Story and photo courtesy of Montana State Athletics
DeNarius McGhee continued his move up the all-time list of Montana State quarterbacks. The junior threw for 387 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday's 41-16 win over Northern Colorado, the first game of the Big Sky Conference season for both teams.
McGhee now has 7,006 career yards, third on the all-time list. On Saturday, he passed Rob Compson who played for the Bobcats from 1995-98.
McGhee got the second-ranked Bobcats (4-0, 1-0) on the scoreboard first, with a 9-yard pass to Tray Robinson. Before the first quarter ended, Cody Kirk scored from the 14 and the 2, making it 21-0 before many of the 18,637 homecoming fans were even seated.
Dave Eden got Northern Colorado (1-3, 0-1) on the scoreboard with a 40-yard field goal and a 10-yard pass from Seth Lobato to Dimitri Stimphill closed the gap to 21-10.
McGhee responded with a 7-yard scoring scramble and MSU's Rory Perez kicked a 45-yard field goal. But just before the half, Eden connected from 42 yards at it was 31-13 at the half.
Eden booted yet another field goal to open the third quarter, but McGhee found Jon Ellis on a sweet 49-yard pass along the right sideline to put the Bobcats ahead 38-16. Perez added a 22-yard field goal to finish the scoring.
McGhee completed 34 of 44 passes. Kirk totaled 89 yards on 19 carries. For the second straight game, Tanner Bleskin caught 10 balls, this time for 116 yards. The Bobcats ran a season-high 90 plays for 564 total yards and 33 first downs.
Brian Bignell led the MSU defense with two quarterback sacks. Preston Gale and Caleb Schreibeis added a sack each.
UNC quarterback Seth Lobato finished 13 of 31 for 214 yards and the one touchdown. The Bears totaled just 52 yards rushing and 266 total yards.
MSU travels to Big Sky newcomer Southern Utah next week. Northern Colorado is off.