Denim Millward
Sports Editor
Though the FCS Playoff Championship selection came and went without Idaho State’s name being called, the Bengals still managed to haul in numerous individual awards in recognition of the team’s first winning season since 2003.
Most notable among the multiple honors bestowed upon ISU by the Big Sky Conference was the Big Sky Conference Football Coach of the Year Award given to Bengal head football coach Mike Kramer.
“I have the staff of the year, the president of the year, the trainer of the year, the equipment manager of the year and administration of the year,” Kramer said to ISU Sports Information. “This is a full-team award. I am humbled by the honor and extremely grateful for the great support we have at Idaho State.”
Prior to coming to ISU, Kramer won the Big Sky Coach of the Year award three times, the first award coming in 1997 when Kramer was head coach at Eastern Washington and the second and third coming during his tenure at Montana State in 2002 and 2005, respectively.
Kramer joins elite company with his fourth Big Sky Coach of the Year Award, as only two other coaches have earned the honor four times.
Head coach of then-conference-member Boise State Tony Knap won the award in 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1975.
Chris Ault won the award in 1983, 1986, 1990 and 1991 as head coach of the Nevada Wolfpack.
Both Boise State and Nevada are now members of the Division I-A Mountain West Conference.
Kramer is also only the second Division I coach to ever win a conference coach of the year award with three different teams. Dennis Erickson, who also had a stint as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, first accomplished the feat with three Pac-12 teams: Oregon State, Arizona State and Washington State.
In addition to Kramer’s award, 16 players earned All-Conference accolades.
Redshirt senior quarterback Justin Arias, junior running back Xavier Finney and junior Madison Mangum were named First Team All-Conference.
Arias broke nearly every passing record at Idaho State this season, amassing 4,076 passing yards and 38 passing touchdowns, both of which are school records. Arias is also the all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns at Idaho State.
Finney became the first Idaho State Bengal to lead the Big Sky Conference in rushing, gaining 1,495 yards and averaging 124.6 per game and rushing for 14 touchdowns. The total rushing yards and rushing touchdowns are both single-season records for Idaho State, as is Finney’s 259 carries.
In his first year in a prominent offensive role, Mangum caught 83 passes for 1,234 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Earning second-team all-conference honors were offensive linemen Jim Bagley and Christian Diehm and defensive lineman Tyler Kuder.
Tight end Josh Cook, defensive lineman Austin Graves, linebacker Mitch Beckstead and defensive back Taison Manu were named third team all-conference.
KW Williams, Wesley Wingrove, Vai Peko, Terrence Carey and Nick Albano were honorable mentions.
Even after that considerable haul for the Bengals, there may still be awards yet to come.
Arias was named a finalist for the Walter Payton award, which is awarded each year to the most outstanding FCS player. Arias gained national attention via his gaudy statistics, which were all at or near the top of the list of all FCS schools across the country.
Arias is joined in national award contention by redshirt freshman linebacker Mario Jenkins, who burst onto the scene in 2014. Jenkins lead the nation in tackles by a freshman with 120. He also had 10.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions, four pass breakups, seven pass deflections, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Jenkins’ performance made him a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, which is awarded to the most outstanding freshman in the FCS.
