Idaho State head coach Mike Kramer compared quarterback Justin Arias to Paul Newman, calling him the “Cool Hand Luke” of his team.

    “He shows a knowledge of what he needs to do (and) he’s always aware. He has a Paul Newman, Brad Pitt, Cool Hand Luke type of demeanor about him,” Kramer said. “He cares about what he’s doing, but he always has the rapier out trying to stick it in.”

    Arias indeed was calm and collected in the offensive backfield during ISU’s first spring scrimmage as he threw for 208 yards and one touchdown while completing 21 of 33 passes.

    “I thought I did pretty well, but I thought I had a few mental mistakes, which is unacceptable,” Arias said. “But for the most part, some of our execution was there. Mental mistakes will kill you and we have to take that out.”

    Kramer had high praise for his first-year starting quarterback.

    “He’s picked up exactly where Kevin Yost left off, and he has improved,” he said. “That’s saying a lot because Kevin Yost threw for a lot of yards and did a lot of really nice things for us as a quarterback. And I think Justin Arias has gotten better than Kevin was, ever.”

    Against what is developing into an improved Bengal defense, Arias, backup Riley Sessions as well as a corps of receivers and running backs accounted for 478 yards of total offense. Sessions, who had his share of struggles last year, showed how far he has come. He went 15-of-22 for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

    “Riley has really made great, great progress, and he needed to because he was really a long ways away in the fall,” Kramer said. “I’m pretty proud of where he’s at.”

    Redshirt freshman Broc Malcom led the receivers with seven catches for 79 yards and one touchdown, and made a number of explosive plays with his moves and speed. Redshirt senior Cam Richmond added five receptions for 52 yards.

    “Broc Malcom is very dynamic, he’s very fluid,” Kramer said. “He’s a young pup. He showed some flashes of what he’s going to be able to do and I think he’s going to be a pretty solid player for us.”

    “Both are very explosive and both can make plays out in the open field, which is good,” Arias said. “I like to throw little screen passes, and when they run for 30 yards, that’s awesome. That’s what we want to see.”

    Redshirt freshman tight end Josh Cook caught four balls for 52 yards, sophomore receiver Cole Lemer had three catches for 53 yards and redshirt sophomore receiver Chase Place added four catches for 55 yards. Sophomore Kai Campbell caught a touchdown pass from Sessions and finished the scrimmage with 36 yards on three receptions.

    The most intriguing battle of the day pitted Idaho State’s two biggest question marks against one another — the running game and the run defense. The results were mixed.

    Aaron Prier rushed for 36 yards on 10 carries while Xavier Finney added 33 yards on 11 touches.

    As is common with any intra-squad scrimmage, Kramer saw positives and negatives.

    “We saw a little bit of a running game, which is a concern about our defense because our defense couldn’t stop the run at all last season,” he said. “We’ve got to be better about the run. I happy we saw the run, and I’m disappointed it happened. It’s always good and bad in a scrimmage.”

    Redshirt junior linebacker Trevor Spence led the defense with five tackles and a fumble recovery. Senior Jake Pele, also a linebacker, had six tackles, redshirt sophomore cornerback CJ Langlow added four tackles, a pass break up and a pick-six interception. Safeties Cameron Gupton (redshirt senior) added five tackles and sophomore Taison Manu had three tackles, two pass break ups and one forced fumble.

    “The defense is looking good,” Spence said. “We have new coaches, a new game plan and a bunch of new guys. We’re flying around. We’ve got good personnel and I think we have a good scheme and good numbers. We’re all grasping it really well.

    “I think we communicated a lot better. We played more as a team and we’re trusting each other.”

    Kramer was happy with what he saw on both sides of the ball, but knows there is still work to do.

    “Compared to how we’ve played in the past, I give us an A,” he said. “But compared to other teams and where we’re at in spring, we’re about a C+, B-, a long ways to go. That’s why we have to coach them.”

    The Bengals resume spring practice Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. Their next scrimmage will be Friday at 5 p.m.