Box Score

DULUTH, MINN.: Minnesota Duluth showed why it's ranked No. 15 in the nation and the preseason pick to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference by earning a 43-21 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Thursday night in front a national television audience in Duluth, Minn.

The game was aired live on CBS College Sports Television.

UMD scored three touchdowns in the game's first 10 minutes using a short field each time in building a 20-0 lead.  The Bulldogs blocked two punts and had scoring drives of just 33, 30 and 38 yards on their fist three possessions.

UMD is now 3-0 on the season, 2-0 NSIC.  UMD defeated Concordia 40-0 and Missouri Western 47-18 to open the season.

UMD added a fourth touchdown late in the first quarter to build a 26-0 lead before SMSU put together two solid drives to end the half.  Down 26-0 midway through the second quarter, SMSU drove from its own 40-yard line down to the UMD 1-yard line but was stopped on downs. 

Following a UMD field goal with 1:50 left in the half to make the score 29-0, SMSU drove 70 yards on 11 plays and scored its first touchdown of the night on a 10-yard Josh Shudlick to Blake Wilson touchdown reception to trim the Bulldog lead to 29-7 at halftime.

UMD opened the second half with a touchdown to push the lead to 36-7 before SMSU moved down the field into the “red zone” but once again the Bulldog defense stopped the Mustang offense on downs to keep the 29-point lead.

SMSU cut into the lead once again late in the third quarter as Shudlick connected again with Wilson for a 16-yard touchdown to pull SMSU to within 36-14.

Both teams exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter with SMSU capping the scoring with a Shudlick 2-yard touchdown pass to Matt Fischer with 3:03 remaining in the game.

Shudlick finished the game tying a school record with 39 pass completions on 59 attempts for 310 yards.  Wilson finished with a career-high 10 receptions for 87 yards and two scores while Zach Wysong added seven receptions for 59 yards.

SMSU finished the evening with 320 yards of offense but just 10 rush yards on 26 attempts including allowing six sacks for minus-41 yards.  Wysong finished the night with 31 yards on 15 attempts.

The Mustang offense advanced the ball five times inside the UMD 20-yard line but scored just three times.

Tyler Reed and Bryce Haessly each led the Mustang defense with six tackles while Haessly also added a fumble recovery.

SMSU, 1-2 overall, 1-1 NSIC, will continue its two-game road trip next Saturday, Sept. 20 with a NSIC south division game at Upper Iowa.