POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State scored 17 fourth-quarter points and pulled within a touchdown in the final minute, but Northern Arizona held on for a 38-31 win Saturday night at ICCU Dome. The loss ended the Bengals' eight-game winning streak and was their first defeat since the 2025 season.
Jordan Cooke completed 34 of 51 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns. Julian Mason caught two of those touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Idaho State (4-1, 1-1 Big Sky) outscored the Lumberjacks 24-17 after halftime. Northern Arizona (4-2, 2-1 Big Sky) finished with 506 yards of offense, including 233 on the ground, and did not commit a turnover.
How It Happened
First quarter
Neither team scored on its first three possessions. Joey Stout's 41-yard punt return set Northern Arizona up at the ISU 32, but Francisco Orduno Jr. missed a 29-yard field goal. Idaho State's third drive went 10 plays and reached midfield before the Bengals punted.
The Lumberjacks scored on their next snap that counted. Facing second-and-16 from its own 14, Ty Pennington found tight end Jeter Purdy over the middle for an 86-yard touchdown that made it 7-0 with 1:11 left in the quarter.
Second quarter
Idaho State answered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that carried into the second quarter. Cooke hit Mason for 32 yards to the NAU 11, and Tytan Mason ran in from 4 yards out to tie the game at 7-7 at 12:24.
Northern Arizona went back in front on a seven-play, 65-yard drive capped by Kenveon Stone's 7-yard touchdown run at 8:47. The Bengals then put together a 13-play drive that took 5:33 off the clock, but Mason Lindberg's 54-yard field goal attempt was no good. NAU took over and went 63 yards in 12 plays, scoring on Quran Gossett's 1-yard run with 40 seconds left. Jahaad Fort intercepted Cooke near midfield on the Bengals' last possession, and Northern Arizona led 21-7 at the half.
Third quarter
Grant Hessler sacked Pennington to force a three-and-out on the opening possession of the half. Idaho State then drove 70 yards in 10 plays to the NAU 10, but Ammon Allen intercepted Cooke at the 8.
Northern Arizona started that drive backed up near its own goal line. Stone broke a 73-yard run to the ISU 15, and a holding penalty wiped out a Gossett touchdown. The Lumberjacks settled for Orduno's 31-yard field goal and a 24-7 lead at 4:37.
The Bengals needed only five plays and 1:41 to answer. Owen Tomich picked up 28 yards on a catch, and on third-and-10, Cooke threw deep to Tommy Poe for a 34-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 24-14 at 2:56. The Bengals attempted a suprise onside kick which, Northern Arizona recovered k at the ISU 48.
Fourth quarter
NAU converted a fourth-and-5 on the first play of the quarter when backup quarterback Donivan Dixon completed a 21-yard pass to Purdy. Three plays later, Pennington found Braylon Gardner for a 3-yard touchdown and a 31-14 lead at 12:58.
Idaho State went 74 yards in 11 plays on its next drive. Cooke converted a fourth-and-3 with a 6-yard throw to Mason and later hit Poe for 17 yards on third-and-10. Mason finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown catch at 9:59, making it 31-21.
Northern Arizona responded with a 12-play, 84-yard drive that used 7:06 of the clock. Stone's 7-yard touchdown run with 2:45 left made it 38-21.
The Bengals answered again, going 75 yards in seven plays. A pass interference penalty and a 14-yard catch by Chedon James set up Mason's 13-yard touchdown with 1:04 left, cutting the lead to 38-28. Carson Sudbury recovered the onside kick at midfield. Tomich then caught a 16-yard pass, and a personal foul penalty on NAU moved the ball to the 16. Lindberg kicked a 33-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining to make it 38-31. Northern Arizona recovered the second onside attempt and ran out the clock.
Postgame Press Conference
Defensive lineman Bronson Childs
On the slow starts: "We came out strong at the beginning, but then it just continued to get flat. After we got into halftime, we came out strong, but then it just got flat again. So I feel like we just need to figure out a way that we can keep going, keep the juice going."
On the fourth-quarter push: "For us personally, especially on the defense, it's a zero-zero ball game all the time. There's so much that can change in a fourth quarter, and it's just up to both teams and even special teams coming together and playing as one. I feel like we started to pick that up, but we just need to be able to do that earlier on."
On the rebound: "We'll be back tomorrow, grinding, putting down our head, especially now that we know that there are things that we need to correct, a lot more things that we need to correct. We have a team that has that drive and that intensity to just push through, come back, and go win versus Cal Poly."
