East Lansing, Mich. » Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and Keith Nichol tossed two as Michigan State cruised past Montana State, 44-3, Saturday.

The Spartans (1-0) overmatched their first-ever opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.

Montana State (0-1) has lost four straight against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents since upsetting Colorado in 2006.

Cousins and Nichol are competing to replace Brian Hoyer, now a backup quarterback for the NFL's New England Patriots. Cousins got the start Saturday and completed 10 of 17 passes for 183 yards.

Nichol played most of the second quarter and started the second half. He finished 9 of 18 for 135 yards.

Blair White had nine catches for 162 yards and two TDs for Michigan State.

Montana State struggled to move the ball against an aggressive, swarming Michigan State defense led by linebacker Greg Jones with 14 tackles.

The Bobcats finished with just 160 yards of offense compared to 493 yards for Michigan State.

Eastern Washington 35, Western Oregon 14 » Matt Nichols threw three touchdown passes and Taiwan Jones rushed for two scores in Eastern Washington's victory over Western Oregon.

Oregon State 34, Portland State 7 » The Rodgers brothers are back for Oregon State.

Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns while big brother James caught a pair of passes for 95 yards and a score to lead the Beavers to victory over Portland State in the opener for both teams.

Montana 38, Western State 0 » Steve Pfahler caught two second-half touchdown passes to lead Montana to a season-opening victory over Division II Western State, Colo.

Montana (1-0) started out slow on offense, scoring only 10 points in the first half, but the Grizzly defense smothered Western State (0-2), holding the Mountaineers to 116 yards of total offense.