The Idaho State football team once again showed it wasn’t intimidated to play a FBS program.

A year after holding its own against San Diego State on the road, ISU did so again Saturday − just 1,021 miles north in a 38-15 season opening loss to Oregon State.

“I told the guys in the locker room you’re never proud of the result that you don’t want, but I’m really really proud of the effort,” Idaho State head coach Cody Hawkins said. “But there’s certain metrics you have to make to give yourself a shot to win a game. We lost the turnover battle, they ran it all over us and we did not protect the quarterback or take care of the football the way we wanted to.”

Hawkins hinted in his Wednesday press conference that he was considering this game akin to an exhibition game since it was a nonconference game that had little to no bearing on Big Sky play and how the season was going to play out. Four different players saw time under center after all.

But then the Bengals (0-1) led 9-7 at the end of the first quarter.

OSU (1-0) struck first on a 15-yard touchdown run by Anthony Hankerson at the 5-minute and 55-second mark of the first quarter. It came about after Jordan Cooke’s pass for Michael Shulikov was intercepted by Skylar Thomas.

But then things turned Idaho State’s way.

The Bengals got on the board first with a safety about five minutes later. Oregon State had to punt from its own 17-yard line. A low snap bounced along the turf and out of the end zone resulting in two points.

Kobe Tracy, the Highland alum, then ended the first quarter with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Christian Frederickson, who made a terrific adjustment on the throw to haul it in near the sideline. It was one of a game-high five catches for 68 yards for Frederickson. Tracy, who despite not getting the start, finished as the team’s leading passer. He went 9-of-14 for 114 yards and the touchdown

However, the lead was short-lived.

Everett Hayes booted in a 32-yard field goal a little more than five minutes into the second quarter to give the Beavers the lead for good. It also kicked started a 24-0 run for them over the next two quarters.

ISU could have regained the lead following that field goal. It was within field goal range with the ball at the OSU 30-yard line. But the Bengals elected to go for the 4th-and-3 when Tracy’s quarterback keeper was snuffed out for a turnover on downs.

Idaho State finally ended the run in the final minute of the third quarter by taking advantage of back-to-back penalties on Isaiah Chisom, including a targeting call that moved the ball all the way to the Oregon State 9-yard line. The very next play, Hunter Hays came in and threw his only pass of the day to Shulikov down the middle for a touchdown.

But at a now 31-15 deficit, it was a case of too little, too late for the Bengals.

The Beavers put the game away for good by opening the fourth quarter on a 9-play scoring drive, capped with a 20-yard run from Jam Griffin with 9:31 remaining.

Griffin was part of a run game that gave the Bengals fits all game long. He ran for a game-high 160 yards with Ankerson right behind him at 155. The pair also had two touchdown apiece as 362 of OSU’s 510 yards of total offense came on the ground alone. Oregon State was so dominant in the run game it threw the ball just 14 times.

The Beavers also won the time of possession by 15 minutes, forced two turnovers and recorded two sacks.

ISU, meanwhile, racked up 311 yards of offense and 23 first downs against one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 last season.

“There’s a lot to learn on tape and there’s a lot of good things that we did,” Hawkins said. “It was a typical first game and we have an awesome opportunity to learn because there’s no greater growth than from week one to week two.”

Next week things should get a whole lot easier for the Bengals. They open the home portion of their schedule by hosting NCAA Division II Western Oregon at the ICCU Dome. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.