FARGO, ND--North Dakota State dominated visiting Western State of Colorado here Saturday night in posting a 66-10 non-conference football win over the Mountaineers.

Keyed by a pair of Lamar Gordon touchdown runs in the first quarter, NDSU bolted to a 28-3 lead after the first 15 minutes and ballooned that to 45-3 at halftime.

Gordon, the senior runningback and Harlon Hill Trophy candidate, carried the ball 21 times for 132 yards and three scores including TD runs of eight and 13 yards in the opening period and a 39-yard explosion in the third quarter.

Quarterbacks Graig Gorder (8 for 11, 141 yards) and Jason Jordan (1 for 3, 83 yards) each threw for one touchdown. Senior runningback DeShawn Perkins chipped in with 41 yards and two TDs while sophomore runningback Darrin O'Leary picked up 80 yards on 11 carries including a 29-yard TD run.

The Bison defense was very active in the win, recording five quarterback sacks, limiting Western State to just 66 yards rushing, and scoring once on an eight-yard fumble return by linebacker Chad Simmers.

The win was the 18th straight at home for the second-ranked NCAA Division II national power. NDSU is 2-0 on the season and will host Division I-AA foe Maine on Saturday afternoon.

Western State fell to 0-2.

The Bison put together another balanced attack, running for 293 yards and passing for 224 yards.