News Story - Idaho State Journal

GREELEY, Colo. -- After Idaho State's 29-9 loss to Northern Colorado on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Greeley, Colo., offensive lineman Lance Cartwright put his arm around a distraught quarterback Russel Hill.

The sophomore signal caller had played one of the least impressive games of his career -- statistically, anyway -- and the Bengals had dropped to 0-6 on the season.

Minutes before, Hill had summed up the game: "I don't think we regressed, but at the same time we didn't take steps forward. We didn't do what we wanted to do. Basically it was not a helpful week."

No, the Bengals did not play their best game on Saturday. It was their worst in many aspects. But for the second straight week, the Idaho State defense held its opponent down and gave its offense time to come back -- though the offense never did.

For Hill's side, it may have been a forgettable week. But it wasn't for the defense which, aside from one long run, clamped down on a mid-grade Big Sky offense.

Rushing offense: F

On a dreary day that seemed to lend itself well to running, the Bengals attempted 22 rushing plays and gained 88 yards. Senior Ken Cornist carried a season-low three times for 18 yards. Idaho State fumbled four times. That should say it all.

Passing offense: D

Junior Jaron Taylor continued to pile on yards this season with a six-catch, 92- yard effort in the rain. Hill spread around his 23 completions to 10 different receivers, a rare diversity thus far this season. But the Bengals averaged 5.5 yards per passing attempt against a Bears team that had allowed 8.0 yards per pass so far this season. Part of that can be credited to a slippery football, but still -- it was Idaho State's worst passing effort since its opener at Boise State.

Rushing defense: F

Northern Colorado became the latest team to gouge Idaho State's run defense. The Bears gained 287 rushing yards on 52 carries. With much thanks to a 75-yard touchdown run, Tyrone Wilson averaged 8.3 yards on his 15 carries. Idaho State is on pace to allow more than 2,500 yards rushing this season.

Passing defense: B

The secondary continues to improve statistically, though interceptions are still at a premium. Bears quarterback Bryan Waggener completed 13-of-25 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, but none of his passes gained more than 28 yards, and the team's leading receiver, tight end Ryan Chesla, caught just one pass for seven yards. For context, the Bears came in averaging 272.8 passing yards per game.

Special teams: D

For the fourth game this season, Idaho State either had a punt blocked or an errant snap cost the team a safety. Saturday, it was the latter. When he caught the snap, Jon Vanderwielen improved on his season statistics with a 49.6-yard punt average. He still hasn't punted a touchback yet this year. But the kicking game once again struggled, and Jarrett Huk lost his starting job for at least the second half Saturday after he missed a 40-yard field goal.

Coaching: C

There were no moments of in-game coaching that cost or aided Idaho State on Saturday; the team just was outplayed. Coaches don't cause turnovers; players commit them. Idaho State didn't show a commitment to the run when its opponent did so with great success, but it did stall Northern Colorado's offense repeatedly despite the Bears' 37-plus minutes of possession. The week may not have been helpful for the offense, but it seemed to be for a defense that has now shown improvement for two straight weeks.

GPA: 1.17, a 'D' average

This document was originally published online on Monday, October 13, 2008

Article Rating

Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of our paper.

Submit a Comment

Commenting Rules

We encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.

Report a Comment

Report a comment for review to the ISJ web staff.