Embattled head coach Mike Kramer led the Idaho State Bengals into Greeley, Colo., the sight of the team’s last road win (in 2006), to take on the Northern Colorado Bears in ISU’s fourth Big Sky Conference game.
Not much went well for the orange and black-clad team as the Bears handed Idaho State yet another blow out defeat, this one by a 52-14 final score. The road continues to give the Bengals fits and the season continues to unravel for ISU. Here are grades for each area of Idaho State’s team in regards to how they performed against Northern Colorado.
OFFENSE:
Senior quarterback Kevin Yost threw his 15th and 16th touchdown passes of the season, one coming in the second quarter and the other in the fourth. He finished the game completing 29 of his 46 passes for 344 yards, but also tossed two interceptions. While Yost’s passing yardage continues to go up, the Bengals are having a hard time converting that success into points. Wide receiver Cam Richmond and tight end Josh Hill were the recipients of the touchdown passes. Richmond caught six balls for 94 yards while Hill added four catches for 39 yards. Senior receiver Rodrick Rumble led the way for ISU through the air as he had seven receptions and 96 yards. Running back Aaron Prier had five catches for 61 yards while also carrying the ball six times for 31 yards. Kramer has said that his receivers need to increase their catches to touchdown ratio. That still has not happened as ISU had just two scores for the game compared to 31 receptions. The Bengals’ running game continues to struggle. As a team, they finished with just 31 rushing yards. The disparity between points scored in Holt Arena and on the road is baffling. There’s something amiss when a team scores 45 one week and musters just 14 the next.
GRADE: D-
DEFENSE:
Northern Colorado came into Saturday’s game averaging 74.2 yards rushing per game. The Bears rolled up 246 against Idaho State to go along with 291 passing yards. Junior quarterback Seth Lobato completed 16 of 22 passes for 243 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. Junior running back Tromaine Dennis, by himself, had 178 yards and two scores on 27 carries. Idaho State has now given up an average of 341 rushing yards and 58.8 points per game to the four Big Sky Conference foes it has played. The defense also did not force a turnover during. Contrary to the offense’s inconsistency in scoring at home and on the road, the Bengals’ defense has been remarkable in allowing its opponents to put points on the board, the only anomaly being Portland State’s 77 two weeks ago. Continuing the theme of averages, the Bears were scoring just 19.7 points per game coming into Saturday’s contest. They put up 52 against the Bengals.
GRADE: F
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Kicker Brendon Garcia was 2-for-2 on his extra point attempts, but missed a 47-yard field goal on Idaho State’s first drive of the game. Garcia also punted once, booting the ball 40 yards to go along with C.J. Reyes’ two kicks for 65 total yards. Mason Puckett returned one ISU kickoff 44 yards to put his offense in good field position. Once again, there was nothing spectacular or horrible from Idaho State’s special teams to turn the tide of the game one way or the other.
GRADE: C-
COACHING:
As much as Kramer or anyone else at Idaho State might deny it, there’s no doubt that the turmoil surrounding the coach and the program played a role in Saturday’s performance. ISU beat Northern Colorado 50-20 last season, something that seems happened so long ago. The Bengals were certainly a distracted bunch. The inconsistency in the offense is something that Idaho State has to address. Kramer himself said his team will win on the road when it is good enough to do so. Using Saturday as a measuring stick, it will be a long time before the Bengals pick up a “W” away from Pocatello.
GRADE: D