Bengals turn four interceptions and five Mason Lindberg field goals into a 29-17 road victory
LOGAN, UTAH – Before Cody Hawkins began rebuilding Idaho State, he received part of his football education a long way from the familiar conveyor belt of American college football.
The former Colorado quarterback became a player-coach with the Stockholm Mean Machines in Sweden, quarterbacked the United States to the 2011 IFAF World Championship in Austria and earned all-tournament honors. He later helped coach Australia’s junior national team and returned to Team USA as quarterbacks coach for the 2015 World Championship in Canton, Ohio.
International football teaches coaches to adapt to the players and resources in front of them, communicate concepts quickly and build an identity sturdy enough to travel. On Saturday night in Logan, those lessons were written all over Hawkins’ Idaho State team.
Bengals turn the tables in Logan
Three years after Utah State hung 78 points on the Bengals in Hawkins’ first season, No. 23 Idaho State returned to Maverik Stadium and beat the Aggies 29-17. It was Idaho State’s first win over an FBS opponent since a 2017 victory at Nevada, its first over Utah State since 2000 and its first 2-0 start against Division I opposition since 1995.
This was not the kind of offensive fireworks normally associated with Hawkins’ run-and-shoot. It was something more important for a program trying to grow up: a complete-team road win. Idaho State forced four interceptions, committed no turnovers and got five field goals from Mason Lindberg. When the Bengals needed the offense to answer, it did.
Hawkins’ offense sets the tone
The fingerprints of the Hawkins offense were clearest on the opening possession. Idaho State lived in no-huddle shotgun, spread Utah State across the field and opened with four straight completions. Jordan Cooke worked right to Eli Aragon-Cruz, left twice to Julian Mason and back right to Chedon James. The quick game functioned as an extension of the running game, forcing the Aggies to declare leverage and make tackles in space.
The 14-play, 64-yard drive stalled inside the 10, but Lindberg’s 28-yard field goal gave the Bengals the lead and, more subtly, showed they had not come to Logan to survive. Idaho State followed with another nine-play march after Utah State’s first touchdown. Lindberg finished that one from a career-best 48 yards, keeping the Bengals within 7-6.
Hawkins then showed the other side of the system. Beginning at its own 29 early in the second quarter, Idaho State used the width of its formations to create room in the box. Cooke kept for six yards, Robert Freeman IV ran for gains of nine and three, and Carson Sudbury ripped off eight before taking an option pitch 30 yards to the Utah State 6. Cooke finished the 71-yard drive himself on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
That sequence matters. Hawkins has built a run-and-shoot offense, but not a museum piece. The core is not simply throwing four vertical routes. It is using space, leverage and receiver adjustments to give the quarterback answers, then running at the numbers the defense leaves behind. Against Utah State, Cooke’s legs and the option element prevented the Aggies from treating Idaho State’s four-wide structure as a one-dimensional passing game.
Defense starts creating opportunities
The Bengals’ defense supplied the next break. Jacob Perez intercepted McCae Hillstead and returned the ball 28 yards to the Utah State 5. The Aggies held Idaho State to another field goal, but Lindberg made it 16-7. Utah State trimmed the margin to 16-10 before halftime and then controlled the opening 8:38 of the third quarter. Sixteen plays carried the Aggies to fourth-and-goal at the 1, where Idaho State’s defensive front stopped Grady Brosterhous for a two-yard loss.
Utah State eventually moved ahead 17-16 after a short punt gave it the ball at the Idaho State 24. The moment could have turned the game. Instead, Cooke answered within the structure. He kept the ball for 11 yards on second-and-10 and, facing third-and-11 later in the drive, found Mason over the middle for 30. Lindberg’s 43-yarder put Idaho State back in front, 19-17.
Shorty delivers the turning point
Seven seconds later, TreShawn Shorty read Hillstead, intercepted him and returned the ball 42 yards to the Utah State 3. Even after two plays lost five yards, Idaho State did not panic. On third-and-goal, Cooke found James for an eight-yard touchdown and a 26-17 lead. Lindberg’s fifth field goal, from 41 yards, supplied the final points, while Troy Wilkey and Shorty added fourth-quarter interceptions to shut the door.
The box score looked upside down. Utah State produced 407 yards to Idaho State’s 241, ran 88 plays to 63, made 29 first downs to 14 and held the ball for more than 33 minutes. But the Aggies went 1-for-4 on fourth down and gave away four possessions. Idaho State was 4-for-4 in the red zone, perfect on its only fourth-down attempt and flawless with the football.
Cooke finished 18-of-33 for 152 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, adding the fourth-down rushing score. Mason caught seven passes for 75 yards. Nathan Reynolds anchored the defense with 17 tackles, Trehsyn Fesili recorded two sacks and Shorty collected two of the four interceptions. Lindberg was perfect from 28, 48, 25, 43 and 41 yards.
Hawkins’ rebuild takes another step
Hawkins called the defense the best unit on the field and said it played at a championship level. He was right. Yet the larger story is what now surrounds that defense. Idaho State has a recognizable offensive identity, a quarterback trusted to make leverage-based decisions, a kicking game capable of cashing in imperfect drives and a roster that did not flinch when Utah State finally took the lead.
The rebuild remains unfinished. The Bengals averaged only 3.8 yards per play, took two sacks, committed eight penalties and twice settled for field goals after reaching the Utah State 11 or closer. Hawkins was quick to turn the page toward a home date with San Diego.
Still, the contrast is impossible to ignore. In 2023, Idaho State left Logan after surrendering 78. In 2026, it left with an FBS scalp and a 2-0 record. For a coach whose path ran through Stockholm, Innsbruck, Australia and an IFAF championship in Canton before reaching Pocatello, the method looks familiar: adapt, teach, improve and make the whole greater than the available parts.
Scoring summary
First quarter
9:04 — Idaho State: Mason Lindberg 28-yard field goal, 3-0.
5:52 — Utah State: Eli Wood 15-yard pass from McCae Hillstead (Kian Afrookhteh kick), 7-3.
1:57 — Idaho State: Lindberg 48-yard field goal, 7-6.
Second quarter
8:23 — Idaho State: Jordan Cooke 1-yard run (Lindberg kick), 13-7.
6:42 — Idaho State: Lindberg 25-yard field goal, 16-7.
0:04 — Utah State: Afrookhteh 28-yard field goal, 16-10.
Third quarter
4:39 — Utah State: Demick Starling 4-yard pass from Hillstead (Afrookhteh kick), 17-16.
0:26 — Idaho State: Lindberg 43-yard field goal, 19-17.
Fourth quarter
14:13 — Idaho State: Chedon James 8-yard pass from Cooke (Lindberg kick), 26-17.
4:39 — Idaho State: Lindberg 41-yard field goal, 29-17.