It was a year ago the Bengals had Hill take over when Luke Butler went down with an injury ahead of a 27-14 loss to UM. Now Hill will be on the sidelines Saturday, when the 0-10 Bengals visit Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Kickoff is at 12:05 p.m. Mountain.
“Shoot, it's like any position,” said Idaho State coach John Zamberlin on Wednesday. “You try and look at things and evaluate them. Kyle's been a great team guy, we went with him the second half last week and he did well.
Blum threw for 88 yards and a touchdown last week in ISU's 59-27 loss to Weber State. He also had an interception. For the season he's thrown for 142 yards, completing 12 of 33 passes.
Hill, meanwhile, has thrown for 2,634 yards.
“I don't think that their offense is going to change a bunch,” said UM coach Bobby Hauck. “Russel Hill's a good player. We've seen him some. We'll be prepared for both guys, and certainly later in the week do an evaluation and see if we need to differentiate between the two.”
Last week's tussle at Portland State figures to be good preparation for the 9-1 Griz.
A week after holding, with the help of a ball-control offense, the Football Championship Subdivision's top passing team to 195 yards through the air, Montana faces the No. 10 passing offense in the FCS.
The Vikings gained 210 yards in their 29-12 home loss to the Griz, their lowest total in the still-brief Jerry Glanville-Mouse Davis Era. Montana can take some encouragement from that.
“A lot of encouragement, actually,” said junior cornerback Keith Thompson, who forced a fumble against the Vikings. “They passed the ball 70-some times a couple weeks ago. So going out and playing like we did against them was real big for us.”
Now the Bengals come in with a less-healthy team that is, well, less explosive. But the Bengals certainly can throw the ball, no matter who's at quarterback.
“You've got to prepare a little differently for them, but defensively it comes down to doing your assignment,” said UM linebacker Brandon Fisher, who had two interceptions at PSU. “Doing your one-eleventh, and playing hard. That's the key to defense, right there.”
Idaho State has its share of four-year transfers, including junior receiver JD Ponciano, a Vancouver, Wash., native who started out at Georgetown (Ky.) College.
That was to be near his girlfriend, fellow Vancouver product Megan Miller. While she was playing center field and making the all-SEC freshman softball team at Kentucky, Ponciano was dislocating his ankle in his second game with Georgetown.
That was 2006. Ponciano, who'd been recruited by Portland State out of high school, and Miller decided soon after to head back to the Northwest.
“We were driving home and we made a list of schools that had softball and football,” said Ponciano. “Idaho State was the first place we visited on the way back.”
The Bengals reintroduced softball in 2007.
“It wasn't hard to find a place for her,” said Ponciano. Miller sat out last season under NCAA transfer rules. Ponciano played, and returned two kickoffs for scores last fall. One covered 100 yards against Montana.
QUICK KICKS: The aforementioned Luke Butler was tracked down by the Pocatello newspaper this week. He's led Division II Augustana College of Sioux Falls, S.D., to a 7-4 record so far this season. Š While Georgetown, Ky., is a traditional NAIA power, so is Carroll College, and ISU is playing former Carroll recruit Dustin Tew at safety. Tew, of Idaho Falls, was a redshirt for Carroll in '06. Š Carroll and Georgetown didn't meet in the '06 NAIA playoffs. Both lost in the first round. Š Idaho State lists just five starters from Idaho, including safety A.J. Storms, a true freshman from Meridian. Š UM boasts 15 starters from the Treasure State. Š ISU has lost 12 of its last 13 meetings with Montana and 22 of its last 24.
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