Bengals Show Improvement in Loss at Oregon State

 
CORVALLIS, Ore.- Idaho State football coach Mike Kramer wanted to see improvement from his team on the field in his team's final nonconference game at Oregon State on Saturday afternoon. The sixth year Bengal coach saw just that. Despite the 37-7 loss in front of a crowd of 38,052 at Reser Stadium, great strides were made in all facets of the game.

The 37 points was the fewest points the Bengals have given up against a team from a Power 5 conference. The 363 total yards by the ISU offense was the third most in 10 games against a Power 5 school.

Tanner Gueller threw for 227 yards, completing 28 passes on 46 attempts. He was picked off four times. Jakori Ford carried the ball eight times for 122 yards and broke off a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Josh Cook caught six passes for 78 yards. KW Williams and Jakori Ford also caught six passes.

Mario Jenkins led the Idaho State defense with 11 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Joe Martin and Taison Manu each had eight tackles. Chance Salutregui had one sack and one tackle for loss. As a team, the ISU defense had three sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

The Oregon State offense was forced to punt five times. The ISU defense stopped the Beavers on fourth from their own 11-yard line and Jeremy Bittle had an interception.

Oregon State led 13-0 after the first quarter and the lead was extended to 23-0 at halftime.

On the Bengals first play from scrimmage to start the third quarter Ford broke several tackles and sprinted for his 75-yard touchdown run. OSU added two other touchdowns in the third to put the game away at 37-7.

Idaho State opens Big Sky Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 24 in Holt Arena vs. Sacramento State. The Homecoming Kickoff begins at 2:35 p.m.
 
Notes
- Game captains were Josh Cook, Jake Pettit, Thomas Vazorka and Skyler Phillips.
- Jeremy Bittle had his first career interception.
- The 23 points scored in the first half by Oregon State was the fewest by a Power 5 team since 2005 when ISU led Kentucky 16-14 at the break. Today's Oregon State game was the 10^th game against a Power 5 team since the 2005 Kentucky game.
- Jakori Ford's 75-yard TD run is the second longest offensive play in the Mike Kramer era at ISU. For his career Ford has touchdown runs of 75, 72, 69 and 53.
- Tanner Gueller's four interceptions was a career-high.
- 363 total yards of offense is the third best output against a Power 5 team. ISU had 448 in a 41-29 loss at Kentucky in 2005 and 453 in a loss at Washington State in 2011.
- The 418 yards by Oregon State was the second fewest by a Power 5 opponent. Kentucky was held 310 in 2005 despite beating the Bengals 41-29.

Mike Kramer Post Game Quotes
"I don't think I have ever lost 37-7 and been more excited about a game in my life. Having played two back-to-back Pac 12 games, which is nobody's idea of fun and happiness.  Number one we wanted to win. Number two we gave ourselves a chance to be competitive, which is the first time we have ever done it in one of these Pac 12 deals. Hats off to Gary and his team. They are trying awfully hard to find their footing. I think they are going to be just fine. No program can be in better shape than a program with Gary Anderson. I am proud to know him and what he is accomplishing here. Beaver fans can look forward to a great future with Gary Anderson."

"On the other hand thank goodness we don't have to play anyone in the Pac 12 next week."

"I am happy because we are done with it. That is number one. I am happy because we are done with it that is number two. I am happy because we improved. We tackled better. We forced some third downs. We actually got off the field when we realized we could actually stop them on third down and we were competitive."

"A lot of the mistakes we made were made by freshmen, true freshmen who are playing a lot for us because of injuries."

"It was a great resilient run and he broke a lot of tackles. He is a good football player." (On Jakori Ford's touchdown run)

"I know that we played better. We did not shiver in pregame. We played 1,000 times better because we have been through it. It doesn't mean we will beat somebody from the Pac 12 next week but we have been through it. Now we can get on to what our level is about."