Ogden • Freshman Josh Davis ran for 218 yards and two touchdowns, including a 95-yard gallop in the first quarter, and Weber State breezed to a 45-28 victory over Northern Colorado in Big Sky Conference action on Saturday night.
Jake Constantine had 168 yards passing and two TDs and freshman backup Kaden Jenks connected for his first career passing TD on his only attempt of the game as the Wildcats (3-1, 2-0) amassed 410 yards of offense.
Keaton Mott threw for 262 yards and three TDs for the Bears (0-4, 0-2), who hung with the FCS-ranked Wildcats in the first half. Mott had a 22-yard scoring strike to Theron Verna and a 42-yard TD toss to Alex Wesley in the final 6:43 of the second quarter to help the Bears forge a 21-all tie at halftime.
Rashid Shaheed ignited Weber State when he took the kickoff to start the third quarter and raced 100 yards for a TD to make it 35-21. Mott’s 1-yard TD pass to Michael McCauley pulled Northern Colorado within seven, but the Wildcats’ defense stiffened in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.
Northern Arizona 31, Southern Utah 23 • In Flagstaff, Ariz., Daniel Bridge-Gadd threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth and Northern Arizona opened Big Sky Conference play with a win over defending champion Southern Utah.
In his second start for injured star Case Cookus, the University of Washington transfer put the Lumberjacks (2-2) up 24-23 late in the third quarter when he connected with Brandon Porter for a 68-yard score. Bridge-Gadd secured the win by capping a 14-play, 78-yard drive with an 8-yard TD pass to Jonathan Baldwin.
Bridge-Gadd, who opened the scoring with a 6-yard run, finished 21 of 31 for 295 yards. His first scoring pass was a 4-yarder to Emmanuel Butler, the school record 29th of his career. Butler almost moved into second in career receiving yards with 2,812 and into the top five in receptions with 166.
Aaron Zwahlen’s 4-yard scoring pass to Nick Colson put the Thunderbirds (0-4) at 23-17 with 2:44 to go in the third quarter.
NAU had a 492-442 edge in total offense but Southern Utah’s two quarterbacks were picked off three times, twice by Khalil Cook.