In 2004, Idaho State University celebrated the 100th season of football.  In conjunction with that milestone, a radio campaign of the top moments in Idaho State history were presented over the course of the season.  Enjoy this trip down memory lane and enjoy the moments that made it onto the list, plus a few new additions.

September 1902.  Idaho State’s First Game.  The University was barely a year old when Idaho State’s football team took the field for the first of five games in their inaugural season.  The team didn’t need to look far for an opponent, as the squad took on the Pocatello High School team and won 17-0.  The ISU squad defeated Pocatello three more times during the year, and Idaho Falls High School once to finish their first season with a perfect 5-0 mark.

November  1907.  Birth of a Champion.  Under the first year of head coach John Morris, the 1907 Bengals won their first-ever recognized title, winning the Idaho Scholastic Championship.  Under the direction of Ben Lowrie, the earliest recognized captain in the program’s history, the Bengals clinched the title with a 34-0 whitewash of Payette High School.

September 1920.  ISU’s First Great Coach Debuts.  In Idaho State’s first 17 seasons, the Bengals went through seven coaches, but in 1920, the Bengals saw the coaching debut of Ralph Hutchinson, and ISU football, and ISU athletics would be forever changed.  Hutchinson, who years earlier helped change ISU’s nickname from the “Bantams” to the “Tigers”, defeated Blackfoot High School 20-7 in his first game.  He would go on to coach eight seasons, leading the Bengals to a 25-24-1 record.  He also is credited with starting ISU’s first booster organization, the “I” Club, as well as helping the school adopt the nickname “Bengals” in 1927.

November 18, 1931.  Plasty’s Boys Plaster Montana-Western.  The 1931 squad headed to Dillon, Montana for the season finale at Montana-Western with a 6-1 record.  In Idaho State’s first seven games the team had scored 112 points.  Against the overmatched Bulldogs, they nearly doubled that total as the Bengals ran all over the place, but mostly in the end zone as they delivered the school’s all-time shellacking, handing Western a 111-0 pasting.  While it had to be fun, it probably was old hat for head coach Felix Plastino, who saw his Bengals run up 103 points against Montana-Western on Homecoming just one year earlier.

November 1935.  The Greatest Defense Ever Closes Out the Season.  Under first year head coach Guy Wicks, Idaho State’s 1935 Bengals were the first team to play an entire season of at least eight games without a loss, going 7-0-1, but it was ISU’s defense from that squad that will go down as the best in school history.  Over the eight game season, the Bengals pitched four shutouts, allowing just 26 points and four touchdowns all season.  The defense actually was a carry over from the 1934 squad, as those two teams combined to allow a paltry 57 points over 15 games with seven shutouts.

October 29, 1937.  Dubby Holt’s Record Return.  Idaho State’s 1937 Homecoming victory over the College of Idaho was like most of ISU’s other early Homecoming wins, except for the play of Dubby Holt.  The man who raced Jesse Owens to a dead heat took a punt on his own 12-yard line, and left everyone in a cloud of dust.  When he finally stopped 88 yards later, he owned the longest punt return for a touchdown in school history.  In the following 71 years, that record hasn’t been topped, and it is still the longest standing individual record in ISU football history.

October, 1940.  Atkinson’s Last Gasp Pass Stuns Albion.  In a game that featured four lead changes, it was the last that was the most dramatic.  Trailing 26-24, the Bengals had moved into Albion territory with a chance for one final play.  In an era where the forward pass wasn’t used by the Bengals all that much, tailback George Atkinson took a pitch and lofted a pass down field and into the end zone, where Pete Gallagher came down with it after the official’s gun went off to signal the end of the game.  That late score is the first recorded walk-off winning play in ISU’s history, and it gave ISU a 31-26 win.

