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Signing day for high school and junior college recruits is the most positive day of the year on the college football calendar. Whereas portal day, when players can enter the transfer portal to go find greener pastures, has turned into the most negative. Idaho State, like every other football program in the nation, celebrated early signing day on Wednesday, when the Bengals welcomed 18 new high school players and a junior college transfer. On Monday, the Bengals will say goodbye to at least one accomplished player who still has eligibility remaining – All-Big Sky Conference kicker Gabe Panikowski. Panikowski, who was a perfect 15-for-15 on field goal attempts this past season, announced on social media last week that he’s going to enter the transfer portal after just one season in the ISU program. One of the most positive and upbeat young men you’ll ever want to meet, he is determined to pursue his dreams of kicking at the highest levels of the college game – and eventually in the National Football League. “I love to explore life,” said the California native in a recent interview. “I love to have really different experiences. One of the things I’ve learned is that life is very short. ... Sometimes in life you’ve gotta move on. I want to compete with those guys whose names are big in the kicking world. I want to have that type of competition, to push myself to the max.” Leaving ISU, his kicking coach Dan Hawkins and his head coach, Cody Hawkins, are not easy things to do for Panikowski, who started his college career at Sacramento State, moved on to junior college and then came to the Bengals over the summer. “Those are the two best coaches I’ve ever had,” he said of the father-son duo. “It was definitely hard to make that decision.” Panikowski dreams of taking his talents to a Power 4 school, where he can perform under the pressure of kicking before tens of thousands of rabid fans. He is fully aware, however, of the pitfalls of such situations. He watched what happened to former ISU kicker Ian Hershey, who transferred to Arizona State. Hershey was publicly called out by ASU head coach Ken Dillingham after missing two important field goals in a loss to Cincinnati earlier this season. Hershey, a Highland High School graduate who started his collegiate career at ISU, missed from 41 and 48 yards out in the 24-14 loss to the Bearcats. After the game, Dillingham called the ASU kicking game “atrocious,” and said he was going to hold tryouts to find a new kicker. “I’m dead serious,” Dillingham told the media after the game. “We’ve got to find somebody who can make a field goal.” Dillingham later issued an apology on social media. He said he talked about ASU’s kicking game like he would the team’s offense or defense. “However, the kicking game is always directed at one player. I should not have done that and I apologize,” Dillingham said. “This team’s losses will always 100% fall on me.” Hershey, who was 7-of-12 in field goal attempts this season, hasn’t kicked for Arizona State since that game. But Panikowski is not deterred by Hershey’s experience. “It was very unfortunate what happened to Ian Hershey,” he said. “He’s a phenomenal kicker. I definitely took into consideration that going into a bigger level of football. There’s going to be criticism – always. Again, that’s a part of life. What makes people different – the excellent people vs. the normal people, is the excellent people are able to put their head down and move through criticism. They are able to drive themselves through to finish their task and do whatever it is they need to do. “You’ve gotta have a professional mindset when you get to that next level,” Panikowski continued. “I do understand, and I think I’m fully capable, fully ready for this. I’ve prepared myself mentally for this.” Panikowski has used his former private kicking coaches to put the word out that he’s going into the transfer portal. But schools can’t officially contact players until the portal opens on Monday. While the internet is full of stories of prospective transfers getting back-channel contacts from schools, coaches and collectives before the portal opens, Panikowski is determined to play by the rules and wait until Monday to find out what interest there is in his kicking abilities. “I haven’t heard anything from my coaches, they’ve being very cautious about the rules,” Panikowski said. “I also told them if there is a school that is interested, let’s make sure we don’t break any rules or regulations. I’ve gotta find out on Monday and let’s do it the right way. That’s what’s cool about the transfer portal – life is full of uncertainty. The transfer portal brings a lot of uncertainty, and uncertainty makes life fulfilling, it makes it fun.” A lot of coaches would call the “uncertainty” that the portal brings something other than “fun.” But Cody Hawkins has been consistent in his approach to his players who may have the opportunity to play at a higher level. He works with them to understand their aspirations, he gives honest appraisals to larger schools that express interest in his players and he sticks to the mantra that he treats his players the way he’d want his own son to be treated if he were a potential portal transfer. A good example of this was wide receiver Chedon James, who led the FCS in receiving at ISU during the 2023 season. James met with Hawkins and talked about what schools he was interested in playing for, and when none of those schools pursued him in the early portal period, decided to return to ISU. However, after spring ball was completed and Fresno State expressed interest, James took the opportunity to move up. It was not a great experience. He caught only one pass, couldn’t beat out the competition to get in the Bulldogs’ regular receiving rotation, and eventually, Fresno State made the decision to redshirt him. Of course, while there are cautionary portal tales like those of Hershey