GREELEY, Colo.—DeNarius McGhee threw two second-half touchdown passes as Montana State kept Northern Colorado winless with a 31-21 win on Saturday.
McGhee finished 16 for 23 for 188 yards and two interceptions passing. Cody Kirk ran for a touchown and career high 202 yards for Montana State (7-1, 6-0 Big Sky), which extended its winning streak to seven games.
Seth Lobato completed 20 of 39 passes for 258 yards and two TDs. Patrick Walker caught nine passes for 100 yards and two scores for Northern Colorado (0-8, 0-6). The last time the Bears started 0-8 was in 2006.
Leading 24-21, McGhee threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Bleskin with 8:37 left in the game to seal the 10-point Montana State victory.
The Bears were within three points of Montana State twice in the second half. Dave Eden kicked a 40-yard field goal to get them within 17-13 early in the third quarter.
The Bobcats responded with a 10-play, 72-yard drive culminated by a 6-yard TD toss to Elvis Akpla with 7:07 left in the third quarter. Akpla, who had six catches for 57 yards, outjumped two defenders in the end zone to grab the ball.
Labato put together an impressive drive of his own: 11 plays spanning 80 yards. He found Walker on a 5-yard slant-pass play followed by a two-point conversion to Chris Morris with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bobcats led 17-10 at the half despite two interceptions thrown by McGhee and Kirk fumbling the ball into the end zone.
Montana State piled up 260 yards of total offense in the half, 73 of which came on the game’s first drive. Kirk walked untouched into the end zone from four yards out to cap the scoring drive.
Dave Eden turned McGhee’s first interception into a 40-yard field goal with 12:11 left in the second quarter.
The Bobcats came right back with a seven-play 65 yard drive. Akpla dove over a pile of defenders on a 6-yard rush with 9:34 left before halftime to make it 14-3.
Cunnigham hit a 31-yard field goal with 5:20 left after Caleb Schreibeis recovered Lobato’s fumble at the UNC 27.
Lobato threaded the needle between two defenders to complete a 20-yard TD pass to Walker. The Bears were aided by two roughing the passer penalties.
Elliott Dorsey gave Northern Colorado a chance to tie the game with a diving interception at the Montana State 36 with 2:17 left in the half. Two personal foul penalties took the Bears out of field goal range.
