Led by first-year head coach Dave Kragthorpe, the Bengals compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing fourth in the Big Sky.
Home games were played at the ASISU Minidome (now Holt Arena), an indoor venue on campus in Pocatello, Idaho.
Before their first win in late September, Idaho State had lost 18 consecutive games, the longest losing streak in NCAA Division I-AA.
[1] The homecoming victory over Montana in mid-October was the Bengals' first conference win in nearly three years.
[2] Previously the offensive line and assistant head coach at Brigham Young University, Kragthorpe was hired in late November 1979,[3] following the resignation of Bud Hake after a winless season.