GREELEY — Matt Nichols connected with Aaron Boyce for two touchdowns to lead Eastern Washington to a 31-16 win Saturday over Northern Colorado.
Northern Colorado (1-8, 1-5 Big Sky) trailed 7-6 at halftime after Michael York hit a pair of field goals for the Bears. But Taiwan Jones opened the second half by returning a kickoff 93 yards for Eastern Washington (4-5, 3-3) for a touchdown. Eastern Washington led 21-6 after Nichols’ second TD pass to Boyce four minutes later.
Nichols was 19-for-26 passing for 243 yards.
Northern Colorado’s only touchdown came on a 15-yard pass from Bryan Waggener to Ryan Chesla with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Waggener was 28-for-47 passing for 341 yards, with one interception.
Freshman wide receiver Dominic Gunn was a frequent target, catching eight passes for a career-best 107 yards and also recording 34 yards on punt returns for 141 all-purpose on the day. Junior Alex Thompson and sophomore Brandon Smith each caught five passes for 89 and 47 yards, respectively.
Penalties were a problem for the Bears. The 110 yards were a season high.
E. Washington 7 0 14 10 — 31
N. Colorado 3 3 0 10 — 16
First quarter: EWas — Boyce 17 pass from Nichols (Macias kick), 4:48. UNC — FG York 21, :38. Second quarter: UNC — FG York 34, :55. Third quarter: EWas — Jones 93 kickoff return (Macias kick), 14:47. EWas — Boyce 29 pass from Nichols (Macias kick), 10:25. Fourth quarter: UNC — FG York 27, 14:53. EWas — Morris 1 run (Macias kick), 11:25. UNC — Chesla 15 pass from Waggener (York kick), 10:00. EWas — FG Macias 35, 4:58. A — 3,494. EWas UNC
First downs 15 22
Rushes-yards 27-93 31-108
Average per rush 3.4 3.5
Passing 243 341
Comp-att-int 19-27-0 28-47-1
Average per attempt 9.0 7.3
Sacks by 3-11 2-6
Return yards 23 34
Punt returns 2-23 4-34
Kickoff returns 5-190 4-77
Interceptions 1-0 0-0
Punts-avg. 5-44.2 6-31.7
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-0
Third-down conversions 5-12 8-19
Fourth-down conversions 0-0 1-2
Penalties-yards 7-62 10-110
Time of possession 26:15 33:45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — E. Washington, Morris 8-35, Alexander 6-28, Jimerson 6-15, Beaumonte 2-13, Nichols 4-3, Ramos 1-(minus 1). N. Colorado. Waggener 16-65, Woods 7-29, Wilson 7-12, Smith 1-2.
PASSING — E. Washington, Nichols 19-26-0-243, Smart 0-1-0-0. N. Colorado, Waggener 28-47-1-341.
RECEIVING — E. Washington, Brown 4-55, Davis 3-37, Jimerson 3-35, Martin 3-35, Boyce 2-46, Overbay 2-19, Leggin 1-13, Ramos 1-3. N. Colorado, Gunn 8-107, Thompson 5-89, Smith 5-47, Chesla 4-50, Caprioli 3-31, Woods 2-12, Fauver 1-5.
