So I'm On This Road Tip, and All Hell Breaks Loose....

...Sorry I have not blogged in a while, but I've been tremendously busy trying to get life in order at Chez Mercogliano, and Chez ISU Media Relationville, and Chez Holt Arena, and that stuff comes first, but we are on road trip time for ISU basketball, so I have minute.

In case folks missed it, and judging by the fact that the message boards and Journal web chatter went crazy over this, but nary a peep was heard after this resounding news, maybe you did, but Idaho State is on a little road trip to South Bend, Indiana.

So we are over at practice today, and honestly, it was totally cool to see Touchdown Jesus, and to be amazed at the fact that Notre Dame, liking to keep things quaint, has this for a scoreboard. Anyways, I'm over there taking pictures, and i asked a very nice women who showed us around the arena when we got there a simple question...can we maybe get a chance to walk inside the football stadium? Figured this would be a cool thing, and Cody was curious. Well, as I was going to ask her, a person comes up to her and talks to her...and I give her space, and then ask the question about the stadium. She was like...maybe tomorrow, we just called a 6 pm press conference for football.

So I go online, and I read a report from the New York Times, which is since gone, because obviously the news has been updated...and I'm thinking "wow...I'm here for a little piece of Notre Dame history". Well, updated my facebook status to this...

"Well this trip got even more interesting...press conference for tonight apparently regarding Notre Dame football, and now New York Times is reporting Charlie Weis has been fired...can't believe I'm here witnessing this...FYI, Notre Dame's SID staff is off the charts helpful and superb! Bernie and Sean rock", while I uploaded the men's basketball relase, which contained this...

"While the game is foremost on the minds of the Bengals, Idaho State is in the midst of watching a national media storm, with ESPN and other national media outlets having converged on South Bend to cover whether or not Charlie Weis, Notre Dame's head football coach, will be fired, despite having about $18 million left on his contract and the Fighting Irish going 6-6 this year after losing their last four. "

Now, do I mention that he was fired as if I was told anything? Um...no....I had no clue (now I'm not stupid either), but there is nothing there breaking a story, correct? Correct? Then I get hit with the news that I have scooped ESPN! Don't belive me, click on Eye on Sports Media and come back when you are done laughing.

Now, given that I don't like to be the guy in the news, I'm not overly comfortable with this, but I really didn't scoop anyone at all, but the notoriety from Chris, who really has a must read site over at EOSM, is making for some fun on this trip.

That all being said, it is truly amazing to be here during this time...you can't help but run into someone with an opinion...it's the talk of everyone. Hell, i got a pretzel at the mall today, and the young lady that was the manager was talking about it with me. It's when things like this happen, and then when I'm sitting courtside tomorrow night that I think to myself...what a job I have...how much fun is this really? I mean, travel really blows sometimes (we left on Thanksgiving night for this trip, so I missed the Thanksgiving family movie for the first time in 14 years), but stuff like this cushions the blow. In the last month, I was picked by Jared Allen to give his induction speech in to the ISU Sports Hall of Fame, I've watched basketball games from Utah state and BYU, and now the Weis thing....one of my old friends Mike Pace said to me in a message on facebook "You live a fun life", and you know what...he's right. I try to be greatful every day...

An amazing time to be here for sure, and pure luck as well. Funny thing is...with all this going on, no one even really knows there is a basketball game here on Tuesday night, which is kind of funny.

COACHING NEWS ON FOOTBALL
Gothca, I have none really, and I know Brad is going to touch on this as well, but I haven't been around enough to know what's going on, and when I last saw John, it was prior to all this happening.

Personally speaking, I'll miss all three guys, especially Brian, who always came down a few minutes early to talk football with me, get the lay of the land so to speak. He has another child (his second) on the way, and a little more stable job teaching and coaching high school football is where his heart was for he and his family, and so I'll miss the guy. Sadly, he started hitting his stride late in the year with his play calling and figuring out what worked with our depleted group, but it opens a door obviously for the next person, which I'll get to in a second.

I know it was hard on John to make these changes, especially to Mike Havens and Cherokee Valeria, who really rebounded from his incident with a DUI over the summer. I always apprecaited the fact that Cherokee is a stand up guy, and I was glad he got a second chance after that. He did a good job of recognizing how important it was to give back to the community after that, and he did a nice job of setting up community projects like the elementrary school reading programs and things like that afterwards. Also, while the offensive line struggled, Mike Havens was in his first year with the line, but he played at ISU, graduated from ISU, and will always be a Bengal. I really wish all those guys well...I lvoe this staff, and hopefully John can bring in some quality folks, and I'm sure he will.

