Down seven points to UC Davis with just over two minutes to play Saturday evening in Holt Arena, the Idaho State defense lined up against the Aggies on third down and five.

    Suddenly redshirt senior defensive lineman Leki Fuapau jumped offsides, prompting the referee to throw his flag. The penalty gave UC Davis the first down and ended any hope the Bengals had of making a comeback as they fell at home 52-45.

    “We jumped offsides,” ISU head coach Mike Kramer said. “It’s amazing how you come from a 67-point loss to one guy jumping offside costing you the next game.”

    “If you’re a defensive lineman, you have no hearing,” he added. “Your key is the fingers of the center. When the fingers of the center move, no matter what other stimulus you’ve had in your life, is circumspect. Just a young kid making a grievous mistake.”

    Fuapau’s error was not the only one committed by Idaho State as a few key mental lapses ended up deciding the game.

    With 25 seconds left to play in the first half, a defensive miscommunication turned into a 42-yard touchdown pass from UC Davis quarterback Randy Wright to wide receiver Anthony Soto. Instead of going into the locker room tied, ISU trailed 24-17.

    “The key play of the game came at the end of the first half when I ran a defense we haven’t called for 10 days, and we didn’t play it correctly and we paid the price for it,” Kramer said. “I called it and that’s my responsibility. That touchdown turned out to be the difference in the game.”

    Even with the missteps, Idaho State had opportunities to make plays and at least tie the score late in the contest.

    “Even after we gave up the first down, there was still enough time for us to get a stop and get the ball back,” Kramer said.

    But the Bengals were unable to prevent UC Davis from picking up yet another first down, and the Aggies finally knelt down to mercifully run out the clock and seal their victory.

    Throughout the second half the UC Davis lead fluctuated between seven and 14 points. Led by senior quarterback Kevin Yost, the Bengals’ offense kept coming back as it scored 28 points in the come-from-behind effort.

    Yost finished the game completing 29 of his 41 passes as he threw for 374 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

    Senior tight end Josh Hill was the primary recipient of Yost’s passing as he caught 10 balls for 82 yards and a score.

    “It was a lot of fun,” Hill said of his performance. “It was fun with my friends, my teammates out on the field. I was proud of all the guys. They pushed hard, we pushed hard as a team.”

    Senior wide receiver Rodrick Rumble added 142 yards and a touchdown on seven catches, Cam Richmond had one score and 63 yards on six receptions and Luke Austin continued his impressive season with two more touchdowns and 51 yards on just four catches.

    Idaho State also had 55 rushing yards on the evening. Sophomore running back Aaron Prier had 31 of them along with a touchdown on 11 carries.

    The Bengals’ Achilles heel continued to be its run defense. UC Davis came into the game averaging 104.8 yards rushing per game. Against Idaho State on Saturday, the Aggies rolled 331.

    “They were pounding us off the ball mercilessly,” Kramer said. “That’s a tribute to their offensive front because they put it in our mustache. We continue to try to become more physically imposing in the front, and that’s going to be an issue for us in our run defense.”

    Sophomore running back Colton Silveria led the way for the Aggies with 121 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries. Senior Marquis Nicolis added 105 yards on 18 touches.

    Kramer says that physically, because of the size of his defensive line, the Bengals will continue to struggle to stop the run.

    “We’ve been pounded off the ball relentlessly by every team we’ve played, and that’s not going to change because we are coaching the living dog water out of them, but if you take a 233-pound defensive end, Jake Rouser, he is getting blasted,” he said. “And we’ve got 245-pound tackles, you’ve got to have 275, 280, 290-pound guys in there. We’re just tiny.”

    “We made big progress coming off of a loss last week,” said junior linebacker Trevor Spence. “We just got to figure a way to get off the field, a three-and-out, and let our offense score. We just have to progress every week and keep our guys motivated.”

    Already down a free safety in Tanner Davis, who is out for the year with ligament damage in his knee, Idaho State was without the services of freshman Taison Manu Saturday evening.

    “We are playing gutted defensively,” Kramer said. “Without our leading tackler over the last two ball games, who inflicted his own wound on this team by giving a high hit, and it was a great penalty call to move Taison to the sideline for the game, and we missed his striking ability in a legal way. We’re just a little shallow on defense and it showed quite a bit today.”

    ISU did make one huge defensive play that helped turn the tide. Down 45-31, redshirt junior strong safety Cameron Gupton intercepted Wright’s pass and returned the ball to UC Davis 30. Austin caught his second touchdown pass of the game on the very next play.

    But the Aggies responded with a score of their own on their next drive to once again put the game just out of reach.

    UC Davis had 309 yards passing as Wright went 20-of-31 with three touchdowns and one interception.

    Redshirt senior defensive back Phil Pleasant led ISU with 22 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Mitch Beckstead added 20.

    Kramer was happy with his team’s energy Saturday evening. It wasn’t a win, but all signs point to a bright future for the Bengals.

    “A wonderful effort coming off of about as ugly a thing as could have happened last weekend,” he said. “That’s all we got. We spilled our guts on every play. I couldn’t be more proud of us.”

    Idaho State falls to 1-5 and 0-3 in the Big Sky while UC Davis improves to 3-4 and 2-2.

    The Bengals travel to Northern Colorado next Saturday for a conference game. The Bengals defeated the Bears 50-20 at home last season. The Aggies travel to Northern Arizona next weekend.

     Kickoff between ISU and UNC is slated for 1:35 p.m.