September 30, 1950.  Lyle Andersen’s Sneak Surprises Everyone.  Senior quarterback Lyle Andersen might be Idaho State’s least likely 100-yard rusher ever.  In a home game against Western State, the Bengals found themselves backed up on their own 1-yard line.  Head coach John Vesser called for a quarterback sneak up the middle by Andersen to clear some room on first down.  Andersen plowed past his center, and found the field wide open.  Amazingly, Andersen went untouched 99 yards for a touchdown, demoralizing Western State and setting the stage for a 53-13 win.  Andersen would rush for 109 yards in the contest.

October 11, 1952.  Williams wasn’t the best, but he was the first.  Idaho State has gained a reputation for producing some of college football’s best kickers and punters, but that tradition began way back in 1952, during Idaho State’s first-ever undefeated season.  Carl Williams, a defensive back and a running back by trade kicked a field goal in Idaho State’s 17-6 win over Colorado College.  That field goal was the first ever in the history of the storied Bengal program.

September 27, 1958.  Babe Caccia Becomes ISU’s Winningest Coach.  Entering the 1958 season, the Bengals were coming off a fourth conference title, and 13 consecutive wins.  Also entering the 1958 season, Babe Caccia had won 41 games in his ISU coaching career, equaling the total of the man he replaced, John Vesser, for the most in school history.  Opening against the Eastern Washington Eagles, and led by All-American guard Dee Pankratz, the Bengals won 30-7, and Caccia would go on to win 37 more games, giving him 79 in his brilliant 11-year career.

September 27, 1958.  The Koetter Era Begins.  The 1958 season opener against Eastern Washington marked the college debut of what can be called the first family of ISU football.  Jim Koetter lettered in both 1958-59, the first member of the Koetter family to touch ISU football.  Jim later coached the Bengals for five years, leading ISU to their second playoff berth.  Two of his sons also played for ISU.  Dirk Koetter was a quarterback on the 1981 national championship team, and is currently the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Brent Koetter twice led Idaho State in interceptions and later coached both Pocatello and Highland High School to state football titles.

September 19, 1959.  The Bengals participate in Hawaiian History.  In 1959, America grew from 48 to 50 states with the addition of Alaska and Hawaii to the United States.  Hawaii, the 50th state, turned out to be Idaho State’s football opponent on Statehood Day.  The Rainbows, missing the big celebration back home, had their own at Davis Field as they defeated the Bengals 14-8.  Unfazed by the loss, the Bengals wound up winning the final six games of the season, claiming their fifth and final Rocky Mountain Conference championship.

October 8, 1960.  The Defense Goes on the Offensive.  The 1960 Homecoming game against Colorado College was a 77-8 blitzing by the Bengals, a game that still holds the record for ISU’s largest margin of victory at 69 points.  However, the game also holds a different distinction.   In that game ISU recorded a record six interceptions, and they returned three of those for touchdowns, including an 82-yard score by Burdette Mallack and a 97-yard return by LeRoy Russell.  The three scores meant ISU’s defense actually outscored Colorado College’s offense three touchdowns to one.

November 9, 1963. A Rivalry is Born.  The 1963 meeting between Idaho State and Weber State might have been the second meeting between the two schools, but it was the beginning of a rivalry.  Trailing 26-8, the Bengals reeled off the final 28 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter as the Bengals clinched the first-ever Big Sky Conference football title with a 36-26 victory.

November 23, 1963.  The Bengals Pause to Remember.  The 1963 season was one in which the Bengals began play in the Big Sky Conference, winning the first ever Sky title.  The season ended with a 5-3 record, but Idaho State’s ninth game was supposed to be against Wichita State, the first meeting ever between the two programs.  That meeting never took place.  The game was cancelled that week as Pocatello, and all of America mourned the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  The game was never made up, and the two teams never faced each other again.
 

September 20, 1969.   The Flea Buzzes Parsons College.  In the 1969 season opening win over Parsons College, Ed “The Flea” Bell torched the competition for a school record 261 yards receiving and a record four touchdowns.  Bell’s opening onslaught set the stage for his record setting 1969 season in which he set single season records with 20 touchdowns and 1,522 yards, and 96 catches, numbers which may never be equaled.

