LAS VEGAS — Somewhere in the belly of Allegiant Stadium, the Death Star arena that might be visible from outer space, Charlie Ragle looked content. He was open about the circumstances around this game, his first as ISU’s head man: Compared to his club, UNLV has more money, more scholarships, better facilities, everything.

In those ways, it will shock nobody to read that on Saturday afternoon, UNLV clobbered Idaho State, 52-21. The Bengals made things interesting early, but their defense produced exactly zero stops in the first half, which doomed the visitors in the end. In several senses, this one unfolded as expected.

But after he finished rehashing the situation, Ragle added something else: He feels like in his locker room, there’s talent he can work with.

“I think they showed it in flashes over the course of the game, that we can compete in the Big Sky this season,” Ragle said. “Now, what does that win total look like? I don’t know yet. But I am very pleased with how these guys competed.”

For Idaho State, 21.5-point underdogs, it really wasn’t all bad: The Bengals got to play at Allegiant Stadium, on national television, and earn national recognition. They suffered no major injuries during the game. They got torched, sure — they will lament the 35-0 second quarter in particular — but few expected anything different to happen. FCS programs play these games for a reason.

What’s more interesting is this: How many of the trends we saw on Saturday figure to carry on throughout the rest of the season? For ISU, there were a few positives and several negatives. Tyler Vander Waal found transfer receiver Jalen Johnson for a long touchdown pass. Backup Hunter Hays, who played most of the second half in large part because the game was out of reach, completed a touchdown pass and ran for a score.

But for every play that went ISU’s way, about a thousand didn’t. In the second quarter, after UNLV took a two-score lead, quarterback Doug Brumfield dropped back to pass and made a terrible throw — right to Idaho State cornerback Josh Alford. He dropped it. Two plays later, ISU couldn’t get pressure on a blitz, and Brumfield completed a 72-yard touchdown pass.

The Rebels took a 24-7 lead. Then 31-7. Then 38-7. You get the idea. They ran away with things. After the game, it felt fair to wonder: What if Alford picks off the pass? What if he scores? That sets up the Bengals to trim the lead to three and, more importantly, suck the life out of the stadium like a vacuum.

On the other hand, ISU’s defense gave up nearly 400 passing yards in the first half, allowing the Rebels to score on all six drives. It’s possible they still leave with a lopsided loss on their ledger. For the Bengals, the part that stings is they’ll never know.

“It makes you mad, I mean, for sure,” Ragle said. “We emphasize that we can’t beat ourselves. You gotta give them credit first and foremost. They won the game. They beat us. You take your hat off to them, for sure. But we’re going to certainly look at the things that we could have done better, especially in that second quarter.”

Approximately nothing went right for ISU in the second quarter, but what stands out most is the defense. UNLV did as it pleased. In the second frame alone, the Rebels recorded 302 passing yards, 16 first downs, 14 yards per play, and Brumfield completed 16 of 19 passes. The Bengals’ secondary, which was thin to begin with, couldn’t match the Rebels’ receivers speed. Idaho State’s defensive line couldn’t generate enough pressure to help them out.

Still, if there was a better way to capture the way this game unfolded, the TV cameras must not have caught it.

Here’s what happened: Midway through the second quarter, in the red zone, Brumfield dropped back and completed a short pass to receiver Kyle Williams, who looked to turn up field. Two Bengals greeted him with hits. Then two more joined the party. At that point, it was one on four, Williams trying to stay on his feet against four tacklers.

What happened next illustrated the difference between these clubs. Somehow, Williams stayed on his feet long enough for UNLV offensive linemen to jog over and push the pile. The Rebels overwhelmed the Bengals. From nearly 10 yards out, they pushed the pile into the end zone, pushing the hosts’ lead to four scores.

“We’ve gotta get better at the linebacker spot, and we’ve got to get more aggressive at the DB spot,” Ragle said. “There’s some things to work on there.”

“This is one of those times that we just have to watch the film,” said sophomore wideout Xavier Guillory, who made a circus catch for a first down in the first frame, “go back home, don’t internalize it too much to where we can’t take our minds off it.”

As the Bengals take the team bus down I-15 back to Pocatello, their minds might wander there after all. But there were good things, too. Not everyone gets to play at Allegiant. This was a lot of players’ first time on national TV. To earn a second chance at doing that, though, they will need to avoid outcomes like these.