Week 5 FCS Top 25 Roundup

Martin, TN – A lightning storm delayed the much- anticipated Eastern Washington-Sam Houston State football game by 90 minutes on Saturday.

It turned out Sam Houston State had plenty of more lightning strikes with its high-octane offense.

Senior tailback Timothy Flanders rushed for 280 yards and two touchdowns and the No. 4-ranked Bearkats topped No. 2 Eastern Washington, 49-34, at Bowers Stadium.

This was the first-ever regular-season meeting between the two national powers. Sam Houston State, from the Southland Conference, had won two playoff matchups, including 45-42 in the national playoff semifinals last December.

The two teams combined for 1,052 yards - 496 for Eastern Washington and 556 for Sam Houston. Richard Sincere's 51-yard touchdown run for Sam Houston (4-1) just 1 minute, 1 second into the game set the tone.

Eastern Washington (2-2) led 13-7 after the first quarter, but the Bearkats scored six of the next eight touchdowns to take a 49-27 lead in the fourth quarter. They lead the FCS in scoring average (51.6 ppg).

Flanders, who carried the ball 32 times for the second-highest rushing total of his career, scored on runs of 60 and 12 yards. Quarterback Brian Bell threw two touchdowns to Torrance Williams and rushed for another score.

The Bearkats averaged 8.3 yards per carry in rushing for 450 yards on 54 attempts.

DeAntrey Loche also returned an interception of Eastern Washington quarterback Vernon Adams for a 42-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.

Adams was 19-of-31 for 355 yards and three touchdowns with the one interception. The Eagles, from the Big Sky Conference, have lost two straight games.

Thursday, Sept. 26

No. 18 Cal Poly (2-2, 1-0 Big Sky) 38, Portland State (3-2, 0-1) 34

Cal Poly overcame a 21-7 halftime deficit with 24 unaswered points and sophomore quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown with two more scores through the air. Junior slotback Kristaan Ivory added 184 yards and one touchdown on 32 carries.

Mustangs coach Tim Walsh, who coached at Portland State for 14 seasons, improved to 5-0 against his former team.

Portland State's Kieran McDonagh connected on 16-of-32 passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns.

Saturday, Sept. 28

No. 1 North Dakota State (4-0, 1-0 Missouri Valley) 20,

No. 6 South Dakota State (3-2, 0-1) 0

Two-time defending national champion North Dakota State left no doubt to its top ranking by posting its second straight shutout for the first time since 1987. The Bison also stopped South Dakota State's nine-game home winning streak while retaining the Dakota Marker Game's traveling trophy.

The Bison limited SDSU to nine first downs and 124 yards of offense, while sacking Jackrabbits quarterback Austin Sumner seven times. Jackrabbits running back Zach Zenner entered the game with the most rushing yards in the FCS, but had only four on eight carries.

Playing before a Coughlin-Alumni Stadium record crowd of 16,498, NDSU took a 7-0 lead on quarterback Brock Jensen's 1-yard run with 8:47 left in the second quarter.

Jensen also scored the game's final touchdown on a 1-yard carry. Earlier in the fourth quarter, John Crockett scored on a 14-yard run.

Sam Ojuri accounted for 113 of NDSU's 262 yards on the ground. Crockett and Jensen added 76 and 61 yards, respectively.

No. 3 Towson (5-0, 1-0 CAA) 35, Stony Brook (1-3, 1-2) 21

Unbeaten Towson received a scare, coming back from a fourth-quarter deficit to win against a wounded Stony Brook team which recently lost star running back Marcus Coker to a season-ending injury.

Towson never led until freshman Darius Victor broke a 31-yard run for the go- ahead score with 2:38 left, erasing a 21-20 deficit. It capped a 96-yard, 10- play drive.

The Tigers then put the game away when Donnell Lewis scored on a 43-yard fumble return with 42 seconds remaining.

Terrance West had 150 yards and one touchdown on the ground in the win.

No. 5 Northern Iowa (4-0) 41, No. 9 McNeese State (4-1) 6

Northern Iowa's Sawyer Kollmorgen passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another one to power the No. 5 Panthers.

Kollmorgen completed 16-of-27 pass attempts for 288 yards. His 32-yard touchdown pass to running back David Johnson opened the scoring in the first quarter and Northern Iowa (4-0) went on to build a 24-0 lead in the third quarter.

McNeese State (4-1) turned the ball over three times on fumbles. Quarterback Cody Stroud's 6-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Wiltz in the third quarter accounted for the Cowboys' only points.

They came into the game averaging 49.5 points per outing.

No. 24 Northern Arizona (3-1, 1-0 Big Sky), 34, 7 Montana (3-1, 0-1) 16

NAU senior Zach Bauman went over 100 rushing yards against Montana for the fourth time in his career. He finished with 118 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns.

Ryan Reardon recovered a fumble in the Montana end zone for a touchdown and Marcus Alford also returned a Grizzlies' fumble for a 22-yard touchdown.

Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson was sacked six times, twice by Chima Ike.

