Minnesota Duluth played a hard fought football game against the Sioux Fall Cougars. UMD fought till the end but fell short 31-34. The loss leaves Minnesota Duluth with an overall record of 2-2 and keeps Sioux Falls undefeated at 4-0.

"Playing quality opponents on the road you can't afford to make mistakes in critical situations," said head coach Curt Wiese. "We did that today. Unfortunately it cost us a game. We knew they were a good team and we knew we would be tested. We failed the test."

The Bulldogs were off to a fast start against the Cougars. Minnesota Duluth had the first drive of the game. UMD's drive was eight plays for a gain of 65 yards. To finish the drive, Kyle Walljasper rushed up the middle 33 yards into the end zone. Curtis Cox followed the touchdown with a good field goal to put the Bulldogs at a lead of 7-0. The Cougars responded back with a six play drive for a touchdown and field goal to tie it up 7-7. The Bulldogs wanted the lead back, so they took it. On their next drive of 75 yards, UMD scored off nine plays. During the drive Garrett Olson completed a 30 yard pass to Sam Pitz for a first down. To score the touchdown and take the lead back Byron Bynum rushed nine yards. Sioux Falls followed the UMD's lead again with a five play drive to tie it up 14-14 at the end of the quarter. 

Going into the second quarter, Minnesota Duluth was looking to take the lead again. The Bulldogs made seven plays for 23 yards but came short of the end zone. To ensure they took the lead, Cox kicked for a 38 yard field goal that was good, putting them at 17-14. On the following Cougar drive they took back the lead with a touchdown to put them ahead 20-17. The Bulldogs had a strong offensive first half and fought hard but trailed by three. 

The Bulldog defense came off strong to start the second half. Defensive back Jarrett Bennett sacked quarterback Adam Mullen, for a loss of six yards and gave Sioux Falls their first QB sack of the season. The sack forced the Cougars to punt for the first time in the game. The game then switched to a defensive game where both teams were forced to punt for the next three drives. Sioux Falls put up another touchdown furthering their lead to 10 points. Offensively, UMD could not break through the defense and was held scoreless in the third.  

In the fourth quarter the Bulldogs looked to pick up traction and get back on the board. The quarter started off with a 4th down conversion for the Bulldogs after Olson completed a 14 yard pass to DaShaun Ames. To finish off the 11 play drive, Olson completed a pass to Bynum for his second touchdown of the game. On the next USF possession Drew Hennesey made a crucial fumble recovery to give possession back to UMD. The Bulldogs did not give up this opportunity to close the lead over the Cougars. In just four plays UMD gained 40 yards and Olson completed a seven yard pass to Bynum for his third touchdown of the game. Dayvia Gbor then had a huge interception at the Cougars 38 yard line. The Bulldogs tried to kick to further their lead but missed the post. With just under two minutes left in the game the Bulldogs were up 31-27. Unfortunately, the Cougars offense broke through the UMD defense and scored a last minute touchdown. The Bulldogs fought the last 45 seconds to get back to the end zone but fell short. 

The offense had a strong first half against the Cougars. In the first half the Bulldogs were only forced to punt on one drive. UMD led 347 to 329 in total offensive yards. The Bulldogs made 74 plays, to average 4.69 yards per play. Wide receiver Byron Bynum had a career high of three total touchdowns. Leading UMD with 90 rushing yards was Kyle Walljasper. 

The Bulldog defense was faced with a tough game as they were up against the highest ranked offense in the conference. The Bulldogs held the Cougars at just 329 yards. The defense picked up traction in the second half to make some big plays for UMD. Jarrett Bennett made a sack for a loss of six yards and gave Sioux Falls their first sack of the season. Dayvia Gbor notched another interception to give him three this season. Gbor has been the only Bulldog on defense to make an interception this season. In the fourth quarter Drew Hennessey made his first fumble recovery of the season and led UMD to another touchdown. Leading in tackles was linebacker Brad Dati with a new season high of 11. 

Up Next
Minnesota Duluth will be back at home next Saturday Oct. 1, 2022 at 12 p.m. for their homecoming game against Minnesota State Moorhead.