Spearfish, S.D. is home to Idaho State’s next opponent Black Hills State, some 663 miles from Pocatello.

    But the two schools are separated by more than just the expanse of the state of Wyoming — the types of players they attract couldn’t be different.

    With a population of just 10,494 and temperatures that frequently vary on both extremes, Spearfish is a unique and oftentimes tough place to live. It takes a hard-minded individual to call it home, something that the Black Hills State University football team has used to its advantage.

    “If you want to pay a price and you have the passion for the sport, you end up in places like Minot (State) or Black Hills State or Chadron (State),” said ISU head coach Mike Kramer.

    That mindset and commitment to the sport have given those upper Midwest schools a competitive advantage over some opponents. Kramer knows firsthand what they are capable of as in 2006 his Montana State team fell 35-24 to a squad led by the diminutive Danny Woodhead, who now plays running back in the NFL for the New England Patriots.

    “My history against schools like that is not great, Chadron having beaten us,” he said. “They’re 18-22 (year-olds) like our guys and they have a passion about what they do.”

    When the Yellow Jackets visit Holt Arena on Saturday, Kramer doesn’t expect them to be intimidated or to back down at any point.

    “They’re extremely well-coached,” he said. “I know they’ve had a coaching change, but their offense will remain primarily the same and their defense will stay primarily the same as what they saw last year. We’ll have to play well. We won’t be able to walk down the ramp and just say ‘oh it’s a game’ and play.”

    The Bengals share the sentiment.

    “They’re a really disciplined team and we just have to play how coaches want us playing,” said sophomore linebacker Mitch Beckstead. “We have to play our positions, play our spots and play our responsibilities better.”

    “We watched some film on them, they’re scrappy,” said redshirt junior wide receiver Cam Richmond. “They play hard and they’re going to come in here confident. They have a lot of seniors. We just have to do our job against them and play them like a blank opponent.”

    Unlike last Saturday’s opponent and unlike the Bengals, Black Hills State likes to mix its passing and rushing attack as evenly as possible.

    “They’re a one-back spread offense and they want to be balanced 50/50, run/pass,” Kramer said.

    He added that on defense the Yellow Jackets tend to blitz frequently, something that may have been a problem for last year’s ISU squad, but not this one.

    “They’re a 3-3 defense, which means that they bring a myriad of blitzes,” Kramer said. “It’ll cause some havoc for us in our pass protection. Yet I thought last Saturday our pass protection was calmer than we had been in the past.”

    Regardless of the opponent, Saturday’s contest has Kramer excited as fans get their first chance to see the Bengals’ improvement from last year.

    “It’s a great way to start the season. We’re good to go,” he said. “We’re the kind of team that you want us to be. We’re fast, we’re electric, we’re smart, we represent each other pretty well, we’re a good team, we’ll play well, we’ll play hard and we’ll play hard together.”

    “It’s pretty much a fresh start this season,” Richmond said. “We feel like we are going to do big things this year and hopefully the community supports us. Hopefully the students do as well to make Holt Arena a true home-field advantage for us.”

    The Bengals and Yellow Jackets kickoff at 4 p.m. on Saturday. For game Twitter updates, follow Chase Glorfield with the handle @CGlorfieldISJ.