BOZEMAN — The Montana football team earned a one-point win Saturday that featured a missed extra point and a late fourth-and-12 conversion.
That clash against No. 16-ranked North Dakota arguably was one of several exciting games involving Big Sky Conference teams during Week 3.
Few games featured more fireworks than Northern Arizona’s 52-49 road win over past and future Big Sky program Southern Utah.
After a relatively quiet first half (7-7 score in each quarter), NAU outscored SUU 28-14 in the third quarter, highlighted by an 88-yard touchdown pass from Ty Pennington to Kolbe Katsis two plays after the Thunderbirds cut their deficit to 28-21. One play after Katsis’ score, SUU’s Ran Sawyer returned the kickoff 95 yards for the third TD in 29 seconds.
NAU found the end zone near the end of the third quarter to take a 42-28 lead into the fourth.
SUU’s Joshua Dye ran for a 59-yard TD (the fifth straight scoring drive), and the Thunderbirds tied it up on a 42-yard pass from former Weber State quarterback Bronson Barron to Shane Carr with 9 minutes, 16 seconds left. NAU lost a fumble in SUU territory on the following drive, and the Thunderbirds took a 49-42 lead on the fourth TD run of the game from Dye, who finished with 171 rushing yards on 6.8 yards per carry.
The Lumberjacks then embarked on a 13-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a Seth Cromwell TD rush with 29 seconds left. Instead of attempting the game-tying extra point, NAU head coach Brian Wright chose to go for two. Pennington connected with Jayson Raines to put NAU up 50-49.
Sawyer dropped the ensuing kickoff, picked it up in the end zone, hesitated and returned it to SUU’s 3-yard line, apparently unsure if he could kneel for a touchback because he initially touched the ball before it rolled into the end zone. Two plays later, the Thunderbirds committed a holding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a safety and forcing them to attempt a last-gasp onside kick. NAU recovered it to earn its fourth straight Grand Canyon Trophy victory.
Weber State also won a high-scoring affair that came down to a last-minute two-point conversion.
The Wildcats never trailed and answered each of McNeese’s first three TDs to rebuild 14-point leads, including a fake field goal that kicker Sloan Calder ran in for a TD with 21 seconds left in the first half. A pick-6 from BJ Carey put Weber up 42-21 with 9:45 left.
McNeese’s Tre’Vonte Citizen rushed for a 79-yard TD less than a minute later, and Weber’s Jackson Gilkey threw an interception less than a minute and a half after that. McNeese made it 42-35 with 4:56 remaining and forced the Wildcats to punt shortly before the two-minute timeout. The Cowboys drove 82 yards in 1:32 and found the end zone to make it 42-41. They attempted a two-point pass, but Weber defensive lineman Matt Herron knocked it down, and the Wildcats recovered the ensuing onside kick.
One week after nearly upsetting FBS Colorado State, Northern Colorado had a great chance to topple then-No. 12 South Dakota.
UNC fell behind 17-6 with 9:24 left in regulation, scored a TD and a two-point conversion with 5:07 remaining and forced a punt at the 3:27 mark. The Bears punted just over a minute later, but they bottled up a couple South Dakota runs, called their first two timeouts and forced an incompletion before the two-minute timeout.
On the next drive, UNC converted a fourth-and-3, completed a 40-yard pass, rushed to USD’s 4 and called their final timeout with 1:03 on the clock. The Bears set up a first-and-goal from the 1 on the next play, but USD stuffed them for no gain on three straight runs, prompting UNC to rush out the field goal unit to send the game to overtime.
The Bears, who won one total game the previous two seasons, allowed a TD to L.J. Phillips Jr. on the first drive of OT (Phillips finished with 301 rushing yards and two scores on 8.6 yards per carry). They got a first down on their first offensive play of the extra period but threw four straight incompletions to end the game.
Eastern Washington nearly erased a 17-0 deficit at Northern Iowa.
The Eagles scored a pair of TDs on Nate Bell runs early in the fourth quarter and forced a turnover on downs with 2:23 remaining. With no timeouts left, EWU drove into the red zone, and Bell scored the go-ahead TD two minutes later. But it was negated by an illegal formation penalty. After a pair of incompletions, EWU coach Aaron Best chose to kick a 42-yard field goal on third and 15 with 12 seconds left. Soren McKee’s kick sailed wide right.
