The Idaho State Bengals football program represents
Idaho State University
Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations in Meridian, Idah ...
in
college football. The Bengals play their home games at
Holt Arena
Holt Arena is an indoor multi-purpose athletic stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Idaho State University (ISU) in Pocatello, Idaho. It is the home field of the Idaho State Bengals of the Big Sky Conference and sits at a ...
, an indoor facility on campus in
Pocatello, Idaho
Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the ...
. Idaho State is a charter member of the
Big Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...
in
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
Division I Football Championship Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...
(FCS) (formerly Division I-AA). Through the 2022 season, the Bengals have an all-time record of 478–545–20 (). Idaho State's current head coach is
Cody Hawkins
Cody Norman Hawkins (born March 24, 1988) is an American college football coach and a former professional and college football player. He is the head football coach at Idaho State University. Hawkins played as a quarterback for the Color ...
, who was hired on December 11, 2022.
History

The university and its football team have been known by several names since the program's inaugural season of 1902:
* 1902–1914: Academy of Idaho Bantams
* 1915–1926: Idaho Technical Tigers
** No team was fielded during the
1918 influenza pandemic
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
* 1927–1934: Idaho Southern Branch Tigers
* 1935–1946: Idaho Southern Branch Bengals
** Due to World War II, no team was fielded in 1943 or 1945
* 1947–present: Idaho State Bengals
Early history (1902–1934)

Idaho State first started fielding football in 1902, just one year after the school was established as the Academy of Idaho. From 1902 to 1934, the program had 10 different head coaches, seven of whom coached for less than three seasons. The Bantams and Tigers, as they were known until 1904 and 1934, respectively, were quite successful during this era, with a total record of 117–70–10 (.619).
Herbert Cheney
__NOTOC__
Herbert Denison Cheney (June 6, 1873 – January 13, 1931) was an American football coach and educator. He served as the head football coach at the Academy of Idaho—now known as Idaho State University–from 1902 to 1903, compiling a r ...
, the program's first ever head coach, has the highest
winning percentage
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...
of any coach in program history, with a record of 5–1–1 (.786).
Guy Wicks era (1935–1940)
Guy Wicks spent six total seasons with the Bengals, and was also quite successful, accumulating a record of 29–17–1 (.628). He only had one losing season with the program, during 1940 when he went 3–5. Wicks was also the head basketball coach at the school from 1931 to 1941.
John Vesser era (1941–1951)
Wick's successor,
John Vesser
John Martin Vesser (October 1, 1900 – March 20, 1996) was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Idaho State University for nine seasons duri ...
, stayed nine total seasons with Idaho State. He was the head coach when Idaho State moved from being an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
program to being a member of the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...
(RMAC). In total, he had a record of 41–27–6 (.595).
Babe Caccia era (1952–1965)
Babe Caccia
Italo John "Babe" Caccia (October 3, 1917 – August 28, 2009) was an American college football and athletics administrator in Idaho.
Biography
Caccia was born in Pocatello, Idaho, in 1917. He played on the football teams of Idaho State Universi ...
played as both a center and a linebacker when he played for Idaho State (then known as Idaho Southern Branch) in 1936 and 1937, and he was arguably the most successful head coach in the history of the program. Babe stayed with the Bengals for 14 seasons, the most of any head coach, and saw six conference titles during his stay. This included the first ever
Big Sky title in 1963. After his run as head coach, he became assistant athletic director for Idaho State from 1965 to 1979, and athletic director from 1979 to 1986.
For one year in 1976, he acted as line coach for the
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...
(now Edmonton Elks) of the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...
(CFL). He boasted a fairly successful record of 79–38–2 (.664) with Idaho State.
Leo McKillip era (1966–1967)
Leo McKillip only coached for two seasons, having a losing record in both of them. He was Idaho State's first head coach to have a winning percentage below .500 since 1904, totaling 4–15 (.211).
Ed Cavanaugh era (1968–1971)
Ed Cavanaugh
Ed Cavanaugh (born August 24, 1928) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Idaho State University in Pocatello from 1968 through 1971, and at the United States Military Academy from 1980 to 1982, compiling a ...
took over as head coach in 1968, and he vastly improved over his predecessor, going 20–19 (.596). He was the head coach when Idaho State opened the ASISU Minidome, renamed as
Holt Arena
Holt Arena is an indoor multi-purpose athletic stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Idaho State University (ISU) in Pocatello, Idaho. It is the home field of the Idaho State Bengals of the Big Sky Conference and sits at a ...
in 1988.
Bob Griffin era (1972–1975)
Bob Griffin took over in 1972, and he remained with Idaho State for four total seasons, accumulating a 21–20 (.512) record. He went on to have a successful career with the
Rhode Island Rams
The Rhode Island Rams are the athletic programs of the University of Rhode Island, based in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The Rams compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The football team, however, ...
after his stay at Idaho State.
