POCATELLO, Idaho- College football fans throughout southeastern Idaho had never witnessed anything like it before. For those who experienced it, 1981 remains the stuff of which dreams are made.
It remains an understatement to say Idaho State University's 1981 championship campaign came from nowhere because just the season before, the Bengals snapped a 19-game losing streak.
In 1979, ISU suffered through an 0-11 season, the last of a three-year journey of mediocrity which saw ISU win just five of 33 games.
Yet, on Dec. 19, 1981, Idaho State polished off a 12-1 campaign with a national championship. In Wichita Falls, Texas, Idaho State easily defeated No. 1-ranked Eastern Kentucky 34-23 for the FCS (formerly I-AA) Championship. The miracle of Portneuf Valley was complete. The national title ranks 28th on the list of the Big Sky Conference's "50 Greatest Men's Moments.''
"Surreal is the appropriate word to describe it," said Brent Koetter, a Pocatello native and a defensive back for the 1981 Bengals. "We were having fun and kept on winning, kept climbing up the polls and just kept getting better.
Turns out, winning the Big Sky Conference championship was a lot tougher than the playoffs, which became a three-week long coronation. Idaho State outscored its three playoff opponents 126-35, including a 51-0 rout of Rhode Island.
It was a continuation of an offensive juggernaut which averaged nearly 30 points a game.
"We expected to dominate every game," said Mike Machurek, ISU's quarterback who would lead the Big Sky in nearly every passing category and would go on to play for the Detroit Lions. "The first two playoff games were easy."
In 1981, Idaho State's lone loss in 13 games came at Montana, 24-21, when Machurek was benched with a bout of mononucleosis.
Other than that, Weber State was the only team to get close to the Bengals. With more than 13,000 spontaneous fans going nuts in what was then known as the Minidome, the season finale saw the Wildcats push ISU into three intense, thrilling overtimes before a Case deBruijn field goal settled the game and the conference championship, 33-30.
"In 1979, nobody asked for tickets to the games. People didn't talk about football, we were the crazy relative who lived in the attic," said former ISU sports information director Glenn Alford. "In 1981, it would be all smiles. Everyone had a snap in their step."
It took a perfect storm to create that snap.
First, ISU athletic director Babe Caccia, on his own without the benefit of a hiring committee, struck gold by grabbing Dave Kragthorpe from BYU's coaching ranks. Kragthorpe put together a talented staff that included future NFL coaches Marvin Lewis and Mike Sheppard.
Successful high school coach Jim Koetter, who would later coach the Bengals to their last post-season appearance in 1983, ran the offense. Denny Moller, who would go on to coach in the Pac-10, called the defensive plays.
Kragthorpe brought with him BYU's vaunted passing attack and set out to recruit enough offensive talent to take the program airborne.
"ISU was so down, and our timing was good," Kragthorpe said. "They'd just lost 17 straight games and I was ready [to become a head coach]…Still [in the back of my mind], I thought the people who said I was crazy [to take the job] might be right."
The success in 1981 was born in 1980 as the Bengals went 6-5, breaking the losing streak in a 59-33 shootout against Neil Lomax-led Portland State. The next season was a breakout ready to happen.
Idaho State's now confident – and relatively new – air attack overwhelmed Big Sky defenses and set a new tone that other teams quickly followed.
"We replicated BYU's offense without question," Kragthorpe said. "We were going to throw the football at any time under any conditions."
ISU's confidence can be measured in its third-down conversion rate, 45 percent, far and away the best that season in the Big Sky.
Machurek had a host of targets, including running back Dwain Wilson who led the conference with 61 catches and who gained more than 500 yards receiving and 450 rushing. Tight end Rod Childs and wide outs Charles Ewing and Chris Corp combined to average more than 22 yards a reception.
"Our expectations were very high," Machurek said. "We were pretty explosive. It didn't matter if it was third and 2 or third and 20."
Against Northern Arizona, Machurek completed a record 18 consecutive passes, then ISU picked up a delay of game penalty during the ensuing parade of high fives.
The defense, led by linebackers Lem Galeai and Bill Snapp and defensive backs Willie Allen, John Berry and Matt Courtney allowed the league's fewest points, 13.7.
The defense, however, had one special weapon – Case deBruijn, who averaged more than 45 yards a kick and helped ISU win the battle of field position. For example, despite giving 500 yards of offense against Nevada, the Bengals bend-but-don't break philosophy netted a 23-7 victory.
"It was probably the best year ever," Brent Koetter said. "It was the best time in my life."
More than 40 players and coaches attended the last reunion, an example of how close the 1981 Bengals came to be.
"You never take time to appreciate it," Kragthorpe remembered. "Everything happened so fast…It was miraculous. There's no way any team can go from 17 straight losses to a national championship."
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