Idaho State Bengals football The Idaho State Bengals football program represents Idaho State University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( formerly Division I - AA ) . As of the end of the 2011 season they have an all - time record of 451 – 472 – 20 ( . 488 ) . A charter member of the Big Sky Conference , the ISU Bengals play their home games at Holt Arena , an indoor facility on campus in Pocatello , Idaho . History . Idaho State won the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national championship in 1981 ( then " Division I - AA " ) under head coach Dave Kragthorpe . Following two playoff victories at home , the Bengals defeated Eastern Kentucky 34 - 23 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls , Texas . The quarterback during the championship season was Mike Machurek , who spent several seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions . Idaho State also made the 1 - AA playoffs in 1983 , losing in the first round to Nevada - Reno . They have not been back to the playoffs since , although the Bengals were tri - Big Sky champions in 2002 . They were 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 ( 6 - 39 ) and Mike Kramer was hired as the 25th head coach in Idaho State history . During his first season the team 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 . 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 in 1996 to move up to Division I - A , ISU has played the teams infrequently and Weber State University of nearby Ogden , Utah has become ISU ' s main rival in football . The Bengals also claim a rivalry with the Montana Grizzlies , though ISU has only one victory in the last sixteen meetings . All - Americans . The Bengals have had five two - time All - Americans : wide receiver Ed Bell ( ' 68 - ' 69 ) , defensive end Josh Hays ( ' 95 - 96 ) , placekicker Pete Garces ( ' 98 - ' 99 ) , defensive end Jared Allen ( ' 02 - ' 03 ) , and punter David Harrington ( ' 10 - ' 11 ) . Allen also won the prestigious Buck Buchanan Award in 2003 as the top defensive player in the nation in Division 1 - 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 . Punter Jon Vanderwielen earned several All - American honors in 2009 . Holt Arena . The Bengals play home games in Holt Arena , an indoor multi - purpose athletic stadium located on the campus of Idaho State University . Completed in September 1970 at the north end of the ISU campus , Holt Arena is the oldest enclosed stadium on a college campus in the United States and the second - oldest overall . Only the Houston Astrodome , 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 " ( now Davis Field ) as the Bengals ' home football stadium . The MiniDome 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 Cowboys Stadium in the NFL . Idaho State players in the NFL . A number of players from Idaho State have gone on to play in the National Football League , including Jared Allen , Merrill Hoge , Evan Dietrich - Smith , Ed " The Flea " Bell , Mike Machurek and Jeff Charleston . In addition , a number of ISU alums have gone on to successful coaching careers , including Marvin Lewis , head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals ; Dirk Koetter , the former head coach at Boise State and Arizona State and currently offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars ; and Kevin Gilbride , offensive coordinator of the New York Giants . ( As a graduate assistant at Idaho State , Gilbride served as one of two co - coaches of the ISU women ' s basketball team . ) ISU also produced several players who went on to be very successful high school football coaches , including Jim and Brent Koetter ( both of whom won Idaho state championships at both Pocatello and Highland high schools ) , and former Bengal quarterback Paul Peterson who led Eagle High School to the Idaho state championship game three times in the past four seasons .