September 26, 1970.  The Birth of Dome Field Advantage.  The brainchild of then Athletic Director Milton ‘Dubby’ Holt, the ASISU Minidome, as it was originally named, opened for ISU football with a game against the UNLV Rebels.  What transpired was a 64-34 Bengal win in a slugfest.  Ken Warren grabbed a career-high 151 receiving yards in a game that still stands as an ISU record for points in a game at Holt Arena.

December 1972.  Steve Beller Becomes ISU’s First Academic All-American.  The 1972 Bengals under Bob Griffin were successful on the field at 7-3, and kicker Steve Beller proved successful on and off it.  Beller hit on 29-of-32 extra points and 6-of-10 field goals during the year, but his work in the classroom earned him Academic All-American honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America, becoming the first Idaho State football player to earn football’s highest academic honor.

September 24, 1977.  Eastern Montana Lays an Egg.  Just looking at the final score among the seasons, Idaho State’s 47-15 win over Eastern Montana in 1977 seems like a blip on a non-stellar 3-8 season, but it’s what’s not there that is so amazing.  Despite needing to pass to make a comeback, the Bengals held Eastern Montana to zero yards passing.  Even more amazing, the Bengals didn’t even allow a completion. That never happened before, and it hasn’t happened since.

September 2, 1978.  Domo Arigato, Mr. Osaka.  There are home games, there are road games, there are neutral site games, and then there is the 1978 season opener.  Idaho State and Utah State, located just 90 miles apart, opened the 1978 season….in Osaka, Japan.  As part of a cultural exchange, the two programs traveled halfway around the world to open the season.  The travel took its toll on both teams as the Bengals dropped a sloppy game to Utah State 10-0.  The travel took its toll coming back too as ISU was shutout the next week, although they finally broke into the win column in their home opener, beating Portland State 27-13.

November 11, 1978.  Talk About the Defense Not Showing Up.  Idaho State’s trip to the University of Idaho for a late 1978 Big Sky game figured to be a leisurely one hour flight.  Head Coach Bud Hake had two planes to take the team, offense on one plane, the defense on the other.  An hour later the offense’s plane touched down, but the defense’s plane never left the runway in Pocatello.  Mechanical problems forced the cancellation of the flight, and since the team left the day of the game, the Bengals were forced to take a loss, 2-0, against the Vandals, although it was officially recorded by NCAA as a “no contest”.

September 27, 1980.  The Beginning of a New Era.  Before the Bengals could become the greatest, they had to learn how to win, and that moment came early in 1980.  In just the third game under new head coach Dave Kragthorpe, the Bengals ended a 19-game losing streak, at the time the longest in I-AA history, with a 59-33 thrashing of Portland State and their five receiver run-and-shoot offense.  After 20 games, the Bengals finally tasted victory, and just 20 games later, they would taste a national championship.

November 21, 1981.  Case DeBruijn’s Kick Ends an Epic Battle.  For the finale of the 1981 season, Idaho State and Weber State met at Holt Arena for the Big Sky title.  ISU survived a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Weber State, and the game came down to overtime. After surviving again, this on a missed 32-yard field goal by Roger Ruzek that would have won it for the Wildcats in the second overtime, Hall of Fame kicker Case DeBruijn nailed a 33-yard field goal at the end of the third overtime to give ISU a 33-30 win and the Big Sky title in the longest game in ISU history.

December 19, 1981.  The Bengals Reach the Pinnacle.  Idaho State climbed the long road back from worst to first as All-American quarterback Mike Machurek threw for 330 yards, the last of his eight career 300-yard games as the Bengals defeated Eastern Kentucky 34-23 in Wichita Falls, Texas to win the I-AA National Championship.  The win capped a remarkable turnaround from an 0-11 season just two years prior.

November 23, 1985.  Merril Hoge Becomes ISU’s First 1,000-yard Rusher.  Heading into the 1985 season finale against Eastern Washington, Pocatello native Merril Hoge had rushed for 892 yards, and he needed nine yards to better his school record for rushing yards in a season.  He also needed 108 to become the first Bengal to ever rush for 1,000 yards.  Despite a 42-21 loss, Hoge did his part, rushing for 149 yards, his second-best single-game total ever to get to 1,041 yards, becoming the first ISU rusher to 1,000 yards.  To date, he is just one of four to accomplish the feat.