Sacramento State beat Mercyhurst 49-28 but trailed 18-7 late in the first half, clung to a 28-25 lead entering the fourth quarter and was ahead 35-28 until scoring a pair of TDs in the final three minutes.
Week 3 results, standings, upcoming schedule
Week 3 Big Sky scores
• Cal Poly 56, Western Oregon 7
• Northern Iowa 17, Eastern Washington 14
• Idaho 20, Utah Tech 6
• Montana 24, North Dakota 23
• Montana State 41, San Diego 7
• Northern Arizona 52, Southern Utah 49
• South Dakota 24, Northern Colorado 17 (OT)
• Hawaii 23, Portland State 3
• Sacramento State 49, Mercyhurst 28
• Weber State 42, McNeese 41
Big Sky standings (overall, in conference)
1. Montana (2-0, 0-0)
T-2. Cal Poly (2-1, 0-0)
T-2. Idaho (2-1, 0-0)
T-2. Northern Arizona (2-1, 0-0)
5. UC Davis (1-1, 0-0)
T-6. Montana State (1-2, 0-0)
T-6. Northern Colorado (1-2, 0-0)
T-6. Sacramento State (1-2, 0-0)
T-6. Weber State (1-2, 0-0)
T-10. Eastern Washington (0-3, 0-0)
T-10. Idaho State (0-3, 0-0)
12. Portland State (0-4, 0-0)
Week 4 Big Sky schedule (all games Saturday, all times Mountain)
• Indiana State at Montana, 1 p.m.
• Mercyhurst at Montana State, 1 p.m.
• Incarnate Word at Northern Arizona, 1 p.m.
• Idaho at San Jose State, 3 p.m.
• Lincoln at Idaho State, 4 p.m.
• Western Illinois at Eastern Washington, 5 p.m.
• Northern Colorado at Houston Christian, 5 p.m.
• Cal Poly at Stephen F. Austin, 6 p.m.
• Central Arkansas at Sacramento State, 7 p.m.
• Butler at Weber State, 7 p.m.
• Southern Utah at UC Davis, 8 p.m.
Little movement in top 25
The top Big Sky teams stayed put in the latest Stats Perform FCS Top 25, while the bottom teams shifted.
Remaining in the same spots as last week were No. 4 Montana State, No. 5 Montana, No. 8 Idaho and No. 9 UC Davis.
Northern Arizona jumped one spot to No. 17, and Sacramento State fell three spots to No. 24.
Players of the week
Northern Arizona quarterback Ty Pennington was named the Big Sky offensive player of the week, Northern Colorado linebacker Hudson Voggesser received the defensive honor, and Weber State kicker Sloan Calder and Montana kicker/punter Ty Morrison shared the special teams distinction, the conference announced Monday.
Pennington completed 20 of 31 (64.5%) passes for 366 yards, four touchdowns (one rushing) and no turnovers in the Lumberjacks’ win at Southern Utah.
Voggesser tallied a game-high 16 tackles (seven solo), a half tackle for loss and a QB hurry in the Bears’ loss at South Dakota.
Calder scored a TD, made all six point-after tries and notched touchbacks on four of his seven kickoffs in the Wildcats’ win at McNeese.
Morrison made a 42-yard field goal (to cut UM’s deficit to six points with 4:23 left), made all three PATs, induced three touchbacks on five kickoffs and averaged 39.4 yards per punt on nine attempts (two downed inside the 20-yard line) in the Grizzlies’ win over North Dakota.
McCutcheon released again
The Pittsburgh Steelers released former Montana State wide receiver and Bozeman native Lance McCutcheon from their practice squad last week, five days after re-signing him.
It was the second time in as many weeks Pittsburgh cut McCutcheon. The AFC North team also released him prior to the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline in late August.
McCutcheon has now been released three times by the Steelers in 10 months. They first cut him in November 2024, about a month after signing him to their practice squad.
The Bozeman High graduate made the Los Angeles Rams’ 53-man roster in 2022 and spent time on practice squads for the Houston Texans and New York Jets before heading to Pittsburgh. He caught five passes for 66 yards and a touchdown in the 2025 preseason.
Victor Flores is the Montana State Bobcats beat writer for 406 MT Sports. Email him at victor.flores@406mtsports.com and follow him on Twitter/X at @VictorFlores406
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