Nov. 1, 2003
Box Score
Pocatello, ID --- Idaho State sophomore running back David Beverly returned from a broken arm in a big way, rushing for a career-best 135 yards as ISU dominated time of possession and defeated Portland State 30-20. The win pushed the 24th-ranked Bengals to 6-3 overall, and 4-2 in the conference. Portland State dropped to 4-5 and 1-4.
About the only thing Beverly didn't do rushing the ball was score, but Mark Hetherington took care of that, tossing three touchdown passes to three different receivers as he threw for 323 yards on 30-of-44 passing. Shedrack Okoebor, who was held without a catch against Weber State, caught a career-high eight passes for 86 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left in the half. The score made it 17-7, and as Okoebor caught the ball, he was hit so hard his helmet was knocked off, but he hung on for the catch.
Idaho State found themselves in a hole after the third play as a coverage breakdown led to an 82-yard strike to a wide open Ryan Brown, who ended the night with 178 yards receiving. The Bengals responded with two scoring drives in the first quarter, a 5-yard TD pass to Key, and a 23 yard Jeremy Hershey field goal.
Hershey and PSU's Matt Langford traded two field goals in the second half and ISU led 23-13 when the Bengals put it away as Hetherington found Akilah Lacey for an acrobatic 26-yard touchdown to make it 30-13. Portland State added a late touchdown on a Joe Wiser 19-yard pass from Amad Robinson to account for the final 30-20 score.
The defense was a huge story for ISU. A week after allowing 306 yards rushing to Weber State, the Bengals limited the Vikings to only 47 rushing yards on 26 carries, including zero yards rushing for Payton Candidate Ryan Fuqua. ISU allowed just 355 yards of total offense, and limited Portland State to just 58 plays, and only 3-for-14 on third down.
Notes: Jared Allen recorded two more sacks, giving him 16.5, tying for the team record with Josh Hays, who had the same total in 1994. Allen now has 38.5 sacks, just four behind Hays' school record of 42.5 sacks ... Jeremy Hershey was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals ... PSU went 2-for-2 on field goals, making ISU opponents 12-for-13 on the season, the one miss being a blocked kick by Mark Weivoda ... in the bizarre play of the season, Portland State attempted a punt from the ISU 49, but the ball was snapped over punter Matt Langford's head. He picked the ball up at the 12 yard-line and punted a ball to his own 26-yard line, where Karl Kuhua-Liftee attempted to pick it up and run with it. The ball bounced off his arm and was recovered by Portland State at the PSU 28, but since ISU never had possession, Portland State turned the ball over on downs since it didn't gain yardage for a first down. Liftee was credited with a -2 yard return, and PSU was credited with a team punt for -25 yards.
