AMES, Iowa – South Dakota State’s much anticipated season-opening game versus Iowa State was cancelled due to the weather on Saturday night.

The Cyclones forced the Jackrabbits – the third ranked team in the FCS – to punt on their opening possession and then got on the board after Deshaunte Jones caught a screen pass from Kyle Kempt and dashed 55 yards for a touchdown. The hosts tacked on the PAT kick to make it 7-0.

Play was halted before the ensuing kickoff with 10:55 showing on the clock due to lightning in the area.

The teams remained in their locker rooms for more than two hours before officials ultimately decided to cancel the game.

No statistics from the game count.

Per SDSU Sports Information: “The cancellation is the first of a Jackrabbit football game since Nov. 2, 1991, when the historic Halloween Blizzard paralyzed the Upper Midwest and prevented SDSU from playing its scheduled game against St. Cloud State.”

South Dakota State plays host to Montana State (1-0) on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Dairy Drive game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings.

Missouri Valley Football Conference

League teams went 4-5 on the opening week of the season.

The Valley went 2-3 versus FCS schools and 0-2 against FBS teams.

North Dakota State handled Cal Poly 49-3 at home; however, the Big Sky Conference leads the Big Sky-MVFC Challenge Series 2-1 as No. 24/25 Montana held off Northern Iowa for a 26-23 win on Saturday and Montana State edged Western Illinois by the same margin on Thursday.

Southern Illinois hammered Murray State 49-10 on the road on Thursday and Illinois State beat 

Indiana State beat NCAA Division II member Quincy 49-0 on Thursday and Illinois State blanked the sixth-ranked NAIA team, St. Xavier (Ill.), 46-0 on Saturday. 

Oklahoma State beat Missouri State 58-17 on Thursday and Kansas State rallied past South Dakota 27-24 on Saturday.

Pioneer League member Butler shocked Youngstown State 23-23.

MVFC Overall

STATS/Coaches W-L PF/PA W-L PF/PA Strk

1/1 North Dakota State 0-0 0/0 1-0 49-3 W7

21/20 Illinois State 0-0 0/0 1-0 46-0 W1

Southern Illinois 0-0 0/0 1-0 49/10 W1

Indiana State 0-0 0/0 1-0 49/0 W1

3/3 South Dakota State 0-0 0/0 0-0 0/0 L1

13/12 Northern Iowa 0-0 0/0 0-1 23-26 L2

25/24 Youngstown State 0-0 0/0 0-1 21-23 L1

South Dakota 0-0 0/0 0-1 24/27 L2

Western Illinois 0-0 0/0 0-1 23/26 L2

Missouri State 0-0 0/0 0-1 17/58 L3

   Notes: The following matchups will not take place in 2018: SDSU-WIU, NDSU-InSU, UNI-SIU, YSU-MSU and IlSU-USD. … USD (26th/34th) and WIU (27th/37th) are receiving votes in both polls, while SIU (t48th) is receiving votes in the STATS poll. … The MVFC is 4-5 in nonconference games, including a 2-3 mark versus FCS schools and an 0-2 record against FBS teams. … The Big Sky leads the Big Sky-MVFC Challenge Series 2-1.

   ##Big Sky-MVFC Challenge Series game

WEEK 1

Thursday, Aug. 30

Southern Illinois 49, Murray State 10

Indiana State 49, Quincy 0

##Montana State 26, Western Illinois 23

Oklahoma State 58, Missouri State 17

Notable games

North Dakota 35, Mississippi Valley State 7

Saturday, Sept. 1

South Dakota State at Iowa State, canceled

##North Dakota State 49, Cal Poly 3

Illinois State 46, St. Xavier (Ill.) 0

Kansas State 27, South Dakota 24

##No. 24/25 Montana 26, Northern Iowa 23

Butler 23, Youngstown State 21

Notable games

Morehouse College 34, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 30

WEEK 2

Thursday, Sept. 6

Lincoln University Mo. (1-0, 0-0 GLVC; DII) at Missouri State, Springfield, Mo., 6 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 8

##Northern Colorado (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky) at South Dakota, Vermillion, 2 p.m.

Southern Illinois at Ole Miss (1-0, 0-0 SEC West; FBS), Oxford, Miss., 3 p.m.

Youngstown State at West Virginia (1-0, 0-0 Big 12; No. 17 FBS), Morgantown, W. Va., 5 p.m.

##Montana State (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky) at South Dakota State, Brookings, 6 p.m. [Dairy Drive]

Indiana State at Louisville (0-1, 0-0 ACC; FBS), Louisville, Ky., 6 p.m.

Eastern Illinois (0-1, 0-0 OVC) at Illinois State, Normal, Ill., 6:30 p.m.

