PORTLAND, Ore. — Alex Kuresa threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more to lead Portland State to a 35-16 victory over Montana on Saturday night.
Portland State (7-1, 4-1 Big Sky Conference) has won three straight and remains a half-game back of conference-leaders Southern Utah and Eastern Washington.
Kuresa had touchdown passes of 41 and 46 yards, and scoring runs of 35 and 49 yards. David Jones added 65 yards rushing with a touchdown for the Vikings.
Montana’s (4-4, 3-2) Makena Simis, who threw a school-tying six touchdown passes last week against North Dakota, was picked off three times by Patrick Onwuasor on consecutive drives in the first quarter.
Simis completed five passes, and had a 20-yard run to set up Jeremy Calhoun’s 2-yard touchdown run to pull the Grizzlies to 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Simis bullied in from the 1 for a score with five minutes to play.
For Montana the unofficial playoffs — lose once and there will be no postseason — start next Saturday when the Grizzlies face Idaho State (2-6, 1-4 BSC) at 2:30 p.m. at Pocatello.