Denim Millward
Sports Editor
It ended a five-game winning streak.
It significantly damaged aspirations for an FCS tournament berth.
Instead of exorcising past demons, it added a few more.
There’s no getting around it: the ISU football team’s loss to Montana State last Saturday hurt.
It hurt Idaho State football players. It hurt fans. It hurt objective observers who thought that ISU’s high-octane offense would make a perfect addition the FCS field.
That the Bengals had a pretty good shot to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on the final play, only to have what appeared to be an obvious pass interference penalty on Montana State which would have given the Bengals another opportunity to score from 15 yards closer, go uncalled is a handful of rock salt callously thrown in the gaping emotional wound.
That wound is one participants and fans of Idaho State Football will bear for the considerable future.
Despite the figurative pain the loss caused to fans and players, there’s almost certainly no one more torn up about the loss than ISU Head Football Coach Mike Kramer.
For those unaware, Kramer was once the head coach at Montana State where he cultivated a successful and winning program.
Kramer was eventually fired by Montana State after a number of players were arrested.
The details of the arrests and of Kramer’s subsequent dismissal are highly publicized and still easily found via a quick search of the internet, but to sum it up, Kramer filed a lawsuit against the university which was eventually settled.
To say there’s still bad blood between Kramer and Montana State is akin to saying the Hatfields and the McCoys aren’t huge fans of each other: a huge understatement. To have his team’s playoff hopes almost entirely extinguished by that team has to be agonizing to Kramer.
Despite all the trauma caused and bad memories brought up by the loss, one thing that should not be damaged or even remotely tarnished by this loss is the amazing success this season has been.
Kramer’s Bengals have already guaranteed their first winning season since 2003 as well as more than doubling their wins from last year with a lot of the same talent.
Only two seasons removed from being historically awful, the Idaho State defense has been rebuilt in a relatively short period of time to an at-worst competent and at-best dominant squad.
The offense improvements are even more amazing.
Take a moment to look at the FCS football statistics for 2014: The Bengals’ fingerprints are everywhere.
Quarterback Justin Arias is number one in the nation in passing yards with 3,754, with Lamar’s Caleb Berry a very-distant second with 3,382. Arias also leads the nation in passing touchdowns with 35, four better than his nearest competitor, and is also top in the entire United States in passing yards-per-game.
Though he will only have started two full seasons, Arias is also the record holder for passing touchdowns at ISU and also holds the ISU record for touchdowns in a single season.
The statistical success doesn’t stop with Arias, as ISU’s offense boasts two other skill-position players that rank in the top five nationally in relevant statistical categories.
Though Kramer’s offense has been known as pass-heavy and in which his position is sometimes little more than an afterthought, junior running back Xavier Finney has somehow managed to be fifth in the nation in rushing yards.
He broke the ISU single-season rushing mark with three games remaining, and is on pace to break it by a huge margin.
In his first year as a significant part of the Bengal offense, wide receiver Madison Mangum is third-best in the nation in terms of receiving yards.
Losing always hurts. This loss was the proverbial equivalent to simultaneously getting your hand slammed in a car door while being kicked in the shins and having Mike Tyson repeatedly slug you in the gut. But the results of one game, regardless of how painful they are, should never overshadow an entire season of resounding success.
