Complete Great West Football Conference Weekly Release in PDF Format
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Complete Cal Poly Weekly Release in PDF Format
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Two players from Cal Poly and one from North Dakota State earned Great West Football Conference player of the week honors for their performances in games on Saturday, Oct. 16.
Cal Poly quarterback Anthony Garnett was chosen as offensive player of the week while Mustang teammate, linebacker Jordan Beck picked up defensive player of the week honors for the second time this season. Selected as special teams player of the week was North Dakota State placekicker Cory Vartanian.
Cal Poly defeated Texas State 38-21 in a non-conference game Saturday while North Dakota State was a 27-21 winner over Southern Utah in a Great West Football Conference game. In other non-conference contests, UC Davis fell 22-19 to Stephen F. Austin and Northern Colorado dropped a 39-24 decision to Florida Atlantic.
Games scheduled for Oct. 23 include two Great West Football Conference matchups --Cal Poly (6-0, 2-0) at North Dakota State (5-2, 1-2) and UC Davis (5-1, 2-0) at Southern Utah (2-4, 0-2) -- and a pair of non-conference games
-- South Dakota State (4-2, 1-2) at Montana State and Northern Colorado (1-6, 1-1) at Sam Houston State.
Garnett (6-1, 210, Jr., Seaside, CA), in his second career start, completed 11 of 15 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns to lead undefeated and No. 8/9-ranked Cal Poly over Texas State. Garnett also ran four yards for Cal Poly's other touchdown. His four TD passes is No. 2 all-time at Cal Poly and his 326 yards passing is the most by a Mustang since early in the 2001 season.
Beck (6-2, 231, Sr., Mount Hermon, CA), a Buck Buchanan Award nominee, logged a season-high 16 tackles in Cal Poly's win over Texas State. He had seven solo stops and 1.5 tackles for lost yardage. Cal Poly's defense held Texas State, ranked seventh in the nation in rushing offense, to just 91 yards on the ground, 158 yards below the Bobcats' average for the season.
Vartanian (5-8, 162, Jr., Racine, Wis.) connected on three extra points and two field goals of 21 and 40 yards, which proved to be the margin of victory in the win over Southern Utah. He has made all 32 PATs this season and extended his current streak to 41 dating back to last year. Vartanian has made 95 of 97 extra points overall. He kept Southern Utah inside the 20 on four of six kickoffs as the Thunderbirds had a return average of 17.7 yards per kick. Following kickoffs, Southern Utah started drives on the 35, 17, 20, 9 (after half the distance penalty), 18 and 28.
Other nominees:
Offense -- UC Davis quarterback Jon Grant, North Dakota State quarterback Tony Stauss and Northern Colorado wide receiver Vincent Jackson.
Defense -- Northern Colorado defensive back Reed Doughty, North Dakota State strong safety Craig Dahl and UC Davis linebacker Dan Elbanna.
Special Teams -- Northern Colorado placekicker Justin Zaitz, Cal Poly placekicker Byungwoo Yoon and UC Davis punter Chris Shibel.
This Week's Action
#5/6 Cal Poly at North Dakota State - Fargo, ND - 1 pm (CT)
Cal Poly (6-0), ranked No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today and No. 6 in The Sports
Network poll goes back out on the road Saturday to face North Dakota State (5-2) in a Great West Football Conference contest. North Dakota State senior quarterback
Tony Stauss threw two touchdown passes while Craig Dahl intercepted a
pair of passes to spark the Bison to the 27-21 homecoming win over Southern Utah. Cal Poly is off to a 6-0 start for the first time since the 1997 squad won its first seven games en route to a 10-1 mark. Cal Poly and North Dakota State are meeting for the fourth time. The Bison hold a 2-1 edge in the series and are hosting the Mustangs for the third straight time. Cal Poly won the series opener in 1985 in Mustang Stadium, 35-28, while North Dakota State posted a 47-0 victory in a second-round NCAA Division II playoff game in 1990 and a 26-10 win in 1992, both games in Fargo (Dacotah Field).
