Bengals battle but fall after leading No. 4 Montana most of the game

POCATELLO — Through six games, the Idaho State Bengals have played two FBS opponents and, on Saturday, a Montana Grizzlies team that came into the ICCU Dome as the nation’s No. 4-ranked FCS squad.

The Bengals (2-4, 1-1) held fourth-quarter leads against all three of those opponents. But after another come-from-behind, 42-38, loss at the hands of the Grizz (5-0, 2-0), ISU fell to 0-3 in those games.

Head coach Cody Hawkins said after the game that he was proud of the way the team played, but that the pride he feels “doesn’t change the fact that this sucks in every way imaginable.”

“You’re a split-second away from pulling it off and — I’m heartbroken for our guys, they deserve to have smiles on their faces,” he said, adding that he felt physically ill while addressing the team in the locker room post-game.

After driving 75 yards to open the third quarter with Dason Brooks’ second rushing touchdown of the game, Idaho State held a 31-18 advantage with 27 minutes to play. From there, the Bengals were outscored 24-7.

So what changed?

For starters, the Bengals all but abandoned the run.

Through two quarters and one possession, Brooks and Carson Sudberry had combined for 56 yards and three scores on 13 carries.

Between them, they had just seven carries for 23 yards, all by Brooks, the remainder of the way.

Hawkins said that, in hindsight, he wishes they could have had a better run-pass balance later in the game.

There was also a change in the passing scheme after halftime.

Quarterback Jordan Cooke spent most of the first half in the pocket, picking the Montana secondary apart, completing 17 of 23 pass attempts for 209 yards and a score in the first two quarters.

In the second half though, Cooke, who still seems to be slowed by a knee injury suffered in ISU’s Week 0 loss at UNLV, was asked to move outside of the pocket far more often. His accuracy suffered, as he completed 16 of 31 attempts for 212 yards and one score after the break. He also threw his only interception of the game, rolling right and throwing from outside the hashmark over the middle of the field late in the third quarter.

Hawkins said that moving Cooke was by design, to create more time for receivers to get open down the field.

“But then I think it got a little out of control,” he said. “We kind of created some pressures that weren’t really there.”

Cooke’s slowed mobility came into play on ISU’s final offensive play of the game, a fourth and 10 from the Montana 20 with 44 seconds remaining. The junior signal-caller was able to evade a quick pressure, and appeared to have a lane big enough to get the first down with his legs. Instead, he fired a throw to a triple-covered Damien Morgan resulting in an incompletion and turnover on downs.

Hawkins said that there were times he would have like to see Cooke make plays using his athleticism, and that is something they will discuss when reviewing film from Saturday’s game. But Cooke, Hawkins added, has always used his athleticism to to give himself time and space to throw, rather than to make plays with his legs.

There were some other decisions made by both coaching staffs made gave Montana just enough of an edge.

ISU stacked the box, determined to stop Montana’s potent run game. And it worked.

They held Eli Gillman, who entered the game as the nation’s third-leading rusher — top in the FCS — averaging 135.5 yards per game, to 48.

“Our defense played well enough to win that football game,” Hawkins said. “We knew we were going to have to score 40 and we didn’t.”

That defensive scheme opened up massive passing lanes on the outside, and Grizz quarterback Kealii Ah Yat was all too happy to exploit those lanes. Of Montana’s 399 passing yards for the game, only eight came over the middle of the field, while 333 came past the line of scrimmage and outside of the hashmarks.

“You’ve got to choose to take something away, and it was all going to start with the ground game,” Hawkins said. “We were going to let them hit some throws, but it was the daggers that kinda got ya’.”

Hawkins’ team was also hurt by Montana’s use of trickery — and its do-everything receiver Michael Wortham.

Wortham ran for the Grizzlies’ first touchdown, in the first quarter. Then in the second quarter, he threw one. And late in the game, he found Ah Yat for a big gainer on a “Philly Special” reverse pass.

When he has the ball in his hands, “everybody feels uncomfortable,” Hawkins said.

“Michael Wortham is — without a doubt, he’s the best player in the conference,” the coach added.

Wortham finished the game with 49 passing yards, 41 rushing yards, 124 receiving yard and 82 kick return yards, to go with a passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.

There was also Montana’s decision to go for two following their second score, taking an 18-17 lead instead of tying the game at 17. It seemed, from the outside, to be inconsequential, but to Hawkins it was anything but.

“I was going, ‘Oh crud, this is a problem,’ because they swung the possession game,” he said, saying the decision was worth “half a possession.”

What it did was change the way the game concluded. Rather then being able to send out the Big Sky’s best kicker, Trajan Sinatra, to tie the game in the final minute, ISU was down four and in need of a touchdown.

As Hawkins said though, there were a lot of positive takeaways.

Michael Shulikov had another monster performance, catching eight passes for 119 yards. Tsion Nunnally added 110 yards on nine catches. Cooke finished the game with 421 passing yards, and his offensive line yet again did not surrender a sack — and has now been credited with one on the season, according to Hawkins.

Defensively, ISU was credited with three sacks, and freshman safety Rylan Leathers snagged his first interception of the season.

In the end, however, it was another loss for the Bengals after holding a fourth-quarter lead.