Andersen leads Montana State past Northern Colorado 35-7

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Troy Andersen ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns, and threw for another to lead Montana State to a 35-7 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday.

The Bobcats (6-4, 4-3 Big Sky) scored five unanswered touchdowns to offset a good start by the Bears (2-9, 2-6). Montana State forced three first-half turnovers to take control of the game.

Northern Colorado opened the game with a 77-yard drive aided by two penalties against MSU. The Bobcats were called for a defensive delay of game to give UNC one first down, then they were hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by their head coach Jeff Choate. Dontay Warren finished off the drive with an 8-yard run on his only carry of the game.

"I earned it," Choate said of the penalty he received. "Despite that I have to say our secondary was extraordinary today.

"We kinda broke the dam on the turnovers going back to the Weber State game."

Jahque Alleyne got things started when he intercepted Keaton Mott on UNC's second possession. That led to the first score for MSU. The Bobcats went 53 yards on their next possession and capped it off with Andersen's second TD pass of the season.

Defensive end Tyrone Fa'anono collected an interception and forced a fumble to go along with a tackle for loss for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats responded with three straight touchdowns before the half closed out. Andersen scored on a fourth-down run from the 3-yard line and then connected with running back Logan Jones for an 18-yard touchdown. Andersen tacked on a 4-yard score with 1:43 to play in the first half.

The MSU defense stepped up after UNC's first drive to hold the Bears scoreless. The Bobcats, who rushed for 283 yards, added a 4-yard TD run by Travis Jonsen and a 36-yard rushing score from Andersen in the fourth quarter to finish off the scoring.

Isaiah Ifanse finished with 67 yards on the ground, while Jonsen and Jones had 49 and 36, respectively, for MSU.