POCATELLO — It's been 15 years since Idaho State's defense was among the Big Sky Conference's elite.
With the league's top scoring defense and third-best total defense, the Bengals won a share of the 2002 conference championship.
Since then, ISU's defense has been stuck near bottom of the conference.
Past the midway point of 2017, it doesn't appear ISU's defense is anywhere close to championship-caliber.
The Bengals rank ninth in the 13-team Big Sky with 34.6 points allowed per game, and are 12th with 497.3 yards given up per game. ISU has been abused for more than 500 yards by four opponents this season, and all comers except Division II Western Oregon have gained 400 yards or more.