Actually, Mtfootball fan, the ugliest game in Big Sky history was played by Weber State and Idaho State in 1979, when both teams came in 0-10. The Wildcats eeked out the win, and both coaches got fired.
I don't think Mike is going to get fired, even if the Bengals lose to the Wildcats this year. He is a three-time conference championship coach who inherited an awful situation: very few good football players, and APR sanctions that threatened to shut down the program at worst, and limited scholarships and practice time and prohibited post-season play. He also inherited a program that has historically struggled. It's true that Larry Lewis and Brian McNeeley showed that you could bring quality football players to Pocatello, but even that is made more difficult by today's APR requirements. As Frank noted earlier, Jared Allen wouldn't have gotten into ISU under today's requirements (which also apply to all other ISU sports, it should be noted.)
I'm not making excuses for the Bengals, and I don't think Mike would want anyone to make excuses. Bad football is bad football, and all of us long-time fans and supporters are frustrated and embarrassed. There is no amount of lipstick that is going to turn this pig into a princess.
But most of us recognized when Mike was hired two seasons ago that this is going to be a long, and often painful rebuilding process and no, there are absolutely no guarantees that in four or five years, we'll all be rewarded with a Big Sky championship. But given all the recruiting restrictions ISU has put in place (those self-imposed and those imposed by the NCAA agreement), I don't see any "easy" way out of this mess. Idaho State was fortunate that there was a three-time conference championship coach out there looking for a job when the school was in desperate need for a new football coach with some credibility.
Will he be the long-term solution to a VERY long-term problem? We shall see. In the meantime, we all have the option of supporting the program as best we can through a very difficult time, or choosing up sides and firing away at each other. This thread already illustrates we will have both.