SKYLINE SPORTS & NEWS SERVICES
The two frontrunners stayed neck and neck, but North Dakota took a one-stride lead in the race for the Big Sky Conference championship.
No. 12 UND made history on Saturday, rallying from a 31-10 deficit against Northern Arizona to post a 38-31 victory in Grand Forks. The win pushes North Dakota to 8-0 in Big Sky play, ensuring UND at least a share of the league title for the first time in program history.
No. 3 Eastern Washington scored 21 unanswered points to pull away and beat Idaho State 48-17 in its home finale. The victory moves Eastern to 7-0 in conference play, 9-1 overall. The Eagles will have a chance to share its fifth Big Sky title since 2010 with a win at Portland State next week. An EWU loss will give UND the outright title in its fifth season in the league.
While EWU and UND further strengthened and likely solidify playoff position, Montana and Cal Poly each saw postseason hopes take hits. The Grizzlies fell to 0-4 on the road in league play this season and 3-4 in conference with a 28-25 loss at Northern Colorado. Cal Poly’s postseason aspirations took a huge hit as well with a 22-15 loss at Weber State.
Montana State earned its first Big Sky win of the season with a 27-13 win over UC Davis. Southern Utah stepped out of league play and lost 37-7 at Southern Utah to fall to 5-5.
No. 12 North Dakota 38, Northern Arizona 31 — If ever a game summed up the North Dakota football team’s “Leave no doubt” motto this season, it was this one.
Trailing 31-10 midway through the third quarter, the 12th-ranked Fighting Hawks (9-2, 8-0 BSC) rallied from a 31-10 deficit by scoring 28 unanswered points to finish off Big Sky play with a perfect 8-0 record thanks to a 38-31 victory over Northern Arizona Saturday at the Alerus Center.
“I’m just so proud of this football team,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “They never gave up and kept fighting right there until the end. We got huge plays in all three phases of the game and what a great way to cap the regular season for our senior class.”
Junior Deion Harris clinched the comeback with his third pick-six of the season, breaking a 31-31 tie with a 40-yard interception return with 2:43 left on the clock. The win closed out the regular season for the Fighting Hawks, who will have next weekend off before learning their postseason assignment.
NAU (5-5, 4-3 BSC) jumped ahead thanks to the play of senior quarterback Blake Kemp, who threw for 416 yards and three touchdowns. However, it was the home team that did not relent and found a new way to win in what was the Fighting Hawks’ ninth-straight victory.
UND quarterback Keaton Studsrud was nothing less than heroic in his return following a one-game absence. He twice got knocked out of the game, but returned to lead the thrilling comeback. The Fighting Hawks’ largest comeback of the season started in the third quarter when sophomore John Santiago scored a 15-yard run to cut the deficit to 14. He finished with 77 rushing yards and two scores.
After the teams exchanged punts, backfield mate Brady Oliveira got into the scoring act, only this time it came through the air on a two-yard halfback pass to Luke Fiedler with 7:58 on the clock. Oliveira posted his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season with 103 yards and provided Fiedler with his first career touchdown reception.
The NCAA FCS Playoff Committee releases its 24-team field on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 10 a.m. CT on ESPNU.
No. 3 Eastern Washington 48, Idaho State 17 — Idaho State stifled Eastern Washington’s passing game like no other team this season. The Eagles went to the ground instead and got a variety of contributions from record-setting Cooper Kupp in winning for the eighth straight time.
Idaho State limited EWU to 255 yards passing, the first time Eastern has been held under 300 yards this season. Instead, true freshman Antoine Custer’s 141-yard effort that included an 83-yard touchdown run to put EWU up 20-3 spearheaded a 276-yard effort on the ground for the hosts.
Kupp, Eastern’s three-time All-American receiver, now has every major statistical record in Division I history. His seven catches for 70 yards on Saturday gives him the D-I record for receptions in a career with 397. Kupp scored a three-yard rushing touchdown to push the lead to 27-10 on the first possession of the second half. With EWU clinging to a 27-17 lead and ISU threatening to steal the momentum, Kupp took a punt 76 yards for a score.
“It’s huge – this conference is so tough every year,” EWU head coach Beau Baldwin said. “So when you put yourself in a position to finish unbeaten in the conference, that is hard to do. You saw it today – it was hard for North Dakota and took everything they had to finish unbeaten. They were in a barnburner and got it done even when they were down. We know it’s going to take a lot of work and it’s a short week. We have to be really disciplined with how we attack this week – Friday is going to come up on us a little quicker so it’s a little out of the norm.”
