Regional College Football Roundup

Lau leads Mary past Upper Iowa

BISMARCK -- The University of Mary scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to break open Saturday's game against Upper Iowa.

Quarterback Henry Lau threw for 369 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Marauders, who improved to 1-1.

Richardton native Brady Martin had touchdown catches of 8 and 20 yards and Dickinson High School graduate Tyler Steffan had his first collegiate touchdown reception with 19 seconds left in the second quarter when Lau found him from 20 yards out to help cut Upper Iowa's lead to 24-20 at halftime.

Jamal Lomax added 189 yards rushing and a touchdown on 29 carries. Mary had 560 total yards of offense.

UIU 10 14 0 7 -- 31

UM 7 13 21 7 -- 48

First quarter

UIU-Jordan Otdoerfer 3 pass from Ben Curran (Jason Price kick), 13:54

UM-Kriss McCleary 1 run (Rett Thibodeaux kick), 11:33

UIU-Price 32 field goal, 6:43

Second quarter

UM-Brady Martin 8 pass from Henry Lau (Thibodeaux kick), 14:54

UIU-Bobby Davis 13 pass from Curran (Price kick), 11:29

UIU-Curran 2 run (Price kick), 1:19

UM-Tyler Steffan 20 pass from Lau (kick failed), :19

Third quarter

UM-Jamal Lomax 40 run (Thibodeaux kick), 5:39

UM-Martin 20 pass Lau (Thibodeaux kick), 5:39

UM-Terry Newsome 47 pass from Lau (Thibodeaux kick), :48

Fourth quarter

UIU-Kinon O'Neal 1 run (Price kick), 13:44

UM-Avan Leday 23 pass from Lau (Thibodeaux kick), 9:16

TEAM STATISTICS UIU UM

First downs 22 24

Rushes-yards 35-82 36-191

Passing yards 345 369

Comp.-Att.-Int. 30-45-2 22-40-2

Total yards 427 560

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 7-49 7-73

Punts-Avg. 4-45.2 5-39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: UIU, Otdoerfer 12-41, O'Neal 4-15, La'Mont Williams 1-12. UM, Lomax, 29-189.

PASSING: UIU, Curran 29-42-1 324. UM, Lau 22-40-2 369

RECEIVING: UIU, Otdoerfer 8-47, Jessie Hubbard 6-81, Williams 5-66, Davis 3-44, Michael Reddick 2-23. UM, Newsome 5-128, Martin 4-40, Lomaz 3-18, Steffan 2-57, Curtis Darrah 2-40.

Montana cruises to victory in opener

MISSOULA, Mont. -- For most of the first half Saturday, Montana didn't look like the higher division team.

The Grizzly offense was held scorless by Division II Western State, Colo., in the first quarter before posting a 38-0 victory.

"The goal is to win the game," Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. "We did that and did it convincingly. But I wasn't impressed with our performance in the first half."

Steve Pfahler led Montana (1-0) with two second-half touchdown receptions, and the Montana defense did its part, holding Western State (0-2) to 116 total yards.

"I thought our football team played pretty good in the first half," Western State coach Pat Stewart said. "But in the second half, the University of Montana just wore us down."

Chase Reynolds paced Montana's attack with 100 yards on 18 carries, while Tyler Palmer hauled in six catches for a game-high 87 yards.

Shaun Sittrop led Western State with nine catches for 42 yards.

Montana's offense finally began to click in the third quarter. Pfahler hauled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Selle and a 10-yard scoring toss from Justin Roper to give the Grizzlies a 24-0 lead.

"On both those plays, I was just thinking don't drop the ball and get in the end zone," Pfahler said.

Montana added two more touchdowns in the fourth on a 9-yard run by Peter Nguyen and a 1-yard plunge by Dan Moore.

Michigan State cruises past Montana State

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol likely didn't end their battle to become Michigan State's permanent starting quarterback in Saturday's season-opening victory.

Both sophomores looked good as the Spartans cruised to a 44-3 victory over Montana State.

Cousins started and completed 10 of 17 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Nichol played in the first half and started the second, finishing 9 of 18 for 135 yards and two TDs. Neither had a turnover as the Spartans (1-0) overmatched their first opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.

"It's a good problem," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said of the ongoing competition to replace Brian Hoyer, now a backup with the NFL's New England Patriots. "The first assessment is that they both moved the football. That's the biggest thing we needed to see happen."

Montana State (0-1) didn't move the ball against Michigan State's defense, which was led by linebacker Greg Jones with 14 tackles. The Bobcats finished with just 160 yards of offense compared to 493 yards for Michigan State.

Montana State quarterback Mark Iddins completed 11 of 22 passes for 91 yards before giving way to backup Cody Kempt. Neither had a turnover, and Iddins is expected to continue as the starter.

"We knew physically that we would probably be a little undermatched," Iddins said. "We were confident coming in, knew it would be a tough game, and they just executed today."