No. 8 Eastern Illinois (4-1, 1-0 OVC) 42, Eastern Kentucky (2-3, 0-1) 7

Eastern Illinois senior Jimmy Garoppolo enjoyed a record-setting day as he threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters of action.

Garoppolo became both the EIU and Ohio Valley Conference's all-time leader in passing yards (10,159) and touchdown passes (88). He is the 30th FCS player to pass for 10,000 or more yards in a career.

Eleven EIU players caught passes. Keiondre Gober had six receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 21 Lehigh (4-0) 34, No. 10 New Hampshire (1-2) 27

Lehigh quarterback Brandon Bialkowski's 15-yard touchdown pass to Derek Knott with 12:19 left to play broke a 27-27 tie and helped the Mountain Hawks end a nine-game losing streak to New Hampshire. It was their 11th straight win in games decided by seven points or less.

Bialkowski threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns. Sergio Fernandez-Soto caught seven passes for 123 yards, while Lee Kurfis had 11 catches for 117 yards.

UNH quarterback Andy Vailas ran for a touchdown and threw for one in the loss.

No. 11 Montana State (3-2, 1-0 Big Sky) 63, North Dakota (1-3, 0-1) 20

Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee returned to action from a separated shoulder suffered three weeks earlier and running back Cody Kirk rushed for the Bobcats' first five touchdowns in an easy victory. He finished with 104 yards on the ground.

McGhee was 13-for-18 for 193 yards.

No. 12 Coastal Carolina (5-0) 53, Elon (1-4) 28

Coastal Carolina racked up 652 yards of offense while pulling away from Elon.

Chanticleers running back Lorenzo Taliaferro had 32 carries for 205 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Alex Ross threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 85 yards and one touchdown.

Delaware (4-1, 1-0 CAA) 29, No. 14 James Madison (3-2, 0-1) 22

Although James Madison outgained the Blue Hens offensively, Delaware contained the nation's second-ranked running back in total yards, Dae'Quan Scott, holding him to 51 rushing yards in the victory.

The Blue Hens have now won all four of their homes games under new coach Dave Brock and quarterback Trent Hurley, who passed for 233 yards and three touchdowns (with two interceptions), and led Delaware in rushing with 48 yards.

No. 15 Georgia Southern (3-1, 1-1 Southern) 23, Chattanooga (2-2, 0-1) 21

Georgia Southern rushed for 376 yards but didn't pass for any, winning on freshman Younghoe Koo's third field goal - a 26-yarder that erased a 21-20 deficit with 1:56 to play.

Quarterback Jerick McKinnon rushed for 172 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. He misfired on one pass attempt, as did Kevin Ellison on the Eagles' only other attempt.

Chattanooga's Jacob Huesman rushed for 148 yards and one touchdown while throwing for 92 yards and one more score.

No. 16 Fordham (5-0) 38, Saint Francis (Pa.) (1-3) 20

Fordham side stepped an upset by scoring the game's final 21 points in the fourth quarter. Michael Nebrich was 31-of-41 for 253 yards and three touchdowns, while Carlton Koonce rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns.

The Rams, off to their best start since 1988, overcame Kyle Harbridge's 291 rushing yards - the third-highest total in Saint Francis history - as well as three touchdowns on 29 carries.

No. 19 Villanova (2-2) 35, Penn (1-1) 6

Villanova's John Robertson strung together a second consecutive productive week, throwing for 266 yards and three touchdowns against visiting Penn.

He and running back Kevin Monangai combined for 233 rushing yards, with Robertson adding a touchdown on the ground. Poppy Livers caught eight passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Villanova also won 35-6 a week earlier against Stony Brook.

Maine (4-1, 1-0 CAA) 28, No. 22 Richmond (2-3, 0-1) 21

Richmond fell for the third time in its last four games as Maine got a jump on the CAA Football season.

Marcus Wasilewski's 48-yard touchdown pass to Arthur Williams with 5:16 remaining in the fourth quarter broke a 21-21 tie. Nigel Jones scored the Black Bears' first three touchdowns.

Richmond had two 100-yard receivers in Stephen Barnette (seven receptions, 132 yards, one touchdown) and Ben Edwards (14 receptions for 126 yards).

No. 23 UT Martin (3-1, 1-0 OVC) 17, Southeast Missouri State (0-4, 0-1) 7

UT Martin built a 17-0 halftime lead and held on for the OVC road win.

D.J. McNeil carried the ball 27 times for a career-high 148 yards. Quarterback Dylan Favre threw for a touchdown and Najee Ray scored on a run.

No. 25 Gardner-Webb (4-1) 55, Point (2-2) 7

There was no shortage of offense for Gardner-Webb as it exploded for 55 points for the second time this season. The Runnin' Bulldogs have allowed only 38 points in five games.

Rodrick Talley rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns, but the offense centered around quarterback Lucas Beatty, who completed 21-of-25 pass attempts for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

Gardner-Webb forced four Point University turnovers in the win.

Idle This Weekend

No. 13 Central Arkansas (2-2)

No. 17 Wofford (2-2)

No. 20 Bethune-Cookman (3-1)