Tyler Kuder’s path to Idaho State wasn’t always smooth.

    While attending Payette High School, the now 6-foot-3, 327-pound defensive/offensive lineman drew interest from the University of Oregon, Boise State, Washington State and Idaho. But because of grades and ACT scores, things didn’t quite end up that way.

    Eventually Kuder worked his way to Idaho State, earning a scholarship after just one practice.

    Even though the road that led him to Pocatello had its bumps, ISU head coach Mike Kramer says Bengal players and fans alike will be impressed by what he brings to the table.

    “He’s got some physical skills that very few players have,” Kramer said.

    When Kuder was a junior at Payette, his physique, talent and on-field production had Oregon recruiting him as a nose tackle. It was a dream come true for a kid who grew up near the Oregon border.

    “It was crazy because Duck football, that’s been my favorite college since I was a little kid,” he said.

    But during that time Kuder was struggling in the classroom. His grades cooled the interest from Oregon and a number of other big schools.

    “As soon as they found out my grades, they backed off,” he said. “I got a phone call from Mark Helfrich, the current (Oregon) head coach who was an assistant then. He told me I didn’t have the grades.”

    Kuder ended up signing with Idaho.

    When he graduated in 2010, his signed National Letter of Intent was sitting in an athletic office in Moscow. He was set to be a Vandal. Unfortunately his ACT score wasn’t high enough to qualify for admittance.

    Disheartened, Kuder was unable to play the game he loved in what should have been his freshman season. But it was a chance encounter at a Pocatello gas station that changed his course.

    “I was visiting my girlfriend and I stopped at Maverik,” he said. “One of the (former) coaches (at ISU) was at Montana Western at that time. He offered me a full ride to go play over there.”

    The Maverik-scholarship-offer incident became a point of comedic relief between Kuder and his friends.

    “(They) were like, ‘only you can get a full ride at a gas station,’” he laughed.

    Kuder played the 2011 season at Montana Western as an offensive lineman. After one year of Frontier Conference football, he decided it was time for more of a challenge.

    “I needed to go to a bigger school,” he said. “This small school thing was not me because I was dominating over there, and I didn’t like offense.”

    Current Idaho State offensive line coach Matt Troxel was a graduate assistant at Idaho when Kuder signed his LOI back in 2010. When he heard the big man from Payette was looking to play Division I football, it didn’t take long to get him to Pocatello.

    “Through Troxel I came here,” Kuder said. “None of the coaching staff knew about me except (him).”

    It took even less time for him to earn a scholarship.

    “After the first day of full-pad practice, Kramer calls me into his office,” he said. “I didn’t know if a big white kid from Idaho who wants to play D-line could actually play D-line. But Kramer offered me a scholarship that day.”

    Kuder was the answer to Kramer’s football-related prayers.

    “We want to be bigger and more physical in our front in our D-line,” Kramer said. “I like what I see, I like his energy and effort and I like his dedication to what he wants to be.

    “Yet he’s still learning the position and has a long, long ways to go.”

    Because of transfer rules, Kuder had to sit out Idaho State’s 2012 season. It was difficult, to say the least.

    “It was really hard,” he said. “It was hard watching our defense struggle and watching other teams rack up the points. Knowing that I could be an asset to the D-line and help them out, just being a leader, to be out there rallying the team is my dream.”

    But now, after taking a path that wasn’t always easy to find, Kuder is ready to help the Bengals any way he can.

    “I try to bring leadership and hype to the defense,” he said.

    “(We are) going to be better because (we’ve spent) this whole offseason in the weight room,” Kuder added. “In the second week we all went crazy with the weights. (Defensive line coach Steve) Fifita is all over the D-line. If he sees us resting he makes us do something extra.”

    Despite the fact that a hyperextended knee has forced Kuder to sit out a majority of spring camp, he and Kramer say he will be ready to go in the fall.

    And Kramer can’t wait to unleash him.

    “Physically speaking, he’s a lot different than almost anybody else I’ve coached,” he said. “Hopefully that will translate into being a dominant player.”