EWU, MSU, CP Share Title; Auto Bid Goes to Eagles
Three Big Sky teams claimed a share of the regular-season football title with road victories on Saturday. Eastern Washington, Montana State and Cal Poly all finished 7-1 in conference play.
No. 2 Montana State beat rival Montana 16-7 in Missoula in the “Brawl of the Wild.” No. 5 Eastern Washington rallied for a 41-34 win over Portland in the “Dam Cup.” No. 15 Cal Poly beat No. 15 Northern Arizona 42-34.
Eastern Washington won the tiebreaker, gaining the league’s automatic bid to the Division I Playoffs. Eastern Washington, Montana State and Cal Poly all played Sacramento State. Cal Poly was knocked out of the tiebreaker because of a loss to the Hornets, while Montana State and Eastern Washington both beat Sacramento State. Eastern Washington beat Montana State head-to-head, giving the Eagles the tiebreaker.
Montana State (10-1) and Cal Poly (9-2) should both get at-large bids to the playoffs, with Northern Arizona (8-3) holding out hope. The 20-team playoff field will be announced on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Mountain, 10:30 a.m. Pacific on ESPNU.
In other games on Saturday, Northern Colorado finished its season with a 28-27 win over North Dakota. It was the Bears’ third straight win.
Weber State closed its season with a 40-14 win over Idaho State.
Bob Biggs capped his his 20-year head coaching career at UC Davis with a 34-27 win over Sacramento State.
No. 2 Montana State 16, Montana 7: Montana State clinched a share of the league title for the third straight season with a win over the Grizzlies.
Rory Perez made field goals of 42, 38 and 22 yards, and Kruiz Siewing hauled in a 16-yard TD reception from DeNarius McGhee.
Caleb Schreibeis, a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, led the Bobcat defense with 16 tackles, a sack and two pass breakups.
Montana (5-6) finished below .500 for the first time since 1985.
No. 5 Eastern Washington 41, Portland State 34: Junior Kyle Padron came off the bench to throw for 381 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for two scores as the Eagles rallied to a win over Portland State to clinch a share of their second league title in three years.
D.J. Adams, who scored three touchdowns on the day, ran for two in the first quarter to put PSU up 13-0. Adams' third TD run in the third quarter gave the Vikings a 26-14 lead.
Padron guided EWU ona 94-yard, eight-play drive and scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:25 to play.
Brandon Kaufman caught nine passes for 161 yards in the win. Greg Herd had 108 receiving yards. Nicholas Edwards caught two TD passes.
No. 17 Cal Poly 42, Northern Arizona 34: The Mustangs rushed for 323 yards en route to the win over the Lumberjacks. Deonte Williams rushed for 139 yards and Kristaan Ivory had 100 yards and two touchdowns.
A 5-yard TD reception by Willie Tucker gave the Mustangs a 35-13 lead with 2:47 to play in the third quarter. NAU closed within 42-34 when Jesse Brantley caught a 25-yard pass from Cary Grossart.
Cal Poly is in its first season in the Big Sky. The Mustangs are seeking their first playoff appearance since 2008, and third since 2005.
Northern Colorado 28, North Dakota 27: Tromaine Dennis rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bears to the win over North Dakota. Northern Colorado finished with three straight wins, and victories in four of its final five games.
The Bears' 4-4 record in league play is its best since joining the Big Sky in 2006.
Sawyere Monson caught a 23-yard TD pass from Seth Lobato with 4:16 to play for the game-winning score.
Northern Colorado's Marcel had two fourth-quarter interceptions, and was in on a tackle ona fourth-and-1 play at the Bears' 34-yard line to clinch the win in the final minute.
UC Davis 34, Sacramento State 27: The Aggies scored just one offensive touchdown, but found a way to send longtime coach Bob Biggs out a winner.
UC Davis scored a pair of defensive touchdowns, and Jonathan Perkins returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown. Brady Stuart made three field goals.
Biggs announced his retirement prior to the season. He served 20 seasons as the head coach at his alma mater.
Garrett Safron threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns for the Hornets, who finished 6-5.
Weber State 40, Idaho State 14: C.J. Tuckett set a Weber State single-game rushing record with 289 yards on 36 carries to lead Weber State to a win over the Bengals. Tuckett scored two rushing touchdowns for WSU, which has beaten ISU 10 straight seasons.
Kevin Yost threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns to Rodrick Rumble for ISU.