SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State pulled away in the second half to post a 38-0 victory over North Dakota in front of a record home crowd of 18,386 at Plaster Stadium. The Bears (2-1) led 14-0 at halftime and senior quarterback Kierra Harris threw three second-half touchdown passes to put the game away in what was the first meeting between the two teams on the gridiron.

Both teams forced three turnovers in the contest, but the Bears were able to turn theirs into 21 points, while UND (1-2) could not get on the scoreboard following any of Missouri State's three fumbles.

“I was disappointed at halftime because I felt like we missed some opportunities to score and we gave up a score because of a poor decision on special teams and by not protecting the ball when we were backed up,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. ”I felt like we were still in the game, but we just didn't generate enough on the offensive side.

“Defensively, we made plays to give us some opportunities, but we were not able to convert those into points. We never really had any momentum tonight.”

After a scoreless first quarter where the teams combined for five punts, the MSU defense put the first points of the game on the board early in the second quarter. Nose tackle Cecil Bratton fell on a loose ball in the end zone after Joe Mollberg fumbled after being sacked by Sean Bernard.

After the UND offense went three-and-out, junior Garrett Reineke came up with one of those forced fumbles for the visitors on the opening play of Missouri State's next drive. He stripped Julian Burton of the ball after the only completion of the second quarter for MSU and Alec Carrothers recovered the fumble to give UND its best starting position at the MSU 44-yard line.

Mollberg drove UND down to 11-yard line, but missed on a third-down pass and Reid Taubenheim was wide right on a 29-yard field goal attempt to keep the Bears advantage at 7-0.

After four punts and a lost fumble on his team's first five possessions, Missouri State quarterback Kierra Harris was finally able to crack the UND defense on the Bears' final possession of the first half.  Harris opened the scoring drive with a 28-yard rush, then capped it with 22 seconds remaining in the half on a 4-yard carry.

That touchdown put Missouri State up by 14 at the half as Harris would go onto account for all four of the Bears' offensive scores. He finished 11-for-16 for 149 yards through the air and added 41 yards on the ground.

Meanwhile, sophomore Joe Mollberg struggled to find a rhythm, finishing 9-for-24 for 70 yards and two interceptions for the visitors, who mustered only seven first downs in the contest and were forced to punt 11 times. It was the first time UND was shutout since the 2010 season opener at Idaho.

Still down only 14, UND's defense forced another turnover on the Bears' opening possession of the second half, but the offense could only move the ball to midfield before freshman Connor Bolduc had to punt for the sixth time in the game.

This time Harris put his team into the end zone thanks to a 37-yard scoring strike to Willis Chambers. His first touchdown pass of the game came on a 3^rd-and-9.

Senior Baylee Carr forced UND's third fumble of the game and set up the offense on the 35-yard line, but after a pair of carries by senior Adam Shaugabay, Mollberg was picked off on third down to squelch that scoring chance.

Harris would lead his team to another touchdown on the Bears' ensuing drive, connecting with LeMarcus Stewart from 40 yards out this time to push their lead to 28-0.

The Missouri State defense would force its third turnover early in the fourth quarter when Alexz Jones intercepted Mollberg and ran the ball back to the UND 5-yard line. Harris tossed his third scoring pass of the game on the next play, finding Gannon Sinclair in the back of the end zone.

Shaugabay finished with career-highs in carries (19) and rushing yards (52), but the visitors could manage only 166 yards of total offense. Senior R.J. McGill had a team-high three catches for 40 yards.

UND returns home Saturday, Sept. 20, to host Stony Brook at 6 p.m. 

Game Notes: Game captains were seniors Dwayne Pecosky and Alex Tillman along with juniors Brandon Anderson and Will Ratelle ... Junior Kyle Woodsmall – one of two Missouri natives on the team – made his first career start … With 11 tackles, junior Will Ratelle has already established a new career-high for tackles in a season with 33 through three contests – he had 25 in both his freshman and sophomore seasons … Sophomore Taj Rich registered a career-high 10 tackles and recovered a fumble … Idaho was the last team to shutout North Dakota (45-0; 2010 season opener) … Freshman Connor Bolduc averaged 42.7 yards on 11 punts, including a career-long 59-yarder.

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