Mountain West Football: First Look at the Idaho State Bengals
The Bengals are once again starting from scratch and will contend with San Diego State and Utah State in non-conference action.
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A familiar foe, but can they be more than a tune-up?
sAN dIEGO sTATE Football: First Look at 2023 Non-conference Opponents
Ohio | Idaho State | UCLA | Oregon State
uTAH sTATE Football: First Look At 2023 Non-conference Opponents
Iowa | Idaho State | James Madison | UConn
Life in the FCS isn’t always an easy existence. Just ask the Idaho State Bengals.
It’s been five years since the Bengals have had a winning campaign and 40 years since they made their last appearance in the playoffs, signifiers of a difficult job that remained so when Charlie Ragle spent 2022 as ISU’s head coach, finished a turbulent 1-10, and promptly resigned in order to bolt to Arizona State. With a new leader in tow, however, Idaho State might finally be ready to construct their path out of the Big Sky’s cellar… but not before hitting the road to face both San Diego State and Utah State in non-conference play this fall.
Location: Pocatello, Idaho
Conference: Big Sky
Series History: San Diego State leads the all-time series over ISU, 2-0, while Utah State holds an 18-2 all-time advantage.
2022 Record: 1-10 (1-7 Big Sky)
Head Coach: Cody Hawkins (first year). After Rob Phenicie mustered just one winning season in five years at the helm, it was thought that Ragle’s arrival from Cal might be the fix ISU needed, but after a season in which the Bengals finished 118th in scoring offense and 108th in scoring defense, the program now turns to Hawkins.
If that surname sounds familiar, it’s because he played quarterback for his father, former Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins, at Colorado in the late 2000s before later coaching under him at UC Davis beginning in 2017. He served in a handful of roles on staff over the years, most notably as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2021-22, and now returns to the Gem State with hopes of engineering the turnaround of a long-suffering program.
Key Players
Hunter Hays, QB
Three different players threw at least 39 passes for the Bengals in 2022, but Hays had the most success when given the opportunity to take the field. He finished the season completing 63.5% of his passes for 1,251 yards with five touchdowns and six interceptions, though Pro Football Focus notes that he had just 2.49 seconds to throw on average, the sixth-lowest figure in the Big Sky, and took 18 sacks. With better protection in front of him, the junior could help shepherd ISU’s attack in the right direction.
Hunter Hays dives into the endzone!
@IdahoStateFB pic.twitter.com/6vVuz1qMLL
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) August 27, 2022
Josh Alford, CB
After being named a team captain as a sophomore last year, Alford built upon his 2021 campaign and has a strong case as ISU’s best overall defender. He notched a team-high nine pass breakups and added one interception to go along with 47 total tackles, numbers which could put him in the conversation for an all-conference nod with another step forward or two this fall.
Calvin Pitcher, S
No one on the Idaho State roster had a busier 2022 than the Corona, California native Pitcher, who played a team-high 701 snaps and returns to the fold as the Bengals’ leading returning tackler after collecting 62 last season. When targeted, he held opposing receivers to just 8.8 yards per reception, so he’ll be counted upon to continue as a solid anchor in the secondary.
Raiden Hunter, RB
In an offense with few established contributors, Hunter’s junior season could be a busy one. Last year, he led the Bengals with 451 rushing yards on 93 attempts, though he only scored once while playing within a committee. The brighter news: According to PFF, Hunter also forced 25 missed tackles on that modest workload.
David Rowe, DL
Rowe has quietly emerged for ISU over the past two seasons, setting career bests in 2022 with 47 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks while pacing the Bengals defense with an overall PFF grade of 77.4.
Overview:
Offense
There’s no getting around the reality that this unit struggled mightily in 2022, averaging only 4.87 yards per play while scoring more than 21 points just one time. Three different quarterbacks combined to throw 11 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while the offense’s top two scorers, Xavier Guillory and Benjamin Omayebu, transferred this off-season to Arizona State and Tarleton State, respectively.
It could take time, then, for Hawkins to turn this around because there are questions everywhere. Hays is the nominal QB1 for now, but the Idaho State Journal’s Greg Woods noted this spring that the competition is wide open and could include others like Keegan Thompson and Mikey Zele. It wouldn’t be a huge shock if ISU operated in a timeshare when they take the field against SDSU later this fall.
The news in the backfield is at least a little more promising, at least, with both Hunter and Keoua Kauhi back to lead the charge at running back. Finding a field stretcher to replace Guillory won’t be easy, but the Bengals do boast a couple interesting big targets: Wide receiver Christian Fredericksen (14 catches, 217 yards, two touchdowns) is listed at 6-foot-4 while 6-foot-3 tight end Cyrus Wallace (33 catches, 249 yards) returns as the team leader in receptions and yards from a year ago.
As for the offensive line? Well, there’s nowhere to go but up after allowing 31 sacks, the most in the Big Sky, but they’ll have to figure out how to replace four starters in the trenches. Guards Syr Riley and Jacob Angel provide at least some continuity but they only played roughly 500 combined snaps in 2022. Solving this puzzle could unlock a lot more production.
Defense
Despite the best efforts of Rowe, Alford, Charles Ike and others, things often weren’t much better on this side of the ball than they were on offense. In 2022, ISU gave up 6.18 yards per play and a whopping 48.7% third-down conversion rate to go along with 36.5 points per game, but are things looking less grim headed into 2023?
Perhaps. Losing linebackers Ike and Jack Genova and safety Quantraill Morris-Walker will hurt, but the cupboard isn’t totally bare. The defensive line trio of Rowe, Cortland Horton, and Spencer Tatafu (18 combined tackles for loss, six combined sacks) will need to help perk up a pass rush that managed only 21 sacks last season.
The secondary, meanwhile, seems in reasonably good shape with Alford, Pitcher, and Jihad Brown (32 tackles, five pass breakups, one interception) back for another round. If they can get help in front of them, the Bengals should be able to improve on the 7.65 yards per attempt they allowed last year.
Early Predictions
Hawkins heads to Pocatello as one of the youngest head coaches anywhere in college football, but it seems most likely that he’ll have to hope the long rebuild won’t age him prematurely against the Aztecs and Aggies, both of whom should win their contests handily.
San Diego State 45, Idaho State 10
Utah State 38, Idaho State 13
