Box Score
STATESBORO, Ga. -- No. 11 North Dakota State outscored No. 21 Georgia Southern 20-0 in the second half and scored the last 27 points in the Bison's 34-14 victory before a crowd of 13,892 at Allen E. Paulson Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 7.
North Dakota State is off to its first 5-0 start since 2000, when the Bison went 7-0 to begin the year.
After a scoreless first quarter, the two teams scored touchdowns on the first four possessions of the second quarter. Georgia Southern (2-3) got on the board first with a 1-yard TD run by running back Chris Covington to make it 7-0.
The Bison responded on the ensuing drive when quarterback Steve Walker scored on a 2-yard TD run to tie the game at 7.
The Eagles came back with their second touchdown when Lamar Lewis scored from five yards out to give the Eagles the lead at 14-7.
But for the third straight week, North Dakota State scored with under 30 seconds left in the first half. Walker connected with Travis White on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left to tie the game at 14. The Bison converted three important third downs during the drive which included Walker scrambling 12 yards for one first down and hooking up with wide receiver Kole Heckendorf to secure two more. Heckendorf led all Bison receivers with four catches and 71 yards.
Third downs were key for the NDSU offense. The Bison converted 11 of 17 third down plays in the football game.
NDSU's defense was the story of the second half. After Walker connected with Heckendorf on a 38-yard TD pass to make the score 21-14, NDSU's Justin Frick recovered a fumble which was forced by defensive end Joe Lardinois to stop the Eagles' momentum.
The Bison scored again right before the end of the third quarter when running back Kyle Steffes ran it in from three yards out to make the score 28-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Steffes ended the game with 128 yards on 26 carries, his fourth 100-yard game of the season and the 16th of his career. He also moved to No. 4 on the all-time rushing list, passing former Bison great Tony Satter (3,212 yards). Steffes now has 3,269 yards on 672 carries in 34 career games.
The lone score in the fourth quarter came by way of the Bison defense when redshirt freshman cornerback Courtney Mitchell returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked making the score 34-14.
Mitchell's interception return for a TD was the first since 2005 when Scott Walter returned one 29 yards for a score in NDSU's 35-7 victory over Northwestern State on Sept. 10, 2005 .
North Dakota State's defense shut out the Eagles in the second half and held them to just four first downs. For the game, Georgia Southern was held to just 65 yards rushing. It was the first time the Eagles were held under 100 yards rushing since Dec. 2, 1995, a streak of 137 games.
Covington, the No. 4 rusher in I-AA heading into the game, was held to 22 yards on 11 carries.
Cornerback Craig Dahl led the Bison with nine tackles and linebacker Ramon Humber had 1.5 tackles for loss.
The Bison outgained the Eagles 349-286 and were able to control the ball almost twice as long in the second half.
Walker shook off a rough start to finish the game going 14-of-26 for 171 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The interception was his first interception in 116 pass attempts. Walker also moved up to No. 4 on NDSU's all-time passing yards list (3,628) passing Graig Gorder (3,559).
North Dakota State (5-0) is scheduled to host Mississippi Valley State (3-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, in the annual homecoming game at the Fargodome.