Western Illinois at Illinois (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten West; FBS), Champaign, Ill., 6:30 p.m.

Notable games

North Dakota (1-0; independent) at Washington (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12 North; FBS No. 6), Seattle, Wash., 4 p.m.

Iowa State (0-0, 0-0 Big 12; FBS) at Iowa (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten West; FBS), Iowa City, Iowa, 4 p.m.

Cumberland University Tenn. (0-1, 0-0 Mid-South; NAIA) at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-1, 0-0 SWAC), Pine Bluff, Ark., 6 p.m.

   Open: NDSU, YSU.

Saturday

• No. 1 North Dakota State 49, Cal Poly 3

FARGO, N.D. – Bruce Anderson and Lance Dunn provided plenty of offense and the Bison defense limited the Mustangs to just 207 yards, as defending national champion North Dakota State opened the 2018 campaign with a lopsided victory.

Anderson ran for 185 yards on just 11 carries – a 16.8 average – and scored two touchdowns.

Dunn picked up 65 yards on six attempts while scoring three times.

Ty Brooks added 82 yards as NDSU picked up 458 yards on 45 rushes – a 10.2 average as a team.

Easton Stick went 4-of-9 for 48 yards, and ran for 49 yards and a score.

Dunn scored on a 35-yard run 5 minutes into the contest.

Cal Poly scored its lone points via Casey Sublette’s 50-yard field goal with 4:09 to go in the first.

It was all Bison after that.

Dunn sandwiched TD runs of 1 and 12 yards around Anderson’s 10-yard scamper to make it 28-3 at halftime.

Stick found paydirt from 9 yards out early in the third. Anderson got loose for an 86-yard dash later in the third.

Holden Hotchkiss rounded out the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run with 5:26 remaining in the game.

The Mustangs’ Joe Protheroe ran for 57 yards. Khaleel Jenkins went 2-of-5 for 60 yards and Jake Jeffrey was 3-of-5 for 51 yards.

NDSU’s Dan Marlette posted nine tackles. Logan McCormick recovered a fumble and tallied on of the Bison’s five sacks.

The game was delayed for 23 minutes in the first quarter due to a power outage.

• No. 21/20 Illinois State 46, St. Xavier (Ill.) 0

NORMAL, Ill. – Five different Redbirds found the end zone and Illinois State outgained St. Xavier, the sixth-ranked team in the NAIA, 368-30 in total yards of offense.

Jordan Birch ran for 52 yards and Markel Smith added 51 yards, as both players found the end zone once.

James Robinson picked up 45 yards on the ground and scored twice. Nick Kielbasa added a TD rush.

Brady Davis finished 12-of-19 for 123 yards with a 15-yard TD toss to Tylor Petkovich.

Sam Fenlason kicked a 37-yard field goal.

The Redbird defense recorded a safety in the fourth quarter.

Malachi Broadnax posted seven tackles. Ty DeForest, Luther Kirk and Mitchell Brees each picked off a pass, and Jason Lewan recovered a fumble.

• Kansas State 27, South Dakota 24

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Isaiah Zuber made a pair of big plays in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats rallied past the Coyotes, who were seeking their third win over an FBS team.

Zuber returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown to pull KSU within 24-19 with 12:12 remaining. He caught a 10-yard TD pass from Skylar Thompson with 7:21 to go and Alex Barnes added the two-point conversion run to put the home team ahead 27-24.

Kansas State held a 408-334 advantage in total yards of offense, including 256-77 on the ground.

Barnes ran for 103 yards and Alex Delton 78. Thompson was 8-of-14 for 61 yards and Delton finished 5-of-14 for 91 yards – both players threw an INT.

USD’s Austin Simmons completed just 24 of his 56 pass attempts, but totaled 257 yards with a touchdown and did not turn the ball over.

Levi Falck’s 11 receptions covered 140 yards. Kai Henry ran for 58 yards.

The teams exchanged field goals in the first quarter – USD’s Mason Lorber booted a 27-yard and KSU’s Blake Lynch had a 24-yarder – before Simmons plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out to put the Coyotes ahead 10-3.

Lynch had kicks of 22, 38 and 44 yards in the second to put the Wildcats up 12-10.

Simmons hooked up with Dakarai Allen for a 7-yard score with 1:29 left in the half to make it 17-12.

One play later, Alex Gray stepped in front of a Delton pass and returned it 25 yards to paydirt as the Coyotes had the Wildcats doubled up – 24-12 – at halftime.

That’s where the score stood until Zuber came up big in the fourth period.

After the Wildcats grabbed the 27-24 lead, they forced the Coyotes into a three-and-out.

