Today's preview of the Northern Colorado-Idaho State game in the Journal ...
Bengals hope to break road losing streak against Northern Colorado
More Idaho State football coverage leading up to Saturday's game ...
Bengals hope to break road losing streak against Northern Colorado
Bengals defense playing catch-up (videos)
Depth at tight end boosts entire offense
The Good and the bad — Idaho State vs Southern Utah
TODAY’S CRUCIAL MATCHUP
In three Big Sky Conference games, Idaho State quarterback Justin Arias has thrown for 1,299 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.
ISU coach Mike Kramer said the Bengals didn’t have their “A” game in a 56-28 win over Southern Utah last week. The fourth-year coach pointed to Arias as a guy who didn’t play as “perfect or as well as he’s played.” That’s in a game where Arias set a career-high with 465 passing yards.
“We’re being nitpicky with him,” said Idaho State offensive coordinator Don Bailey. “He’s been in the program for four years. We grade him as hard as the first day he got here.”
The Bengals expect a lot from Arias because he’s the conductor of their high-octane offense. When Arias is on his game, he makes all the pieces come together.
For that simple fact alone, you can bet Northern Colorado is going to do everything it can to get after Arias. The Bears will rely on a blitzing defense to get the job done.
“They’re committed to doing it,” Bailey said. “They blitz dramatically more than Southern Utah. They’re way more committed to trying to apply pressure with more bodies. Whether it’s a five or six-man pressure, they want to be able to do that a lot more times a game than Southern Utah.”
Bengals senior running back Daniel McSurdy said Northern Colorado blitzes 80 percent of the time on third downs.
It places a major emphasis on Arias, his offensive line, the running backs and the receivers to recognize where the blitz is coming from and adjust accordingly.
“We’ve just got to work hard this week in our preparation,” said ISU inside wide receivers coach Mike Ferriter. “(Get) in the film room and try to recognize anything before it happens. But Northern Colorado does a good job of holding their pressures off and not tipping their hat a lot. It’ll be a challenge for us to see it on the go, on the fly.”
IDAHO STATE KEYS TO SUCCESS
1
Establish the running game. Northern Colorado likes to blitz. Best way to stymie the wave of a hard pass rush?
“You just have to get the ball out. ... Have an effective running game,” said ISU quarterback Justin Arias. “When you gash them or gouge them for big plays on blitzes, they don’t tend to blitz as much.”
The Bengals offense should be used to dealing with blitzes. They play against an aggressive defense every day in practice.
“Our defense usually blitzes our nuts off,” Arias said. “So we’re pretty used to it. You just have to get the ball out.”
Arias has to make fast reads, and the offensive line needs to do what is has done well the entire season — protect their quarterback.
And — at least statistically — that shouldn’t be an issue. The Bears are tied with Cal Poly for the fewest sacks in the Big Sky Conference (7), and the Bengals have given up the third-fewest number of sacks in the league (9).
Another factor in Idaho State’s favor: The Bengals should be able to run the ball, especially when UNC goes to its nickel defensive package.
“They have some secondary people playing linebackers and I think our offensive front is very fast to the second level, so they should have a field day if they’re going against 180-pound guys instead of 240-pound guys,” said ISU running back Daniel McSurdy.
2
Get after Rubalcaba. Northern Colorado sophomore quarterback Sean Rubalcaba is third in the nation with a 69 percent completion percentage. He had to beat out North Texas-transfer Brock Berglund in the fall to replace longtime starter Seth Lobato.
A big reason Rubalcaba won the job? Poise.He was voted a team captain by his teammates during spring practice.
“He does a good job in the pocket. He’s pretty athletic,” said Idaho State co-defensive coordinator Spencer Toone. “If he has a window, he can run. He’s taken a few the distance. ... He wants to pass first, so that’s what makes him good as well.”
The Bengals are second in the Big Sky with 18 team sacks. But they want to do better.
“Our pass rush continues to become a major part of what we’re doing,” said ISU head coach Mike Kramer. “We’re not really tweaking anything. We’re making some adjustments in our defense that maybe we haven’t looked at before that will be evident on Saturday.”
ISU wants to pressure Rubalcaba so he has less time to find his top target, senior receiver Dimitri Stimphil, who has 33 catches for 494 yards and two touchdowns this season. Toone called Stimphil “dynamic.”
And unlike Southern Utah a week ago, the Bears are a much more balanced offense. UNC wants to be able to run the ball and will use two running backs (Robert Holland and Darius Graham) who average a combined 96 yards a game.
“They look like grinders,” Beckstead said. “They have several playmakers on the team.”
3
Start the third quarter fast. Idaho State’s worst quarter this season has been the third. The Bengals have outscored opponents 184-136 in the second and fourth quarters. But opponents have outscored Idaho State 55-49 in the third quarter.
“We haven’t played great in the third quarter all season long,” said Bengals coach Mike Kramer. “... It’s almost like at halftime, we’re not going to go up to the locker room.”
Against Southern Utah, ISU held a 35-21 lead at half. By the end of the third quarter, though, the Thunderbirds had whittled the lead down to seven. The Bengals had gone cold on offense. It took a 21-point fourth quarter from Idaho State to put the game away.
“If we’re that good and they’re not playing well and we have a substantial lead at halftime, we need to sure in the third quarter, the first four or five minutes in the third quarter, to reassert our will,” Kramer said. “We need to be able to make sure that we’re conscientious of that.”
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