SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Garrett Safron threw two touchdown passes, Ezekiel Graham ran for 98 yards and a score, and Sacramento State maintained its momentum Saturday, beating Northern Colorado 28-17.
Safron, who starred last week in the Hornets’ upset of Football Bowl Subdivision foe Colorado, was 16-of-30 for 177 yards, with one interception, and found Morris Norrise and DeAndre Carter for scores. Sam McCowan added a rushing touchdown for Sacramento State (2-1).
Seth Lobato threw for 327 yards for the Bears (1-2) but was intercepted three times. Tromaine Dennis scored a late rushing touchdown, and Dominic Gunn returned a second-quarter punt 74 yards for a score. That gave Northern Colorado its only lead, 10-7, before Sacramento State scored three unanswered touchdowns, the last Graham’s 2-yard run with 12:11 to play.
The Bears lost despite having a 23-17 edge in first downs and a 399-341 advantage in total yards. But Northern Colorado only managed 72 yards rushing and Sacramento State had a one-minute edge in time of possession.
The teams are Big Sky Conference rivals, but this matchup was scheduled as a nonconference game.
