When Charlie Ragle thought about what he learned most from his first game as a college head coach, his Idaho State club’s blowout loss to UNLV last weekend, the first thing he mentioned was mistakes.

“That’s life,” Ragle said on Monday afternoon. “We all make mistakes, and you gotta learn from them.”

For Ragle, the one that stung the most came midway through the second frame, his team already facing a three-score deficit. ISU faced a third-and-medium in its own territory, which is almost always a punting situation — but Ragle sensed the game was slipping away. So he called a fake punt.

Freshman kicker Ian Hershey caught the snap, took his time to sell the punt and then pass, but when he realized the UNLV defenders were closing in like hyenas, he had no choice but to try to kick it anyway. The Rebels partially blocked it.

Two plays later, the Rebels scored again, taking a four-score lead — before the halftime break. If Ragle felt like the game was getting away from his team before, well, it was gone now. The Bengals scored a few times in the second half, getting on the board against the Rebels’ backups, but in effect, that spelled the end of ISU’s first game of the season.

“The fake punt call was just dumb on my part,” Ragle said. “I probably panicked. I felt like the game was getting away from us there. As a coach, you can’t make it all back on one play. That was something that was just (a) boneheaded move by myself.”

To be sure, Idaho State had plenty of other chances to prevent the game from unfolding the way it did: Linebacker DJ Hagler and cornerback Josh Alford both dropped interceptions, the latter of which could have given Alford a chance to score. UNLV’s offense singed ISU’s secondary. Idaho State’s defensive line couldn’t produce enough pressure to make a difference on that front.

But the fake punt is the one mistake that sticks with Ragle. When he thought about other things he learned about his first game as a college head coach, he thought about the similarities in the games he coached at the high school level: The field is still laid out the same. The players have more talent, but they’re playing the same game.

Then there’s the question of how Ragle manages the role. He isn’t afraid to make recommendations as he sees fit, he says, but he trusts his coordinators to call almost all plays.

“I pay those guys for a reason,” Ragle said, “and I trust what they’re doing. I thought those guys did a really nice job. And then I’ve got a special teams coordinator too. Now, I probably give him more advice because of my background.”

As he thought back to Saturday’s game, Ragle pointed out several other things, too. Here are a few.

ISU needs depth at several spots on defense

We won’t pretend otherwise: There’s a reason UNLV was favored by 21.5 points on Saturday. The Rebels play in the Mountain West, have access to resources the Bengals do not, and they paid ISU somewhere around $350,000 to play this game. It’s no wonder the game unfolded the way it did.

Still, ISU exposed several of its weaknesses. Most have to do with the Bengals’ defense, which failed to record a stop in the first half, yielding 45 first-half points — the most in a half of college football in three years.

For Idaho State, the culprits numbered many: Cornerback Jihad Brown gave up a pair of scores, though on one, he was left on an island because his team was blitzing. The dropped interceptions seriously hurt ISU’s chances. More importantly, the visitors surrendered 351 passing yards in the first half alone.

The word Ragle kept coming back to here: Depth.

“We’ve gotta turn that around in recruiting,” Ragle said.

He shared optimism that players will improve with experience this season, but the reality is on defense, the Bengals don’t have a wealth of players who have much game experience. The short list: Alford, linebacker Charles Ike, safeties Quantraill Morris-Walker and Calvin Pitcher. Ragle said he liked their performances. Then he brought up Brown.

“He hasn’t played a whole lot of football yet,” Ragle said. “I think he has a tremendous upside. But he hasn’t played a whole lot of football. So I think the more football these guys play, get live reps and games, the better we’re gonna get.”

Help on the way on defense?

ISU may not have a magic wand to wave and solve its problems on defense, but they have something close: Defensive end Chester Geffrard, a transfer from Butler County Community College — defensive coordinator Tim Schaffner’s last stop — who iis currently out with an injury.

He didn’t play on Saturday, but there’s a chance he does in Idaho State’s next game, a road date with San Diego State on Sept. 10.

“Or the following week,” Ragle said.

Receiving corps beginning to show promise

Before making this statement, Ragle qualified it by acknowledging that there’s a lot of games to play, and conference play hasn’t arrived yet.

“But I think by the time the season finishes,” Ragle said, “we’re gonna look at this receiving corps and say it’s one of the best in the Big Sky.”

Only time will tell if that comes to fruition, but ISU’s receivers are off to a nice start. Jalen Johnson, a transfer from Arizona who arrived in Pocatello in late July, made a quick double move to free himself for a wide-open, 55-yard touchdown pass over the weekend. Xavier Guillory, by far the group’s most experienced player, caught four passes for 73 yards and a garbage-time touchdown.

Add in transfers Brandon Johnson and Chedon James, tight end Cyrus Wallace and returning receiver Christian Fredericksen, and you see the point Ragle is trying to make.

“I’m really, really excited about that receiving core,” Ragle said.

In expanded role, Hershey impressing at punter

He had a punt blocked on that fake call, but otherwise, Hershey produced a sterling outing in his college debut. On one occasion, he leapt to corral a bad snap, grabbed it with both hands and somehow booted it 45 yards. On another, he moved his feet to get in front of another bad snap, and kicked that one 65 yards.

Ideally for ISU, he wouldn’t be in those positions to begin with, but he made the plays when he needed to. It’s also interesting because throughout spring and fall camp, coaches planned to keep him at his best position, place kicker, but they realized he was also their best option at punter. So now he’s punting too.

“I told him, I said, One, I’m glad you’re on my team,” Ragle said with a laugh. “And two, I said — he’s got the talent — but I’m gonna coach you. I’m gonna make you an All American. That’s how good I think this kid can be as a true freshman, the athleticism that he displayed on catching a couple of those snaps. And to do it in (Allegiant) Stadium, where the lights are the brightest for his first game, and be absolute in his process and not be rattled, is pretty impressive."