MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.--North Dakota State University, ranked fourth in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, formerly I-AA) surprised much of the college football world following their 44-14 runaway win over Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member Central Michigan University before a crowd of 16,522 at Kelly-Shorts Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 22.

Thanks in part to a career-high eight catches from Alex Belquist, 143 yards rushing from Tyler Roehl and a 25-for-30 passing day from quarterback Steve Walker, the Bison defeated the defending Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion Chippewas.

This was the second win for NDSU (3-0) against a FBS school is as many years. The Bison are now 4-0-1 all-time against current MAC schools. CMU (1-3) was 10-4 a season ago and were champions of the Motor City Bowl. The 30-point home loss is the worst for CMU since 2001 when the Chippewas lost 34-3 to Ohio University.

Belquist finished with 122 yards receiving while Roehl carried the ball a total of 30 times and added three touchdowns. Walker finished with 261 yards passing and one touchdown to Jerimiah Wurzbacher. Pat Paschall also found the end zone on one of his eight carries.

NDSU was efficient in time of possession but struggled to find the end zone early. A pair of Shawn Bibeau field goals of 34 and 22 yards gave the Bison a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Bibeau added another field goal, 26-yarder, at the end of the first half. He matched his own career-high of three field goals set last season against Minnesota, Ball State and Northeastern.

After a CMU touchdown Walker then led the Bison 60 yards in just 1:43 to set up Bibeau's final field goal. It was the ninth scoring drive in the final two minutes of the first half led by Walker in the last 14 games for NDSU. The Bison led 16-7 at halftime.

Third quarter touchdowns by Roehl and Paschall gave NDSU a comfortable lead at 30-7 before CMU responded with seven points of its own and brought the score 30-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

Two more Roehl scoring runs of 33 and 4 yards put the final tally on the game.

North Dakota State held a 436-311 advantage in total offense. The Bison held a lopsided 36:23 to 23:27 edge in time of possession. The NDSU offensive line didn't allow a sack and only one CMU tackle for loss. 

Defensively, the Bison were lead by Joe Mays, who recorded the fifth double-digit tackle game of his career. The senior linebacker finished with two solo stops and 11 total tackles. Linebacker Ramon Humber added nine tackles and Nick Schommer a career-high eight stops.

Linebacker Mike Maresh recorded an interception that halted an early CMU drive and senior cornerback David Earl recorded his second interception is as many games late in the fourth quarter. The NDSU defense came up big throughout the afternoon, forcing the Central Michigan offense in a 2 of 11 conversion rate on third down and 1 of 5 in fourth down tries.

The Bison had no turnovers on the day.

 Dan LeFevour was 25 of 40 passing for the Chippewas for 186 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. LeFevour also was the leading rusher for CMU with 49 yards.

The win for the Bison comes on the same day that fellow FCS member and top-rated Appalachian State lost 42-31 to Southern Conference member Wofford.

CMU was the first of two FBS opponents the Bison will face this season as they travel Minnesota on Oct. 20. NDSU will now travel to Macomb, Ill., next weekend to play Western Illinois (3-1) starting at 1:05 p.m. (Central time) Saturday, Sept. 29. The Leathernecks defeated Stephen F. Austin 34-13 on Saturday night.