South Dakota got the ball back at their own 16-yard-line with 50 seconds to go and drove to the KSU 34.

Lorber’s 51-yard field goal attempt fell short as time expired.

Gray finished with six tackles and also recovered a fumble to go with the pick-six. Phillip Powell had six stops and an INT. Kameron Cline recovered a fumble, as the Coyotes finished plus-four in turnover margin.

• No. 24/25 Montana 26, No. 13/12 Northern Iowa 23

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Grizzlies built a 26-0 halftime lead and then held off the Panthers down the stretch.

UNI’s Colton Howell capped a 13-play, 90-yard drive with a short touchdown plunge at the 1:57 mark of the third quarter.

Marcus Weymiller added a 1-yard TD rush of his own with 11:43 remaining in the game. He added the two-point conversion run to cut the deficit to 26-15.

Nick Fossey caught a 20-yard touchdown toss from Howell with 3:14 to go to make it a 26-23 game.

Montana’s Dalton Sneed completed a 13-yard pass to Samori Toure on third-and-1 on the Grizzlies ensuing drive, and the home team was able to kneel out the clock after that.

Sneed finished 26-of-39 for 248 yards with one TD. He ran for 58 yards and a score.

Howell ended up 11-of-22 for 140 yards with the score. The Panthers rushed for 104 yards.

Sneed found the end zone from 17 yards out less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game. Tim Semenza missed the PAT kick, but converted a 25-yard field goal later in the first to make it 9-0.

Sneed’s 10-yard TD toss to Toure make it 16-0 after a quarter.

Colin Bingham caught a 25-yard pass from receiver Keenan Curran in the second. Tim Semenza booted a 31-yard field goal as time expired to put the Grizzlies ahead 26-0 at halftime.

• Butler 23, No. 25/24 Youngstown State 21

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Drew Bevelhimer drilled a 44-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining as the Bulldogs of the Pioneer League shocked the Penguins.

Will Mary had TD tosses of 6 yards to Pace Temple with 9:20 to go and 12 yards to Sam Yeaton with 1:20 left to cut the deficit to 21-20.

Butler went for two following the second TD but came up short; however, Temple recovered Bevelhimer’s onside kick to set the Bulldogs up at their own 47-yard line with 1:18 to go.

Marty sandwiched completions of 8 and 13 yards to Temple around a 5-yard toss to Thomas Baldwin to move the ball to the YSU 27.

After back-to-back incompletions, Marty centered the ball with a 1-yard rush to set up Bevelhimer’s clutch kick.

YSU outgained Butler 469-339 in total yards of offense, including 235-86 on the ground.

Mary finished 25-of-38 for 253 yards with two TDs. Temple had 14 catches for 167 yards with the score.

YSU’s Tevin McCaster ran 29 times for 166 yards. Montgomery VanGorder went 18-of-27 for 234 yards with three TDs.

Marty opened the scoring with a 1-yard plunge 3 minutes into the game.

VanGorder threw a 3-yard touchdown strike to Miles Joiner late in the first. The quarterback had TD tosses of 26 yards to Samuel St. Surin and 44 yards to Kendric Mallory in the third to make it 21-7 in favor of the Penguins.

Butler’s Luke Sennett, Devin Aguilar and Mason Brunner each had seven tackles. Mickey Kane recovered a fumble for the game’s lone takeaway.

YSU’s Bryce Gibson had eight stops.

Notable games

• Morehouse College 34, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 30

The Maroon Tigers, NCAA Division II members, rushed for 305 yards to upend the Golden Lions.

APB finished with a 579-567 advantage in total yards of offense.

Morehouse’s Santo Dunn ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns, while Frank Bailey Jr. added 106 yards.

Michael Sims was 12-of-21 for 191 yards with a score. Receiver Tremell Gooden added a 63-yard TD toss.

The Golden Lions’ Shannon Patrick finished 17-of-25 for 451 yards with three TDs.

Josh Wilkes racked up 244 yards on seven receptions – a 34.9 average – and recorded a pair of touchdowns.

Taeyler Porter ran for 109 yards and a score.

Thursday

• Southern Illinois 49, Murray State 10

MURRAY, Ky. – The Salukis forced six turnovers and tied a school record with three defensive touchdowns while beating the Racers on the road for the first time since 1991.

Qua Brown returned a fumble 23 yards to paydirt, Airan Reed intercepted a pass in the end zone and Michael Elbert rumbled 77 yards after scooping up a fumble.

Sam Straub went 16-of-29 for 107 yards with a TD and an INT. Matt DeSomer completed both his passes, totaling 44 yards and a score.

