BSC Week 8 Review
Lance Berndt & Kris Kallem, BSC Contributors | October 27, 2015
Lance says-
Montana 42 North Dakota 16
When thinking about passing records at Montana, names like Dave Dickenson, Jordan Johnson, Brian Ah Yat, Brad Lebo, and Drew Miller come to mine. Originally the third string QB to start the season, Makena Simis adds his name to Grizzly lore by tying the record for most passing touchdowns in a game with 6. After a tight battle for the first 25 minutes, Montana broke the game open scoring 35 unanswered points in a matter of 21 minutes. Jamaal Jones and Ellis Henderson helped open up the field for Simis gaining 253 yards and 4 TDs on just 7 combined receptions. John Santiago led UND with 178 rushing yards and 1 TD. Defensive lineman Tyrone Holmes tallied 10 tackles, 2 for loss including 1 sack. He currently leads the FCS with 11 sacks on the season.
Montana State 63 East Tennessee State 7
As stated last weekend, East Tennessee State is virtually a JV team, so this was no surprise. Dakota Prukop passed for 226 yards and 3 TDs to lead the Bobcats.
Northern Arizona 52 Weber State 36
The Lumberjacks pick up a statement win as they try to finish their season on a high note. The offense dominated all game. RB Casey Jahn gained 171 total yards and had 1 rushing TD. QB Case Cookus passed for 353 yards and 4 TDs. On defense they were led by Jake Thomas who had 8 solo tackles, 11 total tackles, and 2 sacks. Tough loss for Weber after two good wins.
Portland State 38 Cal Poly 35
I had this game tallied as game of the week and it did not disappoint. With their star QB Chris Brown out with an injury, Cal Poly had to turn to true freshman Khaleel Jenkins. Facing one of the top teams in the country, Jenkins led the complex Mustang triple option with success as the team gained 420 rushing yards. The effort was not enough, though, as Portland State was able to pull out the win despite being outgained by 150 yards and losing the time of possession battle by nearly 10 minutes. Cal Poly shut down most of the Vikings run game, but QB Alex Kuresa stepped up passing for 232 yards and 2 TDs and also ran for 101 yards and 2 more TDs. The key factor in this game was turnovers, with Portland State forcing 4 Mustang turnovers while only giving up 1. Two of those Cal Poly lost fumbles occurred within the red zone and proved costly to their close loss.
Kris Says-
EWU 43 Northern Colorado 41
Northern Colorado kept it close by returning a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. Eastern kept it close by having it’s first PAT blocked, missing it’s second one, and giving up an onside kick recovery late in the game. Eagle wider receiver Cooper Kupp broke conference career records for receptions and yards in this game and passed Jerry Rice to move into 2nd all time in FCS career touchdowns. Kupp caught 20 balls for 275 yards and 3 scores. Eastern punter Jordan Dascalo, in relief, kicked the final 4 extra points and the game winning 44 yard field goal as time expired for the win.
Southern Utah 34 UC Davis 6
The Tbirds have another dominating defensive performance holding Davis to just 235 yards of total offense. Quarterback Ammon Olsen has a solid day going 26-41 for 336 yards, 2 touchdowns, and he also ran for one. Southern Utah has now given up just 1 touchdown and only 16 total points in their last 5 games.
Sacramento State 38 Idaho State 13
Freshman quarterback Nate Ketteringham lit up the Bengals going 20-26 for 287 yards and 4 touchdowns. Idaho State quarterback Tanner Gueller on the other hand, struggled in his first start throwing 4 picks. Both teams have experienced a ton of injuries and are building for next year. This was the Hornets first conference win.
Players of the Week:
A third-string sophomore quarterback shares honors with Cooper Kupp‘s outstanding performance on offense. Makena Simis tied a Montana school record with six touchdown passes in the Grizzlies win over North Dakota.
James Cowser of Southern Utah gets the defensive award. Cowser was everywhere, logging 7 total tackles, 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
Portland State kicker Jonathan Gonzalez picks up the special teams trophy going 3-4 on the night including the game winning 33 yard field goal with 27 seconds left for the win at Poly.