Northern Colo. at #10/11 Sam Houston State - Huntsville, Texas - 1 pm (CT)
The University of Northern Colorado Bears will take to the road this Saturday as they take on the Sam Houston State University Bearkats in Huntsville, Texas. The Bearkats come into the contest ranked No. 10/11 in the nation sporting a 5-1 record. The Bearkats only loss in 2004 came at Southwest Missouri State, 33-31. SHSU has won four straight coming into Saturday's game, while the Bears have been on the opposite side losing six straight contests. The Bears and the Bearkats share a pair of common opponents this season. Both squads have played Montana and Southeastern Louisiana. UNC lost to both Montana (27-16) and Southeastern Louisiana (26-13), while Sam Houston State has beaten both opponents. SHSU rolled past Montana (41-29 and Southeastern Louisiana (45-17).
South Dakota State at #23 Montana State - Bozeman, Mont. - 1 pm (MT)
South Dakota State (4-2 overall, 1-2 GWFC) will be at Montana State (4-2 overall) in Bozeman, Mont., this Saturday. SDSU is coming off a bye week, while Montana State scored a 31-28 overtime win over Portland State. SDSU and Montana State played 11 times 1956 to 1966, with MSU holding a 9-2 advantage. SDSU won in 1963 in Montana, 9-6, and 1960 at Brookings, 20-14. Montana State won the last meeting 41-6 in Bozeman.
#25 UC Davis at Southern Utah - Cedar City, Utah - 6 pm (MT)
Southern Utah will be looking to break a two-game losing streak and claim its first Great West Football Conference win this week as it returns home for a matchup with No. 25 (NCAA I-AA) UC Davis. Although the Thunderbirds are playing their seventh game of the season, Saturday's clash will be just the second home game for the team, which lost its only previous home game, 24-17, to Cal Poly two weeks ago. The Thunderbirds (2-4) are coming off a 27-21 loss at North Dakota State. SUU gave up four first-half turnovers and 20 unanswered points before digging out of the hole and making a game of it in the second half. UC Davis (5-1) will also be looking to bounce back after its first loss of the season. The Aggies lost a 22-19 home decision to No. 9 Stephen F. Austin last week but UCD is undefeated on the road, with wins over Weber State, Northern Colorado and Western Oregon away from Toomey Field this year.
Last Week's Games
North Dakota State 27, Southern Utah 21
North Dakota State received two touchdown passes from Tony Stauss and a pair of pass interceptions from Craig Dahl as the Bison posted a 27-21 homecoming victory over Southern Utah University in a Great West Football Conference game played Oct. 16 before a Fargodome crowd of 15,449.
North Dakota State recorded its inaugural win in the GWFC to improve to 1-2 in the league standings and 5-2 overall. The Bison are scheduled to host No. 9-ranked Cal Poly at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 at the Fargodome.
Stauss, a 6-foot, 209-pound senior quarterback from Racine, Wis., completed 23-of-30 passes for 191 yards, two TDs and no interceptions. He threw a 4-yard scoring strike to Marques Johnson in the second quarter and 8-yard TD pass to Travis White in the third quarter. Stauss moved into first place on the NDSU career completion list and now has 325 to break the record of 304 set previously by Kevin Feeney (1995-98).
Dahl, a 6-1 1/2, 207-pound sophomore from Mankato, Minn., picked off pass to stop drives in the first and second quarter. He also recorded three pass breakups including one in the final seconds of the game. Overall, the Bison defense came up with four interceptions (Brian Erenberg and Jared Essler), three sacks (Dwight Summerville 1.5, Joe Mays 1, Alvin Robinson) and a fumble recovery (Isaac LaVant).
After NDSU posted a 20-0 halftime lead, Southern Utah made things interesting in the final two periods. Casey Rehrher connected on two touchdown passes in the second half, a 32-yard strike to Andy Hadfield with 9:05 left in the third quarter and a 22-yard completion to AJ Smith with 5:14 left to play to pull the Thunderbirds to within 27-21. In between, SUU took advantage of a Levi Erickson's 67-yard fumble recovery following a Mike Palefau sack.
Rehrer completed 23-of-39 passes for 219 yards, four interceptions and two TDs. He also led the Thunderbirds in rushing with 44 yards. Jerome Eason caught eight passes for 103 yards, while AJ Smith hauled in seven passes for 37 yards. SUU had 295 yards of total offense compared to 244 for NDSU.
