Montana, North Dakota and Southern Utah all moved to 2-0 in league play with crucial wins on Saturday while Portland State lost for the first time. Cal Poly got back on track with a win that keeps Idaho State reeling while Northern Colorado earned its first league win as it heads into its bye.
Here’s a look at the weekend that was in the Big Sky Conference.
FRIDAY
Southern Utah 44, Weber State 0 — In Ogden, Southern Utah junior wide receiver Nala Ursua returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown, SUU senior cornerback LeShaun Sims returned an interception for a touchdown and Southern Utah took a 17-0 lead into halftime. In the second half, the SUU defense continued to swarm, sophomore linebacker Taylor Nelson took an interception 19 yards for a score and Southern Utah moved to 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play with a shutout of its in-state rival.
Senior linebacker Matt Holley, senior linebacker Mike Needham and sophomore defensive back Kyle Hanneman each added interceptions as Southern Utah forced six turnovers. Weber State backup quarterback finished 0-of-4 with three interceptions. Weber managed just 259 total yards.
Southern Utah offense vs. Weber State defense
“I think the turnovers really led to the shutout,” SUU head coach Ed Lamb said in an SUU press release. “Weber certainly had capabilities, but they stalled a lot of their drives that they had going with the turnovers. The offense calls them turnovers, the defense calls them takeaways, definitely credit the defense but I think like all games, if we play that game again it’s not like we could shut them out for infinity. It was a great 60 minutes of football by the defense, very opportunistic getting the turnovers and pressuring the passer.”
Southern Utah’s two offensive touchdowns came in the third quarter as senior wide receiver Mike Sharp scored on a three-yard run and junior running back Jarom Healey scored from six yards out. Southern Utah senior quarterback Ammon Olsen completed 25-of-41 passes for 244 yards. Weber junior quarterback Jadrian Clark was 12-of-30 for 134 yards and two interceptions for the Wildcats, who fell to 1-1 in league, 2-3 overall.
Southern Utah has a bye next week before hosting Sacramento State on October 17. Weber State plays at Montana next weekend.
SATURDAY
North Dakota 19, Portland State 17 — In Hillsboro, Oregon, Portland State senior utility quarterback Paris Penn caught a 76-yard touchdown on the first play of the game but North Dakota’s dominance of the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football kept UND unbeaten in league play.
Porltand State defensive back Beau Duronslet’s hit on UND running back Iwarri Smith forced this fumble, leading to a Viking field goal late in the first half.
Coming into the game, PSU, the league’s only undefeated team, allowed just 192 total rushing yards in three straight wins. On Saturday, UND rushed for 260 yards, including 111 yards by freshman tailback John Santiago and 107 yards and a touchdown by sophomore quarterback Keaton Studsrud.
“That was a gutty win right there,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said in a North Dakota athletics press release. “We overcame a lot of adversity and some of it was self-inflicted, but our guys responded and found a way to get a big road win against a really physical football team.”
Portland State also entered the game as the league’s third-leading rushing team, averaging more than 240 yards per game on the ground. Behind senior linebacker Will Ratelle’s eight-tackle, 1.5 tackle for loss effort, UND held the Vikings to 97 yards rushing and 3.2 yards per carry. Take away a 22-yard scramble by junior quarterback Alex Kuresa and a 14-yard scramble by Penn and the Viks rushed for just 61 yards on 28 rushes.
UND John Santiago gets to the next level against Portland State
Studsrud’s first career 100-yard rushing game accompanied a 136-yard passing day as UND controlled the ball for nearly 36 minutes.
North Dakota moved to 2-0 in Big Sky play, 4-1 overall. PSU is now 1-1 in league play, 3-1 overall. North Dakota hosts Idaho State next week at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. Portland State plays at North Texas, the Vikings’ second FBS game this season. PSU began the season with a 24-17 win over Washington State.
Cal Poly 58, Idaho State 26 — In San Luis Obispo, the same demons continue to haunt the Bengals as the Mustangs snapped a three-game losing streak.
Idaho State again stood no chance in stopping the run as Cal Poly piled up 499 yards rushing, averaging a robust 6.2 yards per carry on 81 rushes. Junior slot back Kori Garcia rushed for 146 yards and touchdowns of five, 37 and six yards. Senior quarterback Chris Brown went over 100 yards for the third time this season and the 10th time in his career with a 132-yard performance that included touchdown runs of five and 41 yards.
“There’s no question we needed a win,” head coach Tim Walsh told Lucas Clark of the SLO Tribune. “I think our players came out with the attitude that there was a urgency to making sure that we gave ourselves the best opportunity to win.”
Idaho State entered halftime trailing just 28-20 thanks to two touchdowns from senior wide receiver Madison Mangum and a rushing touchdown from senior tailback Xavier Finney. But Cal Poly scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, including touchdown catches of eight and 59 yards by Willie Tucker.
