Around the Nation: Boise State rolls past Louisiana-Lafayette 45-10

Brett Rypien was 22 of 33 passing for 347 yards and two touchdowns, and Boise State cruised to a 45-10 season opening win at Louisiana Lafayette on Saturday. It was Rypien’s sixth career 300-plus yard outing – with Boise State winning all six contests.

Thomas Sperbeck, Cedric Wilson, and Jeremy McNichols each caught touchdown passes, adding 130, 113, and 98 yards receiving, respectively. McNichols also had two rushing touchdows and Sperbeck threw for a TD.

The Broncos scored the first 35 points, including a 48-yard trick play pass from Sperbeck to McNichols. A Stevie Artigue field goal for Louisiana-Lafayette made it 35-3 at halftime. The Ragin Cajuns scored their lone touchdown early in the fourth, when Anthony Jennings found Keenan Barnes from 11-yards out.

Jennings finished with 186 yards passing for Louisiana-Lafayette. Elijah McGuire had 46 yards rushing and Ja’Marcus Bradley caught three balls for 50 yards.

Montana 41, St. Francis 31: Brady Gustafson passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more – all in the second half – and the Grizzlies beat the Red Flash in Missoula. Gustafson finished 28-of-43 passing for 353 yards and added 29 yards rushing.

The Montana defense limited the Red Flash to just 135 total yards in the second half – 73 of which came on a touchdown pass from Zack Drayer to Junior Ajayi with the game out of reach.

Air Force 37, Abilene Christian 21: Ronald Cleveland rushed for a score and caught a 62-yard TD pass as the Falcons beat the Wildcats for its 13th straight win at Air Force Academy, Colorado. Cleveland plays a hybrid position in the Air Force’s triple-option offense. His 33-yard TD run in the second quarter began a spurt of 21 straight points to help the Falcons pull away from Abilene Christian. The sophomore entered the game with one career carry.

Quarterback Nate Romine guided the offense in his return from a knee injury that sidelined him most of last season. He finished with two TD passes as Air Force improved to 21-0 all-time against Football Championship Subdivision teams.

Portland State 43, Central Washington 26: Alex Kuresa threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Vikings rallied to beat the Division II-member Wildcats in the season opener for both teams in Portland, Oregon. Kuresa led an 11-play, 85-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard scoring pass to Maximo Espitia, and the two-point conversion put Portland State up 29-26 with 14:55 left to play. Eight minutes later, Kuresa ran 21 yards to push the lead to 36-26. Kuresa threw for 222 yards and ran for 123. Nate Tago had 24 carries, 136 yards and three touchdowns.

Richmond 37, Virginia 20: Senior Kyle Lauletta threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns, the defense held the Cavaliers to negative rushing yards heading into the fourth quarter and the Spiders rolled to a win in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Spiders outgained Virginia 524-302 in winning for just the third time in 33 meetings in the series. The victory was the fourth in Richmond’s last nine meetings with an FBS-level school, but its first victory against the Cavaliers since 1946.

Arkansas 21, Louisiana Tech 20: Behind a pair of fourth-down conversions in the fourth quarter, the Razorbacks managed to avoid another early season disappointment to a non-Power 5 conference team – rallying for a win over the Bulldogs in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks rallied thanks to a pair of nerve-wracking calls by Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, particularly with first-time starter Austin Allen under center for Arkansas. Bielema’s faith in his junior starter was rewarded, especially after Allen connected with tight end Jeremy Sprinkle from four yards out on fourth down to give Arkansas the 21-20 with 6:37 remaining in the game.

West Virginia 26, Missouri 11: Backup running back Justin Crawford rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown filling in for the injured Rushel Shell, and Skyler Howard overcame a first-half injury to lead the Mountaineers past the Tigers in Morgantown, West Virginia. West Virginia’s Mike Molina kicked four field goals in place of the suspended Josh Lambert.