MARSHALL, Minn. – Nebraska Kearney dominated time of possession by nearly 20 minutes and limited Southwest Minnesota State to 70 yards of offense and five first downs in earning a 35-0 non-conference victory in college football on Saturday at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
UNK, now 3-2 overall, racked up 438 yards and 25 first downs on 78 plays. Abraham Scholting, making his first career start at quarterback for the Lopers, completed 22 of 35 pass attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 46 yards on 13 attempts.
SMSU is now 0-5 overall and will look for its first win of the season next Saturday at home taking on Wayne State for homecoming with kickoff set for 5 p.m.
UNK closed the game rushing for 191 yards on 43 carries with Isaiah Harris pacing the attack with 101 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. UNK had nine different players catch at least one pass with Earnest McDaniel-Mitchell leading the way with five receptions for 55 yards.
SMSU ran just 45 plays and was held to minus-16 rushing yards with 34 of the negative yardage coming on four sacks. The Mustangs closed the game 1 for 11 on third-down conversion attempts.
Mustang true freshman quarterback
Drew Kluender, making his first career start, closed the game completing 10 of 26 passes for 86 yards with one interception.
Stevie McMath and
David Ola-Kazeem each had two receptions for the Mustangs, while
Colin Maher had one catch for 27 yards.
Thomas Mergen and
Gideon Ervasti led the SMSU defense with nine tackles, while Jojo Kleoppel forced a fumble and had two tackles for loss. The Mustang defense closed the game registering seven tackles for loss and forced one turnover.
Parker Knutson added seven tackles, including 1.5 for loss and had three pass break-ups.
UNK turned the ball over on downs on its first drive of the game, but was able to break through on its second drive with Scholting finding Dijmon Wheeler for a 15-yard touchdown pass on third-and 12 with 9:29 left in the first half.
UNK threatened to score early in the second quarter setting up first-and-goal at the SMSU 2-yard line. The SMSU defense came up big time stopping UNK short of the goal line on four straight plays to stop the Lopers scoring threat.
Following an SMSU punt, the UNK lead moved to 14-0 midway through the second quarter as Isaiah Harris scored on a 10-yard run. The Lopers converted a key third-and-four near midfield to keep the drive alive.
UNK then used its strong defensive to push the lead to 21 points as Nathan Pesek intercepted Kluender at the 19-yard line and returned the ball to the end zone for a pick-six. SMSU has allowed an opponent defense to score in four of five games and seven touchdowns overall.
UNK, which finished the game 7 for 15 on third-down conversions, converted a pair of third downs late in the first half to complete an 11-play, 81 yard drive with Harris plowing in for a 2-yard touchdown with 20 seconds left in the half to build a 28-0 lead.
Neither team scored in the third quarter before UNK closed the scoring late in the game with Scholting completing a 6-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal to Tamicus Napier.
Today was the third time SMSU has been shutout this season.
