POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State football team concluded fall camp Friday afternoon with the final open practice scrimmage at the ICCU Practice Field. The Bengals' defense shined, recording multiple sacks, two fumble recoveries, one interception and a pass breakup.
"If you want to pick a winner at this time, I think it would be the defense," Head Coach
Mike Kramer said. "I love the progress we've made defensively. Not in our proficiency, but in our esprit de corps. We feel good about playing defense. We feel good about playing football. I don't know if we ever felt that way last year. Ever."
Redshirt junior
Micah Breland and freshman
Caleb Brown both recovered fumbles for the defense, with Brown returning for a touchdown. Six different players recorded either a sack, pass breakup or tackle for loss.
Offensively, the Bengals put together a few plays of five or more yards but struggled to move the chains. The offense scored twice, once on a 75-yard run from freshman running back
Michael Dean, and again on 36-yard field goal attempt.
Throughout the scrimmage, Kramer elected to run his twos and threes, giving quarterbacks
Tom Jewell and
Robert Kvinsland multiple snaps.
"It was rough for our offense [today]," Jewell said. "We didn't play to the level we wanted to. With that being said, we have a lot of room to grow. We're young, and our timing is coming along. We just have to stay positive and grow as a team and individually….Our defense is outstanding. They are just phenomenal, and it's hard to play against them. That's just what's going to make us better too."
Idaho State has just over a week to prepare for its home- and season-opener next Saturday, Sept. 3 against Simon Fraser. Kickoff is set for 2:35 p.m. at Holt Arena.