September 12, 1987.  A Good Ol’ Fashioned Texas Shootout.  The season opener between Idaho State and Texas A&I (now Texas A&M Kingsville) kept the scoreboard operator busy the entire night.  The two teams combined for the first combined 100-point game in Holt Arena history as the Javalinas defeated the Bengals 52-51 in a classic game.  Big efforts abounded, including a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown  and 100 yards receiving by Butch Caston and a 103-yard rushing effort by Corky Federico.  Despite ISU’s record 28-point third quarter outburst, ISU fell a point short.

November 10, 1990.  Jason’s Back One Last Time.  Jason Whitmer, ISU’s starting quarterback from 1987-90, won just nine games in his career, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.  Whitmer threw for 300 yards a record 12 times, including a 336-yard performance in his last win, a 30-27 decision over Mesa State.  Whitmer’s four year career ended with ISU career records for yards, attempts, completions, touchdowns and of course, 300-yard games.

September 12, 1992.  The Globe of Death.  The Philadelphia Eagles have “The Miracle at the Meadowlands”, the San Francisco 49ers have “The Catch”, but the Idaho State Bengals have “The Globe of Death”.  After Boise State scored a touchdown with 22 seconds left to give the Broncos what seemed like a 20-17 win, BSU kicked off, and the Bengals pulled out their bag of tricks.  After Carlos Reed received the squib kick, all 11 players huddled together and then sprinted out in different directions.  Robert Johnson actually had the ball and returned it to the BSU 42-yard line, and a personal foul moved the ball into field goal range (the play was confusing for the statisticians too, as Sylvester Jones was officially credited with the return).  Going for the win, backup quarterback Paul Putnam hit Rommie Wheeler for a touchdown with five seconds left for an improbable 24-20 win.

September 21, 1996.  Marcus Jackson Suffers a Tragic Injury.  It was a simple tackle late in the first half of an otherwise non-descript 47-0 rout of Montana-Western.  It was a tackle that would change a life and touch a community.  Marcus Jackson suffered a traumatic spinal injury on the tackle, becoming paralyzed from the neck down.  Jackson, however, returned to school the following year, and in the summer of 1999, he truly became one of the most heroic figures in ISU history when he battled to earn a bachelor’s degree, despite what some would say was an insurmountable handicap.  Insurmountable to most, but not to Marcus Jackson.

November 16, 1996.  Ed Coleman’s Shining Moment.  Ed Coleman played only one season for Idaho State University, as a reserve running back who basically was not even on the two-deep during the season.  But, pressed into service in the next-to-last game of 1996, Coleman had his day in the sun as he rushed for 232 yards against Portland State, the second-most in school history at that time.  The game would prove to be the only 100-yard rushing game of Coleman’s career.

October 23, 1997.  James Ferrell Kicks ISU into an Inadvertent Controversy.  Leading 43-31 over Southern Utah with four seconds left, Idaho State kicker James Ferrell stood on the sidelines with four made field goals, seemingly settling for a tie of the ISU single-game record.  However, head coach Tom Walsh called timeout to allow Ferrell, a fifth-year senior, an opportunity to set the record. Ferrell kicked that record breaking field goal, but Walsh’s timeout infuriated Thunderbird head coach C. Ray Gregory, who felt that ISU had tried to run up the score.  Gregory publicly announced he was giving up potatoes for a year, and he would only eat them again after defeating ISU the next season.   Gregory’s potato fast lasted another year as ISU dealt the T-Birds a 50-33 loss the following season.

