Lucas Gebhart
Sports Editor
Idaho State trailed 17-13 at halftime but was outscored 31-7 in the second half as the Southern Utah Thunderbirds throttled the Bengals in-route to a 52-27 victory Saturday afternoon at Holt Arena, handing ISU its fourth consecutive loss.
The Bengals have been outscored 177-75 the last four weeks as Southern Utah racked up 610 total yards of offense, while running 99 plays, averaging 6.2 yards-per-play.
“610 yards is the tale-of-the-take,” said head coach Mike Kramer. “That is a whooping.”
ISU never lead and struggled to move the ball as the Bengals went three-and-out six times and turned the ball over twice, leaving the defense on short rest.
“We can’t pinpoint the problem in one spot because there are so many different factors that affect the success of a team,” said wide receiver KW Williams. “I am on offense and I am going to say that the offense can’t go three-and-out to start the second half. We have done that way too long.”
Southern Utah ended the half when Keita Calhoun converted a 41-yard field goal as time expired capping off a 15-play, 44-yard drive.
The Thunderbirds opened the second half right where the left off with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took up 4:17 of the clock.
“We always fold a little bit in that second quarter,” Kramer said. “The third quarter is a tale of my career here.”
Southern Utah put together three touchdowns drives in the third quarter that consistence of 31 total plays. Southern Utah held the ball for over nine-and-a-half minutes in the third quarter.
“If you go back and look at the games I’ve coached here, you’ll look at the third quarter and go, ‘dude, you are being overpaid by about a quarter.”’ Kramer said. “We are not getting anything done in the third quarter.”
Southern Utah touched the Bengals defense collectively. Two Thunderbird receivers finish with over 100 yards and two running backs finish with multiple touchdowns.
Mike Sharpe had 11 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown while Steven Wroblews hauled in six passes for 108 yards. Malik Brown carried the rock 17 times for 106 yards, scoring twice while James Felila had eight carries for 68 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
“Defensively, we couldn’t get off of blocks and they beat us in man coverage,” Kramer said. “If you beat us in man coverage, we are probably going to get beat.”
Southern Utah kept the gas on in the fourth quarter, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns when the game seemed to be out of reach.
“Disappointed that teams try to work on the passing game long after the game has been decided,” Kramer said. “I don’t like that and I think that is bush-league.”
ISU now drops to a 1-4 record in Big Sky Conference play. The remaining three team on the schedule – Montana, Eastern Washington and Weber State – have a combined record of 11-4.
