POCATELLO − Last week, Idaho State head coach Cody Hawkins said it would take until week three or four to figure out a starting quarterback and until then, multiple players would get opportunities.
Consider that timetable accelerated and the job filled.
Senior transfer and hometown hero Kobe Tracy is the guy for the foreseeable future.
“He showed the most pose at Oregon State, which is what you’re going to get from the senior guy,” Hawkins said. “Kobe was slightly ahead by the metrics in fall camp, but you want to give all the guys a fighting chance. Jordan Cooke deserved to start Saturday because he worked his butt off and prepared, but Kobe had more poise in that game.”
“And it wasn’t just on paper. I think the guys could feel it both on offense and defense. We got to a point in that game where if we had gotten a stop and made the game a little closer, we would have kept Kobe in.”
In that game in Corvallis, Tracy went 9-of-14 for 114 yards and a touchdown to Christian Frederickson.
So the former Highland High School player and Utah Tech transfer gets to man the controls for Saturday’s home game against Western Oregon. And it looks like, as long as he stays healthy, he’ll be under center for the vast majority of the rest of the year, save for when Hunter Hays − ISU’s version of Taysom Hill − is brought in under special circumstances.
And that comparison to Hill is a good one. Hays has shown he can run the football, scoring five times on the ground last season. He threw for nine touchdown passes that year, as well. The only thing Hays hasn’t shown yet is catching the football, but that’s actually being worked on in practice.
As far as Saturday’s game, the “money game” is now commonplace in college football. It’s usually when a program from a Power-4 conference pays an opponent from a smaller division to come to its place for a contest.
The vast majority of the time the game is used as a tune-up for the bigger program to get live work in and get everyone on the roster playing time. Idaho State was in this position last week against Oregon State. ISU played pretty well and got a large check for its efforts.
This week, the tables have turned. The Bengals (0-1) welcome in Western Oregon, a Division-II program, to the ICCU Dome for their home opener.
“They are going to be ready to play,” Hawkins said. “This is their first game of the year and they have a lot of tape on us.”
The Wolves are from the Lone Star Conference in football and went 3-8 last season under head coach Arne Ferguson.
“Offensively they run more of a pro-style. They have a big receiver and a real quick little slot receiver. So they’ll spend more time with two tight ends on the field,” Hawkins said. “They are going to try to get their big guy 1-on-1 and get their little guy out in space. They’ve run the ball well. Like I said, they return the entire offensive line and tight ends.”
“On defense, they are not going to give you anything over the top, no big plays. It’s hard against their defense to dial up deep shots because they are going to keep everything in front of them. Up front, they are going to jump into a lot of different fronts and try to lull you to sleep. They get some really creative stuff going on third down. We have got to be detailed on our communication up front and our execution on the perimeter because if we are dropping passes or miscommunicating on runs, that can be a problem.”
ISU and Western Oregon have met before. It was in August 2017 when the Bengals won 37-6. It’s the only previous meeting between the two schools.
On paper, this should be an easy win for Idaho State. But Hawkins knows they’ll be some challenges. He talked about what the Wolves will try to do and what type of players they’ll have on the field.
“Western Oregon, they’ve had some success before. They beat Sacramento State and they played Portland State close,” Hawkins said. “I know they have a couple of Power-4 transfers on their team and their linebackers are bigger than our guys. They’ve got some safeties who can play. Their entire offensive line returns and so do all their tight ends so their running game is good.”
FROM THE SIDELINES
ISU all-time record in home opening games at the ICCU Dome is 39-15. The first home game played in it was on September 26, 1970 − a 64-34 win over UNLV.ISU freshman offensive lineman Justin Frost’s brother, Wyatt, is an offensive tackle for Western Oregon.WOU head coach Arne Ferguson has been the head coach for 19 years. He’s been connected to the program for 39 seasons as a player and assistant coach before taking the head coaching position. His career record is 103-91.This is the first game for the Bengals against a non-NCAA DI opponent since the 2019 season. Since the turn of the century, the Bengals are 17-1 against non-DI opponents − the loss coming in 2009 to Central Washington.This year’s ISU roster has players from 13 different states and three different countries. California has the most with 37 players alone.
WESTERN OREGON NOTABLE ALUMNI:
Jeff Charleston, former NFL defensive end. Charleston played his first three years at Western Oregon before transferring to Idaho State.Dan Straily, former MLB pitcher.Kevin Boss, former NFL tight end.Tyrell Williams, former NFL wide receiver.
WESTERN OREGON ‘FEEL-GOOD’ MOMENT:On April 26, 2008, Sara Tucholsky, a reserve outfielder on the Wolves softball team, hit the first home run of her college career in a victory over Central Washington University. But sheinjured her knee rounding first base. Central Washington’s Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace carried Tucholsky around the rest of the bases to home plate. This act of sportsmanship was heavily covered by national media outlets and resulted in Tucholsky, Holtman and Wallace’s winning the Best Moment Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards.
BROADCAST INFORMATIONTelevision: ESPN+ Pay Subscription Service (Kickoff: 4 p.m.)
Radio: KISU-FM 91.1 (Pregame: 3:30 p.m.).
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