Steve Schaack
ISU Sports Information
The Idaho State football team lost 59-34 to Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon at Eccles Coliseum.
The Bengals had 420 yards of total offense while SUU racked up 501.
Idaho State had 190 passing yards and 230 on the ground.
“I have to do a better job of preparing this team. This one is on me. As coaches we have to get this team ready to go,” said head coach Rob Phenicie.
Ty Flanagan led the ground attack with 112 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Freshman Malakai Rango had a season-high 105 yards on 20 carries.
Matt Struck was 14-28 for 171 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Tanner Conner caught five passes for 59 yards and two touchdowns. Michael Dean caught three passes for 59 yards.
Idaho State had five defenders with 10 tackles or more. Kody Graves tied his career-high in tackles with 14. He also had 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception and one pass break up.
Kennon Smith had 11 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Luke Holloway had 10 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Christian McFarland and Adkin Aguirre each had 10 tackles.
Idaho State fell behind 28-7 late in the first quarter after the Bengals turned the ball over twice and had a punt blocked.
Flanagan scored the Bengals first touchdown on a 54-yard run with 10:41 left in the first quarter. Conner added another touchdown with 51 seconds left in the first quarter to cut the SUU lead to 28-14.
In the second quarter, Kevin Ryan kicked 24 and 36-yard field goals and the Bengals held SUU to a field goal as Idaho State trailed 31-20 at halftime.
“There was a point where we scored, got a two-point conversion and the plan was to stop them and get another two-point conversion and then we are at a field goal. That is where we were,” Phenicie said.
Southern Utah led 45-20 after the third quarter. Flanagan scored his second touchdown of the game on a one-yard run with 12:20 left in the game and Conner caught his second touchdown on a 13-yard reception from Struck with 8:37 and Mitch Gueller caught the two-point conversion to cut the T-Bird lead to 45-34.
Southern Utah then went on a 7:07 drive to score and take 52-34 lead and the T-Birds then scored off another Bengal turnover to make the score 59-34.
Idaho State returns home to host Northern Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 2. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. in Holt Arena.
Highlights
– Malakai Rango had a season and career-high afternoon with 20 carries for 105 yards. He had a season-long run of 28 yards.
– Ty Flanagan’s 112 rushing yards is his fourth 100 yard rushing game of the season.
– Ty Flanagan’s 54-yard touchdown run was the seventh longest play of the season.
– Ty Flanagan two rushing touchdowns moves him into a tie for fourth place for career rushing touchdowns with 24.
– This was the first time since Sept. 22, 2018 at North Dakota that Idaho State has had two 100 yard rushers in one game. In that game Ty Flanagan rushed for 119 yards and James Madison rushed 106. Against SUU, Flanagan rushed for 112 yards and Rango rushed for 105.
– Kennon Smith career-high 11 tackles.
– Christian McFarland had a career-high 10 tackles.
– Kainoa Fuiava had a career-high nine tackles.
– Luke Holloway had a career-high 10 tackles and three tackles for loss. His two sacks tied his career-high. He also had one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
– Kody Graves tied his career-high in tackles with 14.
– Ty Flanagan has 2,352 rushing yards. He is two yards away from passing Nick Whitworth’s 2,353 yards and moving into sixth place.
– Ty Flanagan has 438 rushing attempts, moving him into seventh place in the Idaho State career record book.
– Michael Dean is now in 10th place for career receptions with 154.
