Box Score Photo Gallery Final Stats
POCATELLO, Idaho- In front of the largest crowd to watch an Idaho State football game in four years, Bengal coach
Mike Kramer earned his first victory as the head coach at Idaho State as his team beat Western State 44-7 in front of a crowd of 8,002.
Idaho State (1-1) racked up 526 yards of total offense thanks to the play of quarterbacks
Kevin Yost and
Justin Arias. Yost finished the afternoon 24-for-31 with 289 yards and four touchdowns while Arias was 8-for-15 with one touchdown, one interception and 142 yards through the air.
Rodrick Rumble had 10 receptions for the second straight game for 144 yards and three touchdowns, including a 51-yarder early in the first quarter.
Josh Hill caught four balls for 92 yards and one touchdown, a 53-yarder from Arias in the third quarter.
Anthony Boyles and
Derek Graves also caught four passes while
Daniel McSurdy and
Andrew Zamora caught three.
Jahmel Rover scored this third touchdown of the season on a one-yard run. He carried the ball five times for 42-yards including a long of 32.
Defensively,
Basim Hudeen led ISU with eight tackles, one forced fumble and one tackle for loss.
Jordan Monga had seven tackles while
A.J. Storms and
J.T. Albers had six. Idaho State had four sacks on the night and held Western State to only 220 total yards.
Idaho State led 38-0 before Western State was able to get in the scoreboard. ISU struck twice in the first two minutes of the game when Yost hit Rumble on touchdown strikes of 26 and 51. He then added his third touchdown with 8:29 left in the second quarter to up the lead to 21-0.
Brendon Garcia booted a 41-yard field goal just before halftime to give ISU a 24-0 lead at the break.
Rover scored his touchdown on a one-yard run with 9:58 left in the third and
Luke Austin had a 27-yard touchdown reception two minutes later to up the lead to 38-0. After the Mountaineers scored, Hill caught a 53-yard bullet from Arias and out ran the Western State defense into the endzone.
Idaho State opens Big Sky Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 4 p.m. against Northern Colorado at Holt Arena. It is the Hall of Fame game as Boyd Hall, Wayne Hill, Willie Humes, Karen Tharp and Slyvia Papenberg will be honored at halftime.
For the Sept. 17 game vs. Northern Colorado and the Oct. 1 Homecoming game vs. Portland State, fans can purchase a ticket for both games for only $19.81. The 1981 National championship team will be honored at halftime of Homecoming.
Mike Kramer Quotes
Opening Statement
"I am proud of our football team and the way they played. I thought we played with good physicalaity. I like the way our quarterback played. Our offensive line played very well. You have to give Western State some credit. They put good pressure on the quarterback and they did a nice job of using their running game to knock us off the ball."
On the play of the defense and team
"We had a lot of three and outs defensively. We played a lot of guys and we played almost every single guy that was eligibile. But I am proud to say we won our first home game. It is always good to win at home."
On the Crowd
"It is the largest crowd at ISU in a lot of years. It was one of the coolest things I have seen. The student section was great and the fan base was awesome. I thought our dedication to what we are trying to get done was pretty darn good. We need to credit our coaching staff. Our offensive led by
Don Bailey and our entire defensive coaching staff did a really nice job."
On how the team bounced back from last week
"It was a great rebound from last week in Pullman. We have faith in what we are doing. This is still a building block. I know that Western State is going to get better in years to come."
On Rodrick Rumble
"
Rodrick Rumble is a special talent and he is going to be a force to be recokened with in this conference for along time. He has to continue to work hard."
On the play of the offense
"I thought we were in a nice rhytum on offense. Don called an excellent game. We got a couple of drops. We got a little fatigued at wide out, especially with the newer guys. You can't be tired. You have to be so mentally tough as a receiver in our offense. It is excellent that we were able to execute what we were talking about. We know what we are capable of. As long our receiving corp understands where our quarterbacks want to throw the ball. Kevin is so far ahead of our receivers that it is a concern of ours. Anthony Tuckers continues to drive his guys to be more like Kevin. They are throwing the ball where the receivers should be."
Game Notes
Fans Flock to Holt Arena
The attendance for Saturday's home opener vs. Western State was 8,002. It was the largest crowd to watch an Idaho State football since Nov. 10, 2007 when 8,645 people watched No. 3 Montana beat ISU 27-14.
Rodrick Rumbles
For the second straight game,
Rodrick Rumble caught 10 balls. On Saturday, against Western State he had 10 catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns. In the first two-games of the 2011 season he has caught 20 passes for 362 yards and five touchdowns. Rumble caught 32 passes for 464 yards and two touchdowns in 2010.
Lighting Up the Scoreboard
The 44 points scored on Saturday was the most points in an Idaho State football game since Sept. 9, 2006 when the Bengals beat Fort Lewis 48-12.
Quick Strike
It took Idaho State only two minutes to go up 14-0 on Western State. After a turnover on the opening kickoff,
Kevin Yost hit
Rodrick Rumble of the third play of the game for a 26-yard score. After a four-and out by Western State Yost hit Rumble on the first play from scrimmage for a 51-yard touchdown.
Efficient Under the Gun
Quarterbacks
Kevin Yost and
Justin Arias have shown their effectiveness through the first two-games as the two quarterbacks have combined to complete 70 passes on 100 attempts for a 70 percent completion percentage. They are averaging 430 yards a game on six touchdown passes.
HALL OF FAME/1981 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PROMOTION
Fans have an opportunity to purchase a ticket to the Sept. 17 Hall of Fame game vs. Northern Colorado and the Homcoming game on Oct. 1 vs. Portland State for $19.81. The two-game ticket pack is in honor of the 30-year reunion of the 1981 National Championship team. That team will be honored at Homecoming.
