Ryan Howard eventually got Central Arkansas' offense going on Saturday in a nonconference game at Montana State, but it came too late to bail out the Bears defense.
Montana State quarterback Dakota Prukop had a hand in three touchdowns and Anthony Knight had three rushing touchdowns as the FCS No. 17 Bobcats overcame Howard's four second-half touchdown passes for a 43-33 victory at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Mont.
Prukop, who was starting his third college game, ran for a 3-yard touchdown to cap a 79-yard drive and give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. He later threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Brian Flotkoetter in the second quarter and added a 39-yard scoring run to put the Bobcats (1-2) up 23-6 going into halftime.
Prukop completed 19 of 27 passes for 289 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception and rushed for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Bobcats, members of the Big Sky Conference, gained 468 yards against a Bears defense that gave up an average 523.5 yards through its first two games, a loss at FBS member Texas Tech and a victory over Tennessee-Martin.
Junior Taylor Reed started at quarterback for the third consecutive game for the Bears (1-2), but Howard ended up playing most of the game in their two-quarterback system.
Howard completed 29 of 48 passes for 333 yards and 5 touchdowns with no interceptions. Desmond Smith caught 5 passes for 73 yards and 3 touchdowns, while running back Willie Matthews caught 10 passes for 92 yards and Dezmin Lewis caught 8 passes for 100 yards.
Reed started and completed 4 of 7 passes for 61 yards but couldn't lead the Bears on any scoring drives and didn't play in the second half. Howard entered for the first time in the second quarter and threw a 38-yard touchdown to Smith with 7:11 in the second quarter.
Howard's 4-yard pass to Smith pulled UCA to within 23-13 in the third quarter, but Montana State's Anthony Knight scored two rushing touchdowns to push the lead to 37-13 with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
A 2-yard pass from Howard to Justin Dickey made it 37-19, and a 14-yard pass from Howard to Smith made it 37-25. On the ensuing kickoff, Montana State's Shawn Johnson, an All-American kickoff returner last season, brought the ball out of the end zone but was tackled for a 3-yard loss in the end zone for a safety to make it 37-27.
UCA got the ball after the kickoff at its own 43, but Howard threw a 4-yard pass to Lewis followed by three incomplete passes to turn over the ball.
Knight answered with his third touchdown run to seal the victory.
Sports on 09/14/2014