SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.--No. 9-ranked Cal Poly defeated No. 12 North Dakota State 37-6 in NDSU's first Great West Football Conference game of the season Saturday, Oct. 8, before a crowd of 6,923 at Mustang Stadium.

After field goals of 39 and 22 yards by Mustang kicker Nick Coromelas, the Bison (4-2, 0-1) were down 6-0 after the first quarter.  Quarterback Anthony Garnett exploded in the second quarter throwing three touchdown passes. 

Garnett hit Tredale Tolver for a 63-yard strike 22 seconds into the second quarter giving Cal Poly (5-1, 3-0) a 13-0 lead. With 8:54 remaining, Ramses Barden hauled in a 16-yard score and fullback Adam George caught a 3-yard reception with 40 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Mustangs a 27-0 lead.

Garnett completed 11 of 16 passes for 166 yards and three TDs.

Cal Poly struck first in the second half when Coromelas hit his third field goal of the day from 37 yards out giving Cal Poly a 30-0 lead.

NDSU finally got into the scoring column late in the third quarter when running back Kyle Steffes scored from two yards out. The touchdown prevented North Dakota State from being shut out for the first time since 1995 when St. Cloud State blanked the Bison 34-0.  After a failed extra point, the Bison trailed 30-6.  Steffes finished the game with 93 yards on 23 carries.

Steffes moved to No. 10 on the NDSU's all-time rushing list passing Ken Rota (1965-67, 474-2,219 yards) and Mark Speral (1977-80, 596-2,264 yards). Steffes now has 2,276 career yards on 453 carries.  

Cal Poly completed the scoring when running back James Noble scampered 17 yards with 4:19 remaining in the ball game.  Noble finished the game with 161 yards on 20 carries.

The 31-point loss for the Bison was the largest defeat since UC Davis defeated NDSU 35-7 in 2002.

Quarterback Steve Walker was 9 of 18 for 89 yards and was pressured throughout ball game, getting sacked four times.  Receiever Kole Heckendorf was the Bison leading receiver catching four balls for 44 yards.

Senior linebacker Kole Zimmerman led the Bison defense with 10 tackles.

North Dakota State has a bye next week before their homecoming game against UC Davis (2-3, 0-1) Oct. 22 at the Fargodome at 1 p.m.  UC Davis was defeated by South Dakota State 16-14 in Sioux Falls on Saturday, Oct. 8.