CEDAR CITY, Utah--Halfback Kyle Steffes rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns and the defense came up with several big plays as No. 6-ranked North Dakota State defeated Southern Utah University 31-7 in a Great West Football Conference game played Saturday, Oct. 28, before a crowd of 3,165 at Eccles Coliseum. The Bison had lost both previous conference openers in 2004 and 2005.

North Dakota State (1-0 GWFC, 7-1) is scheduled to play at No. 18 UC Davis (1-2 GWFC, 4-4) at 3:05 p.m. (CST) Saturday, Nov. 4. The game is scheduled to be televised by WDAY-TV (ABC, Fargo) and Comcast Sports West. South Dakota State defeated UC Davis 22-21 in Brookings on Saturday.

Southern Utah's (0-3 GWFC, 3-6) offense started moving the football in the second half and scored on the opening drive. Quarterback Wes Marshall bolted up the middle to score from 18 yards out to cap a 12-play, 78-yards. The Thunderbirds cut the deficit to 21-7 with 9:34 left. Marshall rushed 18 times for 58 yards and completed 19 of 37 passes for 186 yards. Joey Hew Len caught six passes for 51 yards.  

North Dakota State answered back quickly with a Shawn Bibeau 34-yard field goal with 5:52 left in the third quarter. Bibeau tied the school record for field goals made in a season of 13 set twice previously by Aaron Pederson in 1999 and Ken Kubisz in 1983. During the drive, Steffes went over 100 yards for the sixth time this season and 18th time in his career. Steffes finished with 15 carries for 126 yards to push his season total to 917 yards.

The Bison defense came up with a critical play late in the third quarter when free safety Nick Schommer outjumped the SUU receiver in the end zone. It was Schommer's third interception of the season and sixth of his career. The pick led to a 14-play, 80-yard drive for NDSU that was capped off by Steffes' third TD run of the afternoon.

North Dakota State held a 385-286 advantage in total offense including 199 yards on the ground. Southern Utah had a 32:45 to 27:15 edge in time of possession, but converted on only 6 of 17 third down attempts compared to 7 of 11 for the Bison.

North Dakota State led 21-0 at halftime. Steffes rushed nine times for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns including a 53-yard jaunt late in the first period. Steffes scored on a 1-yard dive early in the second quarter 

Despite facing a blitz, Steve Walker connected with Matt Kittelson on a short pass that turned into a 32-yard score with 1:14 left in the first half. It's the sixth time in eight games the Bison have scored in the last two minutes of the first half.

North Dakota State defense came up huge again. Joe Mays and Brian Dahl combined to stop SUU's Johnny Sanchez in the backfield for a 3-yard loss on a fourth-and-one late in the first quarter. Mays had five tackles including a pair of tackles for loss.

Bison defensive tackle Justin Frick batted away a pair of Marshall pass attempts at the line of scrimmage. NDSU cornerback David Earl knocked away a pass from Southern Utah receiver LaRue Burley in the end zone to stop a drive with 3:21 left before halftime. The Thunderbirds missed a missed field goal and set up the Walker-Kittelson TD.

NDSU strong safety Craig Dahl broke Jared Essler's school career record for solo tackles. Dahl had four solo tackles for the game and now has 126 in his career. Essler set the previous mark was 123. Ramon Humber led the Bison with 11 tackles. Frick had seven tackles including four solo stops, one tackle for loss and a half-sack.

Walker completed 16 of 23 passes for 186 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His favorite target was fullback Tyler Roehl, who caught a career-high five passes for 70 yards. Kole Heckendorf made four receptions for 51 yards. Travis White made three catches for 18 yards and extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 22.