Montana State has lost four straight against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents since upsetting Colorado in 2006. Montana State's best drive of the game came late in the third quarter, ending with a field goal by Jason Cunningham.

Montana State will receive at least $650,000 for traveling to East Lansing, enough to pay nearly a third of its annual football budget.

Terry lifts Wyoming past Weber State

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Darius Terry rushed for two touchdowns in Wyoming's new no-huddle, spread offense to beat Weber State 29-22 Saturday and give former Missouri offensive coordinator Dave Christensen his first win as head coach of the Cowboys.

Christensen, who was hired last winter to rejuvenate an anemic Cowboy offense, didn't disappoint as Wyoming easily exceeded its 2008 per-game production for points scored and total yards.

The Cowboys (1-0) more than doubled last year's 12.7 average points per game -- worst among the 119 major college teams -- and their 434 yards of total offense against Weber State surpassed the team's 296 yards in 2008.

Wyoming receiver David Leonard, who had seven catches for 87 yards, said he had a "great time" with the up-tempo offense.

"I think it wore down the defense quite a bit," he said.

Christensen said he was pleased with the win but thought the offense could have put more points on the board. Wyoming failed to convert on two possessions that started deep in Weber State territory in the third quarter.

"That's a little disheartening, but we'll work on that; we'll improve," Christensen said.

Christensen's new offensive scheme paid off immediately as Wyoming marched 88 yards in eight plays and scored on its first possession on freshman Alvester Alexander's 44-yard touchdown run. It was Alexander's first collegiate carry.

Terry, who had 99 rushing yards and two receptions for 15 yards, scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter and a 1-yard run in the third.

Austin McCoy added three field goals -- two from 25 yards and one from 22 -- to complete Wyoming's scoring.

Christensen rotated his quarterback position between junior college transfer Robert Benjamin and freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels. Carta-Samuels completed eight of 17 passes for 101 yards, while Benjamin was eight of 14 for 87 yards.

Minnesota spoils Paulus' Syracuse debut, wins 20-17

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Eric Ellestad kicked a 35-yard field goal in overtime to give Minnesota a 20-17 victory over Syracuse on Saturday, spoiling the debut of Orange quarterback Greg Paulus in the opener for both teams.

Paulus was 19-for-31 for 167 yards and one touchdown, but the former Duke point guard threw his only interception in the extra period to give the Gophers the big break they needed.

Adam Weber was 19-for-42 for 248 yards and Eric Decker had nine catches for 183 yards to lead Minnesota.

Paulus had not played football since he was honored as 2004 national player of the year at Christian Brothers Academy in suburban Syracuse.

-- The Associated Press

New coach Doug Marrone, who played for the Orange in the mid-1980s, made Paulus the starter less than two weeks into the preseason.

Paulus showed great poise for somebody who had never played the position in college, and his offensive line provided good protection -- Paulus was sacked just twice, one of which ended in a roughing the passer penalty against the Gophers.

Paulus appeared calm and collected for most the game, but his ill-advised pass on a scramble on the first possession of overtime sent the Orange to defeat.

Paulus, who received an NCAA waiver to play football at Syracuse with his one remaining year of athletic eligibility, seemed at home after the Orange's first snap of the game sailed way over his head and led to a quick Minnesota touchdown. He looked off defenders and scrambled when he had to, displaying the flair that made him a record-setting high school quarterback five years ago.

With Syracuse trailing 14-3 late in the first quarter, Paulus electrified the near-capacity crowd of 48,617, which included former Syracuse star Donovan McNabb, with his first collegiate scoring pass.

Facing a second-and-6 from the Minnesota 29, Paulus fooled three defenders with a pump fake and hit a wide-open Mike Williams near the goal line to move the Orange within 14-10. It marked the 10th straight game Williams has had a TD catch, a school record.

Not even penalties seemed to faze Paulus. Despite a false start and a hold whistled against the Orange late in the second quarter, he guided Syracuse 67 yards in eight plays, accounting for all but 10 yards with four completions in four attempts.

Paulus hit Alec Lemon for 10 yards, Williams for 18 yards on a first-and-20 play, Antwon Bailey for 15 yards on a screen, and Williams again for 14 yards to set up Delone Carter's 1-yard touchdown run.

That gave the Orange, who were 10-37 in the previous four years under Greg Robinson, a rare 20-14 halftime lead. Syracuse scored 20 or more points in a game only eight times under Robinson.

The game started badly for the Orange. Center Jim McKenzie's first snap sailed over Paulus' head and was recovered by Minnesota's Cedric McKinley at the Syracuse 16. Two plays later, Duane Bennett scored untouched on a 16-yard run around the right side.

Ellestad forced overtime with a 26-yard field goal with 57 seconds left in regulation after a lob by Weber for Decker in the right corner of the end zone sailed high.

The last time Paulus, who grew up in the Syracuse suburbs, played in the Carrier Dome, he led Christian Brothers Academy to its first state title.