Finney Sets ISU Career Rushing Record on Senior Night

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POCATELLO, Idaho- Xavier Finney had heard rumblings of how close he was to breaking the Idaho State career rushing record. The numbers of 60 or 70 yards kept coming up. But for the Bengal senior he was determined to keep his focus on the field.

Finney did just that as he had his best performance of the season, rushing for 145 yards on 15 carries in a 44-20 loss to Montana State on Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 6,498.

"It is an honor," Finney said. "To be in this program four years and accomplish something like this is an amazing feeling. I will never forget this moment and I will carry it with me for the rest of my life."

Finney said the record wasn't high on his priority list early in the season.

"Winning games and doing my job was the most important thing to me," he said. "Now that I have achieved it, it is crazy. It is an insane feeling. It is so surreal. I am so honored and appreciative of this award and record. To do it in front of our fans and my family means the world to me."

Finney now has 3,487 rushing yards, passing Josh Barnett's record of 3,408 that was set in 2007. While the loss was disappointing, setting the record with the guys he came in with in 2012 was special.  

"It is bitter sweet but to go out with all my guys I came in with is special," Finney said. "We left it all out on the field and we tried to give it everything we had."

On senior night, Finney wasn't the only individual who left it all out on the field. Senior Madison Mangum finished his last home game by catching eight passes for 112 yards. It was his second 100-yard receiving game of the season and his ninth of his three-year career.

The Bengal offense tallied 419 yards and Michael Sanders threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns. Idaho State trailed 27-0 at halftime but scored two third quarter touchdowns. Finney caught a four-yarder from Sanders and KW Williams scored on a 10-yard pass.

Jakori Ford later scored a touchdown on a four-yard run in the fourth.

Hayden Stout led the ISU defense with 13 tackles and Chris Edwards finished with eight tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss. Braeden Mitchell recovered on a fumble on a punt and Anthony Ricks had his first career interception.
 
Idaho State closes out the 2015 season on Saturday, November 21 at Weber State. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.


Mike Kramer Post Game Quotes
"Well the home season is over. First time in a long time that we haven't won a home conference game. That's pretty stressful. Tough all the way around. We just fight the process too much.They were just better than we were, especially on offense and especially at quarterback. That guy played great. We got good pressure on him but he found open routes and we cut him loose in the back end."

"We got down in there close and couldn't score touchdowns. I knew on our opening drive the question would be, "Coach why didn't you kick the field goal?" Great they would have beat us 41-23. We have to score touchdowns to win and you can't get close in this situation at 2-7 and now 2-8 and not score touchdowns when you get in there close. So no kicking field goals is not the answer. What's the answer is to play better so you don't have to kick a field goal down in there."

"I'm proud of the senior class, those guys have equipped themselves better than you can imagine in so many ways that are under the radar. In the classroom, in the classroom and in the classroom. Their overall GPA is not all that outstanding, but it formed the core of what we were trying to get to APR-wise a couple of years ago when we along with a few other have-not schools as the worst in the United States. I'm proud of what those guys have accomplished."

"I'm disappointed we were not good enough in certain areas to be able to compete today. Some of those guys, hopefully they realize that they can play better and play better in the future because we're not as good at quarterback as we need to be. We fought the process a little too much and it shows."

"He's (Finney) the best running back that's ever played at this school and he's got the numbers to prove it. He's played behind maybe the best center I've coached in a long time, one of the finest outstanding left guards had he been able to stay healthy all season long Wesley Wingrove, and one of the outstanding versatile offensive linemen we've ever had in Terrence Carey. They play their guts out and when he he's able to run the ball like that we're okay."

Game Notes:
- Today's game captains were Xavier Finney, Tyler Kuder, Wesley Wingrove and Erik Collins.
- Anthony Ricks had his first career interception in the second quarter.
- Xavier Finney had a season-long rush of 35 yards in the third quarter.
- Saturday was the first time Idaho State scored on the first possession of the second-half since the season-opener vs. Black Hills State.
- Madison Mangum moved into seventh place for career receiving yards. He now has 2,181 yards. He needs 30 yards to pass Shawn Beals (1984-87) and move into sixth place. Akilah Lacey is in fifth place with 2,366 yards.
- Madison Mangum's eight receptions moved him into seventh place in career receptions with 156. Shedrack Okoebor is in sixth with 157 and Ed "The Flea" Bell is in fifth place with 172.
- Hayden Stout led ISU with 13 tackles. He has had double digit tackles in four straight games and six times this year.
- Montana State's  Luke Daly's 57-yard field goal was a Holt Arena record by an opponent, breaking Nevada's Tony Zendejas' record of 56 in 1983.
- 19 seniors were honored after the game. The seniors are Khary Livingston-Coleman, Madison Mangum, Kamino Ward, Erik Collins, Tavonte Jackson, CJ Langlow, Cody Sorensen, Xavier Finney, Kurt Karstetter, Terrence Carey, Travis Namohala, Christian Diehm, Wesley Wingrove, Tyler Graves, CJ Hatchett, Tyler Wright, Tyler Kuder, Colin Prestesater and Chris Edwards.