Two defining moments of Idaho State's 1981 football season occurred in Boise, Idaho, and Wichita Falls, Texas – exactly three months apart.
In between those checkpoints in September and December, Holt Arena was the home of a program that produced one of the greatest accomplishments in the school's athletic history. Crowds steadily grew throughout a home schedule that included the awarding of a Big Sky Conference trophy and the bonus of two home games in the Division I-AA playoffs. The building became the epicenter of an achievement that made the 1981 season collectively a finalist in the Holt Moments All-Time Tournament, as ISU celebrates the arena's 50-year anniversary.
Mike Machurek completing his first 17 pass attempts vs. Northern Arizona, the Bengals' scoring 50 points against a respectable Utah State defense, Case deBruijn kicking the winning field goal in triple overtime vs. Weber State and ISU's playoff domination of Rhode Island and South Carolina State all happened at Holt in '81, on the way to a national championship.
The year forever will be remembered by everyone involved as "one of those special times in your life," says Mike Sheppard, who coached ISU's quarterbacks and receivers.
Marketed as the "Throwin' Idahoans" (backup quarterback Dirk Koetter is credited with the nickname), the Bengals were known for their innovative offense. The playbook was brought to Pocatello by coach Dave Kragthorpe from Brigham Young University, where he coached the offensive line in the formative years of BYU's passing scheme. As would become especially evident in the playoffs, "We were so far ahead (of defenses), just like BYU was," Sheppard says.
Yet a case could be made that in Big Sky games, ISU's defense slightly outperformed the offense that season. And if deBruijn's punting is considered part of the defense, as All-America teams do, the pendulum swings even more. The early '80s predated the wide-open style of play that now characterizes Big Sky football, but these scores are still remarkable: 21-10 over Boise State, 23-7 over Nevada and 24-14 over Idaho.
"Our defense was always kind of underrated," says end David Walser, who joined cornerback Matt Courtney on the all-conference first team. The defense featured "a group of really good players … we didn't have a huge superstar."
Machurek appreciated that group not only for its work on Saturdays, saying that practicing against "one of the top defenses in the country" made his offense better. Machurek and tight end Rod Childs were ISU's only All-Big Sky first-team offensive players, but the line performed consistently and the receiving corps was deep and talented enough that defenses couldn't focus on any one player.
"We just went to whoever was open," Machurek says. "We were so well-rounded."
The overarching story of the '81 Bengals is a two-year tale of a turnaround. It could be said that the Bengals' going from a 6-5 record in '80 to 12-1 and a I-AA title was easy, compared with their improvement from 0-11 (with an 18-game losing streak over parts of three seasons) to 6-5. Almost anyone associated with the championship team points to wins over Portland State and Nevada the previous season as the catalyst for everything that happened in '81.
The Bengals were a complete team that played with confidence. In terms of player personnel, Sheppard marvels about "a unique blend that we were able to create." The mix included 20 seniors on the '81 roster, a big number stemming from the '80 recruiting class of junior college athletes and transfers from U.S. International University after the San Diego school (where Sheppard formerly coached) dropped football.
Standing on the field in Texas after beating Eastern Kentucky for the I-AA title, Kragthorpe was mostly kidding when he summarized the two-year sequence of events as the "greatest coaching job in history." He will, however, credit himself for his approach to the first team meeting upon arrival in Pocatello in December 1979. He said the returning players would form the core of the team and all starting jobs were open, amid the new arrivals.
"Smartest thing I ever did, seriously," Kragthorpe says, more than four decades later. "I wasn't trying to fool them or get them on my side. … I did everything I said. That gave me credibility."
So did a five-game winning streak, following a 1-4 start. Even a competitive, 22-13 loss to Boise State to conclude the '80 season provided just the right mix of frustration and encouragement that carried over to '81. "We really believed we should have beaten Boise State," Machurek says. "When they went on to win the national championship, that gave us the belief we could get there also."
With a scheduling twist that sent ISU to Boise for the first Big Sky game of the '81 season, the Bengals responded well to an offseason of high expectations. Eastern Washington, then a Division II program, was ISU's season-opening opponent. You never would have known that in Pocatello, because all anyone wanted to talk about was Boise State.
The Bengals (who beat EWU 34-10) welcomed that discussion. All summer, Machurek says, "Boise State was on our radar. We wanted 'em badly."