Cal Poly quarterback Chris Brown runs against Idaho State
Finney finished with 107 yards on 21 carries. ISU junior quarterback Michael Sanders completed 19-of-29 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Mangum finished with six catches for 94 yards. Junior K.W. Williams scored a 60-yard touchdown for ISU’s only second-half score as the Bengals lost for the fourth straight week.
Idaho State is giving up 334 rushing yards per game. Portland State rushed for 236 yards in a 34-14 win in Pocatello, Boise State rushed for 344 in s 52-0 win and UNLV rushed for 517 yards in an 80-8 win. ISU is giving up 399 rushing yards and 6.5 yards per carry against Division I opponents this season in posting a 1-4 record, 0-2 in Big Sky play.
“This was a God-awful matchup for us, terrible given the injuries we have had,” ISU head coach Mike Kramer told the Idaho State Journal. “We are coming off a game where we gave up 500 and we gave up 500 more. We have to find a way to play with our hands, get off of blocks and make tackles on the backside.”
After losses to Arizona State, Northern Iowa and Montana State, the Mustangs snapped the losing streak with their first Big Sky win this season. Cal Poly (2-3 overall) plays at No. 9 Eastern Washington (3-2), a team fresh off a bye. ISU plays at UND.
Montana 27, UC Davis 13 — In Davis, Montana ran 97 plays with a priority on rushing the football for a second straight week as the Grizzlies moved to 2-0.
Before starting quarterback Brady Gustafson went down with a leg injury, the Griz were throwing the ball 65 times per game for more than 330 yards per outing. In Chad Chalich’s two starts behind center, Montana has rushed the ball 45 times per game. On Saturday, Montana averaged just 3.7 yards per carry but the Griz picked up 10 of its 25 first downs on the ground and rushed for 176 yards all told.
In his second start, Chalich completed 29-of-49 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Chase Naccarato caught 13 passes for 84 yards and several first downs and senior Ben Roberts added seven catches for 74 yards, including a 20-yard first quarter touchdown that gave Montana its first lead.
Montana sings fight song after win over UC Davis
An 11-yard touchdown catch by Derek Baljeu put Davis up 13-7 early in the second quarter but a 42-yard touchdown by Montana senior captain Jamaal Jones gave Montana the lead for good. Junior Ellis Henderson added a four-yard touchdown in the third and true freshman running back Jeremy Calhoun scored his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter as Montana moved to 2-0 in league, 3-2 overall.
“We made it a lot more interesting than we needed to. We could have had this under control a lot earlier than the fourth quarter,” UM head coach Bob Stitt said in a UM press release. “We were playing hard, but we were making a lot of mistakes and mental errors. We just kept grinding away in the second half and finally pulled away.”
Junior quarterback Ben Scott threw for 203 yards and a touchdown but Davis lost for the fifth straight week. UCD averaged just 2.7 yards per carry and totaled 105 rushing yards on 39 rushes. Montana totaled eight tackles for loss and five sacks. Montana junior defensive Caleb Kidder notched seven tackles, a sack and his first career interception. Junior defensive end Ryan Johnson also had a sack and his first interception.
Montana hosts Weber State next weekend. Davis hosts Northern Arizona (3-2, 1-1).
Northern Colorado 27, Sacramento State 20 — In Sacramento, the Bears totaled just 138 yards of total offense but scored two defensive touchdowns and a third on special teams in defeating the Hornets for the first time in program history.
“The defense showed up today – the offense did what they had to do, they put a couple drives together – we scored on special teams. It feels awesome,” UNC head coach Earnest Collins Jr. said in a press release. “We kept talking about facing adversity and understanding that we were going to have our ups and downs and that we have to keep fighting through it and we did that today.
Sac State running back Jordan Robinson breaks loose against Northern Colorado
“These guys are fighters. Our defense has been through some things with injuries, but these guys stepped up when the team needed them and made the big plays when they had to.”
UNC senior cornerback A.J. Battle recoverd a fumble and returned it 26 yards for a score. Late in the fourth quarter, Northern Colorado senior Trevor Douglass took a fumble recovery 58 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a seven-point lead. Sacramento State drove the length of the field to the Bears’ 5-yard line but James Davis broke up a pass on fourth down to seal the Northern Colorado victory, its first in three Big Sky Conference outings
Redshirt sophomore Hakeem Deggs started the game by tying a school record. He took the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, tying Ellis Onic II school record set in 2014.
UNC enters its bye week 3-2 overall, 1-2 in Big Sky play. Northern Colorado returns to the field on October 17 for homecoming with UC Davis (0-5, 0-2) coming to Greeley. Sacramento State (1-4, 0-2) plays at Montana State next week.
