UMD Athletics

The No. 24 University of Minnesota Duluth football team turned in a statement win Saturday, knocking off No. 9 Minnesota State State, Mankato 33-21 at Blakesee Stadium in Mankato, Minn.

The triumph pushes the Bulldogs overall record in the regular season to an impressive 9-2 and 8-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

After a scoreless first quarter which included a missed 53-yd kick by the Mavericks, MSU broke the defensive stalemate in what would become a flurry of offense for both teams in the final eight minutes of the second quarter.

It started with a six yard run for the Mavericks from Hayden Ekern at the 8:10 mark, but exactly two plays later, quarterback Kyle Walljasper hit WR DaShaun Ames down the sideline for a 44 yard TD. After a Curtis Cox PA tied it up, MSU retook the lead four minutes later off a 32-yd pass from Hayden to TreShawn Watson.

 

Less than two minutes after the Mavericks went ahead 14-7, UMD again pulled even. A Chamere Thomas 24 yard run setup a Walljapser 1-yd jaunt into the endzone, and with 1:17 left in the frame, the game was even once more at 14-14.

But the Bulldogs defense stifled the Mavericks in the final 1:17 of the half, which included a sack from Mac Strand, and after UMD got the ball back with no time left on the clock, Cox nailed a 39 FG to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at halftime, a 17-14 spread in favor of UMD..

UMD carried that momentum into the third quarter, shutting down the MSU offense that started the frame with possession. Ames then struck again on a reverse and turned it into an 8-yard touchdown run that put the Bulldogs up 24-14 at the 11:59 mark. Cox tacked on another three points at 1:20 in the third quarter from 45 yards out – a season-long FG for the senior – to push UMD ahead 27-14.

MSU got on the board with 6:36 left in the fourth on a 19-yard run from Hayden, but Walljasper found Jimmy Durocher just over a minute later on a 62-yard touchdown pass to make it a 33-21 game with 5:30 left.

Fifth-year defensive back Marcus Glodowski muted the Mavericks for good with 2:54 remaining with his third interception of the season at UMD's 40, and followed it up with a 48 yard return to MSU's 12 to seal the Bulldogs biggest win – a road one at that – of the year.

UMD's defense was the story of the second half, and junior linebacker Mac Strand led the way with a career-best 16 tackles, including a sack. Six Bulldogs had five or more tackles in the game, including Glodowski (7), Ty'Rese Gibson (6), Alex Sylvester (6), Andrew Klopp (5) and Jacob Mogenson (5). 

While Walljasper recorded 210 yards in the air with two TDS and added 98 on the ground with one rushing touchdown, Durocher and Ames had career days for UMD. Durocher had a career-high 152 yards in the air with a TD, while Ames posted his first two-touchdown game with one TD reception and one rushing touchdown.

All told, the Bulldogs posted 210 passing yards and 154 rushing yards for a total 364 on the day. MSU had 232 passing yards and 136 on the ground for 368, but were forced to punt five times while UMD only punted on three occasions. The Bulldogs also converted almost half of their third downs (6-of-13), while holding the Mavericks to just six successful attempts in 16 tries.

UMD will wait to see if an NCAA postseason awaits it when the NCAA Selection Show gets underway Sunday night at 5:00 p.m.