Saturday Football Recap - Sept. 22
The first Saturday of conference play featured some comebacks and surprises. Northern Arizona accomplished both.
Paced by 253 rushing yards and three touchdowns from junior Zach Bauman, Northern Arizona rallied to a 41-31 win over No. 14 Montana in Missoula. Northern Arizona trailed 24-7 in the second quarter, but scored 34 straight points to beat the Grizzlies for the first time since 1997. It was NAU's first win in Missoula since 1986.
League newcomer Southern Utah rallied from a 21-3 first-quarter deficit to beat Portland State 49-42 in Portland.
Cal Poly fell behind 10-0 to rival UC Davis, but moved to 3-0 with a 28-20 victory.
No. 9 Eastern Washington won its league opener, dropping Weber State in Ogden 32-26.
North Dakota improved to 3-1 with a 35-13 road win over Sacramento State.
No. 2 Montana State hiked its record to 4-0 with a 41-16 win over Northern Colorado.
In non-conference play, Nebraska beat Idaho State 73-7.
Northern Arizona 41, Montana 31: Bauman scored on a 75-yard run on NAU's first offensive play. It was the lone Lumberjack highlight for awhile. Montana roared back with 24 straight points, before turnovers and Bauman did in the Grizzlies.
Montana committed five turnovers as it lost a conference home game for just the fifth time since 1993. Andy Wilder made a 23-yard field goal with 1:49 left in the third quarter to put the Lumberjacks ahead 27-24. Bauman made it 34-24 on a 20-yard run, and 41-24 on a 2-yard run with 5:53 remaining.
Northern Arizona coach Jerome Souers, a former Grizzly assistant, had been 0-14 against his former team.
Montana State 41, Northern Colorado 16: Montana State junior quarterback DeNarius McGhee threw for 387 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another as the Bobcats moved to 4-0.
Montana State running back Cody Kirk rushed for 89 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns. Montana State's defense held Northern Colorado to 12 first downs and 266 yards of total offense. The unit had four sacks.
North Dakota 35, Sacramento State 13: Mitch Sutton rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns as North Dakota beat the Hornets in Sacramento. Sutton scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter, and a 5-yard run in the third quarter to put his team ahead 21-7.
Ezekiel Graham rushed for 140 yards in the loss.
Southern Utah 49, Portland State 42: Brad Sorensen threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns to lead Southern Utah to a come-from-behind win over Portland State.
Southern Utah took the lead for good on a 1-yard Levell Ika run with 1:35 to play. Portland State drove all the way to the SUU 2-yard line. The Thunderbirds batted away two balls in the end zone. On the game's final play, SUU stopped a QB sneak to preserve the win.
Portland State led 21-3 after the first quarter and 28-13 late in the first half. PSU had 314 rushing yards and 587 yards of total offense. Shaq Richad rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns, while freshman QB Kieran McDonagh threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
Southern Utah's Josh Smith returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 28-28.
Cal Poly 28, UC Davis 20: Senior running back Deonte Williams rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead Cal Poly to the win. The Mustangs rushed for 336 yards and scored all four of their touchdowns on the ground.
Cal Poly scored 28 straight after falling behind 10-0. UC Davis QB Randy Wright threw for 278 yards and a touchdown.
Eastern Washington 32, Weber State 26: Brandon Kaufman caught six passes for 126 yards and a touchdown in the Eagles' road win over WSU. EWU led 20-3 at the half, but the Wildcats played much better over the final 30 minutes. EWU didn't secure the win until recovering a fumble at midfield with under a minute to play.
EWU started redshirt freshman Vernon Adams at QB. He completed 7-of-12 passes for 75 yards, and rushed for 62 yards. Kyle Padron took over in the second half. The SMU transfer was 11-of-17 for 149 yards and a touchdown.
Mike Hoke threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
Nebraska 73, Idaho State 7: Nebraska, ranked No. 25 at the FBS level, rolled to a win over the Bengals. Nebraska led 66-0 before Luke Austin caught a 28-yard TD pass from C.J. Reyes in the fourth quarter.
Updated Stats