BYU runs over EWU

Harvey Unga rushed for 145 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Brigham Young over Eastern Washington 42-7 Saturday in a non-conference matchup at Provo, Utah.

The Cougars (5-2) gained 377 yards of total offense despite heavy snow that blanketed the field by the end of the game.

Corby Hodgkiss returned an interception 39 yards in the first quarter for BYU and Max Hall completed 15 of 30 passes for 156 yards, including four passes to Unga for 57 yards and a touchdown.

Eastern (4-3) finished the game with more yards passing – 224-156 – but was outplayed in the running game. BYU had 221 rushing yards, while the Eagles had just 42. Eastern sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols was sacked three times.

“Our kids played hard and there is no way they are 42-7 better than us,” said Eastern head coach Paul Wulff. “It should have been a lot closer than that, but we gave them a lot of opportunities to score 21 or 28 points.

“If you do that to any team, you are not going to win the ballgame. … There were a lot of things that didn’t go our way, but, unfortunately, that’s the way it worked out.”

Eastern’s only score was a 28-yard pass from Nichols to Aaron Boyce that cut BYU’s lead to 14-7.

Nichols was 20 for 32 for 216 yards with two interceptions. Boyce had nine catches for 135 yards for the Eagles, who finished with just 266 yards of offense. Despite the bleak number, however, Eastern was only outgained in total offense by 111 yards.

“We had the opportunity to move the ball and do some things,” Wulff said. “We just didn’t really capitalize when we got (near their goal line). Field position played the biggest role in this ballgame.”

Nichols had entered the game third in FCS in total offense with an average of 327.2 yards per game, including an average of 306.2 passing to rank fifth. Boyce entered ranked sixth in receptions with an average of 7.7 per game (total of 46), and was fourth in receiving yards with a 119.8 average (total of 719 yards).

Ira Jarmon led Eastern’s defense with eight tackles and Robert Pearson added seven.

The Eagles dug themselves an early 7-0 hole just 1:26 into the game when Hodgkiss stepped in front of a Nichols pass and returned it for the touchdown. After an Eastern punt, the Cougars scored on a 13-play, 85-yard drive to take a 14-0 lead.

In the first quarter, BYU had a 133-50 advantage in total offense. But the Eagles toughened and EWU’s offense got untracked to come within a touchdown in the second quarter.

Nichols put together a 10-play, 71-yard drive to make it 14-7 with 13:12 to play in the half.

Nichols completed 5 of 6 passes for 60 yards in the drive, with three of those going to Boyce for 49 yards.

The last 28 yards came on Boyce’s catch between two defenders in the end zone after Nichols avoided a sack attempt by a blitzing linebacker.

Late in the quarter, BYU put together an eight-play, 50-yard drive that put it ahead 21-7. Unga, who had 118 yards in the first half, had a 13-yard run to give the Cougars a two-touchdown advantage with 1:35 left.

The Eagles drove the ball to the BYU 29 in the final seconds, but Nichols was sacked to end the half. A 61-yard kickoff return began the second half for the Cougars, and they turned that into a touchdown and a 28-7 lead just 41 seconds out of the break.

BYU scored two more touchdowns, one set up after an interception and 27-yard return. A fourth-quarter BYU touchdown came after a 25-yard punt return.

Despite being outscored 21-0 in the second half and picking up their third loss of the season, the Eagles are still in the hunt for a postseason berth. They are 2-2 in Big Sky play and begin a four-game conference stretch starting Saturday at Sacramento State.

“Our kids know our backs are against the wall and we have to win out,” Wulff said. “Every game is important.”

Idaho State 38, Portland State 20: A 28-point third-quarter burst – including two long fumble returns for touchdowns – gave the Bengals a win over the Vikings in Pocatello.

Trailing 10-3 after halftime, ISU defensive tackle Micah Cloward picked up a fumble and ran it 65 yards for a touchdown less than four minutes into the third quarter.

Less than three minutes later, Bengals linebacker Sterling Mennear picked up another fumble and ran it in 76 yards to give ISU a 17-10 lead.

Montana State 20, Sacramento State 9: The Bobcats scored all their points in the final 16 minutes to earn a victory over the Hornets in Bozeman.

Tight end Elliott Barnhart had two key catches for 79 yards in the fourth quarter, the first a 39-yard touchdown pass from Cory Carpenter on a third-and-15 play that sparked the Bobcats (5-2, 3-1 Big Sky), ranked 20th in The Sports Network FCS poll.

Sacramento State (1-6, 1-4) led 9-0 after Juan Gamboa converted a partially blocked 30-yard field goal with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter.

Michael Sweeney missed two field-goal attempts for the Bobcats in the first half, so Eric Fisher got the call in the second half, kicking a 27-yarder with 46 seconds left in the third quarter to get the Bobcats on the board.

Barnhardt’s touchdown gave the Bobcats their first lead at 10-9 and a 32-yard field goal by Fisher put MSU up 13-9 with 8:08 remaining.

Montana 52, Northern Colorado 7: Cole Bergquist passed for 292 yards and a career-best four touchdowns and Lex Hilliard rushed for 112 yards and set the school’s career rushing touchdown record as the Grizzlies romped past the Bears in Missoula.

Montana (7-0, 4-0 Big Sky), ranked third in The Sports Network FCS poll, had 623 yards in total offense to 228 for Northern Colorado (0-8, 0-4) after three weeks of less-than-dominating wins that led to a fall from the No. 1 ranking.

Hilliard’s second touchdown, a 39-yard run with 13:55 left in the fourth quarter, gave Montana a 45-0 lead and gave Hilliard the school career rushing touchdown record with 44, one more than Yohance Humphery had from 1998-2001.

Northern Colorado got its only touchdown with 9:59 remaining on a 31-yard pass from Dominic Breazeale to Clint Wright, who had three catches for 46 yards.