Bengals lose 25-24 at home after late Cal Poly touchdown

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – The Idaho State Bengals lost to the Cal Poly Mustangs on Saturday night at the ICCU Dome, 25-24. It was the Bengals' homecoming game. Idaho State now sits at 4-2 on the season and is 1-2 in Big Sky Conference play.

The Bengals led 13-10 going into halftime courtesy of a 45-yard field goal from Mason Lindberg as time expired in the second quarter. Coming out of half, Idaho State's first drive stalled, forcing a punt which pinned Cal Poly on their own 2-yard line. The first play the Mustangs ran was blown up in the end zone by Idaho State. Trehsyn Fasili and TreShawn Shorty tackled Cal Poly running back Jaden Green in the end zone for a safety. That was the first safety ISU has forced since 2024 against Oregon State.

The Bengals' following drive ended in a 50-yard field goal from Mason Lindberg, giving the Bengals their largest lead of the night, 18-10. Lindberg was a perfect 5-for-5 on his field goal attempts, making from 27, 45, 50, 43, and 30.

Just over 5 game minutes later, Cal Poly tied the game. Mustang QB Anthony Grigsby Jr. capped off a drive with a 4-yard rushing touchdown. He then converted the 2-point conversion on the ground to tie the game at 18 a side.

2 more fourth-quarter field goals from Idaho State's Mason Lindberg gave the Bengals a 24-18 lead. With 2:14 seconds left in the game, the Idaho State offense got the ball back with a chance to end the game. Davis Harsin checked in at quarterback and picked up 4 yards on the first play of the drive. However, the Cal Poly defense made a stand the next two plays and forced an ISU punt. The Mustangs got the ball back with 1:41 left.

On that drive, Cal Poly burned 1 minute off the clock and capped it off with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Grigsby Jr. to Misa Paiau. After the extra point, the Mustangs led 25-24.

ISU's offense had 1 timeout and 40 seconds to get into field goal range. On the third play of that final Bengal drive, Jordan Cooke's pass was intercepted. Demetrius Simon rose up and snagged a 1-handed interception, sealing the win for Cal Poly.

Jordan Cooke went 22 of 36 in the loss, throwing for 238 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Tommy Poe led the way in terms of receiving yards for the Bengals, hauling in 5 grabs for 108 yards. Chedon James led the way in targets with 12, and receptions with 7. Both the Bengals and the Mustangs converted all of their red zone possessions into points. Idaho State went 3-3, Cal Poly went 4-4.

"I can't tell you that what you're doing is good enough and the ball just didn't bounce your way. That's not how you can attack adversity," said Head Coach Cody Hawkins after the game. "You got to say, let's buckle down and do a little bit more. If it means something to you, we got to do a little bit more."

Hawkins also spoke about how the team did not complete their 3 main goals. "That's the whole point of the game was, hey, let's start fast, we got to create turnovers, and we got to win field position. I don't think we did any of those."

Hawkins also offered more insight on the offensive side of tonight's game. "I mean, we got too many detail issues, whether it's missed throws, miscommunications, missed blocks," he said. "I got to do a better job, and we're going to get after it this week to make sure that doesn't happen anymore, or we can at least see some improvement there."

Up next for Idaho State is the Battle for the Train Bell when they take on Weber State in Ogden, Utah, on October 17th.