I don't however know who he has lined up, and that's the honest truth because again, I haven't been around (ask my wife...I have almost forgotten what she looks like). I know there is chatter about Mike Dunbar, but really I'm not sure. Someone with that pedigree would be awesome.

HOLT ARENA UPDATE
FYI, there is a court down in Holt...stands are around it, and there is an indoor track set up as well. Hopefully by the time I get back the pole vault mats will be set up so they aren't blocking my office door anymore.

"Playing Up": How Much Does It Help?

New Idaho State offensive coordinator Brian Jensen (right) is probably thankful he's not coaching in the National Football League, where three offensive coordinators got fired before the first regular season game was played. After the Bengals' offensive struggles against Arizona State in their season opener Saturday night, Jensen was feeling frustrated and concerned, but at least he didn't have to worry about his job.

A few message board posters over on the Journal blog questioned the Bengal play-calling against the Sun Devils, particulary in the second half, when Idaho State went very conservative. But on our radio show Monday night, ISU Head Coach John Zamberlin made it clear that the order to run the football and shorten the game came directly from the top. So even though ASU was packing eight defenders in the box and ISU's offensive line was unable to create any gaps for Clint Knickhrem and Ben LaPorta, the Bengals kept running the football.

And really, who could blame Zamberlin? When ISU tried to throw the football, Arizona State's pressure and excellent man-to-man coverage abilities, coupled with some bad decisions by Bengal QB Kyle Blum, led to turnovers. As well as Idaho State's defense competed Saturday night, there was no reason to continue to run them back out to defend a short field created by turnovers.

The unfortunate aspect of playing physically superior teams like ASU -- and No. 13-ranked Oklahoma, Idaho State's opponent Saturday night -- is that it's almost impossible to run your normal offense. The O-line can't create or sustain seams, the backs can't get through what tiny cracks there are quick enough, and the receivers can't get separation against the higher quality athletes the Bengals are going to see in their first two games this year. Down and distance situations wind up dictating throwing the football, and that allows very athletic defenses to pin their ears back and head to the quarterback. The only option, and the one Zamberlin selected Saturday night in Tempe, is to run the ball, eat clock and try to get off the field as quickly -- and as healthy -- as possible. And that leaves the offensive staff frustrated because they're not going to learn a whole lot about their team, and they're not going to be able to run a good two-thirds of their offense.

The first season I broadcast Idaho State football, back in 1994, the Bengals had a pretty good Big Sky football team. They wound up beating both Montana and Boise State, who were national playoff semifinalists that season, and they were led by all-conference running back Alfredo Anderson, a pretty quick athlete out of Miami who would go on to become Idaho State's all-time leading rusher. The Bengals played at the University of Utah that season, and the Utes had a great defense, led by all-American Luther Ellis, who later was the 20th player selected in the NFL draft. Nothing better illustrated the difference between a good 1-AA (now FCS) team and a good D-1 program than that matchup, which saw Ellis, a 280-pound defensive lineman, running Anderson down from behind in the backfield, and the Utes pounding ISU 66-0.

Oklahoma's great athletes on offense, led by their 1,000-yard rushers, Chris Brown and Demarco Murray, will put plenty of points on the board against Idaho State Saturday, despite the loss to injury of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford and all-American tight end Jermaine Gresham. The fear, however, is that the biggest mismatch will come on the other side of the football, where all-American defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, weak side linebacker Travis Lewis and defensive end Jeremy Beal will so dominate the game as to make it nearly impossible for the Bengals to execute much of their offense.

Thus, the theory that "playing up" can get you better prepared for games on your own level only goes so far. ISU has played D-1 teams in the past, like Ole Miss and Kentucky, who were in a rebuilding mode and did not have great athletes on the defensive side of the football. The Bengals were very competitive in those games, and could actually carry out a game plan on offense. Those contests allowed the coaching staff to identify strengths and weaknesses, and to get some positive carry-over for the weeks that followed. But ASU, who has as good a defense as I've seen the Bengals play in my 15 years of broadcasting, and Oklahoma do not offer the same opportunities.

It will be difficult to know how much Blum, for example, has improved his decision-making skills when he's running for his life on every passing down. It will be hard to know how much Laporta and third-string running back Stew Tracy can contribute when they can't get enough of a hole to get back to the line of scrimmage on a regular basis. And it will be almost impossible to get a read on the chemistry between Blum and his receivers when the wideouts can't get any separation in the secondary, and Blum can't take more than a three-step drop without getting sacked.

