History
After a winless 0–11 season in 1979, Bud Hake was fired after three years and a 5–28 (.152) record. Dave Kragthorpe was hired as head coach for the 1980 season, and the Bengals went 6–5 in his first year. The following season, ISU won the Division I-AA Championship. Following two playoff victories at home, the Bengals defeated Eastern Kentucky 34-23 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The quarterback during the 12–1 championship season was Mike Machurek, a sixth round selection in the 1982 NFL Draft (154th overall); he spent several seasons with the Detroit Lions.
Idaho State also made the I-AA playoffs in 1983, but lost in the first round to conference foe Nevada-Reno. The Bengals have yet to return to the playoffs, although they were tri-Big Sky champions in 2002. ISU was passed over for the playoffs, however, for Montana and Montana State, the other tri-champs that year.
Following the 2010 season, head coach John Zamberlin was fired after four seasons (6–39, .143) and Mike Kramer was hired as ISU's 25th head football coach. During his first season in 2011 the Bengals won only two games. Kramer was formerly the head coach at Eastern Washington and Montana State. Among his assistants are former University of Alabama football players Todd Bates and Rudy Griffin and former Brigham Young University player Mike Rigell.
Idaho State formerly had spirited intrastate rivalries with both the University of Idaho and Boise State University when all three schools were members of the Big Sky Conference. Since Idaho and BSU left the Big Sky in 1996 to move up to Division I-A, ISU has played the teams infrequently and Weber State University of nearby Ogden, Utah has become ISU's main rival in football. The Bengals also claim a rivalry with the Montana Grizzlies, though ISU has only one victory in the last sixteen meetings.
Read more about this topic: Idaho State Bengals Football
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