2020 Idaho State Bengals football team

2020 Idaho State Bengals football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	2–4 (2–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Rob Phenicie (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Ferriter (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Roger Cooper (5th season)
Home stadium	Holt Arena

2020 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 9 Weber State $^		5	–	0					5	–	1
No. 10 Eastern Washington ^		5	–	1					5	–	2
No. 14 UC Davis		3	–	2					3	–	2
Northern Arizona		3	–	2					3	–	2
Idaho State		2	–	4					2	–	4
Idaho		2	–	4					2	–	4
Southern Utah		1	–	5					1	–	5
Cal Poly‡		0	–	3					0	–	3
Montana†			–						2	–	0
Portland State†			–						0	–	1
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Big Sky suspended the fall 2020 football season. Montana State, Northern Colorado, and Sacramento State opted out of the spring season. † – Montana and Portland State opted out of the conference season, but scheduled non-conference games. ‡ – Cal Poly opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 29, 2021. Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2020 Idaho State Bengals football team represented Idaho State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Rob Phenicie, the Bengals were 2–4 overall (2–4 in Big Sky, tied for fifth), and played their home games on campus at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was delayed and started in late February 2021.

Preseason

Polls

On July 23, 2020, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bengals were predicted to finish eleventh in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.^[1]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	135 (7)
2	Montana	128 (3)
3	Montana State	121 (1)
4	Eastern Washington	118 (1)
5	Sacramento State	99 (1)
6	UC Davis	83
7	Northern Arizona	68
8	Portland State	67
9	Idaho	66
10	Cal Poly	46
11	Idaho State	37
12	Southern Utah	33
13	Northern Colorado	13

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	546 (28)
2	Montana	496 (8)
3	Montana State	493 (6)
4	Eastern Washington	438 (1)
5	Sacramento State	389
6	UC Davis	325 (1)
7	Portland State	274
8	Idaho	273
9	Northern Arizona	238
10	Cal Poly	206
11	Idaho State	133
12	Southern Utah	105
13	Northern Colorado	88

Schedule

In late July, Idaho State and New Mexico agreed to move 2020 game from August 29 (week zero) to September 19.^[2]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was delayed and started in late February 2021.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
February 27, 2021	4:00 p.m.	No. 4 Weber State	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	Pluto TV	L 21–49
March 6	12:00 p.m.	at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV	W 26–24
March 13	4:00 p.m.	No. 16 Eastern Washington	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	Pluto TV	L 42–46
March 27	2:00 p.m.	at No. 15 UC Davis	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA		L 27–31
April 3	4:00 p.m.	No. 24 Idaho	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID (rivalry)		W 24–22
April 10	1:00 p.m.	at No. 3 Weber State	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT		L 15–20
Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Source:^[3]

References

1. "Eagles Selected to Finish Fourth in the Big Sky in 2020". July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
2. "2020 Idaho State-New Mexico game moved from Week Zero to Sept. 19". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
3. "2020 Idaho State Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.