DULUTH, Minn. – Minnesota Duluth showed why it has the No. 4 ranked defense in the country on Saturday afternoon limiting Southwest Minnesota State to 78 yards and six first downs in earning a 62-0 victory in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football at Malosky Stadium.
 
UMD, which picked to win the NSIC, improves to 3-1 overall, 2-1 NSIC. The Bulldogs scored a defensive touchdown on the opening drive of the game and never looked back in shutting out the Mustangs for the second straight season and sixth all-time.
 
SMSU drops to 0-4 overall, 0-3 NSIC. The Mustangs return home next Saturday for a non-conference game versus Nebraska-Kearney starting at 1 p.m. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
 
SMSU quarterback Kendon Krogman played the first half and completed 7 of 19 passes for 58 yards and one interception. True freshman Drew Kluender entered the game in the second half and finished 3 of 10 for 15 yards. The UMD defense closed the game with nine sacks.
 
SMSU converted just 3 of 19 on third-down and closed 0 for 4 on fourth-down.
 
Jacob Honstetter rushed for a team-high 17 yards on 11 carries and also caught two passes for 28 yards. Tryg Auten caught a team-high three passes for 27 yards.
 
Avery Johnson had a pair of sacks in the first half for the Mustangs, while Josiah Hedensten recorded a team-high eight tackles.
 
UMD scored 20 points in the opening quarter and then added 28 in the second quarter. The Bulldogs finished the victory with a pick-six and also had touchdowns of 66, 64, 53, 61 and 44 yards.
 
UMD finished the game recording 484 yards of offense with 255 on the ground. Quarterback Kyle Walljasper completed 6 of 7 pass attempts for 158 yards and three touchdowns in limited action. Ben Vallafskey rushed for a game-high 124 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown.