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GRAND FORKS, N.D – Idaho State scored 22 unanswered points and rallied for a 37-31 victory over No. 23/25 North Dakota Saturday at the Alerus Center. UND (4-2, 2-1 Big Sky) led 31-15 after a 27-yard touchdown run by John Santiago late in the third quarter, but the Bengals (2-4, 1-2 BSC) spoiled Homecoming by picking up their first Big Sky win of the season and snapping a four-game losing streak.

Playing as a nationally-ranked team for the first time since the 2011 season, UND opened up a 31-15 advantage after Santiago scored his second rushing touchdown of the game.

Santiago finished with a career-high 155 rushing yards, but it was the Bengals' aerial attack led by signal caller Michael Sanders that proved to be the difference in the game. Sanders finished 32-for-48 for 427 yards and four scoring strikes, while reserve running back Jakori Ford scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the comeback.

Ford's 1-yard score made it a 31-29 contest at the 10:30 mark of the final stanza. On ISU's next drive after forcing a three-and-out, the junior took a 27-yard screen pass from Sanders into the end zone for the final go-ahead score at the 6:15 mark.

UND had a chance on its final possession, but a deep pass from reserve quarterback Ryan Bartels was just out of the reach of Santiago in the corner of the end zone on what was a fourth-and-five play from the ISU 39-yard line. The Bengals would run out the remaining 53 seconds on the clock.

Bartels led UND's final scoring drive of the game after he replaced starter Keaton Studsrud midway through the third quarter when the sophomore was injured on a sack by the ISU defense. Studsrud was 8-for-14 with 81 passing yards and two first-half scoring strikes when he left the contest.

A shaky start by UND allowed the Bengals to take a 6-0 lead on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Sanders to K.W. Williams, who was his favorite target on the day. Williams finished with 12 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns. After an offside penalty by UND on the first PAT attempt, the Bengals tried to go for the two-point conversion, but running back Xavier Finney was stopped short of the goal line.

ISU's first touchdown was the first of three that came on third down for the Bengals, but UND responded with its own third-down touchdown pass for its first points of the day when Studsrud connected with Seibel from 13 yards out. Sophomore Reid Taubenheim's point-after try was good to give the home team a 7-6 lead.

UND came up with its first blocked punt of the season on the next ISU drive and scored three plays later on a 14-yard run by Santiago that made it a 14-6 contest. The Bengals capped the next drive with their first field goal of the season as Zak Johnson trimmed the deficit to 14-9 with a make from 35 yards out.

Turnovers plagued UND in the first half as the Bengals turned their third one of the opening 30 minutes into a go-ahead touchdown. Sanders found Madison Mangum from 34 yards out on a third-and-one, but the Bengals once again failed on their 2-point conversion, leaving the score at 15-14. Mangum finished with 10 catches for 142 yards.

After Johnson missed from 34 yards out late in the half, Studsrud engineered a near flawless two-minute drill to give UND the lead back. He finished the late-scoring drive going 4-for-6 through the air for 39 yards and his 9-yard touchdown pass to Miguel Cerriteno was set up by a 38-yard carry. The touchdown reception was the first of Cerriteno's career and gave UND a 21-15 edge at halftime.

Studsrud led a 16-play, 47-yard drive that churned up over eight minutes to open the second half and ended with a 33-yard field goal by Taubenheim and put UND up 24-15. Unfortunately, it also ended the day for UND's starting signal caller, who was replaced by Bartels to start the next drive.

Bartels led a touchdown drive on his first snaps of the season as the junior had a career-long, 21-yard rush to set up Santiago's sixth rushing touchdown of the campaign.

Sanders led the Bengals right back though on a four-play drive that took only 55 seconds as he hit Williams in stride from 47 yards for the second scoring connection between those two in the game. That would be the first of three-consecutive touchdown drives ISU would reel off down the stretch.

UND returns to the road for Big Sky play next Saturday at Weber State. The visit to Ogden will be the first for UND in program history.

GAME NOTES: Captains for today's game were seniors Zach Adler, Brandon Anderson, Dayo Idowu and Will Ratelle … Freshman John Santiago finished with 311 all-purpose yards, rushing 24 times for a career-high 155 yards, returning four kickoffs for 152 yards and adding one reception for four yards … The 311-yard total is the third-best single-game performance in the FCS this season ... Santiago rushed for two touchdowns for the third time this season and leads the team with six in that category … The 100-yard rushing effort was his fourth of the season and third-straight to open Big Sky play … Classmate Brady Oliveira had season-highs with seven rushes for 40 yards … UND has rushed for 240 or more yards in all three Big Sky games this season (270 vs. ISU) … Adler finished with season-highs in catches (3) and receiving yards (57) … Senior Miguel Cerriteno caught the first touchdown pass of his career on a 9-yard reception in the second quarter … Junior Ryan Bartels took his first snaps at quarterback since the Southern Utah game on Oct. 25 last season … Ratelle finished with 13 tackles, which was his third double-digit tackle performance of the season … UND finished 10-for-17 on third-down conversions for the game, but were just 1-for-4 in the fourth quarter … The 480 yards of total offense allowed were the most surrendered this season by the Big Sky's top total defense entering the game … ISU won the turnover battle 3-0.

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