North Dakota Edges Nationally-Ranked Portland State
Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Cal Poly, Montana also winners
Jon Oglesby, Football Communications Director
OGDEN (10/03/2015)- North Dakota and Portland State are two football teams built around tough defense and rushing.
Two teams like that are destined to play a tight ball game, and that’s exactly what happened at Hillsboro Stadium Saturday, as North Dakota pulled out a
tight 19-17 win over the Vikings in Portland.
North Dakota kicker Reid Taubenheim hit four field goals, with a long of 41 yards, to lift UND to a 4-1 record, and a 2-0 mark to open conference play.
It didn’t start well for UND, as Portland State jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 76-yard scoring pass from Alex Kuresa to Paris Penn. The Vikings would hold a 10-6 lead going into halftime.
However, in the second half, North Dakota took a 16-10 lead on a 32-yard run by quarterback Keaton Studsrud. Portland State responded with a one-yard Nate Tago run to take a 17-16 lead into the fourth quarter.
It was ultimately a 29-yard Taubenheim field goal that gave UND its final advantage.
North Dakota rushed for 260 yards in the win.
MONTANA 27, UC DAVIS 13- The Montana Grizzlies overcame a slow start to win their first road game in the Bob Stitt era.
Two Brady Stuart field goals gave UC Davis a 6-0 lead with 4:46 to go in the first quarter, until Montana’s Ben Roberts scored on a 20-yard pass from Chad Chalich to give the Grizzlies a 7-6 lead to end the first quarter.
UC Davis reclaimed the lead, 13-7, on a Ben Scott-to-Derek Baljeu touchdown early in the second quarter, but the score was quickly countered as Chalich found Jamaal Jones on a 42-yard scoring pass to give the Grizzlies a 14-13 halftime lead.
Chalich completed 29-of-49 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. The Griz defense forced four Aggies turnovers, including two interceptions by defensive linemen.
The Grizzlies are now 2-0 in Big Sky play, while UC Davis is 0-2.
NORTHERN ARIZONA 49, MONTANA STATE 41- Northern Arizona quarterback Case Cookus threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns, as the Lumberjacks picked up their first conference win of the season.
The Lumberjacks took a 42-14 lead in the third quarter, as R.J. Rickert scored on a ten-yard pass from Alex Holmes.
The game was tied at 14-14 early in the second quarter, after Montana State’s Dakota Prukop scored a rushing touchdown.
However, NAU closed the half on a 14-0 scoring run, and scored the first 14 points of the second half.
Prukop completed 22-of-35 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception.
Montana State outgained Northern Arizona in offensive yards, 572-506.
NORTHERN COLORADO 27, SACRAMENTO STATE 20- Three big plays allowed Northern Colorado a chance to gain the program’s first conference win of the season.
First, Hakeem Deggs returned the opening kickoff 100 yards, allowing Northern Colorado to take a 7-0 lead seconds into the game.
Then, with the two teams tied at 20-20, Trevor Douglass returned a fumble 58 yards for a touchdown. It was the second fumble recovery touchdown of the night for the Bears. A.J. Battle returned a third-quarter fumble 26 yards for a touchdown.
Northern Colorado held a 20-10 lead entering the fourth quarter, before Sacramento State scored ten quick points to tie the game.
Sacramento State outgained Northern Colorado in total offense, 438-179.
CAL POLY 58, IDAHO STATE 26- Cal Poly rushed for 499 yards in a Homecoming win over Idaho State.
Mustangs quarterback Chris Brown completed 5-of-7 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and Kori Garcia rushed for three touchdowns.
Cal Poly jumped out to a 28-7 lead, after a 41-yard touchdown run by Chris Brown, before Idaho State scored two touchdowns to bring the halftime score to 28-20.
However, Cal Poly’s ability to dominate time-of-possession (39:24) allowed the Mustangs to control the clock and keep the Bengals off-balance.