POCATELLO — It was evident early which side had the upper hand.

With three interceptions in the first half of Saturday's scrimmage, Idaho State's defense promptly set the tone. Another pick and a blocked extra-point attempt later in the day put a decisive cap on the Bengals' first spring scrimmage, which favored the defense as the offense struggled to execute on third down and was flustered by the defense's aggressive front seven.

The 18-series scrimmage, which featured two quarters of full contact and two quarters of “thud” tempo, drilled Idaho State's situational offenses and defenses in what were often predetermined field positions. The offense rarely converted on third down and had few chunk plays — the long plays of the day were passes to wide receiver Mitch Gueller, who was under a no-contact order as he, like many players this spring, is treating a minor injury with caution.

Saturday marked Idaho State's most operational practice of the spring, from executing on the field to communicating signals and substitutions. Errors trickled from the top down.

The overarching theme of the day at the ICCU Practice Fields is best summed up by ISU head coach Rob Phenicie.

“We've got a lot to fix,” Phenicie said. “A lot of procedural things. That was really the first time we did stuff like that with headphones, with the signalers and running on and off changing personnel and getting special teams in and out. It was good, we needed to do that. We need to do it more. You can never do enough of it.”

The Bengals' defense earned its first turnover on the offense's second drive of the day, when Atoa Fox intercepted backup quarterback Michael Goggin. Oshea Trujillo later picked off starting QB Tanner Gueller, and Adkin Aguirre intercepted Gueller again to end the first half.

The offense found the end zone once in the first half, on a long pass from Tanner Gueller to Mitch Gueller. Kicker Parker Johnson missed a 37-yard field goal, and there were two miscued center-to-quarterback snaps with backup units in the game.

The Gueller brothers hooked up for a second TD in the third quarter, but another botched snap, an interception by Chase Downs against reserve quarterback Drew Cash and multiple false start penalties kept the offense frustrated.

“Ups and downs, for sure,” Tanner Gueller said. “But that's expected with any scrimmage. As an offense, obviously you want to score every time you get the ball, and we didn't do that today.”

The offense scored six touchdowns at the end of the scrimmage, including a third TD connection from Gueller to Gueller. Two of Mitch's touchdown grabs occurred during thud periods, in which defensive players wrapped up ball carriers and tried to strip the ball before the play was blown dead. Most of the offense's scores came with a short field, as was predetermined without punts or kickoffs.

Running back Kieran Yancy scored twice, while backfield mates James Madison and Ty Flanagan scored one touchdown each. Trey Bell caught Tanner Gueller's final touchdown pass — the QB's fourth of the day.

Tanner Gueller threw two interceptions, while fellow signal callers Goggin and Cash had one each. ISU's quarterbacks completed a combined 21 of 42 pass attempts, including Gueller's 11-for-20 effort. Second-string quarterback Gunnar Amos was 6 for 11 with no touchdowns and no interceptions. All stats are unofficial.

“I feel like we left some things on the table, especially me,” Tanner Gueller said. “I don't like missing throws. I missed a few today that I think I could've made.”

Tight end Jake Johnson led pass-catchers with four receptions. Mitch Gueller had three — all touchdowns — as did Bell. Michael Dean, who like Mitch Gueller was wearing a no-contact orange jersey, had one catch. Yancy and Madison earned eight carries each, while Flanagan got six.

In his first scrimmage as defensive coordinator, Roger Cooper was pleased with his unit's ability to create turnovers. But by nature, spring practice has limited full-contact tackling, and Cooper said it showed.

“It's very clear that we're not great at tackling,” Cooper said. “It's very clear that we haven't been tackling. We need to focus on it more.”

Along with turnovers, one of the defense's crucial areas of focus is an improved pass rush. The defensive line took a major hit with the loss of redshirt junior end Chance Salutregui, who leads active Bengals with six career sacks. The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder has been ruled out for the remainder of the spring with an injury, and his football future is in doubt.

“He was a huge part of us,” Cooper said. “He'll be missed. He was a top-three player on our team, especially on our defense — top two. It's going to be tough, but we completely understand what he's got to do and we've got his back, any decision he makes.”

BYU transfer Kainoa Fuiava started Saturday's scrimmage at Salutregui's left end spot, with nose tackle Treven Aloi and right end Rasheed Williams filling out the line in Cooper's 3-4 base formation. Daniel Heck and TJ Togiai were the first reserve linemen to enter the fray.

Idaho State starts its final week spring camp Monday. It culminates with next Saturday's Dave Kragthorpe Classic spring game at 10:30 a.m.

“It just felt good to be out there live,” Trujillo said.

NOTE: ISU junior wide receiver Tristan Beard suffered a lower-leg injury near the end of Saturday's scrimmage. Beard jumped to attempt to catch a pass from Gunnar Amos near the back of the end zone and landed on a raised cement curb that separates the ICCU Practice Field turf from surrounding grass. Beard was taken off the field on a medical cart. There was no update on his status after the scrimmage.