Nguyen's punt return TD sparks Griz past Liberty
* NORTHWEST
Montana came up with some big plays on special teams and offense Saturday afternoon in its 34-14 win over Liberty at Missoula. But it was the defense that drew the most praise from coach Mick Delaney.
"Anytime you go out and stop a team from being able to run the ball, you should do well," Delaney said. "I'm really proud of our defense, especially in the first half. They were just tenacious and got some key turnovers."
Peter Nguyen ran a punt back 90 yards for a touchdown as Montana improved to 2-1 on the season. Liberty, of the Big South Conference, fell to 0-3.
"I'm a little disappointed," said Liberty coach Turner Gill. "I thought we would be able to run the ball a little better."
The Montana defense held the Flames to 21 yards rushing and harassed quarterback Josh Woodrum all afternoon - sacking him five times.
After a slow opening 10 minutes, Nguyen brought the crowd to its feet with an electrifying jaunt down the left side of the field to give Montana a 7-0 lead.
"I had a lot of space and time to think," Nguyen said. "And there was great blocking. The whole punt return team was really excited to get one."
The Grizzlies tacked on another 17 points before halftime on a 32-yard run by Dan Moore, a 6-yard run by Trent McKinney and a 42-yard field goal by Chris Lider.
The Flames cut the Montana lead to 24-7 early in the third quarter on a 14-yard pass from Woodrum to Pat Kelly.
Montana answered back with 12:20 to play in the fourth quarter when McKinney hooked up with Greg Hardy on a 2-yard touchdown pass to go back up 31-7.
Whitworth 45, La Verne 20: At La Verne, Calif., Ronnie Thomas ran for 135 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries to lead Division III Whitworth (3-0) past the Leopards (0-1).
Carroll 19, Rocky Mountain 6: At Helena, Mont., Casey Norbeck returned an interception 46 yards for a touchdown and the NAIA Saints (2-2, 2-1 Frontier Conference) defeated Rocky Mountain (3-1, 2-1).
Wisconsin 16, Utah State 14: At Madison, Wis., Kenzel Doe returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown and Montee Ball added a 17-yard touchdown run in the third quarter as the Badgers (2-1) rallied from a 14-3 halftime deficit to beat Utah State (2-1).
Utah State's Josh Thompson missed a 37-yard field goal with seconds remaining.
San Jose State 40, Colorado State 20: At San Jose, Calif., David Fales completed 27 of 34 passes for 370 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Spartans (2-1) past the Rams (1-2).
Louisiana Tech 56, Rice 37: At Ruston, La., Colby Cameron completed 19 of 24 passes for 276 yards and four touchdowns to lead Louisiana Tech (2-0) past Rice (1-2).
UTEP 41, New Mexico State 28: At El Paso, Texas, Nick Lamaison completed 21 of 32 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns to lift Texas-El Paso (1-2) past New Mexico State (1-2).
UTSA 38, Georgia State 14: At Atlanta, Evans Okotcha ran for three touchdowns and Eric Soza passed for two as Texas-San Antonio (3-0) beat Georgia State (0-3).