Big Sky roundup: McGhee, Cats hold off Viking rally

Associated Press | Posted: Saturday, October 8, 2011 9:00 pm
PORTLAND, Ore. - DeNarius McGhee passed for 255 yards and four touchdowns as Montana State held on for a 38-36 victory over Portland State on Saturday.
Portland State rallied from a 38-22 deficit in the final 7 minutes, but came up short on a two-point conversion with 2:52 remaining that could have sent the game into overtime.
McGhee had a hand in all five touchdowns for Montana State (3-0 Big Sky, 5-1), throwing for TDs of 5, 24, 69 and 6 yards, while also scoring on a 1-yard run.
Portland State (2-1, 3-2) pulled within 38-30 on a 1-yard run from Cory McCaffrey with 3:46 remaining. After recovering the ensuing kickoff deep in Montana State territory, the Vikings got on the board again when Kalua Noa caught a 15-yard pass from Connor Kavanaugh with 2:52 left. But Montana State stopped Kavanaugh short of the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt, and ran out the clock from there.
Montana St. 7 14 14 3 - 38
Portland St. 10 3 6 17 - 36
First Quarter
Port-McCaffrey 9 run (Brown kick), 8:47.
Port-FG Brown 21, 2:30.
MtSt-S.Foster 5 pass from McGhee (Cunningham kick), 1:06.
Second Quarter
MtSt-Robinson 24 pass from McGhee (Cunningham kick), 13:15.
Port-FG Brown 28, 8:29.
MtSt-Ellis 69 pass from McGhee (Cunningham kick), 7:37.
Third Quarter
Port-McCaffrey 49 run (run failed), 13:16.
MtSt-McGhee 1 run (Cunningham kick), 10:36.
MtSt-Akpla 6 pass from McGhee (Cunningham kick), 3:07.
Fourth Quarter
Port-FG Brown 47, 13:36.
MtSt-FG Cunningham 26, 6:52.
Port-McCaffrey 1 run (N.Lewis pass from Kavanaugh), 3:46.
Port-Noa 15 pass from Kavanaugh (run failed), 2:52.
A-9,054.
MtSt Port
First downs 22 21
Rushes-yards 43-173 41-213
Passing 255 127
Comp-Att-Int 15-22-0 15-27-0
Return Yards 7 24
Punts-Avg. 3-37.7 6-35.5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties-Yards 6-78 15-151
Time of Possession 30:24 29:36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Montana St., Kirk 20-74, Gilbert 4-52, Ellis 1-20, Robinson 8-20, McGhee 8-12, Team 2-(-5). Portland St., McCaffrey 21-119, Kavanaugh 15-75, Richard 5-19.
PASSING-Montana St., McGhee 15-22-0-255. Portland St., Kavanaugh 15-26-0-127, Griffin 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING-Montana St., Akpla 4-78, T.Bleskin 4-60, Ellis 2-77, S.Foster 2-17, Kirk 2-(-1), Robinson 1-24. Portland St., McCaffrey 7-41, Monahan 3-26, Noa 2-29, N.Lewis 2-14, Powell 1-17.
Sacramento State 14, Northern Colorado 0
At Greeley, Colo., Jeff Fleming ran for 59 yards and a touchdown as Sacramento State defeated Northern Colorado.
David Coleman scored on a 4-yard fumble recovery return for Sacramento State (2-2 Big Sky, 3-3). It was the first shutout by the Hornets since blanking San Francisco State on Sept. 10, 1994.
The Hornets played without starting wide receivers Brandon Reed (ankle) and Chase Deadder. Both were hurt in Thursday's practice.
Sacramento State didn't attempt a pass in a game for the first time since a 2007 meeting with New Mexico.
Northern Colorado (0-6, 0-4) was held to season-low 72 yards of total offense. The Bears are 0-6 all-time against Sacramento State.
Sacramento St. 0 7 7 0 - 14
N. Colorado 0 0 0 0 - 0
Second Quarter
Sac-Fleming 15 run (Diniz kick), 11:04.
Third Quarter
Sac-Coleman 4 fumble return (Diniz kick), :00.
A-1,189.
Sac NoCo
First downs 7 5
Rushes-yards 51-177 49-43
Passing 0 29
Comp-Att-Int 0-0-0 3-13-0
Return Yards 0 19
Punts-Avg. 8-30.3 5-39.8
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 7-2
Penalties-Yards 6-60 4-33
Time of Possession 30:58 28:53
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Sacramento St., Hilliard 31-106, Fleming 13-59, Croxdale 4-12, McCowan 3-0. N. Colorado, Hildreth 20-36, Orms 12-25, Holland 4-11, Burnley 5-7, Lobato 5-(-1), Baca 1-(-3), Kaman 1-(-4), Team 1-(-28).
PASSING-Sacramento St.. N. Colorado, Lobato 2-7-0-22, Orms 1-6-0-7.
RECEIVING-Sacramento St.. N. Colorado, Morris 2-22, P.Walker 1-7.

Eastern Washington 36, Northern Arizona 28
At Flagstaff, Ariz., Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 356 yards and three touchdowns and added a score on the ground as Eastern Washington capitalized on Northern Arizona's turnovers.
The Lumberjacks (1-2 Big Sky, 2-3) had three fumbles and one interception, which led to 10 points for the Eagles (2-2, 2-4).
Northern Arizona's Cary Grossart threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns while Zach Bauman ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
Mike Jarrett added three field goals for the Eagles and Greg Herd made seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.
E. Washington 3 17 6 10 - 36
N. Arizona 14 7 0 7 - 28
First Quarter
EWas-FG Jarrett 27, 8:44.
NAz-Paden 35 pass from Grossart (Myers kick), 8:07.
NAz-Bauman 1 run (Myers kick), 3:40.
Second Quarter
EWas-C.Mitchell 17 pass from B.Mitchell (Jarrett kick), 14:53.
EWas-Clark 51 pass from B.Mitchell (Jarrett kick), 7:17.
NAz-Hess 1 pass from Grossart (Myers kick), :44.
EWas-FG Jarrett 47, :00.
Third Quarter
EWas-Herd 61 pass from B.Mitchell (pass failed), 3:01.
Fourth Quarter
EWas-B.Mitchell 8 run (Jarrett kick), 14:23.
NAz-Bauman 22 run (Myers kick), 11:16.
EWas-FG Jarrett 37, 7:51.
A-5,012.
EWas NAz
First downs 19 27
Rushes-yards 27-34 36-126
Passing 356 355
Comp-Att-Int 27-40-0 31-39-1
Return Yards 0 10
Punts-Avg. 6-41.2 1-44.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-3
Penalties-Yards 8-61 7-77
Time of Possession 28:35 31:25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-E. Washington, J.Talley 16-33, Forte 5-18, M.Brown 1-(-1), B.Mitchell 5-(-16). N. Arizona, Bauman 23-109, Dixon 4-25, Grossart 9-(-8).
PASSING-E. Washington, B.Mitchell 27-40-0-356. N. Arizona, Grossart 31-38-1-355, Paden 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING-E. Washington, Herd 7-112, Edwards 5-88, J.Talley 4-27, Clark 3-76, Forte 2-14, D.Johnson 2-13, C.Mitchell 1-17, Miles 1-11, M.Brown 1-3, B.Mitchell 1-(-5). N. Arizona, Paden 9-105, Umodu 8-73, D.Walker 4-50, Bauman 4-48, Rickert 2-40, Adler 2-16, Cole 1-22, Hess 1-1.