PORTLAND, Ore. – The North Dakota football team knocked off No. 16 Portland State 19-17 in a physical Big Sky contest at Hillsboro Stadium on Saturday afternoon. In a matchup that pitted two of the best defenses in the league, neither side disappointed as UND (4-1, 2-0 BSC) held on for the two-point win over the upstart Vikings (3-1, 1-1 BSC).

Sophomore quarterback Keaton Studsrud and freshman running back John Santiago each rushed for more than 100 yards and Reid Taubenheim equaled his career-high in field goals with four in what was the first victory for a road team in this series.

Taubenheim's final make on his perfect day came from 29 yards out on the team's opening drive of the fourth quarter and proved to be the game winner.

“That was a gutty win right there,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “We overcame a lot of adversity and some of it was self-inflicted, but our guys responded and found a way to get a big road win here against a really physical football team.”

Santiago's 111 rushing yards led a UND ground attack that racked up 260 yards on a PSU defense that had yielded a total of 192 rushing yards during its 3-0 start to the season. Studsrud added a career-high 107 yards on 16 carries and it was his 32-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave UND its first lead of the game at 16-10.

Studsrud's third rushing score of the season came following PSU's only turnover of the game and capped a two-play, 62-yard drive that included a 30-yard pass completion to tight end Luke Mathewson. The junior finished with three catches for 51 yards.

Things looked murky early on as the home team got on the board with the first play of the game when quarterback Alex Kuresa connected with wide receiver Paris Penn on a 76-yard touchdown reception that was the result of a miscommunication in UND's defensive secondary. 

The unit would settle in after that, allowing only 10 points the rest of the way and those came on drives that PSU started on UND's 10 and 2-yard lines following turnovers. 

Studsrud finished 9-for-17 for 136 yards through the air, while PSU only amassed 171 yards of total offense after the big play to start the game.

Taubenheim made all four of his field goal attempts with two coming in each half. He hit a key 41-yarder midway through the third quarter that was into a stiff breeze and snuck just over the crossbar. Taubenheim also had makes from 23 and 37 yards.

UND will return to action next Saturday at the Alerus Center as Idaho State visits for the 2015 Homecoming contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. CT.

GAME NOTES: Today's game captains were seniors Zach Adler, Brandon Anderson, Dayo Idowu and Will Ratelle … UND moves to 4-1 for the first time since starting the 2008 season – its first at the Division I level – with four straight triumphs … The 2-0 start in Big Sky play is the first for UND in its four seasons in the league and first for the program in conference play since the 2007 squad won its first four North Central Conference games … UND took a 4-2 lead in the all-time series with Portland State and became the first road team to pick up a win ... Junior Luke Mathewson had career-highs in receptions (3) and yardage (51) … Reid Taubenheim equaled his career-high in field goals with four (also had four at Northern Colorado last season) … Freshman John Santiago rushed 22 times for 111 yards to post his third 100-yard rushing game of the season … Senior Will Ratelle and sophomore Cole Reyes shared the team lead in tackles with eight … Seven of Ratelle's stops were solo.

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