Joe Pascale era (1976)
Joe Pascale only spent one season at Idaho State. During the lone season he led the Bengals, he only earned one win, a close 27–22 triumph over Nevada,
and finished with a mark of 1–9 (.100).
Bud Hake era (1977–1979)
Bud Hake did not post a win percentage much higher than Pascale, but he did lead the team for a total of three seasons. In 1978, the team traveled to Japan, where they played the
Utah State Aggies
The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference.
Sports spons ...
in
Nishinomiya
270px, Nishinomiya City Hall
270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center
270px, Hirota Shrine
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of 4 ...
on September 3, losing by a score of 10–0.
[ Hake's three-season stay saw a total record of 5–27 (.156), including a winless 0–11 season in 1979.]
Dave Kragthorpe era (1980–1982)
After Hake went winless in 1979, Idaho State fired him and hired Dave Kragthorpe in his place. During his first season, he went 6–5. Just one season later, the 1981 Bengals had a nearly undefeated 12–1 season, and won the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, beating Eastern Kentucky
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
* China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
* Eastern Air ...
, 34–23, in the 1981 Pioneer Bowl. However, the team finished at 3–8 the following season. Across his entire career with the Bengals, Kragthorpe went 21–14 (.667). As of 2022, Kragthorpe is the most recent Idaho State head coach to finish above .500 for his Bengals career.
Jim Koetter era (1983–1987)
Jim Koetter replaced Kragthorpe in 1983, and led the Bengals to the Division I-AA playoffs in his first season at the helm, where they lost in the first round against Nevada. Koetter finished his run with Idaho State at 23–32–1 (.411).
Garth Hall era (1988–1991)
Garth Hall was formerly an offensive coordinator at both Tulane
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...
and Oregon State before he took his place as head coach in Idaho State. He failed to find much success, finishing 9–33–1 (.214), going 0–11 during his first season as a head coach. Garth coached the last Bengals game that ended in a tie, a 24–24 game against conference rival Portland State in 1987.
Brian McNeely era (1992–1996)
Brian McNeely
Brian Scott McNeely (September 29, 1957 – May 2, 2015) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Idaho State University from 1992 to 1996, compiling a record of 21–34. McNeely died of cancer on May 2, 2015.
...
took up as head coach after Hall. He was able to find a bit more success, going 21–34 (.382).
Tom Walsh era (1997–1998)
Tom Walsh was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Raiders
The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...
of the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
(NFL) before he started his career in Idaho State. He totaled 6–16 (.261) during his two-season stay with Idaho State.
Larry Lewis era (1999–2006)
Larry Lewis took over after Walsh, and he stayed eight total seasons with the Bengals. In 2002, he and the Bengals were tri-Big Sky Champions, sharing the champion title with Montana and Montana State. However, Idaho State was passed up for the playoffs in favor of the other two. Lewis ended his run with a record of 40–49 (.449).
John Zamberlin era (2007–2010)
John Zamberlin was head coach at Central Washington
Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon i ...
before he went to Idaho State. He was highly successful with Central Washington, winning four conference championships with them, but he struggled when he went to Idaho State. Zamberlain's contract was originally going to run out in 2009, but Idaho State extended the contract by two seasons. The choice was very controversial among students due to the team's lack of success. He averaged only 1.5 wins per season, and he ended his career 6–39 (.133), the second-lowest winning percentage in program history. He was later a linebackers coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...
of the CFL from 2012 to 2013.
Mike Kramer era (2011–2016)
Mike Kramer was previously head coach at both Eastern Washington and Montana State, winning one conference title with Eastern Washington and three with Montana State. His most successful season came with the 2014 Bengals, who had a record of 8-4 and finished the season ranked 25th in the FCS, but overall he totaled 18–50 (.265).
Rob Phenicie era (2017–2021)
In 2017, Kramer resigned as head coach, and Idaho State promoted wide receivers coach Rob Phenicie
Robert Alan Phenicie (born March 4, 1966) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently an analyst at Montana. Previously, Phenicie was the head coach at Idaho State University. He was named the head coach in March 2017, stayin ...
to head coach the same day. After five seasons with a cumulative record of 16–35 (.314), Phenicie was fired on November 20, 2021.
Charlie Ragle era (2022)
On December 10, 2021, former California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
special teams coordinator Charlie Ragle
Charlie Ragle (born May 30, 1976) is an American football coach and former player, currently the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at Arizona State University in the Pac-12 Conference. He was previously the head coach at Idah ...
was hired to be the Bengals' head coach. On November 28, 2022, less than a year after being hired, Ragle left the Bengals after his first season, accumulating only one win. He currently holds the record for the lowest win percentage in program history (.091).
Conference affiliations
Idaho State's conference affiliations have been as follows:
* Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
(1902–1949, 1961–1962)
* Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (N ...