September 19, 1998.  A Game Without a Touchdown.  Big Sky football usually means lots of offense and lots of scoring, unless it’s the 1998 meeting between the Bengals and the Weber State Wildcats.  Despite a 254-yard rushing effort by Wildcat Morgan Welch, neither the Wildcats nor the Bengals could find the endzone.  Weber State got two Scott Shields field goals, and ISU got only a Pete Garces field goal in a 6-3 loss to Weber State.  The game remains the only game in Holt Arena history without a touchdown being scored.
 

November 21, 1998.  Pete Garces’s Big Boot.  Pete Garces was a late signee to the Idaho State roster, but he might have been 1998’s most important.  Possessing arguably the strongest leg in school history, Garces would go on to tie an NCAA  record for most career 50-yard field goals with 11.  In the ’98 finale against Cal State Northridge, ISU tight end Robert McBride dropped a sure touchdown pass on third down from the Matador 42.  With the crowd still buzzing, Peter Garces trotted out for a 60-yard field goal.  The ball was hit with such force that it crossed the goalposts midway up, giving him the longest I-AA field goal without a tee at that time.  The points were the difference in the season ending 32-29 win.

September 4 & 11, 1999.  The Mackay Missile Runs Rampant.  Entering 1999, junior running back Nick Whitworth wanted to show ISU’s new coaching staff he could be an impact running back.  Mission accomplished.  Whitworth opened the season with a 221-yard effort against Eastern Oregon, the most rushing yards by an ISU back in Holt Arena history, bettering the old record that had stood for eight years.  Whitworth’s record never made it to eight days as he rolled up a Holt and school record 273 yards on the ground against Ft. Lewis the very next week.  His 494 yards in back-to-back games easily stands as a school record.

October 16 and 23, 1999.  McCarthy’s Back-to-Back Explosion.  The son of ISU Hall of Fame tight end John McCarthy, quarterback Kevin McCarthy spent most of his career as a backup quarterback, but he was thrust into a starting role in 1999,  and McCarthy showed everyone what he could do.  McCarthy threw for the second-most yards in ISU history with a 477-yard performance against Eastern Washington.  Just one week later, McCarthy was at it again, throwing for 553 yards against Southern Utah.  The 1,030 yards ranks as the most ever by an ISU quarterback in back-to-back games.

September 9, 2000.  A Personal Comeback for DeRonn Finley.  In an otherwise forgettable 58-10 season opening thrashing of Montana Tech, DeRonn Finley returned to the Bengal lineup nearly two years after suffering multiple leg fractures in a spring break car accident that claimed the life of his teammate Jacori Rufus.  Finley, who was told he would never walk again, would go on to lead the 2000 team in receptions, receiving yards, punt return average, kickoff return average, and all-purpose yards and was a finalist for the Disney Most Inspirational Athlete Award.

November 18, 2000.  Nick Whitworth’s Career Capper Quite the Effort. The Mackay Missile, running back Nick Whitworth, ended his career in grand style.  With ISU at 5-5, the Bengals traveled to frozen Logan, Utah for a finale with 5-5 Utah State.  Whitworth rushed for 201 yards, and caught a critical seven-yard pass on 4th-and-7 that led to the go ahead touchdown as the Bengals shocked the FBS Aggies 27-24.  Whitworth’s 200-yard game was the third of his career, a school record.

November 16, 2002.  Eddie Johnson’s Record Setting Night.  Punter Eddie Johnson entered his final career home game with one last shot to set a Holt Arena punting record.  He ended up setting five.  Johnson uncorked six punts for a ridiculous 61.5-yard average, and a 61.3-yard net average, setting both ISU and NCAA single-game records in the process.  Included in those six punts were a 67-yard boot, a 70-yard boot, and a Holt Arena record tying 80-yard kick, which traveled off his foot at the ISU 8-yard line and landed on the Cal Poly 10 before bounding through the end zone, past the Bengal Dancers, and off the wall beyond the field of play.  Johnson was eventually drafted in the sixth round by the Minnesota Vikings in 2003 NFL Draft.

