FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Freshman Trey Lance threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Adam Cofield, and an FCS top-10 showdown never materialized as top-ranked North Dakota State breezed to a 46-14 victory over Northern Iowa, ranked 10th in the FCS Coaches poll, on Saturday.

Lance started the Bison (6-0, 2-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference) off and running with two of his TD tosses in the first quarter — a 36-yarder to Phoenix Sproles that saw James Hendricks run it in for a 2-point conversion and a 19-yarder to Christian Watson that put NDSU up 15-0.

Northern Iowa (3-3, 1-1) got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Will McElvain hit Isaiah Weston for a 17-yard scoring strike to cut the Panthers’ deficit to 15-7. After Griffin Crosa kicked a 25-yard field goal for the Bison, UNI scored on Tyler Hoosman’s 6-yard run to get within 18-14 at halftime.

NDSU ended any drama by scoring 28 straight points in the second half. Lance’s third TD pass was a 30-yarder to Noah Gindorff in the third quarter for a 25-14 lead. Cofield scored on runs of 1 and 37 yards in the final period and Kobe Johnson capped the scoring with a 50-yard TD run.

Lance finished with 145 yards through the air, hitting 10 of 18 passes. Cofield had 15 carries and gained 104 of the Bison’s 347 rushing yards. McElvain completed 15 of 29 throws for 233 yards for the Panthers. Weston hauled in five passes for 129 yards.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Freshman Breece Hall rushed for 132 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Iowa State to a 38-14 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night. Brock Purdy threw for one TD and ran for another for the Cyclones (4-2, 2-1 Big 12), who held the Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2) scoreless in the second half.

West Virginia quarterback Austin Kendall was hit hard while attempting a pass during the Mountaineers’ first series. He did not return and was replaced by backup Jack Allison. Hall scored on a pair of 1-yard runs and also had a 12-yard TD. He might have given the Cyclones the dependable option at running back they’d been looking for ever since star David Montgomery departed.

Hall entered the game fifth on the team with 84 rushing yards on 18 carries. The 205-pound Hall is the third different running back to lead the Cyclones in rushing this season and the first to eclipse 100 yards. Purdy had 102 yards a week ago against TCU. Johnnie Lang started Saturday’s game and had four carries for 11 yards before giving way to Hall.
THE TAKEAWAY
Iowa State: Hall’s performance will help the Cyclones take the running load off of Purdy, who entered the game with the most carries on the team.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers were limited to 190 yards of offense. Allison had one good series but couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up with Purdy. Allison finished 18 of 24 for 140 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception.
UP NEXT
Iowa State travels to Texas Tech next Saturday.
West Virginia plays at No. 6 Oklahoma next Saturday.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ian Corwin threw three touchdown passes, Drew Lauer scored three touchdowns and Drake defeated Butler 42-7 on Saturday to remain undefeated in the Pioneer League. Corwin, the current Stats FCS National Freshman Player of the Week, completed 25 of 32 passes for 265 yards. Two of his TD throws went to Devin Cates, who totaled nine receptions for 103 yards.

Drake (3-3, 3-0 PFL), second in the Pioneer League in total defense, held Butler (1-5, 0-2) to 229 total yards. Butler got started on the wrong foot, losing a fumble on the opening kickoff. Lauer capped a short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 Drake lead. Butler tied it with its only score, a 34-yard pass from Joey Lindstrom to Johnny O’Shea.

Lauer scored his other TDs on a 22-yard pass from Corwin and a 2-yard run, giving Drake a 21-7 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Cates caught two short TD passes from Corwin and Jacob Clay added a 1-yard run to cap the scoring. Lauer had 26 carries for 124 yards.