Football Roundup - Sept. 14
Jordan Johnson was more efficient than any quarterback in Big Sky history on Saturday night.
The junior completed 15-of-19 passes for a career-high 354 yards and five touchdowns to lead No. 11 Montana to a 55-17 win over North Dakota in a non-conference game between conference teams in Grand Forks.
Johnson finished with a passing efficiency of 322.3, breaking the previous mark of 310.4 by Eastern Washington’s Mark Tenneson in 1992.
In other action on Saturday, Northern Arizona beat UC Davis 21-10 in a non-conference game, Montana State topped Colorado-Mesa 26-0, Portland State drilled Humboldt State 43-6, Idaho State beat Western State 29-3, Eastern Washington fell to Toledo 33-21, Utah State beat Weber State 70-6, Colorado State took down Cal Poly 34-17, Wyoming beat Northern Colorado 35-7, Southern Utah fell to Washington State 48-10. Sacramento State earned its first win of the season with a wild 63-56 overtime win over Southern Oregon.
Montana 55, North Dakota 17: Montana scored touchdowns on its first eight drives and cruised to a win over North Dakota, a year after losing to the Green & White in Grand Forks.
Johnson opened with a 70-yard TD to Travon Van. His next two scores went to Ellis Henderson, who finished with five catches for 124 yards and three touchdowns.
Jordan Canada rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns. UM finished with 609 yards of offense.
Joe Mollberg threw for 281 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for UND. UM’s defense amassed five sacks and two interceptions.
Northern Arizona 21, UC Davis 10: Lucky Dozier and Marcus Alford returned interceptions for touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Lumberjacks rallied past the Aggies in a non-conference game.
UC Davis, playing its first home game this season, led 10-7 before Dozier returned a pick 78 yards for a touchdown. Alford iced the game with a 47-yard interception return.
NAU’s Zach Bauman rushed for 56 yards on 18 carries. He became the school’s all-time leading rusher, and moved into ninth place on the Big Sky's all-time rushing list.
Jimmy Laughrea scored on a 23-yard run for the Aggies’ touchdown. He threw for 154 yards.
Montana State 26, Colorado-Mesa 0: Jake Bleskin, making his first career start for Montana State, completed 26-of-35 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns as the Bobcats blanked the Division II squad.
MSU starting QB DeNarius McGhee sustained a shoulder injury in last week’s loss to SMU, but Bleskin was ready on Saturday. Bleskin tossed two TD passes of 18 yards to Brian Flotkoetter.
Alex Singleton returned an interception 23 yards for a touchdown. MSU’s defense held Mesa to 41 rushing yards and just 168 yards of total offense.
Sacramento State 63, Southern Oregon 56, OT: DeAndre Carter caught a 14-yard TD in overtime as the Hornets rallied for a crazy victory.
Carter caught the game-tying touchdown with 1 second left in regulation. The TD capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive and came after Southern Oregon took the leadu.
Carter tied the Big Sky single-game record with five touchdown receptions. Sacramento State QB Garrett Safron threw for 368 yards and seven touchdowns. The teams combined for 1,248 yards of total offense.
Portland State 43, Humboldt State 6: Sophomore QB Kieran McDonagh threw for 377 yards and to touchdowns as the Vikings moved to 2-1.
PSU entered the game averaging a national-best 612.5 total yards of offense per game. The Vikings had 622 on Saturday.
Shaq Richard and Justin Lilly each scored two rushing touchdowns. Kasey Closs caught 10 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown.
Idaho State 29, Western State 3: Justin Arias threw for 439 yards and two touchdowns in the Bengals’ win.
Brendon Garcia made four field goals in the win. Cam Richmond had 12 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown.
Washington State 48, Southern Utah 10: Washington State scored 34 unanswered points to pull away from Southern Utah.
Freshman Raysean Martin scored on a 3-yard run for the Thunderbirds to cut Washington State’s lead to 14-10 early in the second quarter. It was all Cougars from there.
Connor Halliday threw for 383 yards and five touchdowns in the Win. Aaron Cantu threw for 146 yards with three interceptions in the loss.
Colorado State 34, Cal Poly 17: Garrett Grayson threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rams to the win over the Mustangs.
Chris Brown, making his first start for Cal Poly, threw for 164 yards and rushed for a team-high 61 yards.
Akaninyene Umoh scored on a 34-yard run early in the third quarter to cut Colorado State’s lead to 13-10.
Toledo 33, Eastern Washington 21: Sophomore Vernon Adams threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles fell to the Rockets of the MAC.
Adams threw TD passes on EWU’s first two drives as the EWU held a 14-13 lead after one quarter.
David Fluellen rushed for 143 of Toledo’s 325 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Ashton Clark had six catches for 119 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
Wyoming 35, Northern Colorado 7: Shaun Wicks rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Mountain West Cowboys to a win over the Bears in the first meeting between the programs since 1949.
Senior Tim Tancik threw for 161 yards and a touchdown off the bench for Northern Colorado, which dropped
to 1-2.
Utah State 70, Weber State 6: The Wildcats allowed 70 points for the second straight week to an in-state FBS team.
Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton threw for 259 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Aggies to the win.
Weber State trailed 49-0 at the half.
Weber State’s lone score came in the fourth quarter on a 38-yard fumble return by Spencer Unga.