E. Washington takes control early; dumps Montana St. 34-17

Associated Press

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Gage Gubrud threw for 311 yards and ran for a touchdown to lead Eastern Washington to a 34-17 win over Montana State on Saturday.

The Eagles (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky) scored on their first two possessions and their defense held the error-plagued Bobcats (3-2, 1-1) to 287 yards.

MSU lost 14 yards inside the 15 on a bad pitch, lost cornerback Tyrel Thomas to a targeting call and had a receiver pass for a touchdown called back on a penalty among its miscues on the day.

(Jay-Tee Tiuli) and (Dylan Ledbetter) created some problems for us,” Montana State Jeff Choate said of the Eagles’ two defensive tackles.

“We had a hard time getting our tailback going,” Choate said. The Bobcats’ Isaiah Ifanse had just 31-yards rushing after back-to-back 100-yard outings, however, Troy Andersen had 145 yards passing and 94 rushing, including two TDs, for Montana State.

Sam McPherson ran for 74 yards and two scores for the Eagles, who came into the game ranked fifth in the nation.

“We got beat by a good team but didn’t play our best game,” Choate added.

TAKEAWAY:

The Eagles continue to improve their playoff hopes after missing the FCS tournament two of the past three years.

Montana State is still in contention for league and playoff honors, but has games against Idaho, at Weber State and at Montana looming.

UP NEXT:

The Eagles host winless Southern Utah as they try to improve on the league and national standing.

The Bobcats have an open week before hosting Idaho for its homecoming.