POCATELLO • Whether or not Idaho State’s football team is for real or not, the Bengals will get a good indicator when they face their stiffest test of the season today at Northern Arizona, a place that over the years hasn’t been kind to the program.

ISU comes in 2-1 on the year and coming off a 50-20 blowout of Northern Colorado last Saturday, but that game was at home and as head coach Mike Kramer quickly points out, the two teams the Bengals have beaten haven’t won a game this year. That’s why this game will go a long way in figuring out this team for the rest of the season.

The Bengals haven’t won in Flagstaff since 1984 and the Lumberjacks (1-2, 0-1 Big Sky) come in angry over missed chances in their 31-29 loss at Portland State, most notably Matt Myers’ 41-yard game winning attempt that was tipped and went wide.

If Kramer is planning any changes in his wide open offensive game plan he’s not telling anybody. “We’re going to throw and keep on throwing,” he said. “We’re getting used to seeing blitz packages and the fact that opponents can’t play basic base defenses against us. We’re seeing five, six defensive backs regularly now and that’s fine.”

Overlooked in the two ISU wins because of the eye-popping offensive stats, has been the performance of the defense. They’ve allowed 14 points in the two wins, held Northern Colorado without a third down conversion and have forced seven turnovers.

But the stop unit will be tested this week as NAU has quarterback Cary Grossart, who leads the Big Sky Conference in passing efficiency. With a great quarterback comes capable skill position players, Kramer said.

“They’ve got a wide receiver that also plays on their basketball team (Ify Umodu). He can out jump anybody and they like to throw it up to him,” Kramer said. “Their running back (Zach Bauman) is also one of the best in the league.”

Umodu is averaging 116 receiving yards a game and Bauman is running for 90 a contest. So given the choice, what would Kramer like to see his defense force NAU to do? “We’d love to get them throwing the football. They would rather run the ball behind that big offensive line and Bauman if they can.”

Meanwhile NAU will try to shut down a Bengal attack that leads the nation in passing at 468 yards per game game and had a quarterback in Kevin Yost throw for over 500 last week. It won’t be easy for them even at home.

Complicating the Lumberjacks task is the fact that ISU had three receivers catch over a hundred yards in receptions in the win over UNC. Rodrick Rumble again led with 158 yards but Anthony Boyles had 141 yards and two scores and Derek Graves chipped in with 114 yards. The wide-open, no-huddle, slash-and-burn philosophy of Kramer is causing headaches for defensive coordinators and he’s hoping that trend holds true again today’s game, which begins at 4 p.m.