The No. 11 (AFCA) and No. 8 (D2Football.com) University of Minnesota Duluth football team claimed the program's 22nd NSIC Championship title and 13th North Division title after downing Minot State University 33-7 on the road.

This regular-season finale win marked the program's regular-season conference record at 9-1 to give the team its first unshared title since the 2012 season. This is also their first undisputed North Division title since the 2019 season. This marks the program's 11^th unshared overall title (1934, 1937, 1980, 1985, 1996, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and now 2025) and 11^th unshared North Division title (2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and now 2025). This also marks head coach Curt Wiese's eighth North Division title and fourth overall title since taking over the program in 2013.

Kyle Walljasper led the offense with 157 net rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 122 passing yards, and one throwing touchdown. Backing up Walljasper on the rush was Francis O'Mally, with not only 57 net rushing yards but also leading the receiving end with 32 yards on only two receptions.

The first quarter started with the Bulldogs' own Jadon Apgar sending a 65-yard kickoff that ended in Minot starting at their own 13-yard line. The UMD defense would bend but not break, only allowing a gain of 21 yards in seven plays by the Beavers. MSU's first drive ended with Gavin Skelton stopping a fourth-down attempt to start the Bulldog offense at the Minot 34-yard line.

The Bulldogs went on a nine-play drive to score off a rush of two yards by Walljasper to force a 7-0 lead with help from a Drew Henson kick. However, a determined effort on the following drive by the Beavers tied the game up at 7-7 with 2:28 left in the first quarter.

UMD's next drive sputtered out at the MSU 25-yard line, but the defense continued to dominate, only allowing a gain of five yards to force a punt by Minot. The next Bulldog drive saw the final scoring action before halftime. The drive opened with a 19-yard pass from Walljasper to O'Malley to get near midfield. Walljasper then went on a determined rushing drive, which included a 19-yard and 14-yard rushing gain on back-to-back plays. Ultimately, the drive would again be determined by Walljasper's legs in a one-yard rush to help regain a 14-7 lead.

The Bulldog defense continued to halt the Minot rush attack, including the final drive being stopped on UMD's own 18-yard line, where Jarret Bennet stepped up to tackle a rush from Carson Chrisman. With the ball back with 48 seconds to go before the halftime break, the UMD offense was held to the MSU 33-yard line, where a long field goal attempt by Henson fell short.

Coming out of halftime, the Bulldogs began a long over-six-minute scoring drive of 75 yards to push a staggering 20-7 lead after another short two-yard rush from Walljasper. Again, the Bulldog defense silenced the Minot rushing game, allowing only seven yards and forcing a punt that allowed the offense to get started at the UMD 43-yard line. From there, the Bulldogs pulled out of reach with another rushing touchdown, this time from O'Malley to force a 26-7 lead with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter.

MSU failed on their final four drives of the game while UMD tacked on one final scoring drive off Walljasper's only passing touchdown of the game to Nathan Litke on a 12-yard gain. With a Henson kick, the score would remain at 33-7 for the duration of the final quarter.

The Bulldog defense held the NSIC's top rushing offense to only 12 first downs and allowed only two of nine third-down conversions, with zero of three fourth-down conversions. UMD also held down Minot's quarterback Chrisman to only 76 net rushing yards, down from his 137 yards last week against Northern State. The offense drove down the clock with 35:38 of possession time.

The defensive effort was led by Ross Rivord with a  career-high 10 total tackles (five solo, five assisted), with Jarrett Bennet following close behind with nine total tackles (seven solo, two assisted). Joey Krouse had the team's lone interception that halted one of MSU's drives in the third quarter. Allen Pearson Jr. and Brysen McLeod split the lone sack of the day.

The Bulldogs now await the NCAA II Selection Show tomorrow at 5 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES: Kyle Walljasper continues to climb in program history with being on track for the No. 8 slot in single-season total offense (overtaking his 2023 season)… pending the outcome of tomorrow's NCAA Selection Show, it would mark the program's 12th NCAA II Playoff selection (sixth under Curt Wiese).