2015 Record: 2-9 (1-7)
Key Returners: Michael Sanders, Hayden Stout, Jakori Ford, KW Williams
Key Losses: Xavier Finney, Madison Mangum, CJ Hatchett, Erik Collins, Kurt Karstetter
The Idaho State Bengals had a pretty rough year last year. They finished the season at 2-9 last season and the media isn’t picking them to be much better than that this year, finishing 11th in the preseason poll. The Bengals do return some talent to their team this year, receiver KW Williams, running back Jakori Ford, quarterback Michael Sanders, and linebacker Hayden Stout. There are some talented players on this team, however, their success has been incredibly limited over the last few seasons. Mike Kramer’s team had a promising performance in 2014, finishing 8-4, however they took a pretty severe step backwards last season.
Idaho State finished 48th in total offense last season which is kind of respectable given their two win season. They were averaging 397 yards per game last season. However, a good offense can be easily outdone by a bad defense. Idaho State had a bad defense, finishing 111th in total defense, giving up 456 yards per game. You don’t win many football games when your defense gives up 100 more yards of offense than you can accumulate. The Bengals finished -19 in touchdown ratio last season. Having an offense that was as good as it was it’s just really hard to imagine that they finished so far in the negative on the touchdown category. That’s the sign of a really bad football team and not putting the ball away when you need to. The Bengals finished 119th in turnover margin last season, at -15. If you’re looking for a reason why things weren’t great in Pocatello you don’t have to read much more than this paragraph.
The Bengals offensive weapons should help this season at least keep a few of their games close. Quarterback Michael Sanders started eight games last season, throwing for 2131 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was a transfer from Scottsdale Community College. The Bengal running back Jakori Ford carried the ball for 450 yards and three touchdowns for the Bengals. He was the second leading rusher on the team last season. The Bengals second leading receiver from last season will also be back, KW Williams. He caught 684 yards worth of passes and seven touchdowns. Those three players will need to step up this year for the Bengals. Senior linebacker Hayden Stout is an outstanding linebacker from Meridian, Idaho. He led the team in tackles last season with 113, 52 were unassisted. He has been a three year starter for the Bengals and will be starting again this coming season.
With Mike Kramer being in his sixth season at the helm at Idaho State you have to think that at some point he’s going to have to start winning games or be shown the door. He has one eight win season to his credit in Pocatello, but a lot of 1-3 win seasons other than that. His seat has to be getting hot, despite the work he has put in to gut that program and rebuild it. Will he still be the coach of the Bengals in 2017? The defense is going to need to improve and the offense is going to need to keep rolling in order for this team to be any kind of successful. The Bengals need to be better at taking care of the football to help themselves. Being -15 in turnovers and being bad at defense are two things that will derail any team’s football season.
Idaho State’s schedule won’t be too easy, as they have a pair of FBS teams on their schedule, Colorado and Oregon State. Their conference schedule won’t be easy either as they’ll play Northern Arizona, Montana, Eastern Washington, North Dakota, and Southern Utah. That could be a pile of losses for the Bengals, but they get two of those five at home. The first hurdle they have to clear is something called Simon Fraser, a team from British Columbia. They’ll need that win to get their season any kind of momentum.
It’s going to be another tough season in Pocatello but if Mike Kramer can find a way to keep this team competitive in even the tougher games there might be room for him on the staff in 2017. If the Bengals suffer a lot of blowout losses it might be time for Kramer and his 16-40 record at ISU to seek other employment.
9/3/2016 Simon Fraser University (B.C.)
9/10/2016 at University of Colorado
9/17/2016 at Oregon State University
9/24/2016 Sacramento State
10/1/2016 at Portland State University
10/15/2016 at Northern Arizona University
10/22/2016 University of North Dakota
10/29/2016 Southern Utah University
11/5/2016 at University of Montana
11/12/2016 at Eastern Washington University
11/19/2016 Weber State University