Big Sky football roundup: Dalton Sneed leads Montana past South Dakota in opener

Dalton Sneed threw for a career-high 430 yards and had three passing touchdowns and another rushing to lead Montana to a 31-17 win over South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota, in the season opener for both teams on Saturday.

Sneed was 37 of 52 with two interceptions. His 16-yard pass to Samori Toure put the Grizzlies up 7-3 and he followed with a 2-yard run to help build a 17-10 lead at the half. In the third quarter, Sneed connected with Samuel Akem for a 43-yard score and Marcus Knight from 6 yards out.

Akem and Toure both had nine receptions, Akem for 158 yards and Toure for 142. Jerry Louie-McGee had eight catches to push his career total to 185 and is seven shy of matching the school record.

Austin Simmons, who threw for 3,142 yards last year, was 22 of 23 for 246 yards and two touchdowns for the Coyotes. Kody Case had 11 catches for 144 yards with touchdown plays of 3 and 9 yards.

Arkansas 20, Portland State 13: The Razorbacks, put together just enough offense to beat the Vikings in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but it wasn’t easy.

Arkansas struggled to sustain drives and had a number of poor passes and others that were dropped. But the Razorbacks’ defense played well, limiting the FCS Vikings to 70 yards rushing and forcing three turnovers to go with six sacks and eight tackles for loss.

Rakeem Boyd powered the Razorbacks’ offense, rushing for 114 yards on 18 carries. Boyd’s third-quarter touchdown, set up by a Jarques McClellion interception, gave Arkansas a little breathing room with a 17-6 lead.

Texas Tech 45, Montana State 10: Alan Bowman passed for 436 yards and two touchdowns and Armand Shyne rushed for 125 yards and a score to guide the Red Raiders to a season-opening victory over the Bobcats in Lubbock, Texas.

Bowman directed an 11-play, 85-yard drive on the Red Raiders’ first possession, culminating in a 5-yard TD toss to McLane Mannix for a 7-0 lead. Bowman led an 11-play, 79-yard drive on their second possession with SaRodorick Thompson bulling his way into the end zone from 1 yard out for a 14-0 lead.

The Bobcats got on the scoreboard after recovering a fumble by Xavier White, who lost the ball after a 35-yard completion from Bowman at the MSU 20-yard line. Casey Bauman connected with Coy Steel for a 31-yard scoring strike to cut the Bobcats’ deficit to 21-7. However, Thompson scored from 3 yards out with 50 seconds left in the second quarter to give Texas Tech a 28-7 lead at halftime.

Cal Poly 52, San Diego 34: Three Jalen Hamler touchdown passes in the second quarter sparked an explosion of scoring as the Mustangs topped the Toreros in San Luis Obispo, California.

Hamler accounted for five of Cal Poly’s seven touchdowns, passing for 221 yards and running for 96. His 55-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Koski early in the second quarter broke a 14-all tie and ignited a run of 38 unanswered points.

Hamler threw scoring passes to Quentin Harrison and Koski again before halftime.

Sacramento State 77, Southern Oregon 19: Kevin Thomson threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score, coach Troy Taylor won in his debut and the Hornets routed the Raiders in Sacramento, California.

Thomson was 14-of-20 passing for 303 yards, and ran for 90 yards that included a 24-yard touchdown. Thomson threw three touchdown passes to Pierre Williams, who finished with five catches for 140 yards.

UNLV 56, Southern Utah 23: Armani Rogers accounted for three touchdowns, Charles Williams ran for three more, and the Rebels downed the Thunderbirds in Las Vegas.

Rogers was 11-of-17 passing for 144 yards and a score and added 11 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns and Williams finished with 143 yards rushing and three TDs.

San Diego State 6, Weber State 0: Matt Araiza hit a pair of field goals and the Aztecs shut out the Wildcats in a defensive battle in San Diego.

Jake Constantine threw for 119 yards and one interception for Weber State