Sasha Ambrose
Sports Reporter
This Saturday, the Bengals will kickoff their second game of the season against the Cal Bears, a game in which ISU will get $625,000 for playing.
After taking care of Division II Western State of Colorado, a game ISU won 45-10, the Bengals will now look to see what they can do against a high-powered Pac-12 team.
“We did well, and there’s definitely some things we need to improve on, conditioning, gotta pick it up a little bit, and also, moving onto Cal,” said junior Dallen Collins. “They’re a good defensive line, so it’s all going to come down to technique. Their nose guard is big. He’s 350 pounds, but technique’s always gonna win.”
ISU has never played Cal before, but the Bengals did play two Pac-12 schools in 2016 – Colorado and Oregon State. The Bengals lost to Colorado 56-7 and lost to Oregon State 37-7. This will be the seventh Pac-12 game the Bengals have played since 2009.
“You’ve got nothing to lose, so why not go out there and get after it,” said junior Jacob Molenaar. “It can be kind of intimidating, but you have to remember it’s just another guy.”
Cal is coming off a two-game win streak over BYU and North Carolina. So far, they have scored an average of 22.5 points per game with an offense that’s averaging 338.5 yards per game.
“This year, they’ve had a lot of tackles in the first three quarters of both their games, and that right there, in and of itself, is a monumental task,” said Rob Phencie, ISU head coach. “Even when you think you’ve got them on a play, their secondary is right there. There is a lot of movement, these big, long, athletic guys who don’t miss tackles, and they play their scheme very sound, and they’re very physical. They really try to bring it when they get to you.”
For some players, particularly new freshmen, this is their first time playing a Pac-12 team on their turf. However, there are plenty of juniors and seniors who have been around this similar situation a couple of times.
“I view Cal the same as I would any other defense,” Molenaar said. “It’s another opponent, I can’t overlook him, I can’t underestimate him.”
“And I can’t be intimidated, I just have to go out there and play,” Collins added. “Jake [Molenaar] and I have played enough football, where if we’re being affected by this or being intimidated just because they’re bigger. We’ve got bigger issues, and we’re just going to show up and play.”
Cal is currently ranked fourth in the Pac-12 North, behind Oregon, Washington State and Stanford. For this game, the Bengals are taking 70 players to California Memorial Stadium, which holds 63,000 people. Holt Arena has a capacity of 12,000 for football.
“I think it’s kind of a motivator,” Molenaar said. “I think it’s fun, you know, whenever we do something awesome, or we hit a guy really hard, or blindside a guy, and you hear the boos, I think it’s pretty awesome. There’s no better feeling, just knowing that you did something right there.”