Southern Utah's defense limited North Dakota State to 53 yards rushing, the lowest total since the Bison rushed for 55 yards in a 10-0 loss to Northern Michigan on Sept. 6, 1980. NDSU has been held to under 100 yards rushing only 13 times since 1979 and have won only three of those 13 games. Kyle Steffes, who gained 43 yards on 19 carries, scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter.
North Dakota State placekicker Cory Vartanian hit two field goals of 21 and 40-yards in the second quarter. Stauss completed passes to seven different receivers in the contest. White led the Bison with eight catches for 87 yards and Johnson came up with five receptions for 25 yards.
Cal Poly 38, Texas State 21
Junior quarterback Anthony Garnett passed for four touchdowns and ran for another as No. 8 Cal Poly defeated Texas State 38-21 in a non-conference football game Saturday afternoon in Mustang Stadium.
Most of the second half was played in a downpour, driving most of the record crowd of 9,352 to the exits. Old mark of 8,680 was set in 1979 in a game against Fresno State.
Garnett hit Jason Holmes with a 25-yard scoring pass less than five minutes into the game and Cal Poly (6-0) never trailed from that point, building a 35-14 advantage by halftime.
Garnett's four-yard run two minutes after his first touchdown pass gave Cal Poly a 14-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Garnett hit Darrell Jones with an 88-yard scoring pass and Adam Martinez with an 11-yarder. Jonah Russell capped Cal Poly's first-half scoring with a 74-yard touchdown pass.
Cal Poly's only points of the second half came on a 23-yard field goal by Byungwoo Yoon, resulting in the final score. Texas State (2-4) scored three touchdowns, all on passes by junior quarterback Barrick Nealy.
Nealy hit John Tyson with a 28-yard pass late in the first quarter, Tyrone Scott with a 49-yarder early in the second period and Tyson again on a 34-yarder late in the third quarter. Nealy finished 13 of 28 for 290 yards with one interception. Garnett was 11 of 15 for 326 yards with one interception for Cal Poly.
Mustang running back Geno Randle earned his fifth career 100-yard game rushing, gaining 102 yards on 11 carries. Garnett added 74 yards on 20 trips. Jones was Cal Poly's top receiver with six catches for 145 yards. For Texas State, Nealy rushed for 40 yards on 23 carries and Douglas Sherman added 36 yards on a dozen tripws. Tyson and Markee White each had three catches for the Bobcats.
Linebacker Jordan Beck, a Buck Buchanan Award nominee, had 16 tackles while Kyle Shotwell added 10 for Cal Poly. Randy Samuel had the Mustang interception.
Stephen F. Austin 22, UC Davis 19
Quarterback Michael Williams found tight end Matt Bodley for a four-yard touchdown pass with 6 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the game on Saturday as No.10 Stephen F. Austin knocked No.21 UC Davis from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 22-19 nonconference win over the Aggies at Toomey Field.
UC Davis, which dropped to 5-1 after the homecoming loss, was not able to tie or take the lead on two subsequent drives after the Lumberjacks' final score. Stephen F. Austin rebounded from its first loss of the season last week and is also 5-1.
Quarterback Jon Grant threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns for UC Davis while receiver Jesse Oliva had six catches for 94 yards. Linebacker Dan Elbanna had a season-high 12 tackles for UC Davis, which nearly held Stephen F. Austin without a score the rest of the way after surrendering two early touchdowns.
Williams completed 13 of 25 passes for 217 yards and a pair of scores, runningback Derek Farmer had 96 yards on 24 carries and receiver Tony Tompkins caught seven passes for 103 yards in addition to throwing a 39-yard TD pass in the first quarter.
The Aggies scored 19 unanswered points in the first half after trailing 14-0 less than seven minutes into the game. A 20-yard TD pass from Grant to tight end Daniel Fells got UC Davis on the scoreboard with 5:01 left in the first quarter, while a two-yard touchdown run by Grant with 6:59 left in the first half and a 10-yard pass from Grant to Tony Kays delivered UC Davis a 19-14 lead at intermission.
