Bengals Take Down Portland State 59-30

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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State football team put up its most points against a Division I football team since 1980 and beat Portland State 59-30 on Saturday afternoon in Holt Arena. The Bengals are now 4-4 and 2-3 in Big Sky Conference play while Portland State dropped to 0-7 and 0-4 in league.

The last time ISU scored at least 59 points in a Division I game, was a 59-33 win over Portland State on Sept. 27, 1980.

The Bengal offense racked up 691 total yards, with 364 coming on the ground and 327 through the air. James Madison carried the ball 23 times for 160 yards and one touchdown while Ty Flanagan had 21 carries for 108 yards while tying a school record with four rushing touchdowns.

Tanner Gueller completed 14 passes on 23 attempts for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Mitch Gueller had a career-high 195 yards receiving on four receptions and one touchdown. His touchdown was a school record 97-yard reception in the second quarter. Michael Dean caught five passes for 80 yards and one touchdown and Hagen Graves caught one touchdown pass.

The Portland State offense had 477 total yards and the Bengal defense was led by a career-high 12 tackles from Paea Moala. Daniel Heck recovered his first  career fumble and Adkin Aguirre had his second interception of the season.

Portland State led 2-0 early in the game after a safety. The Bengals then took the lead for good and never looked back. Zak Johnson kicked a 25-yard field goal with 8:53 left in the first and Flanagan scored his first touchdown on a four-yard run to give the Bengals a 10-2 lead with 3:29 left in the first.

The Vikings answered the Bengals scores early with touchdowns to stay within striking distance. ISU went up 17-9 after a two-yard run by Flanagan with 14:01 left in the first half. PSU answered with a touchdown to make it 17-16 less than a minute later.

The Bengals then scored four straight touchdowns over the remaining minutes of the second quarter and first seven minutes of the third to jump out to a 45-16 lead.

To finish the first half Graves caught a 13-yard touchdown strike from Gueller with 9:11 left and Gueller caught his school record 97-yard touchdown strike from his brother Tanner with 5:17 left until halftime.

To open the third quarter Dean scored on a 41-yard touchdown pass and Flanagan scored on a five-yard run with 8:48 left in the third. Portland State added a touchdown to cut the ISU lead to 45-23 with 7:22 left in the third. ISU then scored two straight touchdowns to take a 59-23 lead with 11:56 left in the game. Flanagan scored his fourth touchdown with 3:23 left in the third and Madison added a four-yard run with 11:56 remaining.

Idaho State plays at Montana State on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. The game will be televised on Root Sports and heard on 102.5 KMGI.

Game Notes
- 59 points scored is the most against a Division I team since beating Portland State 59-33 on Sept. 27, 1980.
- Mitch Gueller's 97-yard touchdown reception was an ISU and Holt Arena record for longest pass play. The previous record was 95 when Gary Anderson connected with Alfredo Anderson vs. Western Montana on Sept. 21, 1996.
- Dating back to the Weber State game in 2016, Mitch Gueller has caught 35 passes for 928 yards and nine touchdowns.
- The 31 points scored in the first half was the most scored by the Bengals in the first half this year.
- Tanner Gueller has 45 career touchdown passes, tying him for third in the ISU career record book for touchdown passes.
- Paea Moala had a career-high 12 tackles.
- ISU's 364 yards rushing is the most by a Bengal team since at least 2001.
- 59 points scored was the second most in a game in the last 16 years. ISU scored 66 vs. Simon Fraser on Oct. 11, 2014.
- 691 yards of total offense is the third most in a game since the 2004 season.
- 4-4 is the second best start since the 2005 season. The 2014 team was 5-3 after eight games and the 2005 team was 4-4 after eight games.
- Ty Flanagan tied a school record for most rushing touchdowns in a game with four. Isaac Mitchell had four vs. Eastern Washington on Nov. 24, 2001 and Jerry Dunne had four at Idaho on Sept. 26, 1969. 
- This was the first time ISU has had two running backs rush for over 100 yards in a game since Oct. 11, 2014 vs. Simon Fraser. That game saw Jakori Ford rush for 144 yards on three carries and two touchdowns and Xavier Finney carry the ball 19 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
- Ty Flanagan had a career-high 108 rushing yards on 21 carries to go with his four touchdowns.

Rob Phenicie Post Game Quotes
"The kids played absolutely hard. I was up half the night last night worried about this game. They could get us at anytime from anywhere. It was a nerve-racking game."
 
"Ty was really strong early in the year and now James is developed and it's a good deal. I think frankly, they are interchangeable. They both run hard and push forward. They ran with an attitude today and it was awesome.
 
"The thing that's awesome about this team is there's probably a couple more that we could have won. There hasn't been a game where we didn't compete the whole time and that's what these kids believe in."

Mitch Gueller
On his 97 yard touchdown reception
"Tanner threw a great ball and I just happened to get over on the play, and I guess the rest is in the record books."

On the running game
"With James and Ty you never know what's going to happen. We just never take a play off."