LOGAN, Utah — They say the third time's the charm.

For Idaho State Bengals football, that proved true.

After two close losses to FBS opponents last season, the Bengals pulled off the upset over Utah State, 29-17, behind suffocating defense and efficient offense — picking up their first win over an FBS opponent since 2017.

"I'm proud of our guys," Idaho State head coach Cody Hawkins said. "For us to lose by 50 points in '23 and to come out and try to get better each and every day, it's cool to kind of see the progression of the program."

That night in Logan in 2023 was a long one. In his second game as ISU head coach, Cody Hawkins and the Bengals were on the same field — but this time, a very different result. The Bengals lost to the Aggies 78-28 and went on to a 3-8 season.

That is not the same Bengals team that took the field in 2026.

"Everything is different," Hawkins said. "You've seen the investment in our strength and conditioning and our assistants. You know that our staff salary pool has allowed us to hire an extra defensive assistant, Bobby J, who has done a great job to keep a good defensive coordinator, to keep a good D-line coach, and just the support with our administration, whether it's nutrition. I mean, we're feeding our guys three times as much as we did when I first got here, and that's a big deal because guys need to eat and they need to lift."

The investment and culture that the Bengals and Hawkins have built from the ground up hasn't come overnight, but the journey is paying off.

With the overhaul of the team, roster and coaching staff, Idaho State has improved every year under Hawkins. He made the jump from 3-8 to 6-6 last season, and with a lot of returners back, expectations are higher than they've been in a long time.

However, Hawkins doesn't worry himself with expectations or outside noise.

"They always say the quickest way to ruin your life is to have crazy expectations, and I don't have expectations about results," he said.

He is here to make Idaho State better each and every day.

"It's not about beating FBS teams," Hawkins said. "Hey, can we make Idaho State a little bit better? And then after that, can we make it a little bit better? And then, can we get better than that? I know we're not there yet, but we're on the way."

All week leading up to the game, the message was the same: it's just another team.

"We really believed we can go out there and win no matter what," sophomore offensive tackle Messiah Johnson said. "We went out and did our thing and stayed together through the good and bad. We didn't let the quote-unquote bigger school or Pac-12 school get to us. We knew we could go out there and get it."

Now fast-forward to the 2026 season. Some of those same players remain from that September day in 2023, but the result was very different — and it started with their identity: physical, suffocating defense.

It started with one of the leaders of the defense, senior linebacker Nathan Reynolds, who led the way with 18 tackles. It then trickled to the rest of the defense, and they made things hard for the Aggies for all four quarters.

The Bengals gave up an early touchdown on a 15-yard connection from Utah State junior quarterback McCae Hillstead to graduate wide receiver Eli Wood. From there, the Bengals' secondary made things difficult for the Aggies.

A week earlier, the Bengals gave up just 11 passing yards to Virginia Military Institute in a 38-10 win. This time ISU forced four Utah State interceptions, including two from sophomore TreShawn Shorty and one from senior safety Troy Wilkey.

"We're just a hungry secondary," Shorty said. "When the ball's in the air, we like to say it's ours. Even before this game we were all arguing about who was going to get a pick, but it's never selfish. If a teammate gets one, we're all celebrating and running down together."

Wilkey, who has worked his way back from an ACL injury, transferred from Boise State and has been exactly what the Bengals thought they were getting.

"He played a ton for Boise State on a CFP team, he's played all these teams before," Hawkins said. "For him to go make a game-changing play was awesome."

The fourth interception, by ISU senior linebacker and Idaho Falls native Jacob Perez, set up one of sophomore kicker Mason Lindberg's five field goals, including a career-long 48-yarder.

Perez, who has battled through injuries while earning a full scholarship after starting his Bengals career as a walk-on, has grown every day and ended his day with eight tackles and an interception.

"He is playing really good football," Hawkins said. "I don't know if we have a more improved football player on our team than Jacob Perez."

On offense, the Bengals struggled at times to establish a run game, but when they needed to come through, they leaned on fifth-year quarterback and team leader Jordan Cooke. Cooke finished 18-for-32 passing for 152 yards and a touchdown and added a 1-yard rushing score of his own.

"Come on, man, every single person in the stands would have said that Jordan Cooke was the best quarterback here," Hawkins said.

One of the biggest question marks coming into the season was the offensive line, and they have answered the call. Over the last two seasons, the offensive line has been one of the best in the Big Sky Conference; however, they lost a majority of that production. The personnel might have changed, but the standard has not.

"Over the past two seasons, we had one of the number one offensive lines in FCS, damn near the nation," Johnson said. "We really had to dial in with that brotherhood, be more tight as a group. That's what we grew a lot — more brotherhood and really coming to work every day, knowing that we can't slack off any time."

That is a testament to the culture and standards that the Bengals strive to reach.

It might not be about the results for Hawkins, but the early returns of the season point toward a path where the Bengals establish themselves as contenders in the Big Sky Conference.

"We are not Utah State and we may not beat them nine times out of 10," Hawkins said. "But I'll tell you what — we'll beat them more than one time out of 10. I believe in our football team."

This result is proof the program Hawkins has built in Pocatello is trending in the right direction — with the goal of making the Bengals better every day they step on the field and put on the jersey.

"I just think this performance shows that we're not afraid of anybody," Shorty said. "We'll go out there and we'll play against anybody, but we feel like our best 11 can go with anybody else's best 11 on both sides of the ball."

The Bengals will look to extend their winning streak when they return to the ICCU Dome next Saturday, Sept. 12, at 4 p.m. to play the University of San Diego.