(1950–1960)
* Big Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...
(1963–present)
Championships
National championships
Conference championships
Idaho State has won eight conference championships, spanning two conferences.
Co-champions
Undefeated seasons
Idaho State has had seven undefeated seasons, under five different head coaches.
Postseason results
Bowl games
The Bengals have appeared in, and won, two bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
s.
Pioneer Bowl was an alternate name for the 1981 championship game, below.
Division I-AA/FCS playoffs
The Bengals have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs two times with a record of 3–1. They were National Champions in 1981.
All-Americans
The Bengals have had five two-time All-Americans: wide receiver Eddie Bell ('68–'69), defensive end Josh Hays ('95–96), placekicker Pete Garces ('98–'99), defensive end Jared Allen ('02–'03), and punter David Harrington ('10–'11). Allen also won the prestigious Buck Buchanan Award
The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football, and was first given in 1995 after the Walter Payton Award was ...
in 2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...
as the top defensive player in the nation in Division I-AA. Wide receiver Rodrick Rumble was an All-American in 2011, a season in which he broke the Big Sky conference record for receptions with 112. Return specialist Tavoy Moore was given first-team All-American honors by the American Football Coaches Association
The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "maint ...
(AFCA) for the 2010 season. Quarterback Mike Machurek was named a Kodak All-American for his 1981 championship season. Punter Jon Vanderwielen earned several All-American honors in 2009.
Head coaches
The program did not field a team during 1943 and 1945.
Source:
Several head coaches have been inducted to the university's athletic hall of fame:
* Ralph Hutchinson – football (as player), basketball (as player), baseball (as coach)
* Felix Plastino – football (as player)
* Guy Wicks – football (as coach), basketball (as coach)
* John Vesser – football (as coach), athletic director
* Babe Caccia – football (as player), wrestling (as player)
* Jim Koetter – football (as player), track & field (as player)
Facilities
Detail about the team's early facilities is lacking. Before the 1922 season, there was a shared athletic field used by the football, baseball, and track programs, with "practically no provision for the comfort of spectators."
Hutchinson Field
On November 4, 1922, the football team played its first game on Hutchinson Field, named after head coach Ralph Hutchinson
Ralph Fielding "Hutch" Hutchinson (February 19, 1878 – March 30, 1935) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player. He served as the head football coach at Dickinson College (1901), the University of Texas at Austin (1903–1905), ...
.[ There were separate football and baseball fields, surrounded by a quarter-mile track, and provisions for bleachers to hold 5000 spectators along with automobile parking.][ This field was used until partway through the 1936 season. The area is now the Hutchinson Memorial Quadrangle (located at ).
]
Spud Bowl
Hutchinson Field was replaced by an outdoor stadium in 1936. The first game held there was a 19–32 loss to the Montana State Bobcats
The Montana State Bobcats are the varsity athletic teams representing Montana State University in Bozeman in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors thirteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, skiing, tennis, a ...
on November 11, 1936. Newspaper reports indicate the stadium was named the "Spud Bowl" during the 1946 season. It remained the team's home field through the 1969 season. At the south end of campus, the former Spud Bowl is now Davis Field (named for William E. Davis and located at ), which continues as the home venue for outdoor track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
and soccer.
Holt Arena
The team's current home venue is an indoor arena that was conceived by ISU athletic director Milton W. "Dubby" Holt in 1966. ISU students voted to appropriate not more than $2.8 million to the project two years later. Originally named the ASISU MiniDome, it was renamed Holt Arena in 1988 to honor Holt. The arena replaced the Spud Bowl as the Bengals' home football stadium in 1970.
The arena is an indoor multi-purpose athletic stadium located on the north end of the ISU campus. Completed in September 1970, it is the oldest enclosed stadium on a college campus in the United States and the second-oldest overall. Only the Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Housto ...
in Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
, completed in 1965, predates it.
Rivalries
Idaho
Idaho State and Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...
have a rivalry that can be traced all the way back to 1916 when they played their first game against each other, with Idaho winning, 32–0. They have played 42 rivalry games since then. Idaho won the first 8 games in the series, but Idaho State snapped that winning streak in 1969 with a high scoring 47–42 victory. The rivalry remained competitive throughout the 1970s and 1980s, neither team three-peating throughout that period, but the rivalry entered another stale stretch in 1988, Idaho winning the next 7 games. Idaho State ended the streak in 1995. In 1996, Idaho moved up to Division I-A, now the Football Bowl Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...
(FBS), and the rivalry halted. The two schools played each other only 4 times during Idaho's stay in the FBS, Idaho winning all of them. In 2018, Idaho moved back down to Division I Football Championship Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...
(FCS), and rejoined the Big Sky Conference. Since then, they have played an annual rivalry game dubbed "Battle of the Domes", Idaho State winning the first game under that branding, 62–28.
