And the beat goes on -- but it wasn't easy.

Coming into Saturday night's showdown with Bemidji State University, the University of Minnesota Duluth had never lost a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division home game or to the Beavers at James S. Malosky Stadium. 

The No. 11 Bulldogs kept both of those impressive streaks intact -- but they needed to work a couple of overtimes to do it -- by prevailing 26-19 over their long-time intrastate rivals. The win boosted UMD's 2018 record to 4-0 while Bemidji State (3-1) fell from the ranks of the unbeatens.

"Our guys deserve to feel good about themselves," said UMD Head Coach Curt Weise. "You have to give Bemidji State a lot of credit. We knew going in that we were going to have our hands full in all three phases of the game. For it to come down to double overtime was kind of what we expected, to be honest."

The Beavers, who now are 0-20-0 lifetime at Malosky Stadium (which opened in 1966) and have dropped 23 straight games to the Bulldogs in Duluth (since posting a 34-0 triumph way back in 1941), trailed the entire evening until going up 19-16 late in the third quarter. UMD answered on its ensuing possession, getting a 22-yard touchdown strike from sophomore quarterback John Larson to sophomore wide out Johnny McCormick. Bemidji State drew even with a field goal midway through the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs then mounted a seven-minute drive, eventually getting down to the Beaver four-yard line. With less than a minute to go in regulation, junior Dan Branger's potential game-winning field goal from 21 yards out sailed left. Branger had nailed a 34-yarder earlier in the game.

After both teams missed field goal tries in the first overtime, UMD opened the second extra session by scoring four plays in on a two-yard run by redshirt freshman running back Wade Sullivan. Bemidji State took over and following a five-yard gain, a holding penalty, and two incompletions, quarterback Alec Ogden was sacked by senior nose tackle Dre Greer and sophomore linebacker Nate Pearson on fourth down. That sealed the Bulldogs' 17th consecutive triumph over Bemidji State and made them 7-1 in their last eight overtime games.

The Bulldogs took a 9-0 lead into the second half thanks to Sullivan (one yard run in the second quarter) and junior placekicker Cameron Hausman (a 45-yard field goal on the final play before halftime). Sullivan finished with 89 rushing yards and the pair of touchdowns on 26 carries while Larson ran 14 times for a game-high 90 yards. He also completed 19 of 36 passes for 242 yards with one interception. His favorite target was senior wide out Jason Balts, who had five receptions before being sidelined with an injury in the third quarter.

Bemidji State, which came into the weekend sporting the nation's highest scoring offense, managed just 13 first downs on the night and 295 total yards (226 below its season average). UMD rolled up 460 yards of total offense, including 187 on the ground (compared to 46 yards for the Beavers). Junior free safety Bill Atkins had a hand in a career-high and team-leading nine tackles while senior Bryce Juedes was credited with seven stops.

The Bulldogs will remain at home next Saturday (Sept. 29) to host Concordia University-St. Paul for their first NSIC interdivision assignment of 2018.