I fully understand why Idaho State is playing these two money games: you don't take a 12 percent hit in state funding for your athletic department without being impacted. Season ticket sales are down this year, and, with state tax receipts lagging below projections already this fiscal year, there is the likelihood of another cutback next year. ISU's adminstators could not pass up the nearly $1 million they will get from these two games. It's just too bad the NCAA denied Idaho State's waiver request that would have allowed them to open the season a week earlier against Division-II Western Montana. Having to play ASU and Oklahoma back-to-back and then opening the conference season at Weber State without a more fair test of the offense is probably the worst case scenario.

Shots in the Dark

Time once again to predict this week's Big Sky games. The good news -- I only missed one prediction last week, with Weber losing, 29-22, to Wyoming. The bad news -- that was the only competitive game of the week and picking the other winners and losers was kind of like picking the winner of a statewide election in Idaho. This week's slate has a few more tests, however. So let's get to it:

Dixie State at Montana State: Okay, I gave myself a break by opening with an easy one. The Red Storm are a Division-II team, and not a particularly good one, although they did beat Adams State, 38-27, last week. But MSU, coming off a spanking at Michigan State, achieved its goal of not turning the ball over against the Spartans, and they're playing at home. Dixie has been outscored 171-28 by its Big Sky opponents over the last three seasons. That's about the right ratio for the final score in this one.

Southern Oregon at Portland State: The Vikings ran the football more last week in the loss to Oregon State, which gives some credence to Jerry Glanville's pre-season promises to be more physical this year. Unfortunately, they lost all-conference fullback Bobby McClintock to a concussion in the process and it's uncertain if he'll play against their NAIA opponents this week. It probably won't matter, though. PSU hasn't lost to a lower division school since 1996, their offensive line did not allow a sack in 41 pass attempts against the PAC 10 Beavers, and they will put up plenty of points on Saturday.

San Diego at Northern Colorado: This one is a little tougher to call, being that the Toreros are a non-scholarship program playing on the road. Northern Colorado, meanwhile, is coming off a 49-3 loss to No. 25-ranked Kansas. The bright spot for the Bears was that quarterback Bryan Waggener completed 19 of 30 passes against the Jayhawks and threw no interceptions. NC's running game remained stuck in neutral, however, with Andre Harris getting only 22 yards in six carries. I'm going with San Diego in this one -- the Toreros are coming off back-to-back 9-2 campaigns, while the Bears have lost seven in a row, and winning -- and losing -- can be habit forming.

Eastern Washington at Cal: Eastern, we are reminded by the Big Sky office, is still appealing its NCAA sanctions, so is therefore technically still eligible for the NCAA playoffs. Cal, meanwhile, is still eligible for the Rose Bowl. And coming off its 52-13 beatdown of Maryland, I will give the Bears the slight edge in motivation. Eastern did some nice things in its opener against Western Oregon, by the way. Probably the most encouraging was the performance of converted DB Taiwan Jones, who ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns, including an 87-yard run. EWU's running game was sorely lacking last year. But I'm betting Jones' running totals will be about 100 yards less than Cal's Jahvid Best, who put up 137 against the Terps last week. No contest, this one.

Weber State at Colorado State: This one vexes me. Yes, the Wildcats lost to a very mediocre D-1 Wyoming last week, and yes, the Rams beat their Big 12 neighbor, Colorado. But the Wildcats really self-destructed in Laramie, committing 11 penalties and quarterback Cameron Higgins tossing five interceptions. I have to think having experienced the "speed" of the D-1 game a week earlier will allow the Wildcats to make some adjustments. And you gotta believe CSU will have a natural letdown against an FCS opponent the week after beating their rival. Will it be enough to overcome the physical advantages CSU enjoys?. . . No. Sorry Weber, I just can't pull the trigger and predict an upset again this week. But it will be a close game.

Sacramento State at Cal Poly: This is another head-scratcher. What do we know about Sac, afterall, who endured a workman-like 38-3 defeat by FBS UNLV in its opener? And what do we know about Cal Poly, who did not play last week, and is under a new coach, former Portland State mentor Tim Walsh? A lot of question marks in this one, but I'm going with the Hornets on the basis of what we do know: Sac got a 100-yard rushing game out of Washington transfer Terrance Dailey last week; they have an established coach and sytem; and Cal Poly is breaking in a new coach and new system without departed all-American Ramses Barden.