October 4, 2003.  Idaho State and Eastern Washington Ignite Offensive Fireworks.  It was what Big Sky football was all about….offense.  Idaho State and Eastern Washington hooked up for 958 yards, 165 plays, 15 touchdowns, 107 points, and one heck of a comeback.  Down 42-28 with just over five minutes left, the Bengals scored and forced an Eagle punt.  Emery Beckles returned it 65 yards, setting up the tying touchdown with three minutes left.  Running back Isaac Mitchell gave the Bengals a 55-52 win in the second overtime with the team’s eighth and final touchdown of the night.

October 18, 2003.  Mark Hetherington’s Heroics Cap a Homecoming Epic.  In a game that will go down as one of the all-time classics, the Bengals ended 10 years of frustration with a 43-40 double overtime win over fifth-ranked Montana.  In a game that featured six lead changes and six ties, the Griz tied the game at 34 on a 54-yard field goal with no time left.  After both teams traded field goals, Montana was up 40-37 in the second overtime when quarterback Mark Hetherington, who threw for 398 yards in the contest, found sophomore Shedrack Okoebor for a 13-yard touchdown, giving the Bengals a 43-40 win, and the capacity crowd a Homecoming to remember.

December 17, 2003.  Jared Allen Wins the Buchanan Award.  Jared Allen’s 2003 season was monstrous by anyone’s standards, leading the nation with a school record 17.5 sacks.  Allen also led the nation in forced fumbles, and ranked third in tackles for losses.  His season’s crowning moment however came off the field, when he was awarded the Buck Buchanan Award as the national best defensive player in I-AA football.  He became Idaho State’s first major college football award winner, and was later drafted in the fourth round by the Kansas City Chiefs, which interestingly, is where Buck Buchanan spent most of his professional career.
 

November 6, 2005.  Jaret Johnson’s Miracle Kick.  Things looked bleak when Portland State’s Eric Azorr kicked a field goal for a 34-33 Viking lead, and ISU got the ball at their own 35 with no time outs and 23 seconds left.  However, the Bengals ran off five plays, including a key 12-yard completion by Matt Hagler to Akilah Lacey to the PSU 37 with seven seconds left.  Out trotted senior kicker Jaret Johnson, who was having an All-American season, other than a signature kick.  Johnson lined up for a career-long 54-yarder, and drilled it home, giving the Bengals a 36-34 win, and Johnson the longest game-winning kick in Idaho State history.  It also gave him his signature kick on the way to First Team All-American honors.

November 8, 2014. Idaho State knocked off a ranked team for the first time since beating No. 5 Eastern Washington 34-30 in 2005. The Bengals had lost 24 straight games against a ranked team before the win. The victory also marked the first five-game win streak for the Bengals since 1995 when the team started 5-0.

Nov. 22, 2014. Idaho State knocks off Weber State for the first time since 2002. The 46-28 victory gave ISU an 8-4 record and a 6-2 Big Sky Conference mark. This is only the seventh time in program history ISU has won eight games or more. ISU finished 6-0 at home for the first time since 2003 and senior Daniel McSurdy rushed for 266 yards and two touchdowns in his final home game. The 266 yards was the third-best rushing performance in school history. Idaho State also broke a 57-year old single-season rushing record with 2,718 rushing yards. The previous mark was 2,442 by the 1957 team.

Dec. 15, 2014. Justin Arias was named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, an honor that goes to the Most Outstanding Player in FCS football. Arias was invited to Philadelphia where he finished third in the voting. Arias wasn't added as a candidate until November 4 when the Bengals were 6-3.
 

January 12, 2015. Idaho State finished the 2014 season ranked No. 25 in the final Sports Network Poll. It marked the first time ISU was ranked to end the season since 2003 when they were No. 22 in the Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today polls.


Sept. 16, 2017: Idaho State 30 Nevada 28
The Idaho State football team knocked off Nevada 30-28 on Saturday evening at Mackay Stadium. The Bengals led the entire game and fought off a late Wolf Pack rally to earn the victory. The victory is first win over an FBS team since beating Utah State 27-24 in 2000. The win ended a 27-game losing streak against FBS team. The last win over an FBS team was 27-24 at Utah State in 2000.