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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State football team wrapped up an historic regular season on Saturday by beating Weber State 46-28 on Senior Night. The Bengals finished the season 8-4 and 6-2 in Big Sky Conference play. ISU will know at 9 a.m. tomorrow if it will receive an invite to the FCS playoffs as the selection show will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The Bengals tallied 655 yards and held the Wildcats to 463. In his final home game as a Bengal, senior
Daniel McSurdy rushed for a career-high 266 yards and two touchdowns and the offense rushed for 333 yards, the second most since the 2007 season.
Justin Arias threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns and
KW Williams caught four passes for 73 yards.
Madison Mangum caught six passes for 63 yards and one touchdown while
Broc Malcom scored a touchdown and tallied 53 yards receiving.
Mitch Beckstead had 14 tackles in his final home game and
Mario Jenkins finished with 2. The Bengal defense picked off quarterbacks Billy Green and Jadrian Clark twice.
ISU trailed 8-7 early after each team scored on its opening possession. The Bengals then took a 13-8 lead when McSurdy scored on the first play from scrimmage, sprinting 75-yards to the end zone. McSurdy would later score a touchdown on a 54-yard run.
Mangum added a touchdown in the second quarter and
Zak Johnson kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give ISU a 29-14 halftime lead.
Weber State got within eight points twice in the second half at 29-21 and 36-28 but touchdowns by Malcom and a nine-yard run by
Jakori Ford with 37 seconds left in regulation sealed the win for the Bengals.
Game Notes
Making History in the Win ColumnThe Bengals finished the regular season with an 8-4 record and a 6-2 mark in Big Sky Conference play. It is only the seventh time in the history of the program that an ISU football team has won eight games or more. The school record for wins is 12 by the 1981 National title team. The 1957 team finished 9-0 and the 1952, 1955, 1983, 2002 and the 2003 teams all won eight games.
McSurdy Has Memorable Senior NightSenior running back
Daniel McSurdy rushed for a career-high 266 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns in his final home game as a Bengal. The 266 yards is the third best rushing performance by a Bengal running back. Nick Whitworth holds the school record with 273 vs. Fort Lewis in 1999. The 266 yards was the most by a Big Sky Conference player this year and the fourth best performance out of any FCS running back this year.
The Offensive Records ContinueThe Idaho State football team broke the 57-year old record for most rushing yards in a season. The Bengals rushed for 333 yards in the win over Weber State to finish with 2,718 rushing yards on the season. The previous record was 2,442 by the 1957 team.
Arias Throwing for over 4,000 yardsJustin Arias threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns. He has now thrown for 7,972 yards and 64 touchdowns in his career. He has thrown for 4,076 yards this season, becoming only the ninth player in Big Sky Conference history to throw for over 4,000 yards.
Bengal Bites- ISU finished 6-0 at home for the first time since 2003.
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Daniel McSurdy's 75-yard touchdown run was the second-longest offensive play in the
Mike Kramer era.
- This was the first win over Weber State since a 34-0 win in 2002.
Mike Kramer Post Game QuotesOverall it was a very solid ball game. It was a game in which we never trailed. If you had come to this game and seen the other five or every Big Sky game for the last 51 years you will have seen something that you have never seen before, which is an offense that has more yards in the league through a 12-game schedule than ever before. I can't go on enough about how historic this season has been and it has been because
Don Bailey has been driving our offense since 2010 till today. What we have done here offensively is what will be the target again offensively. It will be a huge mountain to climb for anybody. You need to realize how good
Justin Arias has been through a 12-game stretch.
What a great job by our defensive coaches and getting our depth to come out to play. I am extremely proud of us.
Being undefeated at home is what you do. If you are a good team that is what you do. Home field advantage is something we are just now beginning to assert at Idaho State.
The biggest thing about Dan's performance today is a combination of Dan and the guy who coaches him. It is rare you go into any football program that your offensive coordinator who coaches quarterbacks also coaches the running backs. To have a coach coach the best quarterback in the United State and a guy who comes off the bench to run for the third most rushing yards in a game is a testament to coach Bailey.
We Are Your Bengals