and James, there are also success stories. Sacramento State running back Cam Skattebo has become one of the most productive running backs in the nation after transferring to Arizona State two seasons ago. He gained almost 1,400 yards and scored 17 touchdowns for the nationally-ranked Sun Devils this season. And while Hawkins and the ISU staff will miss Panikowski, and perhaps other talented Bengals who decide to make use of the portal staring on Monday, they also realize the portal door swings both ways. ISU greatly benefitted from the addition of quarterback Kobe Tracy, who transferred from Utah Tech this past summer, and wound up being the Bengals’ starting quarterback. They also picked up receiver Jeff Weimer from UNLV, who was a first-team all-conference selection, starting safety Jaydin Davis from Central Michigan, receiver Tsion Nunnally from Washington State, offensive linemen Ty Hyde from Utah Tech and Jake Hellmann from Utah State. The perception problem with the portal, though, is that typically the players who are leaving a program tend to all hit the portal at the same time, creating the impression that the sky is falling. The players that use the portal to come to a smaller school like ISU, however, typically don’t start showing up in the public’s perception until they can start producing the following season. So while ISU effectively traded Chadon James for Jeff Weimer as first-team all-conference receivers, Bengal fans didn’t really appreciate what they got until the past season was over. The message to ISU fans, then, is this: When you hear about Bengals entering the portal over the next couple of weeks, it’s okay to miss them, but don’t forget there are probably going to be some good portal additions you won’t know about until spring football – or when fall practice begins. Brad Bugger has been observing athletics in southeastern Idaho since 1979 as a sports writer, broadcaster and fan. He can be reached at bpbugger@gmail.comOWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Fresh off one of its best showings of the season, the Baltimore defense now has another problem to worry about. Roquan Smith missed practice again Friday because of a hamstring injury. Although the Ravens didn't officially rule him or anyone else out — they don't play until Monday night — the All-Pro linebacker's status seems dicey. “Definitely it will be a challenge if Roquan can’t go,” defensive coordinator Zach Orr said. “We’re holding out hope and everything like that. I think it’ll just be by committee. Not one person is going to replace Roquan. Roquan’s an every-down linebacker.” Although the Ravens lost 18-16 last weekend, Baltimore didn't allow a touchdown. That was an encouraging sign for a team that ranks 26th in the league in total defense. Baltimore is on the road Monday against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Ravens appear to have dodged one potential nightmare. Star safety Kyle Hamilton injured an ankle against Cincinnati on Nov. 7, but he was able to play almost every defensive snap the following week against Pittsburgh. But Smith was injured in that game and didn't practice Thursday or Friday. Linebacker Malik Harrison had a season high in tackles last weekend and figures to have a significant role if Smith can't go. “We tell these guys, ‘You’re one play away to going in there — you never know, so you got to stay ready.’ Malik — he was ready,” Orr said. “I thought he went in there and did a good job, especially after the first series, he settled down. That’s what we expect from him.” It's hard to tell whether last week can be a significant turning point for Baltimore's defense. The Ravens allowed only 10 points in a dominant win over Buffalo in Week 4, then yielded 38 against Cincinnati the following game. After allowing 10 against Denver, the Ravens were picked apart by the Bengals again a few days later. So they still haven't shown they can play a good game defensively and then build on it. “I think it’s easier said than done. It’s something that we kind of got caught up saying against Buffalo and then coming up the next week and not doing," Hamilton said. "We’re aware of it now and know that we played a good game, but I think we can get a lot better, and I think that’s kind of the mindset everybody on defense has right now.” Hamilton's ability to make a difference all over the field is part of what makes him valuable, but positioning him deep is one way the Ravens can try to guard against big passing plays. Pittsburgh's Russell Wilson threw for only 205 yards against Baltimore. That's after Joe Burrow passed for 428 and four touchdowns in the Ravens' previous game. “I’ve always seen myself as a safety. A versatile one, but at the end of the day, I think I play safety,” Hamilton said. “If I’m asked to go play safety, I feel like that’s not an issue for me to play safety if I’m a safety.” NOTES: In addition to Smith, WR Rashod Bateman (knee), DT Travis Jones (ankle), S Sanoussi Kane (ankle) C Tyler Linderbaum (back) and CB Arthur Maulet (calf) missed practice Friday. WR Nelson Agholor (illness) returned to full participation after missing Thursday's practice. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Noah Trister, The Associated PressPROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Aaron Cooley's 17 points helped Brown defeat Stony Brook 77-54 on Wednesday. Cooley also contributed five rebounds for the Bears (4-3). AJ Lesburt Jr. scored 16 points, going 6 of 10 (4 for 8 from 3-point range). Landon Lewis shot 5 of 8 from the field to finish with 12 points, while adding eight rebounds. Joseph Octave finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and two steals for the Seawolves (2-5). Stony Brook also got 17 points and three steals from Ben Wight. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Luke Williams feels Swansea ‘lost grip’ on game despite sealing victory at Derby
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