San Luis Obispo, Calif. -- The University of North Dakota football team dominated Cal Poly in a 45-21 victory to close the 2015 regular season with seven wins and keep its FCS playoff at-large hopes alive.
UND (7-4, 5-3 BSC) controlled the first half on both sides of the ball as the visitors opened up a 28-0 halftime lead on the Mustangs (4-7, 3-5 BSC).
The defense forced two turnovers and added a goal-line stand that the offense turned into 21 points.
"I thought it was a great team win," UND head coach
Bubba Schweigert. "We got the turnover early and scored points off that, then got the stop on fourth down and turned that into points by driving the ball down the field 99 yards.
"I reallly thought that set the tempo for the game. To be up 28-0 and not allow any points to this team at home was huge. They were a hot football team coming into this one."
The Fighting Hawks picked up their first turnover on Cal Poly's opening possession that
John Santiago turned into six points with a 14-yard touchdown run.
The Mustangs would drive down to the UND seven-yard line looking to the tie the game with a touchdown, but the defense would not allow that to happen as it stuffed Cal Poly on three attempts from the two-yard line.
Keaton Studsrud and company would then reel off a game-punctuating, 99-yard drive, eating up nearly seven minutes on 14 plays to go ahead 14-0.
Santiago found paydirt from 15 yards out this time and finished with his ninth 100-yard rushing game of the season. He reached the century mark in all eight Big Sky affairs, finishing the night with 27 carries for 117 yards and three touchdowns.
Studsrud would account for the half's final two scores, throwing touchdown passes to
Clive Georges and
Luke Stanley in the second quarter.
UND's signal caller was efficient all night, helping his team convert 7-of-11 third downs by going 17-for-20 through the air for 255 yards.
Georges' touchdown catch went for 64 yards, while Stanley's grab capped the first-half scoring from eight yards out.
Studsrud finished the half 9-for-11 for 163 yards as the offense racked up 302 total yards.
The defense held a potent Cal Poly offense to only 129 yards in the first 30 minutes.
In the second half, UND continued to dominate the game by finishing with 474 yards of offense on 70 plays.
Georges finished with five catches for 141 yards as UND closed the regular season with its first three-game winning streak of the campaign.
GAME NOTES: Captains for today's game were seniors
Zach Adler,
Brandon Anderson,
Dayo Idowu and
Will Ratelle ...
Ratelle finished with 11 tackles to push his season total to a team-high 110 and become first player since
Digger Anderson to register two 100-tackle seasons in their careers ... Freshman
John Santiago broke
Greg Hardin's single-season record for all-purpose yards with 196 in the game ... Santiago finished the regular season with 2,159 all-purpose yards to break Hardin's record of 2,017 set in 2013 ... Santiago had his ninth 100-yard rushing game of the season with 117 yards on 27 carries and equaled his season-high with three rushing scores ... He went over the century mark for rushing in all eight Big Sky games ...
Clive Georges is the first UND receiver with a 100-yard game since
Greg Hardin had 179 at UC Davis in 2013 (Nov. 16) ... Georges finished with season-highs in catches (5) and yards (141) and had his third receiving score of the season on a 64-yard reception in the second quarter ... The 153 rushing yards by Cal Poly was the lowest for the Mustangs since a 2011 loss at San Diego State (Sept. 3).
