Mike Doherty caught nine passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns for Buffalo State in its season-opening win. Buffalo State athletics file photo

In a game that featured 99 points, 48 of them in the third quarter alone, Buffalo State got a 49-yard field goal by Mark Montana at the end of regulation and he added another field goal in overtime to lift the Bengals past Cortland State 51-48.

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But it was a gaffe by the Red Dragons that allowed Montana to be in that position.

Cortland had the ball in Buffalo State territory with a 48-45 lead as time wound down in regulation. On fourth down with six seconds remaining, the Red Dragons lined up to punt and ran the ball backwards 22 yards and slid with the intent of ending the game, but one second remained on the clock. Montana came on and set the school mark with the 49-yard boot in his first game as a Bengal to stun Cortland and force overtime. 

Hiram trailed 24-3 at the half and 27-3 in the third quarter, before scoring the final 27 points of the game for a thrilling 30-27 win at Westminster (Pa.). Trailing 27-22 with just 2:32 left, senior quarterback Robert Partridge led the Terriers' offense on a 12 play, 73 yard drive and hooked up with Britton Lewis for a 14-yard touchdown with 19 seconds to give HC the lead. The ensuing two point conversion gave Hiram the 30-27 lead and a Hail Mary by the Titans fell incomplete.

Ohio Northern overcame a slow start and an early 17-0 deficit to win 31-24 at Washington U. The Polar Bears rolled up 492 yards of total offense and held the ball for more than 35 minutes after struggling mightily in the first 17 minutes.

Macalester's Michael Abramson kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired, lifting the Scots past former MIAC rival Carleton 17-14. Macalester begins its first season as a football-only member of the Midwest Conference after 12 years as an independent. The Scots pulled out of the MIAC for football following the 2001 season.

Salisbury defeated Christopher Newport 41-32 in a game between Capital Athletic Conference and future NJAC rivals. John Dunbar and Aarron Moore each went over 100 yards rushing and combined for five touchdowns.

Methodist quarterback Max Reber went 27-for-43 for the day for 329 yards, connecting with receiver Anthony Radke for two touchdowns to lead Methodist to a 36-21 win vs. Southern Virginia. Methodist led 33-7 at the half. “We had too many missed tackles,” said SVU coach Jason Walker. “Two of their long plays would have been avoided with better tackling but we let them sustain drives and convert third downs.”

MIT scored on two long touchdown drives on its first two possessions of the second half to stretch a 14-13 halftime lead to 28-13, and held on for a 28-18 win over Pomona-Pitzer. Aaron Wilmer and Rasheed Bailey made Duke Greco's coaching debut a memorable one, as the senior duo led Delaware Valley to a 30-20 win at Montclair State. 

St. Scholastica scored 21 points in the second quarter and needed a late defensive stop to hold off Ripon 28-27 in Kurt Ramler's first game as the Saints' head coach. Ripon came up with an interception at midfield with less than two minutes remaining but was unable to convert on fourth-and-4 and the Saints were able to run out the clock.

Loras won a home game for the first time in nearly two years and got the Steve Helminiak era officially off to a good start as the Duhawks rolled over Elmhurst 39-17. Helminiak took the helm with three games to go last season and got the interim tag removed during the offseason. 

Matthew Pisarcik hit wide receiver Jayme Perry on a 16-yard TD to give Bridgewater the lead with 1:20 left and the Eagles defense held Gettysburg off of the scoreboard to secure a 33-32 road win. Sam Sura ran for 168 yards and three touchdowns as St. John's defeated UW-River Falls 27-8. The Johnnies held Ryan Kusilek to 3-for-12 passing for 99 yards, 88 of them on one completion.

Washington and Jefferson scored the final 44 points after Wooster took an early 17-7 lead, defeating the Scots 51-17. Running back Ryan Ruffing rushed for 150 yards and five touchdowns and quarterback Pete Coughlin added 106 yards on the ground for the Presidents.

Averett's first game under Cleive Adams was a winner as the Cougars defeated Washington and Lee 20-17. Travis Jones and Xavier Morgan combined for 162 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Northwestern (Minn.) christened its new stadium in style, scoring a touchdown with under 90 seconds left to defeat St. Olaf 17-16.