Wyoming Relies On Defense To Stop Griz

Big Sky

Wyoming’s defense made up for a disappointing offensive performance Saturday at Laramie, Wyo., as the Cowboys defeated Montana 28-13, said Wyoming coach Dana Dimel.

Wyoming (4-2) limited the Grizzlies (3-1) to 14 yards on the ground and 195 in the air to offset an offense that Dimel said sputtered.

“I’m not pleased with the offense, but I’m into team victories and so this was a team victory,” he said. “You won’t see a defense play any better than that. Montana has one heck of an offensive scheme. They throw every scheme imaginable at you, and our defense handled it.”

Montana coach Mick Dennehy agreed.

“One of the things we have been pretty good at thus far is controlling the football and Wyoming’s defense didn’t allow us to do that,” he said.

Wyoming’s defense racked up eight sacks and four interceptions to help hold off a second-half rally by the I-AA Grizzlies.

Also contributing to the victory was freshman quarterback Matt Swanson, who replaced starter Jeremy Silcox late in the second quarter and engineered one touchdown.

Swanson completed 6 of 17 passes for 94 yards before leaving the game midway through the fourth quarter with a dislocated left elbow.

Wyoming’s defense stymied Montana quarterback Brian Ah Yat, who lost 35 yards on the ground before being replaced late in the second quarter by Darren Rowell.

Portland St. 26, CS-Northridge 13

At Portland, redshirt freshman Charles Dunn rushed for 250 yards and three touchdowns as Portland State won its first game of the season.

The 5-foot-7, 180-pound tailback carried the ball a school-record 41 times and had touchdown runs of 10, 2 and 8 yards.

The Vikings (1-4, 1-2) took a 17-3 halftime lead behind Dunn’s 152 yards on 20 carries.

The Matadors (2-3) were playing their Big Sky opener and their first game since losing star quarterback Aaron Flowers with a hairline fracture in his right leg.

CS-Northridge 0 3 10 0 - 13

Portland St. 7 10 6 3 - 26

PSU-Dunn 10 run (Lund kick), 12:38. CS-FG Marquez 32, 13:29.

PSU-Dunn 2 run (Lund kick), 4:58.

PSU-FG Lund 28, 0:54. CS-Comer 30 pass from Fiske (Marquez kick), 8:51.

PSU-Dunn 8 run (kick failed), 3:52.

CS-FG Marquez 22, 0:06. PSU-FG Lund 29, 9:01.

A-6,888 CSN PSU First downs 24 19 Rushes-yards 33-97 51-276 Passing 280 127 Comp-Att-Int 20-42-1 8-19-1 Return Yards 12-244 12-209 Punts-Avg. 4-45 4-38 Fumbles-Lost 3-3 4-2 Penalties-Yards 7-81 17-107 Time of Possession 26:56 33:04 RUSHING-CS-Northridge, Clarke 19-79, Harvey 2-13, Arnold 2-8, Henry 1-4, Fiske 9-minus 7. Portland St., Dunn 41-250, McVeigh 2-12, Parsons 7-7, Brand 1-7.

PASSING-CS-Northridge, Fiske 20-42-1-280. Portland St., Parsons 8-19-1-127.

RECEIVING-CS-Northridge, Comer 9-131, Henry 4-83, Ogas 3-44, Clarke 1-19, Hill 1-3, Carpenter 1-2, Harvey 1-minus 2. Portland St., Bryant 4-56, Harris 2-23, Craft 1-40, Allen 1-8.

Weber St 36, N. Arizona 23

At Ogden, Utah, Steve Buck passed for a career-best 436 yards and two touchdowns and Scott Shields booted five field goals for the Wildcats.

N Arizona 3 13 0 7 - 23

Weber St 13 10 10 3 - 36

WEB-McGhee 21 pass from Buck (Shields kick), 12:01 WEB-FG Shields 23, 9:50 NAU-FG Goldstein 38, 3:42 WEB-FG Shields 42, 1:11 NAU-FG Goldstein 47, 13:26 WEB-FG Shields 31, 11:01 NAU-FG Goldstein 32, 8:42 WEB-Poole 4 run (Shields kick), 5:11 NAU-Brown 1 run (Goldstein kick), 00:20 WEB-Rubin 12 pass from Buck (Shields kick), 12:06 WEB-FG Shields 27, 3:49 NAU-Lemos 10 pass from Brown (Goldstein kick), 5:45 WEB-FG Shields 42, 2:45 A-10,261.

NAU WEB First downs 27 21 Rushes-yards 31-72 32-92 Passing 452 436 Comp-Att-Int 31-52-0 28-46-0 Return Yards 0 0 Punts-Avg. 1-39 3-49 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 5-49 12-106 Time of Possession 31:22 28:38 RUSHING-NAU, Carson 24-96, Brown 6-(minus)10, Team 1-(minus)14; WEB, Rubin 9-27, Poole 8-23, Welch 4-23, Buck 11-20.

PASSING-NAU, Brown 31-52-0 452; WEB, Buck 28-46-0 436.

RECEIVING-NAU, Lemos 5-123, Pearsall 8-106, St. Paul 7-69, Searey 3-64, Flores 4-29, Carson 2-24, Black 1-20, Fontana 1-17; WEB, McGhee 9-157, Clark 5-140, Quayle 8-63, Harlan 3-51, Rubin 2-13, Hazel 1-12.