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GREELEY, Colo. – In a game that combined for 1,228 total yards of offense and 85 points, Northern Colorado kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired to beat Idaho State 43-42 in front of a crowd of 5,273 at Nottingham Field on Saturday afternoon.
Idaho State fell behind 40-24 late in the third quarter but then scored three straight touchdowns to take a 42-40 lead with seven minutes left in the game.
The UNC defense forced ISU to punt with 2:17 left and then proceeded to drive 67 yards on eight plays to tally the winning kick.
Tanner Gueller was 15-24 for 264 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. ISU had 355 rushing yards, led by
James Madison's 253 on 34 carries and two touchdowns.
Nehamiah McFarlin had nine carries for 78 yards and one touchdown.
Mitch Gueller caught five passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns and
Hagen Graves caught five passes for 82 yards.
Joe Martin led the defense with 10 tackles.
The game was a see-saw battle all afternoon. Northern Colorado took an early 3-0 lead with an opening field goal less than three minutes in.
Idaho State took its first lead at 7-3 with 5:57 left in the first quarter when Gueller connected with his brother Mitch on a 54-yard touchdown strike. ISU later extended its lead to 10-3 after a
Parker Johnson 26-yard field goal.
Northern Colorado added a touchdown late in the first quarter to tie the game at 10 after the first. The Bears led 17-10 early in the second quarter but ISU then tied the game at 17 with a six play, 34 yard drive that saw Madison punch in a touchdown from two yards out with 5:32 left until halftime. Northern Colorado led 20-17 at halftime and scored on its first possession of the third quarter to take a 26-17 lead.
The Bengals came within two points at 26-24 after McFarlin scored on an 11-yard run with 10:11 left in the third quarter.
Idaho State had an onside kick that didn't go the required 10-yard distance on the ensuing kickoff. Then on the first play Northern Colorado quarter Jacob Knipp found Theron Verna open for a 42-yard touchdown strike. After another punt by the Bengals, Northern Colorado upped its lead to 40-24 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.
The Bengals cut their deficit to 40-30 after the third quarter thanks to a nine play, 75 yard drive that was capped off by a Madison one-yard touchdown. The two point conversion failed.
The Bengal defense then forced Northern Colorado to punt and then had a 55-yard run by Madison and on the following play Gueller connected with
Mitch Gueller for a 25-yard touchdown to cut the Northern Colorado lead to 40-36 after the extra point was blocked.
ISU regained the lead at 42-40 with 7:01 left in the game when
Mitch Gueller caught a 17-yard touchdown from
Tanner Gueller but the extra point was no good, setting up the game-winning field goal.
Idaho State returns home for a 2:30 p.m. Homecoming contest against Cal Poly on Saturday, Sept. 30. The Bengals then host Montana on Oct. 7. The Montana game is a White Out and all fans encouraged to wear white to the game.
Notes
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Andy Whittier is this week's special team's captain with
Joe Martin,
Mario Jenkins and
Hagen Graves.
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James Madison had a career-night rushing for 253 yards on 34 carries and two touchdowns. 253 rushing yards ranked fourth in school history for most rushing yards in a game.
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Mitch Gueller had 115 receiving yards in the first quarter. He finished with 157 yards on five receptions and three touchdowns. Gueller's 157 receiving yards ranked 32
nd all-time for most receiving yard in a game.
- ISU rushed for 355 yards, which is the most in a game since at least 2001. ISU rushed for 348 yards at Northern Colorado in 2014. Prior to Saturday, the last time Idaho State rushed for 200 yards or more in a game was Sept. 5, 2015 vs. Black Hills State. In that game the team had 50 carries for 332 yards. In 2014 ISU rushed for over 200 yards six times.
- Idaho State had 619 total yards, the eighth most in a game since 2004. This was the seventh time in the last 13 years that ISU has had 600 total yards or more in a game.
- The opening drive of the third quarter was the first time the Bengals have scored on their first possession of the second half this season.
Rob Phenicie Post Game Quotes
"We fought but there is no moral victories. We have to finish."
"Offense, defense and special teams we have to finish. We are not in this to be happy about things when we lose. We are going to go back and fix everything and get better."
On James Madison's performance
"It is a tribute to the O-Line but we needed three more at the end when we fumbled. We can't have turnovers down in the scoring zone. It is a great individual effort but this was a team loss."
On Northern Colorado's quarterback
"He managed the game efficiently. That is what he is going to do. We knew that. He was who we thought he was. It was a great job by him and credit to coach Collins." |
On going for it on fourth down late in the game
"It wasn't. Everybody on the sidelines said, 'We are picked last, what do we have to lose.' There was no hesitation. It was like, hey we shouldn't be here to begin with in everybody's eyes. Let's have confidence in our offensive line. It was a great run."
"Offense, defense special teams. Everybody had their turns. We all took our turns. It was a good Big Sky game with a lot of emotion on both sides. It was a very emotional game for both sides."
"They just made the plays. We needed three more yards. We needed one more stop. We needed one more extra point."
"We are onto the Cal Poly Mustangs who present an entirely different problem with their offense. We want to have a big Homecoming crowd come out and watch these guys play. We have seen the level of effort that this team has given for four games. It is worth coming out, packing Holt Arena and making some noise. We are not done."
"We want people to come out and cheer these guys on. This is a different team than you have seen in the past."
