker trio of Mario Jenkins, Hayden Stout and Joe Martin were the stars of the defense, combining to rack up 21 tackles, four tackles for loss and 18 lost yards on tackles for loss. Martin had an interception and Stout notched a sack and two pass breakups as the unit flew to the ball from sideline to sideline.

Backups Jake Pettit and Braiden Beckman totaled 12 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss, showcasing ISU’s deep crop of backers.

“The linebacking corps are pretty darn good,” Kramer said.

MINUS: ISU’s quarterback contain

The Bengals’ frontline had no problem getting around the edge to hassle Simon Fraser quarterback Miles Richardson.

But Richardson wasn’t an easy sack. The southpaw routinely escaped pressure, extended plays with his legs and found open receivers ahead of the first-down marker.

Idaho State recorded four sacks on the day, but Richardson got away far too many times to appease Kramer.

“Our front’s really good, but we gave up way too many yards,” Kramer said. “Their quarterback extended plays way too long. Our pass rush was totally ineffective. We can’t blow contain like that every single time it seemed like.

“I bet you we lost contain 11 or 12 times. I know we lost it seven times in the first half, and we’ll get that fixed.”

Kramer said inexperience at defensive end was to blame for Richardson’s frequent escapes.

Micah Breland made his first start at end after converting from linebacker, and Drew Sharkey is a full-time starter for the first time in his career. ISU had to adjust its D-line following Rasheed Williams’ season-ending injury suffered in fall camp.

“If Rasheed would’ve played today, he would’ve had a bushel,” Kramer said. “That’s sixty pounds, by the way, of sacks.”

PLUS: Tanner Gueller

Idaho State’s sophomore quarterback was prolific in his first career victory as the Bengals’ starter.

Gueller completed 13 of his first 14 pass attempts, went 24 of 36 for the game and tallied a career-high 338 yards. He threw accurate strikes into the middle of the field when facing pressure and showed a clear grasp of the offense and pace of play.

Two of Gueller’s three touchdowns were screens to KW Williams, and the other was a jump ball in the end zone to Pat Carter. Gueller didn’t take many shots downfield, but hit brother Mitch Gueller on a hook route near the sideline for an 18-yard gain, found Carter for two 20-plus-yard pickups and was able to quickly pick up blitzes and dice up holes in Simon Fraser’s defense.

“He played pretty well,” Kramer said. “He’s really going to be a great quarterback here. Just a great, outstanding quarterback. He got into a little bit of a rhythm there.”

MINUS: Tanner Gueller

Gueller’s flashes of brilliance Saturday came with some glaring negatives.

Gueller fumbled three times, and Simon Fraser recovered each one. In each case, Gueller’s pocket collapsed, and he was sacked and stripped.

Partially to blame is Gueller’s offensive line, which featured three first-time starters in place of three injured starters.

But Kramer made it clear: the quarterback has to hang onto the ball. The quarterback has to overcome difficult situations. The quarterback has to be better.

“Pass protection is something we do, but it’s not always going to be perfect,” Kramer said. “The strength of our football team is our quarterback’s ability to catch and spit the ball.”

Gueller’s first play of 2016 was a run up the middle for an 8-yard gain — partially a result of poor protection. Kramer harped on that play ad nauseam Saturday, adamantly repeating that quarterbacks are not to run in ISU’s offense.

“His stimulus told him to run,” Kramer said. “He ran. He didn’t fumble the ball on that play, and I’m going to leave him alone. But we’re going to look at the video tape and we’re going to find guys open he should’ve thrown the ball to.

“He will learn probably more from the first play of the game than he will from any other play going forward.”

MINUS: ISU’s offensive line

Injuries to penciled in starters Cody Abbott, Chase Collins and Brian Fineanganofo forced three first-time starters into the starting O-line Saturday.

Freshman Dallen Collins and sophomores Chris Miedema and Kyle Jones were slotted at center, right guard and right tackle. While they gave Gueller ample time on occasion, ISU’s quarterback was sacked four times and ball carriers didn’t have much in the way of running lanes.

Idaho State averaged 4 yards per carry, and starting tialback Jakori Ford was bottled up on most dives up the middle.

“It’s just our inexperience in the middle part of our front,” Kramer said. “We’ve got to get the middle part of our offensive pass protection fixed.”

The unit faces its next test Saturday against Colorado, which opened its season with a 44-7 dismantling of Colorado State.

“We have to get way better,” Kramer said. “Because the next two weeks we’ll be talking about who Tanner Gueller was, because he’ll be dead if we allow that kind of leakage against Colorado and Oregon State.”

