It was 25 years in the making, but Thursday night at James S. Malosky Stadium, the University of Minnesota Duluth football team made sure its rivalry with Northern Michigan University was more than relevant.

The Bulldogs offensively overwhelmed the Wildcats 47-10 behind the superb play of redshirt sophomore quarterback Kyle Walljasper, who both threw and passed for a career-high five touchdowns while rushing for a career-best 129 yards. 

UMD made its own history, scoring the most points against a NMU side in 13 all-time meetings, and it turned in the ninth-most points in a season-opener ever. It also marked the most points by a Bulldog squad in an opener since UMD put up 52 in 2019.

The Bulldogs first touchdown of the season came just minutes into its opening quarter, a 24-yard QB sneak by Walljasper at 11:37. The Bulldogs went to the air for their next touchdown at 2:40, a 32-yard toss to redshirt senior Sam Pitz to stretch UMD's lead to 13-0 after a two-point conversion was stopped.

Sophomore running back Jaylen McKnight punched in his first career TD from three-yards out as the first quarter ran down, and after the first 15 minutes of play, UMD owned a 20-0 lead.

NMU finally got on the board with a field goal at 12:16 of the second quarter, and Wildcat quarterback Mariana Valneti threw a 17 yard pass to Sam Peiffer to cut the Bulldog lead to 10 at 7:57. 

But it was all UMD from there, and it started with an interception by senior DB Ty'Rhae Gibson, who reeled in a overthrown Wildcat throw on NMU's seven yard line. The pick set up another quarterback keeper from Walljasper – this time for 15-yards.

Walljasper (who had 129 rushing yards and 64 passing yards at halftime) went to the air for his second passing touchdown just six seconds before the second quarter expired, a one-yard dart to the back corner of the end zone to redshirt sophomore DaShaun Ames – his first as a Bulldog. Cox added the extra point to make it a 34-10 UMD advantage into the locker room.

UMD's defense picked up its own touchdown early in the third quarter when Ty'Rhae Gibson's twin brother, Ty'Rese Gibson, pulled in his own pick-six, a 62-yard touchdown to bolster the Bulldogs into a 40-10 lead. 

Redshirt freshman Nick Ojile notched his first career TD at the 6:14 mark of the third, pulling in a pass up the middle in traffic from Walljasper for 10 yards. Ojile's reception, along with Cox's extra point, pushed UMD ahead of the Wildcats 47-10, the same score that would stand for the final.

In all, three UMD players earned their first collegiate touchdowns – McKnight, Ames and Ojile, while UMD went a perfect 3-of-3 in the red-zone. UMD compiled a total of 492 yards on offense, including 354 on the ground. Walljasper rushed for two touchdown passes and threw for three for a total of five –surpassing his previous career best of four, and his 129 rushing yards bested his previous mark of 123, set just last season against Mary on Oct. 8, 2022.

The Bulldogs, who stepped out of conference play against a non-conference opponent in regular season play for the first time since 2010, will step back into Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action next Saturday when they head to Aberdeen, S.D. to face Northern State University. Kick-off is set for 6:00 p.m.