1-3 , 0-1
Montana State
2-1 , 1-0
No. 15 Montana State Defeats No. 20 Cal Poly, 45-28
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Junior quarterback Dakota Prukop passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns as No. 15 Montana State sprinted to a 21-0 lead in the first 12 minutes and rolled to a 45-28 victory over No. 20 Cal Poly in a Big Sky Conference football opener for both schools Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium.
Prukop completed 19 of 26 passes, including two scoring strikes to Beau Sandland and another to Jayshawn Gates, and running back Chad Newell scored three times on runs of 1, 4 and 13 yards as the host Bobcats improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in Big Sky games.
Cal Poly, which surrendered 602 total yards to Montana State, suffered its third straight loss since a season-opening win at Montana, falling to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference.
Cal Poly produced a pair of 100-yard rushers – sophomore fullback Joe Protheroe netting a career-high 156 yards on 27 carries, his third 100-yard game of the season, and junior slot back Kori Garcia (pictured above) adding 114 yards on 19 trips, his sixth career 100-yard performance – but Montana State never punted and built an insurmountable 45-21 advantage heading into the final period.
Mustang quarterback Chris Brown completed just six of 15 passes for 50 yards and has yet to surpass the 100-yard mark in passing this season. Garcia caught two of Cal Poly's six completions.
Trailing 28-7 early in the second quarter, Cal Poly made a game of it by scoring two touchdowns before halftime on a 36-yard run by Protheroe and a 22-yard pass from Chris Brown to Willie Tucker.
The Mustangs trailed 31-21 at the break and received the kickoff opening the third quarter with a chance to pull to within three points. Instead, Montana State's defense forced a three-and-out and the Bobcats scored on their next two possessions to pull away.
Cal Poly, which scored on a 36-yard run by Protheroe in the first quarter, added a six-yard run by Garcia in the fourth period.
Cal Poly's defensive leaders were linebacker Tu'uta Inoke with 10 tackles and B.J. Nard and Burtin De Koning, each with seven. There were no turnovers in the game by either team.
Newell finished with 111 yards on 19 carries. Mitch Griebel was Prukop's favorite target with six receptions for 67 yards.
Cal Poly had beaten Montana State eight straight times dating back to 1997 and was playing its first game in Bozeman since 2004.
Cal Poly will play its Hall of Fame Game next Saturday, hosting Idaho State for a 6:05 p.m. Big Sky Conference contest in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Photo above of Kori Garcia courtesy of Kelly Gorham | MSU Communications
Team Stats
CP 0, MSU 7
MSU - Chad Newell 1 yd run (Luke Daly kick), 11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:48
CP 0, MSU 14
MSU - Chad Newell 4 yd run (Luke Daly kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:13
CP 0, MSU 21
MSU - Jayshawn Gates 88 yd pass from Dakota Prukop (Luke Daly kick) 1 plays, 88 yards, TOP 0:13
CP 7, MSU 21
CP - Joe Protheroe 36 yd run (Stephen Pyle kick), 5 plays, 78 yards, TOP 1:38
CP 7, MSU 28
MSU - Beau Sandland 63 yd pass from Dakota Prukop (Luke Daly kick) 4 plays, 81 yards, TOP 1:43
CP 14, MSU 28
CP - Willie Tucker 22 yd pass from Chris Brown (Stephen Pyle kick) 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:16
CP 14, MSU 31
MSU - Luke Daly 33 yd field goal 12 plays, 59 yards, TOP 5:28
CP 21, MSU 31
CP - Kori Garcia 6 yd run (Stephen Pyle kick), 12 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:43
CP 21, MSU 38
MSU - Beau Sandland 13 yd pass from Dakota Prukop (Luke Daly kick) 8 plays, 72 yards, TOP 3:20
CP 21, MSU 45
MSU - Chad Newell 13 yd run (Luke Daly kick), 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:49
CP 28, MSU 45
CP - Jordan Hines 12 yd pass from Chris Brown (Stephen Pyle kick) 16 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:55
