POCATELLO — The Battle of the Domes will be contested again Saturday, as Idaho State (3-3, 2-1 Big Sky Conference) visits Idaho (2-5, 0-3) with the Bengals looking for their first win in the Kibbie Dome since 1981. A win sets Idaho State up well to go on a run through the middle of the season, while a loss would essentially end the Bengals' season, at least as far as playoff contention goes. Here are three keys to victory for Idaho State, as well as three players to watch for each team.

Stop the Running Backs

Running the ball is the one above-average thing that the Vandals do on offense. Even against stacked boxes, Aundre Carter and Nick Romano are averaging over 100 yards a game combined. Carter, a 5-foot-9, 240-pound rock of a power back, was an all-state high school player in Florida before getting to Moscow. Romano, meanwhile, has been one of the best freshmen in the Big Sky Conference this year. At 5-foot-10, 203 pounds, the local kid from Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian is more of an all-around threat. Idaho State's run defense has been good, but not great, through the first half of the season. If the Bengals shut down the running game, it will be almost impossible for Idaho's offense to get a toehold in the game.

Limit Returns

One thing that the Vandals have been stellar at this year is returns, both on kickoffs and punts. Idaho is first in the Big Sky in kick-return average, with Romano handling most of those, and is one of just three conference teams to return a kickoff for a touchdown so far this year. Wide receiver Cutrell Haywood has returned punts for Idaho, and the Vandals are third in the conference in punt-return average. Particularly on the road, where the impact of a big return will be magnified by the effect it has on the crowd, covering well on kicks and punts is a must. The Bengals are in the back half of the conference in both net punting average and kick coverage. Kevin Ryan continuing to put kickoffs in the end zone — he had six touchbacks on 10 tries last week — would help.

Get to the QB

The rumor is that Colton Richardson will start over Mason Petrino for Idaho this week. Regardless of who's under center, he will already be under a lot of pressure — Richardson in what might be his only chance to take the job, Petrino in what might be his last chance to hang on to it. Idaho State needs to make him even more feel uncomfortable from the first play. The Bengals' pass rush has improved, and they're in the middle of the conference in sacks. Idaho, meanwhile, is tied for the most sacks surrendered. For everything that went right last week, the Bengals didn't have a sack against North Dakota, and will be looking to change that against Idaho.

Players to Watch - Idaho

Jeff Cotton (Sr. WR) — Cotton is listed as day-to-day this week after missing last week's loss to Portland State, but he's a major weapon if he does play. Cotton's stats are mind-blowing this season, even more so when you account for the offense he's playing in. Idaho's pass offense is 10th in the Big Sky at just over 200 yards a game, ahead of three teams — Montana State, Cal Poly and Weber State — who would prefer to almost never throw the ball. Despite that, Cotton is leading the conference in receptions per game with 8.2. Only one other player has more than seven. He's also third in the conference in receiving yards. Idaho State had trouble with a couple of similarly-skilled players against Montana, getting burnt by Sammy Akem and Samori Toure, but has generally been good against No. 1 wideouts in other games. Of course, Cotton might be the only other player they've gone against who can match Akem and Toure's talent.

Charles Akanno (Jr. LB) — Akanno is the first name, alphabetically, on Idaho's roster, and probably the first on offensive coordinators' minds as well. He's an incredibly disruptive player, with 12 1/2 tackles for loss in seven games on the year and 6 1/2 in his last two games alone, including a whopping 4 two weeks ago against Weber State. He has just 2 1/2 sacks, but has hit the quarterback seven other times, indicating that he's just a whisker away from getting home on a lot of plays. Add to that his three forced fumbles and seven pass breakups, mostly on knockdowns, and you have a player who can influence the game on every play. Idaho State has to be aware of where Akanno is lining up every time, and be quick to send help if he's winning one-on-one.

Tre Walker (So. LB) — Whatever Akanno isn't stuffing in the backfield, Walker has been cleaning up in the middle of the field for the Vandals. The sophomore had 41 tackles last year as a freshman and has still managed to take a massive step forward this season after stepping into the shoes of NFL draftee Kaden Elliss. He's second in the conference with over 11 tackles per game, and only Montana's Dante Olson, Walker, and Eastern Washington's Dehonta Hayes are even in double digits. Walker was working on a streak of four consecutive games with at least 12 tackles before having "just" nine against Portland State last week. He's added 1 1/2 sacks among his 6 tackles for loss, but Walker's stats aren't as well-rounded as Akanno's — he's simply a pure run-stopping middle linebacker, and very, very good at it.

Players to Watch - Idaho State

Ty Flanagan (Sr. RB) — Idaho is one of the three worst teams in the conference defending the run. Flanagan started slowly last week, with 30 yards at halftime, but started eating in the second half and ended up with a career-high 163 yards. That mark was buoyed by a career-high 75-yard touchdown run, making it the second consecutive week he's run for a 70-plus-yard score. Can he do it again? A big game from the back — who's leading the Big Sky in rushing yards per game by over 10 yards — would certainly help take the pressure off quarterback Matt Struck in a hostile environment. Another slow start, though, would force the downfield passing game to carry the offense to a lead.

Jacob Molenaar (Sr. OL) — The Molenaar-at-tackle experiment was born out of necessity, and it looks like it will be the Bengals' best chance again this week if, as expected, freshman left tackle Jacob Angel, who limped off against North Dakota, can't go. Redshirt freshman Terron Carey held up well last week at Molenaar's vacated left guard spot — except for one holding penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct call — meaning the pressure will once again rest on Molenaar. He was bad on the outside against Northern Iowa's Elerson Smith Jr. as the Bengals gave up five sacks in that game. He was good against North Dakota's Mason Bennett after Angel went down as the Bengals gave up no sacks, and said that he's slowly getting more used to the role. That will have to continue against Idaho's Akanno and Christian Elliss.

Manase Time (Jr. S) — At least one inexperienced safety will have to play the first half because of Adkin Aguirre's targeting suspension. That's likely to be Time, who's been listed as Aguirre's backup all season and came in for him after he was ejected last week. The junior FBS dropdown from Hawaii has been a fixture on special teams all year, flying around with his signature ponytail streaming out of the back of his helmet. He finished the North Dakota game with two tackles in just over a quarter at safety. On style, at least, he's a pretty fair match for Aguirre — both like to hit hard — but it still remains to be seen how well he's picked up the defensive scheme and how well he'll handle his first serious action (the North Dakota game was already a laugher by the time Aguirre was ejected).