Tight end Zach Wimberly and sophomore Stu Stiles each caught fourth-quarter touchdown passes to help EWU win going away. ‘
EWU totaled 557 yards on 77 plays, including the 276 yards on the ground on 40 rushes. Eastern converted 8-of-11 third downs and notched 29 first downs to move within one game of its fifth Big Sky title in seven years.
Custer, a true freshman, notched his career-high rushing total on just 12 carries. Fellow freshman Tamarick Pierce added 68 yards on six carries. Senior Shaq Hill caught seven passes for a team-high 103 yards and his league-leading 14th touchdown.
Senior defensive end Samson Ebukam had eight tackles and a sack for an EWU defense that allowed just 292 yards on 87 plays to the short-handed Bengals. ISU rushed the ball 48 times for 133 yards despite the absence of senior starting running back Jakori Ford.
Eastern Washington plays at rival Portland State in the ‘Battle of the Dam Cup’ on Friday in the City of Roses. Idaho State hosts Weber State.
Weber State 22, No. 17 Cal Poly 15 — Brady May scored a two-yard touchdown run with nine minutes to play and Weber State was able to hang on, pushing Cal Poly’s postseason hopes to the brink.
The Mustangs are now 6-4 overall, 4-3 in Big Sky play. The Mustangs own wins over No. 9 South Dakota State (38-31), No. 6 Montana (43-42) and likely Pioneer League champ and playoff qualifier San Diego. But back to back losses to North Dakota and Weber means Cal Poly will need to beat surging North Dakota and get some help to qualify for the playoffs as a seven-win team.
Weber moved to 5-2 in league play, 6-4 overall by putting forth a stellar defensive effort. The Wildcats held Cal Poly’s potent triple option offense to 190 yards rushing, including just 3.6 yards per carry. Cal Poly managed just 291 yards of total offense and 18 first downs. CP entered the contest rushing for 370 yards per game, averaging 510 yards per game and scoring 41 points per Big Sky contest.
Weber State senior Jadrian Clark completed 23-of-32 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the final home game of his career. Drew Batchelor and tight end Andrew Vollert each caught touchdowns.
Cal Poly’s offense noticeably missed big-play slot back Kyle Lewis. Fullback Joe Protheroe rushed for 65 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Kori Garcia managed 57 yards on 14 carries and DJ Peluso added 50 yards on six carries, including a touchdown.
Sacramento State 42, Portland State 35 — In its second trip to Central California in as many weeks, Portland State rushed for 424 yards, including 100-yard days by quarterback Alex Kuresa and running back Nate Tago but a career day from Sac State senior tailback negated all that.
Robinson rushed for 262 yards on 23 carries and four touchdowns, including the game-winning score from nine yards out with 1:56 left to lift Sac to its second win, Big Sky or otherwise.
Tago, who finished with 148 yards on 16 carries, put PSU up 7-0 early but Sac sophomore Nate Ketteringham answered with a seven-yard touchdown with 89 seconds left in the first quarter.
Each time Portland State tried to pull away, Sac would answer. Kuresa, who finished with 198 yards rushing, ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the second quarter only to see Demetrius Warren answer with a 19-yard score minutes later. Kuresa scored on a 36-yard run only to see Robinson answer with a 75-yard score as the game went to halftime tied 21-21.
Robinson scored two third-quarter touchdowns sandwiched around Kuresa’s 19-yard touchdown pass to enter the fourth quarter up 35-28. Paris Penn’s 1-yard run early in the fourth frame tied the game at 35 where it stayed until Robinson’s touchdown in the final two minutes.
The win boosts Sac State to 2-5 in league play, 2-8 overall. Portland State is now 2-5 in league, 3-7 overall. PSU hosts EWU next week while Sac plays the Causeway Classic at rival UC Davis on Saturday.
BYU 37, Southern Utah 7 — Taysom Hill threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns, Tanner Mangum came off the bench to throw for 121 yards and BYU built a 31-7 halftime lead in cruising to a non-conference win.
Southern Utah fell to 5-5 overall by managing just 165 total yards. SUU had just seven first downs and rushed for 21 yards on 18 attempts. Logan Parker’s 17-yard touchdown catch served as SUU’s only score.
Southern Utah finishes at Northern Arizona next week.