Dotson lights up Northern Colorado’s win over Idaho State

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Elijah Dotson broke a tie with a short touchdown run and followed it up with a long punt return for a score to spark Northern Colorado’s 35-14 victory over Idaho State on Saturday.

The Bears broke the game open in the fourth quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the first 6-plus minutes of the period. Dotson’s 2-yard touchdown run gave Northern Colorado a 21-14 lead with 14:23 remaining. After the Bears forced a punt, Dotson returned the kick 82 yards for a score. Northern Colorado struck again on Idaho State’s next possession when Elijah Anderson-Taylor returned a fumble 47 yards for another score and a 35-14 lead.

Dotson had 211 all-purpose yards — 102 rushing and 27 receiving to go with the 82-yard punt return.

Dylan McCaffrey completed 23 of 28 passes for 234 yards with one touchdown for the Bears (2-2, 1-0 Big Sky). Alec Pell caught six passes for 86 yards.

Raiden Hunter had 111 yards on the ground for the Bengals (0-4, 0-1). Hunter Hays was 25-of-34 passing for 264 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Xavier Guillory had seven receptions for 120 yards. Hays and Guillory connected on a 51-yard pass that tied the score at 14 heading to halftime.

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