Weber State
Idaho State and Weber State
Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
History
Weber State University was founded ...
first played each other in October 1962. However, the two teams weren't rivals until Idaho moved to Division I-A in 1996, leaving Idaho State without an in-state rival, which left Weber State as the closest in-conference school to Idaho State. Weber State is Idaho State's most played rival, as they have played each other annually since both joined the Big Sky Conference as charter members in July 1963. The rivalry is also protected by the conference, so they are guaranteed to play each other once per season.
Portland State
Portland State first joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996, and has become one of Idaho State's conference protected rivals.
All-time record vs. Big Sky teams
As of the 2021 season, ISU has the following records against other Big Sky teams.
Idaho State players in the NFL
* DE - Jeff Charleston
Jeffrey David Charleston (born January 19, 1983) is a former American football defensive end. He was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Idaho State University.
Charleston has also been a ...
(2006–2012); Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...
champion, First-team All-Big sky, Big Sky newcomer of the year, Big Sky co-defensive P.O.Y.
*DE - Jared Allen (2004–2015); 4 time first team All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
, 5 time Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
, 2 time NFL sacks leader, winner of the Buck Buchanan Award
The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football, and was first given in 1995 after the Walter Payton Award was ...
*RB - Merrill Hoge (1987–1994)
*C - Evan Dietrich-Smith (2009-2018); Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
champion
*WR - Eddie Bell (1970–1976)
*QB - Mike Machurek (1982–1984); Division 1-AA National champion, AP All-American, All-Big Sky
*C - Will Grant (1978–1987)
*TE - Mike Hancock (1973–1974)
*P - Eddie Johnson Edward, Eddie or Ed Johnson may refer to:
Politicians
* Edward Johnson (founder of Woburn, MA) (1598–1672), colonial military officer and writer
* Edward Johnson (mayor) (1767–1829), mayor of Baltimore
*Edward A. Johnson (1860–1944), first A ...
(2003–2008)
*DE - Bob Otto
Robert E. Otto (born December 12, 1962) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers. He played college football at Idaho State University.
Early years
Otto attende ...
(1985–1987); Second-team All-Big Sky
*OL - John Roman
John George Roman (born August 31, 1952) is a former professional American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). He played seven seasons for the New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American footb ...
(1976–1982)
*LB - Tom Toner (1973–1977); Idaho State Sports Hall of Fame
*T - Brian Vertefeuille (1974)
*S - Jim Wagstaff (1958–1962); Second-team All-AFL, All-RMC
*P - Case deBruijn
Case deBruijn (born April 11, 1960) is a Dutch former American football punter and placekicker. He played one game in the National Football League (NFL) for the Kansas City Chiefs as well as two seasons in the United States Football League (US ...
(1982)
Notable games
Utah Aggies 136, Idaho Tech 0, on October 11, 1919: Idaho State (then known as Idaho Technical Institute) lost to Utah State (then known as Utah Agricultural College) by a score of 136–0.
Idaho 1, Idaho State 0, on November 11, 1978: In the conference finale for both teams in 1978, a night game was scheduled in Moscow, Idaho
Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Univers ...
. ISU planned to fly up to the Palouse
The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, prima ...
that afternoon in two vintage airplanes. One developed engine trouble shortly after takeoff from Pocatello and returned. Both teams were at the bottom of the Big Sky standings and the game was not rescheduled; Idaho was granted a forfeit
Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke
* "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from '' Wonder What's Next''
* '' Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers
...
win.
Idaho State 34, Eastern Kentucky 23, on December 19, 1981: Possibly the most memorable game in Idaho State history was the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game against Eastern Kentucky
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
* China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
* Eastern Air ...
. Idaho State defeated Rhode Island and South Carolina State on their way to the title game, then known as the Pioneer Bowl
The Pioneer Bowl was the name of some December college football bowl games played in two different eras. Between 1971 and 1982, the game was contested 10 times in Texas as an NCAA College Division regional final, or as a playoff game for Divis ...
. Coach Dave Kragthorpe led the Bengals to an 11-point victory and the national title.
Idaho State 30, Nevada 28, on September 16, 2017: One of the most memorable games in recent Idaho State history came against Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
in 2017. Idaho State had lost each of their prior 10 games against Nevada, and were 33.5 point underdogs against the Wolf Pack. However, the Bengals were able to pull off a stunning upset, beating Nevada, 30–28. Nevada nearly pulled off a late game comeback, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter, but were ultimately unable to squeak by Idaho State. This was the first time Idaho State had beaten a school in the Football Bowl Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...
(FBS) since defeating Utah State in 2000.
See also
*Idaho State Bengals football players
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and ...
, a list of notable players for the team
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idaho State Bengals Football
1902 establishments in Idaho
American football teams established in 1902