GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Passion. Focus. Intensity. Three words that came up in a lot of conversations over the past week surrounding University of North Dakota football. And passion, focus, and intensity is exactly what the Fighting Sioux brought to the field on Saturday as they upset No. 18/16 Cal Poly with a 31-17 Hall of Fame victory at the Alerus Center in front of a crowd of 6,711.
After trailing 17-14 going into the second half, UND scored 17 unanswered points to take it's second Great West Conference win of the season. The 14-point victory snapped a two-game skid for the Sioux (4-4, 2-1) and broke a two-game winning streak for the Mustangs (4-4, 1-1 GWC).
"You have to give all of the credit in the world to our players," said head coach Chris Mussman. "It's a great win when there are a lot of distractions, people doubting you and our kids just buckled down and had a great week of preparation. I'm happy for our players.
"We looked like the hungrier, more physical team out there, especially in the second half," said Mussman.
Led by redshirt freshman Mitch Sutton (RB, Plover, Wis.), UND totaled 427 total offensive yards - the most it had seen since the South Dakota game on Oct. 3. Sutton finished with 143 yards rushing on 30 attempts with a pair of touchdowns. His first TD was scored on a 10-yard run at 8:43 in the third quarter to give UND the lead of the game, a 21-14 advantage. He second touchdown came at 3:38 in the fourth quarter as he brought the ball in from five-yards out to give UND the eventual 31-17 win.
Sutton also added 45 yards on three receptions.
Junior quarterback Jake Landry (Grand Forks, N.D.) was 14-for-22 to come away with 181 yards. He also racked up 92 ground yards, including a 28-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
Backup quarterback Brent Goska (So., Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) played limited, but quality time. With 40 seconds remaining in the first half, Goska jumped in to take over for Landry and came away with an eight-yard touchdown strike to senior Ryan Konrath (WR, White Bear Lake, Minn.) to take the game into the break with Cal Poly leading 17-14.
Wide receiver Ismael Bamba (So., Montreal, Quebec) came away with 104 yards on seven catches, including a 32-yard reception late in the third quarter to help set up a 47-yard field goal for senior Brandon Hellevang (K/P, Fargo, N.D.).
Defense was a key factor in UND's win as the Mustangs were held to under 70 yards rushing with no touchdowns on the ground. Before today, Cal Poly was averaging 206.9 yards rushing per game.
The Fighting Sioux forced three fumbles, grabbed two interceptions and sacked the quarterback twice. Junior Ryan Kasowski (Grand Forks, N.D.) and senior Link Gottbeheat (DL, Tomah, Wis.) were each credited with a solo sack and an assisted sack for a loss of eight yards a piece.
Kasowski led UND with seven tackles (four solo) and was credited with one of the forced fumbles. The other two fumbles were caused by junior Ty Boyle (DL, International Falls, Minn.) and sophomore Dan Hendrickson (LB, Minot, N.D.). Junior Curtis Dublanko (FB, Thorsby, Alberta) recovered the ball after Boyle knocked it loose. His recovery sparked the touchdown play between Goska and Konrath.
Boyle also got a hand on the 41-yard field goal attempt by Pinto causing the ball to fly wide left.
Dublanko helped close the game out on a high note as he collected the first interception of his career and brought it back downfield 16 yards. Also in the fourth quarter, junior Joel Schwenzfeier (Hallock, Minn.) grabbed his fifth interception of the season. He is now tied with nine others at No. 9 in regular-season, single-season interceptions.
Cal Poly quarterback Tony Smith went 10-for-19 for 173 yards, including a 60-yard pass in the opening quarter. All four Cal Poly running backs were held to under 25 yards apiece. Dominique Johnson, the recipient of the 60-yard toss, managed 91 yards on three catches to lead the Mustangs.
"You saw the team that we can be," said Mussman. "We have to play pretty perfect football. We can't make a lot of mistakes; we have to be pretty solid. You saw that today, particularly in the second half. You saw a very solid team and a very hungry team. That's the passion we have to have every time we play the game."
After holding UND to just 21 yards on its opening drive, the Mustangs used the 60-yard pass play from Smith to Johnson to move themselves to the UND25. After a tipped pass by senior Jeff Tescher (LB, Bismarck, N.D.) and a sack by Kasowski, UND forced Cal Poly to end the six-play, 66-yard drive with a 39-yard field by Chris Pinto.
Less than five minutes later, the Mustangs upped the margin by seven more points as Smith found Jon Hall for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
On the ensuing UND drive, CP's Brandon Roberts caused Landry to lose control of the ball. With the recovery by Kenny Jackson, the Mustangs regained possession on the UND 38-yard line. On this drive Cal Poly would fall short of a score as Pinto's 41-yard field goal attempt flew wide left due to a tip by Boyle.
The Fighting Sioux used the newfound possession to cut the lead down to three as Landry rushed his way to a 28-yard touchdown. Inside the six-play, 76 yard drive, Landry also scrambled for 14 yards.
At 10:47, Smith connected with Hall again, this time on a 30-yard strike to give Cal Poly a 17-7 lead.
And that is where the score would stay until just 33 ticks remained in the half.
After forcing the Mustangs to their first three-and-out of the game, the quarterback combination of Landry and Goska helped move the ball 77 yards for the touchdown. A mix of Landry, Sutton, Konrath took the ball 67 yards to set up Goska with a first-and-goal opportunity on the 10-yard line. After taking the ball two yards himself, Goska hit Konrath just inside the endzone to bring the score to 17-14 Cal Poly to close out the half.
With the same intensity that brought an end to the first half, UND forced the Mustangs to another three-and-out on their opening drive and then marched the ball 91 yards to the endzone to take a 21-17 lead as Sutton ran in from 10 yards out.
Through the remainder of the game, the Fighting Sioux kept the Mustangs silent while they continued to put points on the board. Less than two minutes into the final stanza, Hellebang connected with a 47-yard field goal to put UND up 24-17. After forcing Cal Poly to punt out of a 10-play drive, the Sioux used a string of rushes from Sutton and sophomore Catlin Solum (Fargo, N.D.) to move the ball 79 yards and into the endzone for a 14-point lead.
North Dakota is back in action on Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Alerus Center when it hosts Southern Oregon for a non-conference game. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
GAME NOTES: On this day, UND now holds a 10-4 overall record and is 6-2 when playing at home ... All-time, North Dakota holds a record of 599-357-30 ... Today's crowd of 6,711 is the smallest regular-season crowd in attendance at the Alerus Center ... UND's 2009 Hall of Fame Inductees were honored at halftime, including Shannon Burnell (FB), Mikki Cochrane (SB), Janine Etchepare (SW), Dixon Ward (Hockey) and the 1993 football team.
- Go Sioux -
