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FARGO, N.D. -- North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz threw four touchdown passes to lead the fourth-ranked Bison to a 34-9 victory over North Dakota in the first meeting between the two in-state rivals since 2003. Three of those passing scores came in a dominant second quarter by NDSU, who outscored the visitors 21-0 and took a 24-3 lead into halftime.

It was just the second win in six tries for NDSU (2-1) against UND (2-1) on its home field at the Fargodome where the Bison are 42-3 since 2010 and have won an FCS-best 25-straight games.

"I thought our guys fought and kept fighting when things could have gotten away from us after that second quarter," UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. "That is something you want to see from your team. Each week is a new week and we can learn from this as we start thinking about UC Davis and our Big Sky opener."

Sophomore Josh Seibel provided an early spark for UND as he returned NDSU's first punt 54 yards in the opening quarter to the Bison 22-yard line. NDSU's defense would not allow a first down, which would be a developing theme throughout the game, but the visitors got on the scoreboard first with a 36-yard field goal by Reid Taubenheim.

UND ran only six plays in the first quarter and did not net any yards thanks to an NDSU sack for a seven-yard loss.

NDSU was able to churn out 119 yards, but the same amount of points as the Bison's only scoring drive ended with a 28-yard field goal by Cam Pedersen that tied the score at 3-3.

The second quarter was a different story as the Bison defense shutdown UND's offense and put 21 points up via a trio of touchdown passes from Carson Wentz to build a 24-3 lead at halftime.

The first of those came with NDSU facing a 3^rd-and-10 when Wentz found Darrius Shepherd from 18 yards out in the end zone despite being blanketed in coverage by linebacker Brian Labat.

UND could not muster a first down in the opening 30 minutes as the squad netted zero yards on 12 rushes as two sacks negated any postive yardage for the visitors. UND also went 0-for-5 on third downs in the first half, while NDSU converted six of nine.

After Wentz's fourth touchdown pass of the game put the Bison ahead 34-3 midway through the third quarter, UND went three-and-out for the sixth-straight time, but Shepherd muffed the punt and Chris Brown fell on the loose ball to set up the visitors at the NDSU 35-yard line.

After a 28-yard completion and facemask penalty put the ball at the Bison 4-yard line, sophomore Keaton Studsrud found his way into the end zone on a quarterback keeper on 3^rd-and-goal from the one, but a failed two-point conversion left the deficit at 34-9.

That 1-yard sneak by Studsrud would be the final scoring of the game.

UND managed only three first downs in the contest and was held to 61 total yards, while the Bison were able to amass 377 yards of total offense with Wentz accounting for 262 of those thorugh the air on 18-of-27 passing.

R.J. Urzendowski led NDSU with five receptions for 88 yards and two touchdowns.

Studsrud finished 6-of-17 passing for 57 yards with Seibel leading the receivers with two catches for 30 yards. True freshman Brady Oliveira had six carries for 16 yards to pace the ground game.

GAME NOTES: Captains for today's game were seniors Zach Adler, Brandon Anderson, Dayo Idowu and Will Ratelle ... With the loss, UND now holds a 62-46-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1894 ... This was the first meeting between the two teams as Division I programs ... UND was forced into eight consecutive three-and-outs after Reid Taubenheim's 36-yard field goal on the opening drive of the game ... True freshman running back Iwarri Smith made his UND debut with two carries for three yards ... Senior Will Ratelle had a season-high 11 tackles and Cole Reyes had a career-high 10 stops to lead the UND defense ... It was the fourth double-digit tackle performance of Ratelle's career ... 

-- UND --