And they got 'em. ISU's 21-10 victory in Boise stemmed from a strong defensive effort, after the Broncos' opening-drive touchdown, and an offensive wrinkle. When the coaches installed a quarterback-draw play, "I thought they were crazy," Machurek says, laughing. But "we know how that turned out."
An enduring image of the '81 season is Machurek standing flat-footed in the pocket, protected from the rush and surveying the field. That night in Boise, though, he became a runner, with several big gains. ISU's clinching touchdown came when Machurek scrambled toward the goal line and fumbled the ball, with receiver Charles Ewing recovering it in the end zone.
The Bengals thoroughly outplayed Boise State, and the favorable bounce was one more sign that things were different for a formerly downtrodden program.
The victory "just substantiated every thought I had, going into the season," Kragthorpe says.
There was much more to come, beginning the next week at Holt Arena. In ISU's 23-7 win, Nevada's offense compiled 509 total yards, while netting three points (plus two safeties). The Bengal defenders took the phrase "bending but not breaking" as something of an insult, but "there's a little truth in that," says defensive coordinator Denny Molller.
Yardage didn't matter; he just wanted to hold opponents to 17 points or fewer. Subtracting kickoff-return touchdowns by Utah State and Weber State and WSU's overtime score, Moller's defense reached that goal in 11 of 13 games. Nobody scored more than Montana's 24 points against ISU; that total was just enough for the Grizzlies to win via a late field goal, on a day when Machurek was sidelined by illness.
Otherwise, the Bengals were resourceful enough to win every game – with whatever was required, including Machurek's scoring the clinching TD at Idaho by catching a pass from running back Dwain Wilson, with the ball sailing just over a defender's hand.
The Bengals went on to win the program's first Big Sky championship since the conference's inaugural season of 1963, thanks to a 33-30, three-overtime defeat of Weber State. That game involved more agonizing than any fan asked for, but the compensation was coming: None of ISU's three I-AA playoff victories would prove to be as difficult as the Bengals' Big Sky battles that earned them the No. 2 seed, behind Eastern Kentucky.
The home crowd was treated to wins of 51-0 over Rhode Island and 41-12 over South Carolina State, the No. 3 seed.
Big Sky defenses were familiar enough with ISU's passing offense to at least provide some opposition.
That was less true nationally. Not even Eastern Kentucky's solid defense used any advanced pass-rushing methods or managed to cover Wilson in pass patterns in the Bengals' 34-23 win. Lou Holtz, then Arkansas' coach, was so impressed with the scheme while watching the ABC national telecast that he later called the ISU coaches, asking for insight into throwing to the backs.
Machurek delivered a courageous performance in the Texas wind, playing with a significant lower leg injury. His effort was the bookend of a season of intermittent adversity that started when he injured his knee while playing in a Pocatello softball league in early July. Part of the lore of ISU's '81 season is how recent advancements in arthroscopic surgery accelerated Machurek's recovery, with Kragthorpe's connections to a young Dr. Thomas Rosenberg (later to become famous for his work with Tiger Woods, among other notable patients) in Utah aiding in the process. That's just one more example of how everything came together for ISU in '81.
During the Big Sky's 50-year anniversary, the Bengals' I-AA championship was voted No. 28 among the "50 Greatest Moments" in conference history. Inside Holt Arena, where the achievement is commemorated in big letters on the wall behind the east end zone, it forever will rank much higher.
HALL OF FAMERS
Players and coaches from Idaho State's 1981 football team who have been honored by the ISU Sports Hall of Fame:
Steve Anderson, defensive lineman
Rod Childs, tight end
Case deBruijn, punter/kicker
Lem Galeai, linebacker
Brent Koetter, defensive back
Dirk Koetter, quarterback
Jim Koetter, assistant head coach
Dave Kragthorpe, head coach
Jim Lane, center
Marvin Lewis, graduate assistant coach
Mike Machurek, quarterback
Bill Snapp, linebacker
David Walser, defensive end
RISING INTEREST
Holt Arena's crowds increased significantly as ISU's 1981 football season evolved. Results of home games (with announced attendance):
ISU 34, Eastern Washington 10 (8,005)
ISU 23, Nevada 7 (9,883)
ISU 31, Northern Arizona 6 (11,284)
ISU 31, Montana State 3 (10,468)
ISU 50, Utah State 24 (12,008)
ISU 33, Weber State 30 3OT (13,444)
ISU 51, Rhode Island (12,153)*
ISU 41, South Carolina State 12 (12,300)*
* – I-AA playoff game
