POCATELLO, Idaho - Idaho State Head Coach Cody Hawkins held his weekly press conference before the Bengals take on the #3 Montana State Bobcats in the ICCU Dome this Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 4:00 PM and the game will be broadcast on Scripps Sports and ESPN+. Scott Gross will have the call on KISU 91.1 FM and KISU.org
CODY HAWKINS | Head Coach
On hosting reigning national champion Montana State
"It's always your goal to play meaningful football games into November. As that weather changes, it's the time when football gets really serious. Great opponent, obviously the reigning national champs coming into town. We know the standard's really high. We're gonna have to play really good football, but it's awesome to know that that much is gonna be required, because we've put ourselves in a position where people around here know that we'll have a shot if we play our type of football. We have a ton of respect for them. They're darn good in all phases. They've really set the standard in a lot of ways: how they play, how they coach, the athletes that they have, what they're doing administratively for football. Those guys are the cream of the crop in every way, but we feel like we've done a pretty good job, too."
On Montana State's offense
"They're talented, and I don't wanna take anything away from those skill guys. They are awesome. Justin Lamson, what a winner. Adam Jones is as good of a back as there is in the country, probably at any level, and he's such a perfect fit for their zone scheme. He's fluid, he's physical, he's north-south, he can catch the ball. And the receivers they've ended up adding in there are doing a really good job. If they had Taco Dowler, you wouldn't be able to guard any of them, right? They're studs. But you can't talk about the Montana State offensive line enough. The continuity that they have there, the physicality that they have there, that's what makes them go. They demand so much of the defense, whether it's gap integrity, physicality, running sideline to sideline, the quarterback run threat. They don't really have any weaknesses on offense. They're the best offense we will have played all year, by quite a stretch."
On his confidence in the Bengal defense
"It's gonna be a tall task for our defense, but you know what? We got a great defense and great coaches. I bet that they're telling their team that this is the best defense they will have played, because that's what I believe is the case. I love our guys. I'd take them up against anybody."
On the team's mindset after the Utah Tech win
"It was a unique week. I'm not saying the guys were looking ahead, but we didn't execute as well as we could have in any phase. On offense we had the ability to get points a few times and had some negative plays that took us out of field goal range. On special teams, the punting game is so important. And on defense, they didn't punt once. It was feast or famine. There'd been a lot of times where I felt like we should have lost a game and won. That was probably the most so in my career. You walk away and you're like, 'All right, we gotta win 'cause we have some great players.' Those are two great players making great plays, and it is all about players, trust me. For our guys to step up in that moment and do something incredible, it's a credit to them, and we're super proud of them."
On the urgency of the final three games
"Everybody kind of came with a chip on their shoulder: 'Hey, we gotta get better this week.' We're excited about the opponent we're playing, and we are confident, but there's that urgency to button things down for real, 'cause these next three games are gonna be heavyweight fights. It's the three best teams we've played, both physically and in the standings if you look at how things have gone."
On Zion To'oto'o's journey from walk-on to difference-maker
"Zion's a great story. He's a walk-on from Hawaii. He's on scholarship now, and has been all year. But for that dude to push through... He's on his fourth D-line coach in five years, had to pay his own way, has not played a lot. Thank goodness Ricky's here. He's the best I've been around. Zion is such an energy guy, a guy that everybody on the team feeds off of. He's someone that everybody really likes, but a guy that has probably never quite found a niche or a role to play as much as he wants. Then Coach Duff and Coach Ali'ifua put together this package, because there are a couple things he does really well. One of them is play really hard. He finds a way to get off of blocks despite being a slightly undersized guy from a defensive standpoint."
On how Zion To'oto'o's strip-sack touchdown shifted the momentum
"When he scored, I think the entire defense felt like, 'Oh, we can win this game.' Because when you have someone like Zion who is so well liked, everybody knew and everybody was going to congratulate him, and part of you is trying to be like, 'Hey, we gotta go finish the game.' But people were so excited about that. That was such a big weight off of everybody's shoulders. You felt like you couldn't do anything right, and then after Zion's, that was when I felt like, 'All right, we're gonna win this game.' And I don't know how. I didn't know Budda was gonna make one of the greatest plays I've ever seen to score the winning touchdown."
On giving Zion To'oto'o his due alongside Trehsyn "Buddah" Fesili
"Buddah deserves all the credit that he got, but I think Zion's play was the magical one that you're so proud of. For him to be here that long and get as little playing time as he has, even though he is a good football player... I'll tell that story forever. A guy who paid his own way for four years, in his fifth year, he finally gets the opportunity to get in rotation and almost single-handedly wins a game. What a cool story. Hats off to him. Hats off to the defense, and to Coach Duff and Ricky for having a package for him."
On the team's counterpunch mentality in one-score games
"Really with the exception of two games, they've all been dogfights, especially halfway through the game. Every Big Sky game, with the exception of one, has been a one-score game. So our guys know we're never out of it, but you should never take anything lightly. We know our defense is always gonna give us a shot, 'cause nobody's gonna do what they want against our defense. And Mason Lindberg has been really consistent, so you feel like if you can play situationally better, which we have to do, he's gonna give you a shot to get points."
On staying the course against a ranked opponent
"It's less about the quality of opponent. Every week you have to look at what you have and what you can do. I'm trying to steady the ship a little bit. On offense we gotta play better, but you know what? We're averaging more points a game than any time since I've been here. Guys have won six games and are playing for an opportunity at the playoffs. Could we play better in spots? Absolutely. I think probably too many teams, as you go down the stretch, try to continue to add stuff, and then you have this heap of things that were good for one team but maybe not for another, and you're trying to put a square peg in a round hole. If they still have work to do in mastering one technique, I don't wanna add more later in the season. Smaller packages will help us do that."
On Montana State playing without team leader Taco Dowler
"We're living that right now. I think as a team you kinda have to find out what your identity is in the clutch moments, 'cause they've always been dynamic everywhere on offense, and our goal is to put them in a position where they have to figure that out. Justin Lamson has played at an elite level, but no quarterback plays elite in a vacuum. Either it's the offensive line, or you have a running back who is keeping the defense off balance, or you have a receiver that nobody can cover. I think that's our hope, to put them in a game where they have to figure that out, because when they've needed plays in the past, they have gone to [Taco Dowler]. Adam Jones is unbelievable. He could run for 400 yards on Saturday. I sure hope he doesn't, but I know he has that capability. I think the world of Justin Lamson and their new guys, but they haven't been in any games where they've said, 'Okay, now we have to make a play.' Let's put them in that situation and see what happens."
On the Montana State fan base and crowd noise in the dome
"Last time we played here in '24, we actually had a false start down in the red zone that ended up biting us in the butt because it was so loud down on their end. Our goal is to play well enough where our fans feel like they can impact the game as well. That's why we're practicing crowd noise in our own stadium. You never wanna see other people's colors fill your stands, but I'm confident that the Bengals will make some noise and that they'll rival them. If you're worried about the noise, just play better. We gotta make more plays and then they'll be quiet. We'll probably have better crowds for these next three games than we have for any game all year, so hopefully our best football will precede that."