Montana at UC-Davis: This will be a good football game. UC-Davis always competes well, particularly at home, where the Aggies are expecting a sellout for Saturday's game. The Griz, meanwhile, are still sorting through their quarterback situation, although it appears Oregon transfer Justin Roper is starting to emerge as the frontrunner in his battle with Andrew Selle. Davis quarterback Greg Denham thew for 251 yards against the Griz in Montana's 29-24 win in Missoula last year. Still, I like Montana's defense and I think Chase Reynolds and Marc Mariani and Co. will get enough done offensively to win a tight one.

Northern Arizona at Arizona: The Lumberjacks open their season against a Wildcat team that didn't impress a whole lot of folks with a 19-6 win over Central Michigan last week. I don't expect a lot of from this matchup, quite frankly, with the Wildcats putting up enough effort to get a win, and NAU staying close enough to feel good about itself.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.

A Conversation with Brian Jensen

Brian Jensen (left) is in his first season as Idaho State's offensive coordinator, after serving as quarterbacks coach in the first two seasons of the John Zamberlin era at ISU. Jensen inherits the task of reviving the Bengals' running game after ISU finished second from the bottom in the Big Sky with an average of 2.6 yards per carry. He also has the responsibility of grooming Kyle Blum as the starter at quarterback.

On Saturday, Jensen's offense got off to a good start in the team's first scrimmage of the fall. Running backs Stew Tracy, Clint Knickrehm, and Ben LaPorta were particularly sharp carrying the football, and Blum and backup QB Russell Hill threw the ball well -- although Blum did cough up a couple of interceptions. Towering wide-out Kelvin Krosch made a couple of great catches in traffic, and freshman wideout Andrew Benavides served notice that he will be a factor in the offense. Here's my conversation with Jensen:

1. You've had a chance, spring football, and now all summer to prepare for fall, to develop your philosophy. What kind of changes have you made?

Jensen: That's a great question, and it's a fair question. I'll tell you what, you're going to see and I've said it before, and I know it's cliche, but we want to be as balanced as we can. If you watched the scrimmage today...as far as coming off the field, I felt like we were fairly balanced. We 've got some good backs, we've got a healthy Clint Knickhrem, we've got a lot of our offensive line back, so we ought to be able, and we have to be able to run the football. Easier said then done, I know, but that's going to be a point of emphasis is that we stay on the ground and run the football and then we can use our play action and other stuff off of that.

2.Obviously, you didn't have any depth at running back in the spring, but it looks like now you've got four or five kids who can carry the football for you. Who do you like in that role?

Jensen: I'll tell you what, you can't pinpoint a guy, obviously Clint Knickhrehm's kind of the mainstay there, but I'll tell you what, Coach Whit (ISU running backs coach Nick Whitworth) has done a great job with the backs and with recruiting some running backs, and we've got different styles of guys....you probably noticed that today where we can change pace with some kids and not miss a beat. And I'm not saying it's going to be running back by committee. We know it's Clint's job to lose. We know how hard a worker he is. But we've got a good complement of backs to go with Clint.

3. Give me your assessment of your quarterback play today.

Jensen: You know I thought overall it was good. We're probably at about a 60 percent clip today, which is good. We need to continue to be smarter with the ball. I just talked to the kids about if it's not there, we throw it away, we burn the down and you get the call from Coach (Drew) Miller on the sideline and we go again. It's playing a mature style of football. But overall I was really pleased, and I want to note I was really pleased with the two freshmen kids -- Kyle Morris and Jake Lammers -- they did a real good job too.

4. Talk about the new kids that we're seeing, the Benavides kid (wideout Andrew) certainly impresses you off the top. Is he going to play this year?

Jensen: Well, I'll tell you what he's got a great role model in (J.D.) Ponciano. Ponce has done a great job taking him under his wing. Benavides, to his credit, has been a sponge and has accepted that and learned from Ponce. Benavides is an explosive kid and you saw it today. We saw it on film and I know Coach Miller is really excited about him and if the role presents itself and he needs to contribute, he'll be ready.

5. I don't want to start a quarterback controversy, but is it set -- is Kyle your No. 1 guy?

Jensen: Well, yeah, as of right now he is. They all have things to work on. Kyle was sharp today at times, and Russell was sharp, and that's a great thing...that's a good thing. There's no controversy there. We're just so fortunate to have both of those guys and you know when quarterbacks go down around the league, and in the NFL and in high school, boy some teams are scrambling and we hope that doesn't happen, but if it does we're in real good shape.

Farewell to a True Bengal Fan

My best wishes and prayers go out to the family of Bernie Schroeder, a true Bengal fan in every sense of the word, who passed away on Friday, Aug. 14. Bernie, games at Holt Arena just won't be the same without you.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.