Five Big Sky Conference teams are ranked in the latest Sports Network Top 25 poll.
Idaho State isn’t one of them. Despite a four-game winning streak and one of the nation’s best offenses, the Bengals are sitting on the outside looking in.
Eastern Washington is at No. 5, Montana is No. 11, Montana State is 15th overall, Cal Poly leaped into the rankings for the first time this season at No. 21 and Northern Arizona is at No. 25.
Idaho State received 44 points. If you’re counting beyond the 25, that puts the Bengals at No. 35. ISU would be No. 31 in the coaches polls.
Why is any of this important?
Because there are two ways into the FCS playoffs. For ISU, the first is to snatch an automatic bid by winning the Big Sky Conference. The second is to earn an at-large invitation via a committee of 11 members.
The polls aren’t everything but they are an indication of perception. There are 10 teams in the coaches’ poll with as many or more losses than Idaho State. But the Bengals’ past — 10 straight losing seasons — is holding ISU back from jumping into the polls.
There’s only one way for Idaho State to fix that — just keep winning. It starts with this weekend’s matchup with No. 21 Cal Poly at Holt Arena.
Before that, though, let’s look back and decipher the pluses and minuses from Idaho State’s 31-13 win over Portland State on Saturday in Oregon.
PLUS
Idaho State’s opportunistic defense. The Bengals are giving up a lot of yards on defense (492 per game) and have the worst pass defense in the league (359 ypg).
But after holding Northern Colorado and Portland State to 12 and 13 points, respectively, ISU is No. 5 in the Big Sky in scoring defense. Conference opponents are averaging 26.6 points per game.
Despite giving up chunks of yardage, Idaho State leads the Big Sky in turnover margin at plus-11, sacks (21) and red zone defense.
“We go to war with each other,” said ISU junior Cody Sorensen after the PSU game. “They may go 80 (yards) but to get the extra 20 yards, ... to get in the end zone, they’ll have to fight and scratch and claw to get it. We’ll never give up.”
MINUS
Idaho State’s offense. Portland State entered Saturday’s game as the No. 1 defense in the Big Sky. Turns out, the Vikings were as good as advertised.
Idaho State’s offense wasn’t bad. The Bengals scored four touchdowns, quarterback Justin Arias threw for 319 yards and avoided an interception and Madison Mangum broke 100 yards receiving for the fifth time this season.
But the Bengals averaged 5.2 yards per play, their lowest mark of the season since Utah State. Junior running back Xavier Finney had to fight for every one of his 88 yards rushing on 23 carries.
PLUS
Idaho State’s safety play. Bengals coach Mike Kramer has repeated again and again that Idaho State’s defense will not play up to its potential until safeties Taison Manu and Sorensen rise their own level of play.
Against Portland State, Manu and Sorensen combined for 24 tackles, one tackle for loss, an interception and two pass break ups. The junior duo spearheaded an ISU defense that held the Vikings 112 rushing yards below their season average in the Big Sky.
MINUS
Northern Arizona could win the Big Sky Conference without playing Idaho State, Montana State or Montana. And the Lumberjacks faced both Eastern Washington (without Vernon Adams) and Cal Poly at home.
NAU’s conference road games this season include Northern Colorado (2-4 Big Sky record), Portland State (2-3), Weber State (0-5) and North Dakota (1-4).
Bengals in the national and Big Sky rankings
— At 46 points per game, Idaho State leads the Big Sky in scoring. The Bengals are second in the nation in total offense (563.2 yards per game)
— Junior running back Xavier Finney is seventh in the country averaging 137.2 yards a game. For the season, Finney has 1,235 yards and 14 touchdowns.
— Senior quarterback Justin Arias leads the nation in passing yards (3,092) and touchdown passes (29).
— Junior wide receiver Madison Mangum is ninth in the FCS with 865 receiving yards. Sophomore KW Williams is tied for seventh with nine receiving touchdowns.
Players of the week
The Big Sky Conference selected Northern Colorado quarterback Sean Rubalcaba as the Offensive Player of the Week, Cal Poly linebacker Nick Dzubnar as the Defensive Player of the Week and Northern Arizona kicker/punter Ryan Hawkins as the Special Teams Player of the Week.
Rubalcaba accounted for 352 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in Northern Colorado’s 27-21 road win over UC Davis. Rubalcaba completed 21-of-28 passes for 278 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed 16 times for 74 yards and scored on an 8-yard run.
Dzubnar tallied 18 tackles with 1.5 sacks and a pass breakup as the Mustangs upset then-No. 8 Montana State 35-27 in San Luis Obispo. The Buck Buchanan Award candidate helped the Mustangs defense hold Montana State 16 points under its season average.
Hawkins handled all kicking and punting duties for the second straight week in a 29-22 come-from-behind road win over Weber State. Hawkins averaged 49.4 yards per punt with a long of 66 yards and three were downed inside the 20-yard line. All five of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. He also made all three of his PATs, and threw a two-point conversion on a fake extra point to Beau Gardner to tie the game at 22-22 just before halftime.
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