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It was homecoming two years ago when Sacramento State came to Holt Arena and exposed weaknesses in Idaho State’s defense, rattling off 27 unanswered points on the way to a 54-31 win.

Earlier this week, Bengals head coach Mike Kramer pointed to that game as one that may have been the catalyst for change in his defensive scheme. Those changes included an overhauling of the ISU’s defensive coaching staff, including removing himself as defensive coordinator.

While Kramer, co-defensive coordinator Spencer Toone or even Idaho State players would not say the defense has arrived, it’s clear by Saturday’s 44-24 win over Sac State at Holt Arena that the Bengals defense is ready to carry its share of the load.

“I think our defense is getting better each week and they’ve come a long ways,” Toone said. “Our best performance is yet to come. The kids will continue to get better.”

Among the most glaring indicators of how much Idaho State’s defense has improved in the past two seasons was the adjustments they made during halftime, especially when it came to handling the Hornets’ prolific passing attack.

Sac State quarterback Garrett Safron started the game a perfect 18-for-18. He finished the first half completing 18 of his 20 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

Toone said it was the Bengals plan to make Safron — a dual threat who can rack up the yards with his feet — beat them with his arm. Idaho State took a 24-17 lead into halftime but Safron was having his way with the Bengals’ secondary and running well, picking up 62 yards on nine carries.

The Bengals made some adjustments going into the third quarter.

“We brought four guys and then dropped eight in certain situations,” Toone said. “It worked our for us to take away some of those free access throws and make them get bigger chunk yardage on us.”

Those deeper passing attempts made for a much lower completion percentage in the second half. Safron completed 15 of 29 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown.

It also led to more mistakes by Safron, who threw two interceptions during the second half, including one in the end zone that was picked off by Idaho State cornerback Erik Collins. The other was grabbed by ISU safety Cody Sorensen at midfield on the opening drive of the quarter on a busted play. Sorensen took the interception down to the Hornets’ 3-yard line.

“That’s what our coaches always preach, create turnovers,” Sorensen said. “Erik’s one in the end zone was huge, stopping their momentum. Getting those turnovers can really change the game.”

ISU was leading 30-17 and the Hornets had driven the ball from their own 13 to the Bengals’ 5-yard line when Collins intercepted Safron.

But it wasn’t just Safron’s passing that the Idaho State defense was able to affect in the second half. The Bengals were also able to contain the quarterback, holding the senior to 30 yards rushing in the second half.

“At halftime, we went in and said, ‘Look, it’s 0-0 now. We have to win the second half,’” said ISU middle linebacker Mitch Beckstead. “We have to play just as hard or harder in the second half as we played in the first half. That was the goal.”

Saturday’s defensive play was even a significant improvement over two weeks ago when Idaho State, leading 39-13 after three quarters, watched as Chadron State put up 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Kramer said he reminded his players of that fourth quarter every day during the two weeks since then.

Beckstead said it was clear after Saturday’s game that the Bengals’ defense is an improved unit.

“We just beat Sac State at homecoming for the first time in who knows how long,” he said. “It feels great. The new coaching staff that’s come in here, they’ve harped on our goals every single week. They’ve said, ‘Just play as hard as you can every single play no matter what.’ That’s what we’ve done.”