The Aggies' defense forced four consecutive punts on the Lumberjacks' first four drives of the second half before Stephen F. Austin strung together a long drive in the fourth. Williams hit Tompkins for a 33-yard gain and Farmer had a 19-yard run which helped to set the Lumberjacks up with a first down at the Aggies' 13. Facing a fourth-and-1 at the 4, Stephen F. Austin took the lead for good on a short pass to a wide-open Bodley.
UC Davis was forced to punt on its next possession before the Lumberjacks converted on a pair of key third-down plays on their next drive to help eat up the clock. The Aggies got the ball back with five seconds left but could not score on a long play.
Stephen F. Austin scored early against UC Davis using a little trickery on its first possession. Williams threw behind Tompkins who then tossed a 39-yard touchdown pass to Derek Farmer with 11:39 left in the first quarter. After defensive back Roderic Palmer intercepted Grant at the Lumberjacks' 15, Stephen F. Austin took a 14-0 advantage on a 72-yard scoring strike from Williams to receiver Miguel Toulon with 8:57 left in the quarter.
The Aggies then rallied to take the lead before the Lumberjacks' late score.
Elbanna had 11 assisted tackles in his 12 total stops while linebacker Ben Reece had nine total tackles. Strong safety Dan Reece and cornerback Angelo Caffese each had a pair of pass breakups while tackle Ryan Sharp had a sack. Defensive ends Pila Fatukala and Jake Mossawir shared on a sack against Williams which forced a fumble.
Defensive back Ryan Luedecke had 14 tackles, including five solos, to go with a forced fumble to lead the Stephen F. Austin defense. Defensive tackle Kenneth Winters had a sack.
Florida Atlantic 39, Northern Colorado 24
In a game of offensive showmanship, the University of Northern Colorado football team fell short to the Division I-A Florida Atlantic Owls, 39-24, in front of a Homecoming crowd of 6,481. It was the largest of the season and 10th largest in Nottingham Field history.
It was the Bears' first Homecoming loss at Nottingham Field. UNC's last Homecoming loss came at Jackson Field on Oct. 13, 1994, when the North Dakota State Bison handed the Bears a 34-17 defeat. UNC had won 13 straight Homecoming games going into Saturday's contest.
Senior wide receiver Vincent Jackson dazzled the crowd again as he tallied a 10-catch, 228-yard performance with two touchdowns. The 200+ yard receiving game is the third for Jackson this season, and the fifth for his career.
The Bears (1-6) had a tough time with FAU (5-0) in the beginning of the game as they gave up an opening drive field goal. On UNC's first possession, they produced nine yards and had to punt the ball away. The Owls were able to march down the field on the ensuing possession with a 16-yard pass that brought the ball down to the Northern Colorado 49-yard line. FAU's Doug Parker then broke off a 29-yard run down to the Bears' 6-yard line. Parker punched the ball in to extend FAU's lead to 10-0. Another Atlantic field goal brought the score to 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Bears' luck took a turn for the worse when a high snap from senior Ryan Palmer went over senior punter Chad Harter's head and through the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety to make the score 15-0. UNC was finally able to roar back at the the Owls when junior quarterback Tony Christensen connected with Jackson from 18 yards out, making the score 15-7. FAU was able to put another ball through the uprights before the end of the quarter, which broadened the Owls' lead to 18-7 at halftime.
Northern Colorado dug itself into a trench at the beginning of the second half when Christensen was intercepted on the first possession. The Owls were able to glide 46 yards down the field for another touchdown, setting the score at 25-7.
UNC tried to answer effectively when a 59-yard catch by Jackson took the ball all the way down to the FAU 3, but they were denied on three straight running plays. Bears' junior kicker Justin Zaitz had a successful field goal attempt, changing the score to 25-10. Florida Atlantic flew back with an 80-yard touchdown pass by Owls' senior quarterback Jared Allen to make the score 32-10.
The Bears again had trouble punching the ball in the end zone, as they were unsuccessful on their first three attempts from the one-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, Christensen threw a fade pass to Jackson, which was incomplete. But a penalty flag on the Owls gave Northern Colorado new life. Christensen snuck his way through the line into the end zone, which brought the Bears to within two touchdowns of the FAU lead. But UNC would get no closer the rest of the way.
Christensen completed 18 of 31 passes for 298 yards in the losing effort. Sophomore strong safety Charles Barrett had career-high 12 tackles.
