Big Sky football roundup: Dalton Sneed rallies Montana past Idaho State
Quarterback Dalton Sneed threw for 397 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores to push Montana past Idaho State 59-20 Saturday in Missoula.
Sneed, a senior, completed 26 of 41 passes while leading the Grizzlies (5-1, 2-0 Big Sky) back from a 17-0 second-quarter deficit. Marcus Knight scored three rushing touchdowns as Montana took a 24-17 lead by halftime.
Idaho State (2-3, 1-1) surged out of the gates, capping a game-opening 98-yard drive with a Ty Flanagan 1-yard TD run at 9:36 of the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, Flanagan tore off a 71-yard scoring run to put the Bengals ahead 17-0.
Flanagan had 130 rushing yards on 18 carries.
Sneed led touchdown drives of 68, 76 and 47 yards in the second quarter, all capped by Knight.
North Dakota 38, UC Davis 36: Brady Leach kicked a go-ahead 46-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining, atoning for an earlier miss, and the Fighting Hawks (3-2) held on to defeat the Aggies (2-4) in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The Aggies drove to the UND 30 with less than a minute remaining, but a false-start penalty on third down and a delay-of-game penalty on fourth down left them facing fourth-and-14 from the 40. Jake Maier threw incomplete on fourth down and the Fighting Hawks held on for the homecoming win.
Portland State 52, Southern Utah 31: Davis Alexander threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and Sirgeo Hoffman added two touchdown runs to power the Vikings (3-3, 1-1) to a victory over the Thunderbirds (1-5, 0-2) in Portland.
The Vikings started fast and never looked back against the Thunderbirds. Portland State used Cody Williams’ 37-yard field goal and Hoffman’s 2-yard TD run to take a 10-0 lead after one quarter.
Portland State led 38-10 at the half.
Northern Arizona 41, Northern Colorado 23: Chase Cookus threw for 406 yards with five touchdown passes, three in the third quarter, and the Lumberjacks (3-3, 1-1) defeated the Bears (1-5, 1-1) in Flagstaff, Arizona.
After trailing 13-10 at halftime, the Lumberjacks scored 24 points in the third quarter and led 34-20 heading into the fourth. Cookus threw TD passes of 61 and 16 yards to Brandon Porter and 51 yards to Stacy Chukwumezie in the explosive period to turn back Northern Colorado.
Montana State 34, Cal Poly 28 (OT): Travis Jonsen ran in the winning touchdown from 9 yards out and the Bobcats (5-1, 2-0) blew a 21-point lead before beating the Mustangs (2-3, 1-1) in overtime in San Luis Obispo, California.
Cal Poly had the ball first in OT, but Colton Theaker missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt. Montana State needed three plays, all Jonsen runs, to get to the end zone for the win.