Denim Millward
Sports Editor
After mother nature interfered with their plans, the Idaho State football team finally took the practice field for the first time to start preparing for the upcoming season April 2.
After a marginally-improved 2013 season and some key departures from the team, uncertainty and optimism are intertwined at this juncture.
On the positive side, the Bengals are returning 19 of 22 starters from last year.
For the first time in years, the reliance on true freshmen, redshirt freshmen and junior-college transfers will not be a point of concern.
The wholesale return of offensive and defensive starters gives the Bengals a head start on the gelling and cohesion process. While familiarity with teammates is not easily measured, it certainly seems to bode well for the team’s performances in close games, of which there were several last season, all of which saw the Bengals on the wrong end of the result.
Redshirt senior quarterback Justin Arias comes into his final year with the Bengals with a full season of experience leading the team under his belt.
Arias was 322-574 for 3,547 yards last season, tossing 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Arias also tacked on two rushing touchdowns, though his speed and elusiveness were not as much a factor as fans may have hoped going into the season.
While the passing numbers look good, the pass-heavy offense installed by head coach Mike Kramer play an indelible part in that. Arias’ 56.1 percent completion will likely need to see an uptick of five to 10 percent for the Idaho State offense to be at maximum efficiency.
Completing a higher percentage of passes will be no easy task for Arias following the loss of three of his four leading receivers, most notably outgoing senior wide receivers Luke Austin and Cam Richmond who caught 17 of Arias’ 24 touchdowns and were on the receiving end of nearly half of Arias’ passing yards.
Combine Richmond and Austin’s departures with the loss of standout freshman Chad Hansen and highly-touted prospect Cristian Morris, the ability of Arias to find new connections with a cadre of fresh-faced targets will be an enormous factor in the success of Idaho State’s offense.
Redshirt sophomore Broc Malcolm remains the most experienced Bengal wide receiver on the roster while redshirt juniors Madison Mangum and C.J. Hatchett and redshirt sophomore K.W. Williams, who combined played in 22 games last season and caught a total of 15 passes, will be expected to step up immediately and exponentially increase their contributions.
Tight ends Josh Cook and Tyler Graves also figure to be more heavily utilized in the passing attack this season while the inexperienced wideouts are getting their feet wet in their new roles.
One of the brightest spots from last season was the emergence of a legitimate running attack. Usually little more than an afterthought in Kramer’s offense, junior running back Xavier Finney had just under 200 carries for 868 yards and 5 touchdowns. Despite a lack of explosive, high-yardage runs (Finney’s season-long rush was for a meager 22 yards) Finney’s ability to consistently gain yardage took away the Bengals’ opponents’ ability to all but ignore the run and load up with defensive backs.
If Finney, along with backfield mates Daniel McSurdy and Aaron Prier, can continue to be productive, it will make Arias’ job much easier.
In the 2013 campaign, the Idaho State offense displayed exciting albeit inconsistent flashes of the explosiveness and potency that Kramer dreamed of when he installed the offense upon becoming head coach. Despite the uncertainty that comes with such an inexperienced group of wide receivers, the Bengals have the talent to make waves in the Big Sky Conference offensively.
