After a winless 0–11 season in 1979, Bud Hake was fired after three years and a 5–28 record. Dave Kragthorpe was hired as head coach for the 1980 season, and the Bengals went 6–5 in his first year. The following season, ISU won the Division I-AA Championship. Following two playoff victories at home, the Bengals defeated Eastern Kentucky 34–23 in the Pioneer Bowl at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The quarterback during the 12–1 championship season was senior Mike Machurek, a junior college transfer from San Diego City College; he was a sixth round selection in the 1982 NFL draft. Machurek spent four seasons with the Detroit Lions, and had treatment for skin cancer during the second. Idaho State returned to the I-AA playoffs in 1983, but lost 27–20 at home in the first round to conference champion Nevada-Reno. The Bengals have not made another playoff appearance, although they were tri-Big Sky champions in 2002, all at 5–2 in conference play. ISU was passed over for the playoffs, however, for Montana and Montana State, the other tri-champs that year. Following the 2010 season, head coach John Zamberlin was fired after four seasons and Mike Kramer was hired as ISU's 25th head football coach. During his first season in 2011 the Bengals won only two games. Kramer was formerly the head coach at Eastern Washington and Montana State. Among his assistants are former University of Alabama football players Todd Bates and Rudy Griffin and former Brigham Young University player Mike Rigell. On March 30, 2017, Kramer resigned as head coach of the Bengals. The Idaho State Athletic Department promoted offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie to head coach, the same day. Idaho State formerly had spirited intrastate rivalries with both the University of Idaho and Boise State University, when all three schools were members of the Big Sky Conference. Since Idaho and BSU left the Big Sky for the Big West in 1996 to move up to Division I-A, ISU has played the teams infrequently and Weber State University of nearby Ogden has become ISU's main rival in football. The Bengals also claim a rivalry with the Montana Grizzlies of Missoula, though ISU has only one victory in the last sixteen meetings.
The Bengals have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs two times with a record of 3–1. They were National Champions in 1981.
All-Americans
The Bengals have had five two-time All-Americans: wide receiver Ed Bell, defensive end Josh Hays, placekicker Pete Garces, defensive end Jared Allen, and punter David Harrington. Allen also won the prestigious Buck Buchanan Award in 2003 as the top defensive player in the nation in Division I-AA. Wide receiver Rodrick Rumble was an All-American in 2011, a season in which he broke the Big Sky conference record for receptions with 112. Return specialist Tavoy Moore was given first-team All-American honors by the American Football Coaches Association for the 2010 season. Quarterback Mike Machurek was named the Kodak All-American for his 1981 Championship season. Punter Jon Vanderwielen earned several All-American honors in 2009.
Head coaches
Holt Arena
The Bengals play home games in Holt Arena, an indoor multi-purpose athletic stadium located on the north end of the ISU campus. Completed in September 1970, Holt Arena is the oldest enclosed stadium on a college campus in the United States and the second-oldest overall. Only the HoustonAstrodome, completed in 1965, predates it. The indoor arena was conceived by ISU athletic director Milton W. "Dubby" Holt in 1966. ISU students voted to appropriate not more than $2.8 million to the project two years later. Originally named the ASISU MiniDome, it replaced the outdoor "Spud Bowl" as the Bengals' home football stadium; it was renamed in 1988 to honor Holt. After 41 football seasons on AstroTurf, infilled synthetic turf was installed in Holt Arena in July 2011. Similar to FieldTurf, the SoftTop Removable Matrix System is also installed in AT&T Stadium in the NFL.
