Playing what head coach Curt Wiese described as "maybe our most complete game of the year",  the University of Minnesota Duluth rolled to a 39-19 Homecoming victory over Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division rival Northern State University Saturday afternoon.

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The Bulldogs, who improved to 6-1 on the year, have won sixth straight games overall and 20 in a row at James S. Malosky Stadium.
 
"The special teams and defensive units did a great job against a good offensive team," said Wiese referring to Wolves club that had averaged 32 points and 211 yards rushing per game coming into the day. "When your offense scores a touchdown, your defense needs to come out and make a play and our defense did that today."
 
UMD, which for the third straight Saturday held a lead from start to finish, was up 8-7 after one quarter thanks to a 31-yard reverse direction touchdown run by senior wide out Beau Bofferding.  The Bulldogs added three more rushing scores (a pair of one-yarders by junior offensive guard-turned-fullback Nolan Folkert and another by first-year freshman running back Jaleen Jones from five yards out) to take a 29-19 advantage into halftime. True freshman Cameron Hausman's 33-yard field goal senior running back Darren Walker's two-yard touchdown run in the second half rounded out the UMD scoring.
 
For the fifth time this season, UMD cracked the 500-yard mark for total offense, racking  up 299 yards passing and 211 yards on the ground. Northern State (3-4 overall) was held to 270 yards overall – 114 yards below its season average. That included 72 rushing yards (139.7 less than what it had been averaging) on 24 carries.
 
UMD senior quarterback Drew Bauer completed  18 of  33 passes for 290 yards (although he failed to throw a touchdown strike for the first time since Oct. 31, 2015 when UMD and Northern State last met) and rushed 12 times for a game-high 59 yards.  Junior wide out Nate Ricci led all pass catchers with six receptions for 146 yards.
 
"Nate is phenomenal player," said Bauer, who is 36-7 as a starter since taking over that role in the 2013 season opener. "He's a guy that's been there for me for three years now. Anytime I can get the ball out to him is good. I never have a doubt with him."
 
The Bulldogs, now a perfect 29-0 in lifetime NSIC North Division home games, will remain at Malosky Stadium next Saturday for a showdown with intrastate rival Bemidji State University (6-1).