Deciphering the pluses and minuses from the Bengals’ 2014 season

McSurdy named co-offensive player of the week

Idaho State’s football team broke new ground time and time again this season.

The Bengals severed a 48-game road losing streak, knocked off a ranked opponent for the first time in nine years, rewrote the school’s offensive record book and after beating Weber State 46-28 Saturday, Idaho State ended the 2014 season ranked No. 24 in The Sports Network Top 25 poll.

ISU hadn’t cracked into the polls since 2005.

But there was one streak the Bengals couldn’t break. They did not quite do enough to garner an at-large bid into the FCS playoffs. The full 24-team field was released Sunday morning and the Bengals were left on the outside.
Idaho State has not made the FCS playoffs since 1983.

Led by fourth-seeded Eastern Washington, three Big Sky teams skated into the playoff field. Montana will host San Diego and Montana State will host South Dakota State in the first round on Saturday. EWU has a bye.

Idaho State will have to be content with a second-place finish in the Big Sky Conference standings and an 8-4 overall record.

It’s with a bittersweet note that Idaho State’s season — one of the best it has had since the inception of the Big Sky Conference in 1963 — comes to an abrupt halt.

Let’s look back and decipher the pluses and minuses from Idaho State’s 6-2 campaign in the Big Sky.

Minus
Idaho State’s exclusion from the 24-team playoff. Why were the Bengals left out of the playoffs? Because they couldn’t beat Eastern Washington or Montana State. Win either of those games — contests decided by eight total points — and ISU is getting ready for a first-round playoff game.

The Bengals finished the season with six Division I wins. Teams like Montana, Montana State and Indiana State — others considered on the playoff bubble like the Bengals — all had at least seven Division I victories.

Idaho State played 10 games versus Division I opponents. Two of those were on the road at FBS Utah and Utah State. Realistically that left the Bengals with eight winnable games versus Division I competition. The margin for error was practically nonexistent.

The FCS playoff selection committee — comprised of 11 members from the conferences that receive an automatic bid into the postseason — is not bound to only hand out at-large bids to teams with a minimum of seven Division I wins.

But once Montana crushed Montana State 34-7 on Saturday, how could the committee ignore Idaho State’s loss to MSU the week before?

Bobcats quarterback Jake Bleskin went 25-for-35 passing for 301 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions against Idaho State’s defense. The very next week, Montana picked off Bleskin five times and forced him out of the game because he was playing so poorly.

Six Division I wins, Montana’s victory over Montana State and Idaho State’s loss at MSU sealed the Bengals’ postseason fate.

Plus
Idaho State’s offense. ISU set single-season records for points scored, total passing yards, passing touchdowns and total rushing yards in 2014. With Walter Payton Award candidate Justin Arias and an offensive line that was equally good at pass blocking and opening running lanes, Idaho State was nearly unstoppable.

ISU’s worst offensive performance in eight Big Sky Conference games might have been against Portland State. The Vikings sacked Arias three times and held the Bengals to 5.2 yards per play. But Idaho State still scored 31 points and finished with 430 total yards.

The Bengals’ offense isn’t just one of the best in the school’s history, it will go down as one the greatest ever in the Big Sky.

Plus
Justin Arias. Who was better than Arias in 2014? The senior threw for more yards (4,076) and touchdowns (38) than any other quarterback in the country and second place wasn’t close.

Arias threw an interception on 1.9 percent of his 522 passing attempts. For reference, Eastern Washington’s Vernon Adams — who Idaho State coach Mike Kramer said is the best quarterback in the history of the Big Sky — threw a pick on 1.6 percent of his passing attempts, and Sacramento State senior Garrett Safron threw an interception on 2.3 percent of his passing attempts.

Plus
Idaho State’s nine returning starters on offense for the 2015 season. While Idaho State just finished with its best offensive season ever, it’s hard to imagine they might just be getting started. Xavier Finney, four offensive linemen and every wide receiver and tight end on Idaho State’s roster is back next year.
No team in the country returns more offensive talent in 2015 than the ISU Bengals.

Plus/Minus
Idaho State’s defense. The Bengals defense had moments when it played very well this season, especially in wins over Northern Colorado, Portland State and Cal Poly.

But there is still so much room to get better. The Bengals allowed an average of 501.9 yards per game in the Big Sky and were dead last defending the pass. They had 22 sacks in league play but 14 of them were against two opponents (Southern Utah and Northern Colorado).

Just like on offense, though, Idaho State returns enough players to believe 2015 will be better. Nose tackle Tyler Kuder, linebacker Mario Jenkins and safeties Taison Manu and Cody Sorensen provide reason for hope.

Bengals in the rankings
— Even after missing most of the final game of the season, running back Xavier Finney finished eighth in the nation with 1,495 rushing yards.

— Wide receiver Madison Mangum, who missed one game with an injury, ended the season with 1,234 receiving yards, the fourth-best total in the country. Mangum and KW Williams were tied 13th in the nation with 10 receiving touchdowns apiece.

— Mario Jenkins is 19th in the FCS with 120 total tackles and Mitch Beckstead finished his senior season 24th overall with 117 tackles. Taison Manu was 32nd with 110 tackles.

— Idaho State had the country’s No. 1 passing offense with 4,177 yards, and the Bengals finished second in total offense with an average of 562 yards per game.

— Idaho State was 110th in total defense, giving up 474.8 yards per game.