Bengal Rally Falls Short on Homecoming

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POCATELLO, Idaho- A second-half rally fell just short as Portland State scored a go-ahead touchdown with 1:52 remaining in the game to beat Idaho State 42-35 on Saturday afternoon at Holt Arena in front of a crowd of 8,288, the fifth largest crowd to watch a game at Holt Arena since 2005.

The loss drops Idaho State to 2-3 and 1-2 in Big Sky play while Portland State improved to 3-1 and 2-0 in league.

The Idaho State offense had 394 yards of total offense, led by 367 yards of passing from Kevin Yost. Rodrick Rumble had 11 receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns while Josh Hill had nine receptions for 72 yards.

A.J. Storms led Idaho State defensively with 10 tackles. Greg Melendez had a career-high nine tackles and one forced fumble while Ryan Coleman had seven tackles and a fumble recovery.

Portland State racked up 538 yards of total offense with 436 coming on the ground.

The Bengals trailed 27-14 with 7:34 left in the third quarter. ISU then got within six points on a three-yard pass from Yost with 2:06 to play in the third. Idaho State took the lead at 28-27 on another one-yard touchdown reception by Rumble with 12:20 to play in the game.

On the ensuing possession, Viking running back scored a 23-yard run with 9:47 remaining. Idaho State answered with a two-yard run by Tavoy Moore just under two minutes later to take a 35-34 lead.

The Bengal defense then stopped Portland State on a fourth-and-one to give the ball back to the Bengal offense. Portland State forced ISU to punt the ball but on the punt the snap was off the mark, giving Portland State the ball on the Bengal 36-yard line where two-plays later they scored the go-ahead touchdown.

Idaho State's final effort to tie the game ended when Mike Williams picked off a Kevin Yost pass.

Idaho State hosts Montana next Saturday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. This is the last home game at Holt Arena until November 19 when ISU closes out the 2011 season hosting last year's National Champions Eastern Washington.

Mike Kramer Quotes
Opening Statement
“A very hard fought ball game that was determined really on the nuances of not having just that one extra tick we needed to be successful. We had managed the game to right where we need to be. We thought we were going to be able to put them down and hold them and maybe we would've been able to hold them. That's all fantasy now because you don't know what would've happened because we certainly had an opportunity to hold them to a field goal attempt after we bobbled the punt. It was a great effort by our defense early and a great effort by their offense to come back and knock us off the face of the Holt surface and great job by our offense to come back in the game and help us take the lead. I'm proud of our character. I'm proud of how hard we feel about this game. Congratulations to Portland State for a game well played on the road in the Big Sky.”

Thoughts on offense (Yost & receivers)
“I don't know if Kevin struggled as much as our wide receivers did catching the ball. So then once those guys started hanging on to the ball…the things we were running, we were running the same things in the second half and got going, catching the ball. Pitch and catch, run after the catch. It's pretty simple on offense.”

Thoughts on penalties
“Eight for us is too many.”

Thoughts on PSU's running game
“Very good, very awesome. They have one of the best rushing attacks in the nation and that's coming from a guy who played offensive guard back when General Custer was Lt. Custer and I like what they do. We had a mustache full. We got some stops yet we didn't get enough stops and they kept scoring and tried to get the quarterback running. We had some assignment mistakes and you can't do that on option offense.”

Thoughts on ISU's offense
“I'm disappointed we didn't score in the red zone when we had it down in there early a couple times and of course this last drive we need to get that first down. So yeah, I'm proud of the yards we got, I'm proud of the passes and catches seeing the guys play but we faltered in the limelight and same thing on defense. For a good team to win at home on Homecoming, you can't falter in the limelight.”

“We have a few things we can do; the point is that we have to be able to execute down in there a little bit better. We're not quite as savvy in our offensive front. What we call a walnut situations, when we're trying to crack the nut, and we've got to be able to crack the nut down in there running the ball and we're good enough, we work on it enough to be able to run the ball there and get it in the end zone.

“We were kind of waiting for our receivers to get their game so they'd start catching the ball because we had, I believe, seven drops in the first quarter.”

On the Bad Snap on the Punt at the End of the Fourth Quarter
“We're asking a kid to snap that's been playing the whole game at offensive left tackle. We lost a very good deep snapper to a concussion. It's the maladies that have surrounded this program for years, just another example.”