As the points kept piling up on the scoreboard at Portland's PGE Park, Weber State coach Ron McBride didn't exactly know what to think.

On one hand, his team scored 73 points and amassed 687 yards of total offense.

On the other hand, his defense surrendered 502 yards, gave up 68 points and let a freshman quarterback making his first start throw for nine touchdowns.

It was the kind of night that drives football coaches crazy while thrilling fans and stat geeks.

"It's like you don't have any control over the game," Ron McBride told the Ogden Standard-Examiner after the game. "You hate to be over there thinking if we don't score this time we're going to lose. You have to score on every possession, and you can't afford not to because we weren't stopping them."

McBride was grateful to escape with a 73-68 win. The 141 combined points were the most scored in any NCAA football game since the organization began keeping records.

That didn't necessarily impress McBride who, like most coaches, saw the negatives even in a win.

"If I was them," McBride said during his post-game radio show of his defense, "I'd be embarrassed. It should be a wake-up call."

The pass defense, which entered the game as the top-rated unit in the Big Sky, likely won't get many pats on the back after the win and will certainly be working a little harder in practice this week. If it's possible to overlook the defensive numbers for a bit, the stat sheet brings jaw-dropping numbers every time it's looked at.

The 20 combined touchdowns broke the I-AA record of 17 set in 1994.

WSU quarterback Cameron Higgins, himself a redshirt freshman, had the kind of game that gives Wildcat fans hope for the next few seasons. He threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns on 22-of-36 passing. He also ran the ball nine times for 106 yards and three touchdowns.

Trevyn Smith, just a sophomore, ran for 225 yards and a score on 38 carries.

Sophomore receivers Tim Toone and Mike Phillips each had eight catches for 130-plus yards.

Sophomore kicker Mike Snoy was perfect on the day with 10 PATS and a 23-yard field goal.

Junior return specialist Bryant Eteuati ran wild with 308 return yards — including an 84-yard kickoff return and a 77-yard punt return — while finishing the game with 341 all-purpose yards on just 16 touches.

"That's great to be a part of," Smith told the Standard-Examiner. "And the cool thing about it was it wasn't a blowout. It was a fight to the end, literally, and it was great to be a part of."

With 1,189 yards one might expect there to be big play after big play. Instead, the longest play from scrimmage in the game was just 43 yards, and that did not result in a score.

As improbable as it sounds, WSU's defense even had a few highlights. The 'Cats limited the Vikings to only 17 rushing yards and stopped PSU on seven of 12 third-down plays, forcing six punts while WSU punted just once.

With the record-breaking game in the books, Weber State now has to try and regain its focus as the season approaches its end. Idaho State, WSU's biggest rival, visits Ogden on Saturday.

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E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com