The Bengals Are Clawing Back

Sometimes when you sit here in the Treasure Valley you kind of forget there are four college football teams in Idaho.

Boise State dominates the Boise headlines while the College of Idaho gets decent press and the Idaho Vandals, well they have 630 The Fan as their radio voice in the Treasure Valley.

So what about Idaho State? They do play football and they're trying to prove they play good football. The Bengals are 2-1 following an impressive road win at North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks had just upset 5th ranked Sam Houston and had jumped into the FCS top 25 at 22nd.

North Dakota had a home coming crowd of more than 11,000 on hand in Grand Forks when the Bengals jabbed the Hawks with a 25-21 upset win.

Last year Idaho State made some noise with a win at Nevada of the Mountain West and a little more than a week ago hung tough at Cal of the Pac-12, the Bears now ranked in the FBS top 25.

Idaho State now has a pair of Big Sky home games to really make a statement. Northern Arizona is in town this Saturday followed by Idaho on October 6th.

That's right the Vandals return to the Big Sky means the renewal of the ISU-Idaho rivalry and the bragging rights to the Gem State.

Well kind of....it used to be Boise State was part of that scenario and now the Broncos dominate the football news in the state but with the Vandals and the Bengals once again playing each other there is definitely another story line.

The Vandals had hoped that by moving from FBS to FCS and back the Big Sky they'd have an immediate impact on the FCS playoffs. However, after losing to UC Davis Saturday 44-21 and with Idaho State looking solid it's obvious the battle in Pocatello October 6th will shine a spotlight on the a pair of Idaho football teams who have one thing in common....neither likes Boise State!