News Story - Idaho State Journal

POCATELLO - Around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the smell of grilling meat wafted through the air outside Holt Arena, and orange-and-black were the colors of choice for those wandering around.

The pleasing odor and the uniform dress code could mean only one thing - Idaho State football was back.

Indeed it was. The Bengals opened up their 2007 campaign under first-year coach John Zamberlin with a 37-11 win over Southern Oregon in front of 6,056 eager fans.

''I'm excited about the possibilities of a new era of good coaching and good players,'' said Rick Buchanan of Pocatello before the game.

Buchanan described himself as a long-time Idaho State fan, and he was one of many taking part in pregame tailgating on the north side of the stadium.

Throughout the parking lot, fans stuffed their faces - and painted them.

''We have a lot of fun,'' he said.

As part of an opening-game promotion, groups of tailgaters took part in contest to see who had the best appetizers, main dishes, desserts and Bengal pride.

Celebrity judges went from group to group sampling each item and rating the entries. Mary Ellen Zamberlin, wife of coach Zamberlin, took part in the judging, although she started to second-guess the decision when the first-game jitters kicked in once she found her seat inside the dome.

''I'm worse than him,'' Mary Ellen said about her nerves, ''and that food didn't help.''

As for the pregame atmosphere outside the stadium, Mary Ellen said Central Washington - the Zamberlin's previous stop - couldn't compare to Pocatello.

''It's a hundred times better,'' she said. ''There's a lot more support here than I'm used to.''

Shortly before 3 p.m., coach Zamberlin led his players through the giant inflatable bengal head in the southwest corner of Holt Arena.

The season was officially under way.

''It was pretty cool,'' coach Zamberlin said. ''I've done it a lot - walk out on the field, but it was cool walking into Holt. I had goosebumps.''

By Tim Flagstad

This document was originally published online on Sunday, September 09, 2007

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