D.J. Davis ran 19 times for 127 yards. DeSomer and Jonathan Mixon both ran for a TD, while Darrell James and Nigel Kilby had touchdown catches.

Brown recovered a pair of fumbles.

Murray State’s Drew Anderson was 17-of-30 for 138 yards with two picks. Rodney Castille ran for 72 yards and D.J. Penick had a rushing TD.

• Indiana State 49, Quincy 0

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Sycamores posted their first shutout since 2012 – also against the Hawks – and snapped a 14-game losing streak in the process.

ISU outgained Quincy 423-159 in total yards off offense, including 339-81 on the ground.

Titus McCoy ran for 81 yards and a TD. Ja’Quan had 80 yards and two scores. Jal Kilpatrick picked up 69 yards and scored once. Chris Covington added 64 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Kilpatrick finished 8-of-13 for 84 yards through the air.

Freshman Dakota Caton returned a punt 71 yards to paydirt in the fourth quarter.

• Montana State 26, Western Illinois 23

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Tristan Bailey kicked a pair of fourth-quarter field goals, including the game-winner from 35 yards out with 4:02 remaining, as the Bobcats rallied past the Leathernecks to open the 2018 Big Sky-MVFC Challenge Series.

Bailey’s 50-yard boot with 8:26 left knotted the score at 23-all.

MSU’s Troy Anderson ran 24 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns in his first start. He was 12-of-21 for 81 yards with an interception through the air.

Kevin Kassis had three kick returns for 116 yards and two punt returns for 36 yards.

Bryce Sterk recorded two of the Bobcats’ four sacks as he totaled eight stops, including four for loss. Walker Cozzie made a game-high nine tackles. Jahque Alleyne and Brayden Konkol both picked off a pass.

WIU’s Sean McGuire went 20-of-31 for 164 yards with two TDs and a pair of INTs.

Steve McShane ran for 76 yards and a score on 11 attempts and added six receptions for 40 yards and two touchdowns. Clint Ratkovich picked up 74 yards on five catches.

McShane opened the scoring with a 3-yard run midway through the opening quarter. Bailey’s 21-yard field goal cut the deficit to 7-3 late in the period.

McGuire and McShane connected for an 18-yard touchdown early in the second, but the Leathernecks missed the PAT kick. Bailey added a 47-yard field goal as time expired, leaving the score at 13-6 at halftime.

Andersen pulled MSU even with a 14-yard scoring scamper a little more than 2 minutes into the third quarter. WIU retook the lead – 20-13 – as McShane caught a 2-yard TD toss from McGuire with 4:01 to go in the third.

Andersen again knotted things up – this time at 20-all – on a 24-yard dash to the end zone with 2:23 to play in the third.

WIU’s Sam Crosa connected on a 38-yard field goal with 11:32 remaining in the game to give the Leathernecks their final lead at 23-20.

• Oklahoma State 58, Missouri State 17

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Cowboys racked up 732 yards of offense – 436 rushing and 296 passing – and scored the game’s first 31 points en route to the victory.

Taylor Cornelius went 24-of-34 for 295 yards with five TDs and an INT.

Justin Hill ran for 122 yards and LD Brown added 115. Both players carried the ball 10 times and scored once.

Jalen McCleskey had six receptions for 66 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also scoring on a 5-yard run. Tylan Wallace, Chuba Hubbard and Sione Finefeuiaki each added a TD catch.

The Bears’ Peyton Huslig went 11-of-28 for 150 yards with two TDs and also ran for 109 yards.

Jason Randall totaled 52 yards on four catches. Jordan Murray and Antwan Woods both had a TD grab. Parker Lacina kicked a 40-yard field goal.

Notable games

• North Dakota 35, Mississippi Valley State 7

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The Fighting Hawks outgained the Delta Devils 518-236 in total yards of offense. UND totaled 293 yards on the ground and held MVSU to minus-27.

Nate Ketteringham finished 19-of-30 for 225 yards with three TDs and also ran for a score. Brady Oliveira ran for 108 yards and John Santiago added 91.

MVSU’s Chris Fowler went 22-of-39 for 263 yards with a TD, but was sacked seven times.

UND’s Mason Bennett had two sacks and Austin Cieslak added 1 1/2.

Note: North Dakota is an independent this year and in 2019 but will still play an eight-game Big Sky Conference schedule; however, the Fighting Hawks are not eligible to earn the league’s automatic playoff berth or any other conference accolades. UND will join the MVFC in 2020.

Matthew Putney/AP photo: Fans are asked to leave the stadium after lightning was spotted as Iowa State takes on South Dakota State in a season-opening football game Saturday in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones led 7-0 at the 10:55 mark of the first quarter when play was halted.