Bengals run first scrimmage, announce official start time for season opener

POCATELLO — The Idaho State Bengals held their first scrimmage of the season inside the ICCU Dome, Wednesday.

With scrimmage contact comes intensified position battles, as head coach Cody Hawkins makes major decisions for the upcoming season.

Hawkins said after the scrimmage that the goal for the day was to get “a lot of quality, physical work in” but to end the day healthy.

“(We) had over 120 plays today, so our ones, twos, threes and even some fours got some reps,” the coach said. “I think, at this point in camp, you want to wake up everybody’s instincts about taking guys to the ground and playing full-speed, so it was nice to see that.”

The team finished the scrimmage “mostly healthy,” Hawkins added.

While the biggest decision of camp will determine the starting quarterback when the Bengals open their season on the road against the UNLV Rebels on Aug. 23, several other positions need to be filled over the next three weeks. Hawkins is not expected to release his preseason two-deep for a couple of weeks, following more contact practices.

Hawkins spoke highly of the play he saw from the defense during Wednesday’s scrimmage. The Bengal defense, which allowed the most points (454) in the Big Sky Conference a year ago, has a new coordinator in Grant Duff.

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One thing that was released this week was the official start time of the Bengals’ rescheduled season opener in Las Vegas. The Week 0 affair will kick off at 2 p.m., and be the only game being played in that window.

The Bengals will open their home schedule on Sept. 20, following three consecutive road games, against Lincoln (Calif.) University. Kick off of that game is set for 4 p.m.

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