The good and the bad: ISU at MSU

Not all losses are created equal. Idaho State rolled into Bozeman, Mont., Saturday and played a great first half.

Then after a third quarter where nothing seemed to go right, the Bengals couldn’t rally late to beat Montana State. The only way ISU can win a share of the Big Sky Conference now is for Portland State and Montana to pull off upsets over Eastern Washington and Montana State, respectively.

As for the playoffs, well, we’ll get to that later.

One thing is for certain moving forward. Weber State is rolling into Pocatello on Saturday with a two-game winning streak and a lot of confidence. The Bengals will have to play well to avoid back-to-back losses.

Before that, though, let’s look back and decipher the pluses and minuses from Idaho State’s 44-39 loss at Montana State.

Minus
Anyone blaming Idaho State’s loss on the referees. Many folks — i.e. ISU fans — believe there should have been a flag for pass interference on Justin Arias’ final pass to Broc Malcom from the 33 with seven seconds left.

The problem is that calling pass interference on that play is a 50-50 decision. Both Malcom and the MSU defensive back were fighting for position. Here’s the truth: Idaho State should have never put itself in position to have to score from the 33 in the final seconds. The Bengals whiffed on an extra point, couldn’t convert on a two-point conversion and had two crucial second-half turnovers.

Idaho State didn’t lose the game on the final play.

Minus
Idaho State’s defense on third and fourth down. Montana State went 11 for 17 on third down and 3 for 3 on fourth down.

That’s 20 chances for ISU’s defense to get off the field, but MSU kept extending drive after drive. The Bobcats punished the Bengals in the third quarter when they went 6 for 6 on third down and outscored Idaho State 14-0.

The Bengals contained MSU’s run game but they couldn’t stop it. The ’Cats averaged 5.3 yards a carry and three different ball carriers had at least 56 yards rushing.

Minus
Injuries. Defensive lineman Sage Warner is out of the season and Robby Mackesey is battling through an injury. It has cut into Idaho State’s D-line depth, and the timing is tough considering the Bengals have played two of the better running teams in the Big Sky the past two weeks.

It isn’t just the defensive line that’s beat up. Running back Xavier Finney was hurt in the first half against the Bobcats. Finney returned in the third quarter, fumbled the second time he touched the ball and then had one more carry the rest of the game.

Finney carried the ball 13 times for 127 yards. MSU’s defense had no answer for the junior who is the Big Sky’s top rusher with 1,511 yards.

If Finney is never hurt or Madison Mangum doesn’t go down with an injury late — forcing him out of the game on ISU’s final drive — Idaho State has a much better shot of winning that game.

Plus
Justin Arias. Arias is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He threw for 370 yards and three touchdowns against MSU, and some of his throws — down the seam to KW Williams, long TD passes to Mangum and Hagen
Graves — were perfectly placed. There are only a few QBs in the entire FCS who could have made those throws.

Arias leads the county with 3,754 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, and should be invited to the FCS awards banquet in December to receive the Walter Payton Award.

Minus
Idaho State’s Big Sky championship hopes. Bigger minus: ISU’s chances to reach the 24-team playoff.
The Bengals cannot win seven Division I games, and that alone is a crushing blow to Idaho State’s playoff resume.

But here’s the thing, anyone paying attention should be able to figure out that Idaho State is one of the top 24 teams in the country. The Bengals pass the eye test and deserve a chance to compete in the postseason (assuming they can beat Weber State).

BENGALS IN THE RANKINGS
— Idaho State received seven votes in the latest FCS Coaches’ Poll. That would put the Bengals at No. 34 overall. In The Sports Network poll, ISU had 153 points (No. 27).

— The TSN poll had Eastern Washington at No. 5, Montana State at No. 12 and Montana at No. 13. Northern Arizona and Cal Poly both received votes along with Idaho State.

BIG SKY PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The Big Sky Conference selected UC Davis running back Gabe Manzanares as the Offensive Player of the Week, Weber State defensive end Dustin Martin as the Defensive Player of the Week and North Dakota kicker Reid Taubenheim and Sacramento State punt returner DeAndre Carter are the Co-Special Teams Players of the Week.

Manzanares rushed a career high 37 times for 230 yards and scored three touchdowns in UC Davis’ 48-35 road upset of Cal Poly.

Martin tallied eight tackles with a forced fumble, fumble recovery, blocked kick and a quarterback hurry in Weber State’s 34-21 home win over Northern Colorado.

Taubenheim made three field goals, including the game-winner in North Dakota’s 30-28 upset of No. 22 Northern Arizona.

Carter returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown with 3:23 remaining to lift Sacramento State to a 48-41 win over Portland State.