A pair of near misses against FBS teams highlighted Saturday’s Big Sky Conference football action.
SMU scored the game-winning touchdown with 12 seconds left to rally past No. 3 Montana State 31-30 in Dallas.
Portland State took Cal to the wire, before falling 37-30 in Berkeley.
Southern Utah and Eastern Washington both improved to 2-0 with victories. Southern Utah beat Fort Lewis 49-0, while Eastern Washington handled Western Oregon 49-13.
Idaho State won its opener, beating Dixie State 40-14.
North Dakota’s rally against No. 6 South Dakota State fell just short, as the Jackrabbits won in Grand Forks 35-28.
In other games on Saturday, Weber State lost to Utah 70-7, UC Davis lost at Nevada 36-7, Northern Colorado suffered a 41-36 setback to Colorado State-Pueblo, and Cal Poly fell to Fresno State 41-25.
SMU 31, Montana State 30: SMU’s Darius Joseph caught a 4-yard TD pass from Garrett Gilbert with 12 seconds left as the Mustangs rallied past the Bobcats.
Montana State led 22-5 at one point, and held a 30-22 lead entering the fourth quarter. SMU drove 81 yards for the game-winning score. Gilbert threw for 317 yards and a touchdowns.
Montana State senior running back Cody Kirk rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns. DeNarius McGhee completed 17-of-27 passes for 218 yards.
A 55-yard punt return for a touchdown on the final play on the first half cut Montana State’s lead to 22-19.
Cal 37, Portland State 30: The Vikings gave the Pac-12 Bears all they could handle, but penalties and two costly turnovers hurt the Vikings.
Portland State amassed 549 yards of total offense. Sophomore QB Kieran McDonagh completed 13 passes for 308 yards with a touchdown and an interception. DJ Adams rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns.
Cal true freshman QB Jared Goff completed 32-of-50 passes for 479 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Portland State was penalized nine times for 79 yards.
PSU took a 30-27 lead with 11:01 left in the third quarter when McDonagh scored on a 1-yard run. The Vikings, however, were unable to muster any more points.
Idaho State 40, Dixie State 14: Justin Arias completed 29-of-45 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns as the Bengals ended a nine-game losing streak with a win over Division II Dixie State.
Cam Richmond hauled in nine catches for 149 yards, while Luke Austin had seven catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. ISU rushed for 141 yards, led by Xavier Finney’s 83 yards and a touchdown. Finney also caught a TD pass.
Brandon Garcia kicked field goals of 27, 40, 33 and 24 yards in the win.
Colorado State-Pueblo 41, Northern Colorado 36: CSU-Pueblo returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and QB Chris Bonner threw three touchdown passes to lead his Division II team to the upset.
Seth Lobato threw for 390 yards and three touchdowns, but the interceptions proved costly.
Jace Davis caught 12 passes for 156 yards and three touchdowns in his first game of the season for
Northern Colorado, which saw its four-game winning streak end. Tromaine Dennis, also playing in his first game of the season, rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
Utah 70, Weber State 7: Josh Booker scored on a 3-yard run to account for the Wildcats’ lone touchdown against the Pac-12 Utes.
Utah quarterback Travis Wilson threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for two scores.
Eastern Washington 43, Western Oregon 14: Sophomore QB Vernon Adams threw for 298 yards and five touchdowns as the second-ranked Eagles won their home opener.
Adams threw four of his touchdown passes in the first quarter as the Eagles raced out to a 29-0. Lead. Shaquille Hill had eight catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
The Eagles amassed 597 yards of total offense, including 277 on the ground.
The EWU defense forced four turnovers and held Western Oregon to 28 rushing yards. Senior safety Allen Brown intercepted two passes.
South Dakota State 35, North Dakota 28: South Dakota State All-American running back Zack Zenner rushed 37 times for 295 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Jackrabbits held off North Dakota.
South Dakota State led 35-14, but North Dakota mounted a comeback as Greg Hardin and Jameer
Jackson caught fourth-quarter touchdown passes. A potential game-tying drive was halted by an interception with 1:31 to play.
Hardin caught seven passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. North Dakota quarterbacks Ryan Bartels and Joe Mollberg combined for 437 passing yards.
Southern Utah 49, Fort Lewis 0: Aaron Cantu completed 15-of-16 passes and threw four touchdown passes to lead the Thunderbirds to the win.
Southern Utah’s Miles Killebrew returned a fumble 89 yards for a touchdown. Teammate Matt Holley returned a fumble 19 yards for a touchdown. SUU led 42-0 at halftime.
Southern Utah’s defense forced five turnovers.
Nevada 36, UC Davis 7: Nevada amassed 535 yards of total offense in its win over UC Davis.
Tom Hemmingsen caught a 23-yard touchdown pass for UC Davis, which dropped to 0-2.
Jimmy Laughrens made his first career start for UC Davis, completed 13-of-27 passes for 178 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Fresno State 41, Cal Poly 25: The Mustangs fell behind 34-0 at the half, but mounted a strong second-half comeback.
Sophomore QB Chris Brown came off the bench to complete 9-of-15 for 184 yards and a touchdown, and he also rushed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns in the loss.
Fresno State's Derek Carr completed 22-of-31 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns.