SKYLINE SPORTS & BIG SKY SPORTS INFORMATION OUTLETS
The same three teams remain atop the Big Sky Conference.
Gage Gubrud continued his stunning pace and Eastern Washington rallied for a third straight Big Sky Conference win to remain unbeaten in league play. Northern Arizona stayed hot by dismantling a Missouri Valley Conference foe to wrap its non-conference schedule. No. 20 Weber State was idle this week.
Southern Utah utilized came off its bye and kept Cal Poly winless. North Dakota revamped its offense and overcame its injuries in a win over Northern Colorado. Montana rallied for a win in Pocatello against upstart Idaho State. Montana State posted its first home victory of the season by hanging on against Portland State. Sac State had the week off.
Eastern Washington junior quarterback Gage Gubrud/ EWU athletics
No. 10 Eastern Washington 41, UC Davis 38 — The cardiac kids are back, and they are pre-maturely aging their head coach already.
Eastern Washington rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter by scoring 21 points in the period and went on to spoil the upset hopes of UC Davis with a heart-stopping 41-38 victory over the Aggies Saturday in Davis. It was the third Big Sky Conference win in three tries this season for the Eagles, who have now won 11-straight league games.
Junior quarterback Gage Gubrud engineered scoring drives of 71, 55 and 75 yards in the final quarter, and finished with six touchdown passes and 452 yards passing. He passed 6 yards to Nic Sblendorio for a game-winning TD with 1:37 to play, followed by a missed 49-yard field goal by the Aggies that could have knotted the game.
Eastern has now won 23 games since 2010 when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter, including two this season, two in 2016 and 2015, one in 2014, two in 2013, six in 2012, two in 2011 and six during EWU’s national championship season in 2010.
EWU wide receiver Nic Sblendorio/by Brooks Nuanez
“I don’t know if fun is the right word,” first-year head coach Aaron Best said. “I’ll tell you what, I’m 39 going on 69. But if I’m going to do it I’m going to do it with this bunch. We did it in 2010 over and over and over, and I’m ready and willing to do it again. This is a fun bunch and the coaches are phenomenal. There is just no quit, and a lot of belief in each other. We’ll enjoy this one tonight in California and then we’ll talk about our opponent tomorrow.”
The Aggies finished with a 551-501 advantage in total offense, but Eastern had 205 in the fourth quarter alone. The Eagles managed only 13 points in the first 41 minutes of the game, having five three-and-outs in that span. Eastern, however, had a five touchdown drives of 73 yards or more, and another of 55.
While UC Davis quarterback Jake Maier passed for 367 yards, 15 of his 35 completions for 208 yards went to receiver Keelan Doss.
Eastern is now 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big Sky Conference, winning its 11th-straight conference game. The Aggies fell to 3-3 and 1-2 in the league.
The Eagles are now 3-0 in the Big Sky Conference standings, just ahead of Northern Arizona and Weber State at 2-0 each. The Eagles have won 43 of their last 49 Big Sky games since a 0-2 start in 2011. Eastern has won 33 of its last 37 league games, with the lone losses coming against Montana and Portland State in 2015 and Northern Arizona in both 2015 and 2014. An Oct. 25, 2014, loss at Northern Arizona snapped EWU’s 14-game conference winning streak and a home loss against the Lumberjacks on Nov. 7, 2015, ended a streak of eight Big Sky wins in a row. Including non-conference victories (two versus MSU and one against Cal Poly) and a playoff win (Montana), the Eagles have won 37 of their last 41 versus conference foes, and are 47-6 since the 0-2 start in 2011.
EWU hosts Montana State next week. UC Davis has a bye.
Northern Arizona 37, No. 11 Illinois State 16 — NAU rang up 431 yards of total offense against the nation’s No. 2 ranked defense as it posted its third consecutive victory over No. 7/11 Illinois State on Saturday at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome.
The Lumberjack defense intercepted three passes and recorded five sacks in the win while limiting the Redbirds’ rushing attack, which entered the contest averaging 190.2 yards per game, to just 63 yards on 29 carries.
With the win, NAU moves its overall mark to 3-2. The victory also marked the Lumberjacks’ first over a ranked opponent since they defeated then No. 10 Montana 45-34 on Oct. 22, 2016. Illinois State suffered its first defeat of the season and slips to 4-1 overall.
Northern Arizona senior Elijah Marks/ NAU athletics
“I’m really pleased with the way our guys answered the challenge of playing a nationally-ranked team and defending our home turf,” NAU head coach Jerome Souers said. “I was very pleased with our defense scheme and effort. In the end the coverage and the turnovers were the difference and that’s how we closed the game out.”
Following a scoreless opening quarter, the Lumberjacks exploded for 27 points over the next two quarters to open up a 27-9 advantage entering the final quarter of action. Sophomore place kicker Griffin Roehler opened up the scoring for NAU with a pair of field goals in the second quarter, including a career-best 41-yarder.
NAU quarterback Case Cookus closed out the opening half with a 32-yard touchdown strike to senior receiver Elijah Marks, making the score 13-6 at intermission. Cookus added another scoring toss just 3:38 into the third quarter as he found Wallace Gonzalez from 21 yards out for his first touchdown reception of his collegiate career, upping the NAU advantage to 20-9. Cookus threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns.
Cookus followed with a touchdown reception of his own after he hit teammate Chance Brewington with a lateral pass before returning the favor by finding Cookus on the opposite sideline for the quarterback’s first scoring reception of his NAU career on a play that covered a total of 23 yards – increasing the margin to 27-9.
Illinois State entered the game with the nation’s second-ranked unit in total defense (166.5 ypg), third in scoring defense (8.8 ppg) and second in passing yards allowed (113.8) – the Lumberjacks shredded the Redbirds’ defense for a total of 431 yards and 403 yards through the air.
NAU junior safety Josh Clark finished with 11 tackles, including a sack and three total tackles for loss. Byron Evans, Maurice Davidson and Andrew Gose each picked off a pass in the win while limiting Illinois State to just 223 yards passing.
NAU’s Marks continued his dominance on the outside as he finished with 130 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. It was the third consecutive game that Marks eclipsed the 100-yard mark and his fourth over five games this season.
The Lumberjacks return to Big Sky action next week as they hit the road for a game at Portland State (0-5, 0-2 Big Sky) on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Southern Utah 20, Cal Poly 14 – Southern Utah scored 17 points in the first 18 minutes of the game and held on to defeat Cal Poly Saturday night before a record crowd of 10,633 inside Eccles Coliseum.
Trailing 20-7 midway through the fourth quarter, Cal Poly rallied with a five-yard touchdown run by Broc Mortensen with 4:46 to play and got the ball back with 2:51 to go, but after picking up a pair of first downs and moving the ball into Southern Utah territory, the Mustang drive stalled.
Fresh off its bye, Southern Utah moved to3-2 and 1-1. With the loss, Cal Poly falls to 0-6 on the year and 0-3 in Big Sky games.
Southern Utah linebacker Chinedu Ahanonu/ SUU athletics
“I’m proud of the guys, they fought all game,” SUU head coach Demario Warren said. “Cal Poly’s a tough team, we knew they were going to be a tough out, they don’t give up, they’re going to stay in the game and make you win the game.”
The loss spoiled the debut of redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Jeffrey, who replaced injured starter Khaleel Jenkins and completed 11 of 21 passes for 129 yards. Senior fullback Jared Mohamed set a new career high with 133 yards on 29 carries.
Cal Poly accumulated just eight first downs until the final seven minutes, finishing with 14. The Mustangs rushed for 227 yards and passed for 129 more for 356 yards in total offense, just 26 fewer than Southern Utah.
Thunderbird quarterback Patrick Tyler completed 23 of 30 passes for 223 yards and one score. Green finished with 77 yards on the ground and James Felila added 50. Chinedu Ahanonu finished the night with 15 tackles to lead the way for the Thunderbirds. He also had 1.5 tackles for loss. Chance Bearnson had nine tackles on the night and Mike Needham had eight.
“It was fun being out there, flying around and making plays,” Ahanonu said.
Cal Poly was slowed by a season-high 11 penalties. Cal Poly has lost six straight for the first time since the 1965 squad lost its final six games of the year.
The Mustangs have a bye next week, returning home to host Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 21. The 6:05 p.m. kickoff is on Mustang Family Weekend. Southern Utah plays at in-state rival Weber State next week.
North Dakota 48, Northern Colorado 38 — North Dakota racked up a season-high 562 yards of total offense en route to a 48-38 Homecoming win over Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon at the Alerus Center in Big Sky Conference play.
The Fighting Hawks (2-4, 1-2 Big Sky) took an early 28-7 lead, but Northern Colorado came storming back to take a third quarter lead. UND kept a five-game winning streak over the Bears in tact, however, by pounding away on the ground to forge its only rally.
North Dakota senior quarterback Keaton Studsrud/ UND athletics
The offense totalled a season-high rushing 314 yards, which included a game-high 109 from Brady Oliveira and 97 more from senior quarterback Keaton Studsrud to snap a three-game skid. UND outscored the Bears 10-0 in the fourth quarter and dominated time of possession, holding a 15-plus minute advantage in that category.
“We really need that one,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “Our guys needed a positive result and I was really proud of our team for the way we battled, especially in the second half.
“We lost a big lead and things were not looking very good for us. We lost a lot of momentum, but our guys came back. We ran the football, found ways to get off the field and make some plays to seal the win down the stretch.”
UND would bring a halt to the 24-0 run by the visitors and square the game at 31-31 thanks to a 30-yard field goal by Reid Taubenheim on the next possession. After holding UNC to a punt, junior John Santiago gave the lead back to North Dakota with a 2-yard scoring plunge midway through the third quarter. Santiago finished with 15 carries for 70 yards.
Regan and the Bears answered quickly, tying the score at 38-38 heading into the fourth quarter on a 9-yard scoring pass to Hakeem Deggs.
Taubenheim put UND back in front on a 19-yard field goal and the UND defense yielded zero points the rest of the way. Toivonen iced the game with two minutes to play as he scored his second rushing touchdown on an identical reverse to cap the scoring.
Studsrud finished with an efficient 17-for-23 effort through the air for 248 yards, while Knipp threw for 198 first-half yards before not returning. Regan added 115 passing yards in relief of the senior.
Senior Chuck Flowers picked off the Bears’ final offensive snap to squash any thoughts of a late rally by UNC, who gave up 48 points for the second-consecutive week.
UND takes the road next week, heading to Missoula. to battle the Griz. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. CT. Northern Colorado has a bye.