Wide receiver Julian Mason
On what NAU showed: "They showed us everything we practiced this week. Like how Bronny said, I think we just came out too flat. Second half, I feel like we understood and picked everything up. We're definitely just gonna take this one to the chin. We're onto Cal Poly right away."
On playing from behind: "Whether we're down or up, we're gonna keep that same intensity, and we're gonna bring it no matter what. We practice a number of situations throughout the week, and one of them is when we're down and we gotta rally back."
On the process: "Even when we were winning earlier in the season, we still had the same process and the correctable mistakes. So we're just gonna get back tomorrow and hammer down on it."
Head coach Cody Hawkins
Initial reaction: "My initial reaction is that it's good for this team to learn that you can lose. You can walk off the field a couple of ways. You can say, 'Hey, this is one game.' But it ain't gonna be one game if you don't fix the issues."
On the slow offensive start: "Starting slow on offense, obviously it starts with me. I probably honestly tried to run it too much early, and I know that sounds crazy looking at it, but they're just so dang big up front that you're trying to play balanced football when you knew you'd be able to throw it on 'em. So that's really on me, first and foremost."
On Northern Arizona: "Credit to Brian Wright, they did a lot of stuff, formation, motion, shifting. Their quarterback did just a phenomenal job. He didn't turn it over, got them in a lot of really good plays. Didn't run all over the place, but used his legs when he had to. He's an outstanding player who's played a lot of winning football, so credit to Ty Pennington and Coach Wright for doing a great job."
On his message to the team: "I told them, 'Hey, I hate losing, but I love these guys.' To me, you're never trying to build wins and losses. You're trying to build a process that consistently leads to wins, a process and a culture that leads to people being the best version of themselves and a quality football team."
On the fight down 17: "If you got a bunch of quitters, you ain't just gonna quit in a football game. You're gonna quit later. It's not we won or lost, it's how we play that matters. I want to win, but how you play determines whether you win or lose. I don't know if we could have better men in that locker room, but I gotta coach them better and we gotta play better."
On moving forward: "This is one game, but the curse of saying it's one game is thinking it's just one game and repeating the same mistakes. It can be a blessing if you learn from it. So we gotta get our butts to work and we gotta grind on that film and refuse to accept anything less than our best, continue to raise the standard, because what we did tonight is not good enough."
On Tytan Mason: "A lot of it, to be honest, is just opportunity. We knew Tytan was gonna be really good. He's continued to mature and handle the other components of, all right, well, how does a starter act? How does a starter practice? How does a starter watch film? Because that's the level he can play at, and he's continuing to learn to prepare that way, and we've seen massive leaps in him in the last week."
Bengal Bites
Game Stats
- Jordan Cooke went 34 of 51 for 385 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. In the second half, he completed 20 of 28 passes for 257 yards and all three touchdowns.
- Chedon James led the Bengals with 11 catches for 97 yards. Julian Mason had seven catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns, Tommy Poe had five for 87 yards and a touchdown, and Owen Tomich had seven for 77 yards.
- Tytan Mason ran 14 times for 67 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 33 yards on Idaho State's game-tying drive that bridged the first and second quarters.
- Carson Sudbury ran nine times for 35 yards and recovered the Bengals' onside kick with 1:04 left.
- Jacob Perez led the defense with 12 tackles and added a quarterback hurry. Nathan Reynolds had eight tackles.
- Grant Hessler had Idaho State's only sack and also recorded a quarterback hurry.
- Idaho State had more first downs (30 to 21) and converted 10 of 16 third downs.
- Mason Lindberg went 4 for 4 on extra points and made a 33-yard field goal in the final minute. Lindberg's FG make snapped an 0-3 streak, gettin g the Bengal back on track.
- Northern Arizona was penalized 11 times for 99 yards. Idaho State was penalized three times for 20 yards.
Notables
- The loss ended an eight-game winning streak and was Idaho State's first defeat since the 2025 season.
- Idaho State outscored Northern Arizona 17-14 in the fourth quarter and 24-17 in the second half.
- The Bengals scored on four of their five second-half possessions that did not end in a turnover.
- All three of Cooke's touchdown passes came after halftime. Mason's two scores both came in the fourth quarter.
Up Next
Idaho State returns home to host Cal Poly for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 10. Kickoff at ICCU Dome is set for 4 p.m.