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Passing: Gage Gubrud, EWU (34-40, 474 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT); Nate Ketteringham, Sac (34-58, 370 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT)

Rushing: Dano Graves, Cal Poly (140 yards, 2 TD); Nate Tago, PSU (136 yards, 3 TD); Alex Kuresa, PSU (123 yards, 1 TD)

Receiving: Cooper Kupp, EWU (12 rec., 206 yards, 3 TD); Elijah Marks, NAU (8 rec., 174 yards, 1 TD); KW Williams, ISU (4 rec., 121 yards, 2 TD)

Defense: Mike Needham, SUU (11 tkl, 1.5 tfl); Connor O’Brien, UND (11 tkl, 1.5 tfl, 0.5 sack); Taylor Nelson, SUU (10 tkl, 2.5 tfl); Tre’von Johnson, WSU (10 tkl, 2.5 tfl)

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STATS FCS MEDIA POLL

Rankings as of 9/5/2016

Rank School Votes Prev

1. North Dakota State (1-0) 4067 (137) 1

2. Richmond (1-0) 3860 (21) 4

3. UNI (1-0) 3699 (5) 5

4. Sam Houston State (1-0) 3627 2

5. Jacksonville State (1-0) 3535 (1) 3

6. Chattanooga (1-0) 3004 6

7. Charleston Southern (1-1) 2937 7

8. Eastern Washington (1-0) 2849 (1) 14

9. South Dakota State (0-1) 2641 8

10. Illinois State (1-0) 2584 10

11. McNeese (1-0) 2352 11

12. James Madison (1-0) 2350 12

13. William & Mary (0-1) 2195 9

14. Montana (1-0) 1994 13

15. Citadel (1-0) 1667 15

16. Portland State (1-0) 1539 17

17. Coastal Carolina (1-0) 1428 16

18. Western Illinois (1-0) 1280 20

19. Northern Arizona (0-1) 1108 18

20. Youngstown State (1-0) 692 NR

21. Colgate (0-1) 600 21

22. Villanova (0-1) 554 23

23. North Carolina A&T (1-0) 528 25

24 New Hampshire (0-1) 460 22

25. North Dakota (0-1) 253 19

Others: Towson (243) , Stony Brook (207) , Central Arkansas (200) , Harvard (183) , Albany (181) , Fordham (131) , Grambling State (111) , Eastern Kentucky (105) , Southern Utah (67) , Alcorn State (50) , Delaware (37) , Wofford (37) , Bethune-Cookman (30) , Eastern Illinois (28) , Dartmouth (26) , Samford (24) , Penn (20) , Cal Poly (18) , Maine (18) , Weber State (14) , Liberty (13) , Dayton (12) , Montana State (10) , Furman (10) , Tennessee State (8) , Duquesne (7) , South Dakota (7) , Indiana State (5) , UT Martin (4) , Western Carolina (4) , San Diego (3) , Alabama State (2) , Prairie View A&M (2) , Monmouth (2) , Saint Francis U (1) , Sacred Heart (1) , Mercer (1)

FCS COACHES POLL

School Record Pts Pvs

1. North Dakota State (23) 1-0 646 1

2. Richmond 1-0 611 4

3. Northern Iowa 1-0 577 5

3. Sam Houston State 1-0 577 2

5. Jacksonville State 1-0 537 3

6. Chattanooga 1-0 483 7

7. Charleston Southern 1-1 472 6

8. Eastern Washington 1-0 414 17

9. Illinois State 1-0 407 8

10. McNeese State 1-0 398 9

11. James Madison 1-0 396 11

12. South Dakota State 0-1 347 14

13. William & Mary 0-1 344 10

14. Portland State 1-0 319 12

15. Montana 1-0 288 13

16. The Citadel 1-0 256 15

17. Northern Arizona 0-1 193 18

18. Western Illinois 1-0 166 24

19. Villanova 0-1 133 22

20. Colgate 0-1 129 16

21. Harvard 0-0 98 19

22. Youngstown State 1-0 92 NR

23. Southern Utah 0-1 76 23

24. North Carolina A&T 1-0 67 25

25. Fordham 0-1 79 20

Others: Albany 53, New Hampshire 35, South Carolina State 27, Jackson State 23, Eastern Kentucky 22, Stony Brook 20, North Dakota 18, Indiana State 17, Montana State 17, Samford 15, Wofford 15, Liberty 13,Towson 12, Monmouth 12, Grambling State 11, Eastern Illinois 9, Penn 8, Cal Poly 6, North Carolina Central 6, Central Arkansas 5, Delaware 5, Dartmouth 4, Southeaster Missouri State 4, Furman 2, Weber State 2, Bethune-Cookman 1, Bucknell 1, Mercer 1, San Diego 1.

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