News Story - Idaho State Journal

For the Journal

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- For most of the Idaho State football team's game at No. 4 Cal Poly on a drizzly Saturday night, Bengals cornerback D.J. Clark had done what seemed impossible -- make the man chasing Jerry Rice's records into more of a luxury than a necessity.

Clark, who last year was part of a secondary that yielded Ramses Barden a career-high in receiving yards, battled several Mustangs attempts to get the All-American into the end zone.

Barden, who'd caught a touchdown in 15 straight games -- two shy of Rice's Football Championship Subdivision (then Division I-AA) record -- was sitting at three catches for 50 yards and, conspicuously, no scores midway through the third quarter before 7,014 fans at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Then Jonathan Dally rolled out to his left and lofted a 27-yard corner pass to the 6-foot-6 Barden, who touched down over Clark to give the Mustangs a five-score lead. It was as unnecessary as it was telling -- Cal Poly could do whatever it wanted offensively in a 49-10 win.

Although Barden finished with four catches for 77 yards and the touchdown, the Mustangs (6-1) took 45 carries for 459 yards -- the most allowed by the Bengals (0-9, 0-6 Big Sky) since giving up 679 to Southern Utah in 2001.

"They have a lot of great running backs," Clark said. "They were explosive, hard to tackle and really slippery, especially with the rain."

Barden was held to his second-fewest receptions in a game this year.

"We were a little more confident," Clark said. "Every ball he caught, he had to work for."

Bengals head coach John Zamberlin said Barden was indeed approached differently.

"I think D.J. just rose up," he said. "A couple times, we gave him help up top so he could be physical and jam him. But they've got a lot of weapons. You try to take some things away and they find another way to get after you."

Ryan Mole led the Mustangs with 140 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries, and Jordan Yocum took his eight attempts for a career-high 116 yards and two scores.

"They did some things on the back side to change up our looks," Barden said. "When you try to stop our passing game, we're going to take care of business on the ground and run it until you say we can't run it anymore."

That they did.

Yocum burst up the middle for a 42-yard touchdown run just 4:05 into the second half, giving Cal Poly a 35-7 lead.

In the first half alone, the Mustangs rushed for 247 yards on 25 carries. It couldn't have been more different from last year's 48-28 Cal Poly win in Pocatello, where Dally passed for 453 yards.

"They do a few things and they do them well," said Bengals senior linebacker Ryan Phipps, who made a team-best nine tackles. "They did what we thought they were going to do -- we just didn't stop them. They're shifty."

In the second quarter, Kenyon Blue set up Idaho State's only touchdown by making three would-be tacklers miss as he sliced 20 yards to the Cal Poly 24-yard line. After Mustangs cornerback Xavier Gardner reached inside on receiver Isaiah Burel, resulting in a pass interference penalty that moved the ball to the Mustangs nine-yard line, Clint Knickrehm dove into the end zone on a one-yard plunge two plays later to pull the Bengals within 14-7.

Russel Hill completed 18-of-27 passes for 173 yards in defeat.

Knickrehm rushed for a team-high 56 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Burel caught a career-high 11 passes for 110 yards.

Idaho State, in danger of its first winless season since 1988, hosts No. 13 Weber State at 1:37 p.m. Saturday before visiting No. 6 Montana and returning home for a season finale against Sacramento State.

The Bengals' 13-game losing skid remained the country's second-longest.

"We're going to keep going hard," Clark said. "We're still going to come out with the same thought that we can beat anyone we go against. We're not going to give up."

By Donovan Aird

This document was originally published online on Sunday, November 02, 2008

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