Northern Arizona and Cal Poly both notched upsets over top-10 teams, and Idaho State snapped an historic road losing streak to highlight Saturday's Big Sky Conference football action.
Northern Arizona backup quarterback Jordan Perry threw a 20-yard TD pass to Dan Galindo with 12 seconds left as the Lumberjacks took down No. 2 Eastern Washington at the Walkup Skydome. It snapped Eastern Washington's 14-game conference winning streak that dated back to 2012.
Cal Poly quarterback Chris Brown rushed for a career-high 226 yards and two touchdowns as the Mustangs upended No. 7 Montana 41-21 in San Luis Obispo.
Idaho State snapped a 48-game road losing streak with a 46-12 victory over Northern Colorado. The Bengals hadn't won a road game since a 2006 win over the Bears. Idaho State moved to 3-1 in conference and 5-3 overall. The five victories matches the most for the program since 2005, when the Bengals finished 5-6. Idaho State has not enjoyed a winning season since 2003.
Portland State kept Weber State winless with a 30-17 road win in Ogden. Southern Utah snapped a three-game losing streak, downing North Dakota 35-17 at home.
Montana State, which was off on Saturday, is now the only undefeated team left in conference play at 4-0. The Bobcats fell to Eastern Washington in a non-conference game, a contest that could factor into a tiebreaker.
Cal Poly and Eastern Washington are both 4-1. Idaho State, Northern Arizona and Montana are Northern Arizona are all 3-1.
Next Saturday's schedule features six games. Montana State, which had a bye, puts its 4-0 conference record on the line on the road against Cal Poly. Eastern Washington returns home to face North Dakota. Montana welcomes Sacramento State to Missoula. Idaho State travels to Portland State. Northern Colorado is at UC Davis, and Northern Arizona is at Weber State.
Cal Poly 41, No. 7 Montana 21: Brown and the Cal Poly rolled up 421 rushing yards and scored the first 21 points of the second half to cruise to the upset win over the Grizzlies.
Cal Poly busted free from a 14-14 halftime tie as Brown accounted for three touchdowns. He threw a 5-yard TD to Kori Garcia and then capped the third quarter with a 17-yard touchdown. Brown's 15-yard touchdown run with 9;39 to play gave the Mustangs a 34-14 edge.
Fullback Brandon Howe rushed for 98 yards and scored on a 5-yard run to tie the game 14-14 late in the first half. Cal Poly's defense held Montana to 78 rushing yards. Montana QB Jordan Johnson threw 248 yards and three touchdowns. Jamal Jones caught eight passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.
Northern Arizona 28, No. 2 Eastern Washington 27: The Lumberjacks went 77 yards in just three plays, capping the short series with the Perry scoring strke to Galindo.
With under a minute to play, Eastern Washington opted to go for it on a fourth-and-3 from the NAU 23-yard line with a 27-22 lead. Jordan West looked long for Cooper Kupp, but the pass was incomplete.
Perry, who came on in place on an injured Chase Cartwright earlier in the fourth quarter, hit Alex Holmes for a 54-yard gain on the second play of the drive, setting up the game-winning score.
Cartwright completed 23-of-40 for 255 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions before leaving the game.
Eastern Washington senior running back Quincy Forte returned from a shoulder injury to rush for a career-high 219 yards and a touchdown. He scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter to put the Eagles ahead 24-19.
The Eagles were playing their third straight game without injured All-American QB Vernon Adams Jr. West completed 16-of-34 or 171 yards with two touchdowns in the loss.
Idaho State 46, Northern Colorado 12: Running back Xavier Finney rushed for a career-high 236 yards and scored a touchdown as the Bengals notched the road victory.
Senior QB Justin Arias threw for 288 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Idaho State led 24-0 at halftime and held the Bears to 55 yards of offense in the first half.
Daniel McSurdy rushed for 90 yards and a career-high three touchdowns for the Bengals, who amassed 348 yards on the ground. McSurdy scored on runs of 41, 2 and 1 yards.
Linebacker Mitch Beckstead led the Bengal defense with 11 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception.
Jonathan Newsom came off the bench and threw two touchdowns for Northern Colorado.
Southern Utah 35, North Dakota 17: Aamon Olsen completed 23-of-25 passes for 320 yards, threw for four touchdowns, and ran for a score in the Thunderbirds' victory.
North Dakota rallied from a 21-3 halftime deficit to close within 21-17. The Thunderbirds' closed the door with some big plays in the final quarter. Olsen connected with Mike Sharp on a 37-yard pass, and less than two minutes later found running back Raysean Pringle on a short completion. Pringle raced 87 yards for the score.
Jer Garman rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns for North Dakota. He scored on a 12-yard run in the third quarter to bring UND within 21-10. He added a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter to make it 21-17.
Portland State 30, Weber State 17: Portland State gained 303 rushing yards and its defense forced three turnovers as the Vikings snapped a five-game road losing streak.
Quarterback Kieran McDonagh threw a pair of touchdown passes and rushed for a TD, while Steven Long rushed for 118 yards for the Vikings. McDonagh scored on an 8-yard run with 2:25 to play to put the game out of reach.
Jonathan Gonzales made field goals of 18, 45 and 41 yards in the win.
Portland State held Weber State to 75 rushing yards. The Vikings intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble.
Weber State closed within 23-17 with 9:31 to play when Billy Green threw a 36-yard TD pass to Darryl Denby. Weber State dropped to 0-4 in league and 0-8 overall.