Sept. 13, 2003
Box Score
Pocatello, ID -- Roman Ybarra threw three touchdowns for a career-high 327 yards and Jeremy Hershey kicked a perfect five-of-five field goals as 16th ranked Idaho State routed Northern Colorado 41-33 Saturday night at Holt Arena in Pocatello.
"I'm happy with our effort tonight," ISU head coach Larry Lewis said. "This game was good for us in many ways. When our offense was down, our defense played well, and when our defense was down, our offense played well. This was a character-building game for us. We played hard tonight and I'm proud of our effort."
Hershey's five field goals ties a school record. James Ferrell kicked five against Southern Utah in 1997. Hershey kicked from distances of 41, 41, 45, 48 and 41 yards.
"He really came through for us tonight," Lewis said. "This is something we have expected him to do for a long time now. He just had the opportunity to show everyone what he's all about tonight. It's nice when your inside the 50 and can count on him kicking it through for us."
Ybarra threw for three touchdowns, hurling twice to Isaac Mitchell for scores and once to Brett Fowler for six points. Ybarra is just the 13th quarterback in ISU history to throw for over 300 yards in a single game.
Defensively, ISU's Mark Weivoda recorded two blocked kicks and one sack for a loss of 13 yards. Safety Ernie James collected ISU's lone interception of the game, returning it 100 yards for the touchdown. James' effort ties the school record for largest interception return in school history. ISU's defense held Northern Colorado to just 3-of-9 on third down conversions.
Idaho State has next week off before beginning its Big Sky Conference schedule Sept. 27 at Sacramento State. The Bengals return home Oct. 4 to host Eastern Washington in the conference home opener.
"It's nice to have a week off to prepare for conference play," Lewis said. "We'll get healthy and be ready and excited to open Big Sky play."
