GREELEY, Colo.-- Visiting North Dakota used a methodical offense and a stifling defense to dominate Northern Colorado, 38-13, Saturday afternoon at Nottingham Field. UND, playing without star John Santiago, got big contributions from Brady Oliveira (123 yards rushing, 2TD) and James Johannesson (career-high 141 yards rushing) to record its second straight road win.
Santiago sustained an injury in last week's game against Idaho State and was a gametime decision Saturday. He ultimately did not play and gave way to Oliveira and Johannesson to do the damage. The duo combined for 264 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns as the Fighting Hawks out-gained the Bears, 474-201.
It was textbook clock control as North Dakota held the ball for 38:51 and rushed the 61 times in the win. That attempt total was tied for the most-ever by a team at Nottingham Field and UND's 351 net rushing yards ranked second all-time.
North Dakota (3-2) set the tone early, taking the opening kickoff and driving the field methodically, piling up five first downs and covering 15 plays to go 71 yards. Brady Leach capped it off with a career-long field goal of 37 yards and UND had a 3-0 lead after that 8:18 drive.
Near the end of the quarter, UND was forced to punt but Jaxson Turner jumped on a fumbled punt return deep in UNC territory to set up a great scoring chance. Nate Ketteringham took the third down play himself up the middle, barreling through to make it 10-0.
UNC got its first good fortune on the ensuing possession as a defensive pass interference call wiped out a Hayden Blubaugh interception and long return to give the Bears a first down at midfield. The home team would turn it into points as a Trey Riek 1-yard plunge put the Bears on the board, 10-7, with 10:13 to go in the half.
North Dakota continued to chew up game clock and the Bears searched for an answer to UND's ground game, going 85 yards in three-and-a-half minutes. Brady Oliveira scampered 15 yards to finish the drive and UND gained a 17-7 advantage. After the UND defense forced another punt, the Fighting Hawks pieced together a 12-play drive that spanned 68 yards and ended with another Ketteringham rushing touchdown for a commanding 24-7 lead at the break.
The halftime numbers were gaudy as the North Dakota defense didn't allow a pass completion until the final minute of the half as Keaton Mott went 2-for-11 for just 17 yards passing the entire half. Meanwhile, Ketteringham was 8-for-12 with 111 yards passing and two rushing touchdowns in a half that saw UND own the ball for 21:15.
UND kept it conservative in the second half, throwing just four times in the final 30 minutes and allowing the chains to be moved along the ground. True freshman Otis Weah even got in on the act taking his second career touch into the endzone as UND rushed for five scores and nearly six yards per attempt in the victory.
Ketteringham finished 9-for-16 passing for 123 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
The Fighting Hawks defense totaled nine tackles for loss with Austin Cieslak and Tanner Palmborg each garnering 2.0 TFLs.
North Dakota has a bye week before hosting Montana Oct. 13 at the Alerus Center.
Notes:
*North Dakota has won six straight in the series with Northern Colorado.
*Mason Bennett went into the game tied atop the FCS leaders in sacks and added one more to his total today.
*UND's marching band, the Pride of the North, made the trip to Greeley.
*Johannesson's previous career high was 93 yards rushing at Montana last season.
*It marked Oliveria's 10th career 100-yard game and the fifth by a UND player this season (Santiago- 2, Johannesson- 1).
*Cade Peterson had five punts for 199 yards, including a career-long 50-yarder and four inside the 20.
