Sunday, October 14, 2007

North Dakota State 58, Mississippi Valley State 7
























Courtesy: NDSU Athletic Media Relations

Photo: Shamen Washington returned the second half kick a career long 96 yards to help NDSU defeat Mississippi Valley State, 58-7.

ITTA BENA, Miss.--The North Dakota State University Bison lived up to their new No. 1 ranking Saturday, October 13, with a 58-7 win over Mississippi Valley State in front of 4,986 fans at Rice-Totten Stadium. It was the 10th straight win for the Bison and dropped MVSU to 1-5 overall.

Eight different NDSU players scored touchdowns as the Bison (6-0) remain undefeated heading into a matchup at the University of Minnesota next Saturday, October 20. The Golden Gophers were the last team to hand NDSU a loss when they defeated the Bison, 10-9, last season in the Metrodome.

Quarterback Steve Walker threw just 10 total passes but recorded three touchdowns. He finished the game 7-for-10 for 85 yards with the three touchdowns and one interception. He was replaced in the second quarter by Nick Mertens, who finished 6-8 for 112 yards and a three yard touchdown pass to Ryan Parsons.

Walker had touchdown passes of 16 yards to Pat Paschall, 18 yards to Gary Williams and of five yards to Jerimiah Wurzbacher. His final touchdown to Wurzbacher came at the 5:17 mark of the second quarter and gave the Bison a 30-0 lead heading into halftime.

NDSU used four different quarterbacks during the day in Walker, Mertens, Parsons and Mitch Brecke.

Shamen Washington returned the second half kickoff a career long 96 yards for a touchdown and Shawn Bibeau added the point after attempt for a 37-0 lead. Bibeau was a perfect 8-8 on extra points.

On the ground NDSU was led by Pete Blincoe, who carried the ball 16 times for 113 yards that included a touchdown at the 6:23 mark of the fourth quarter to put NDSU’s final points on the board and make the score 58-0. For MVSU, Ryan Burciaga hit Rob Fox with a five-yard touchdown pass at the 2:16 mark of the fourth quarter to break the shutout and put the final tally on the game at 58-7.

Tyler Roehl carried the ball just five times for 60 yards and scored the game’s first touchdown with a 21-yard run. Paschall carried the ball 13 times for 72 yards.

Defensively, the Bison were lead by Nick Schommer and Ramon Humber who each recorded five solo tackles. Schommer added an interception and Humber had an eight-yard sack.

The Bison held an advantage in total yards over MVSU of 469 to 163. NDSU averaged 10.9 yards per play. It turned the ball over two times.

North Dakota State will play the Gophers (1-6, 0-4 Big Ten Conference) starting at 11:07 a.m. Saturday, October 20, in the Metrodome. Minnesota lost Saturday to Northwestern 49-48 in double overtime. The Gophers held a 35-21 fourth quarter lead in the game.

No comments: