FARGO, N.D.--Tyler Roehl rushed for 238 yards and three touchdowns as No. 4-ranked North Dakota State University overcame five turnovers to defeat Stephen F Austin 28-19 on Saturday, Sept. 8, before a crowd of 18,823 at the Fargodome. The Bison won their ninth straight season opener before the largest opening night crowd in school history.

Roehl, a junior from West Fargo, N.D., became the NDSU first running back since Rod Malone in 2003 to rush for over 200 yards in a game. Malone did it twice that season against Augustana and St. Cloud State.

Roehl entered the game rushing 10 times for 28 yards in 22 previous games for NDSU. His 238-yard effort is second best on the Great West Football Conference charts and fifth best all-time in NDSU history behind Doug Lloyd.

Roehl scored on runs of 2 and 10 yards to put North Dakota State ahead 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. Stephen F. Austin's Danny Southall completed a 64-yard scoring strike to Aaron Ray in the opening period.

The Lumberjacks (0-2) capitalized on three turnovers in the second quarter to score three times on field goals of 20, 46 and 27 yards -- the last one with no time remaining in the period to take a 16-14 halftime lead. SFA's Contrevious Parks, Devin Ducote and Stephen Rhea came up the timely interceptions.

North Dakota State (1-0) scored on the opening drive of the second half. Shamen Washington returned the kickoff 35 yards to the Bison 42. Seven plays and 58 yards later NDSU regained the lead for good at 21-16 on Roehl's 17-yard scoring run with 11:42 remaining.

Stephen F. Austin's Cory Long drilled a 47-yard field goal, his fourth of the game, to trim the lead to 21-19 with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter. The Lumberjacks' field goal was set up by an Andre Hicks' fumble recovery.

NDSU answered the challenge on the ensuing kickoff, matching 63 yards in nine plays. Sophomore halfback Pete Blincoe scored on a 1 yard run to extend the Bison advantage to 28-19 with 1:12 left in the third period. Blincoe carried six times during the drive for 32 yards and finished with 69 overall on 12 rushes.

The teams didn't score in the fourth quarter. Chad Haynes recorded an interception to stop NDSU's first drive of the fourth period, while the Bison defense stiffened and didn't allow the Lumberjacks past the North Dakota State 43 yard line in the final quarter. Linebacker Joe Mays, defensive back John Richardson, defensive end Joe Lardinois and cornerback David Earl came up with alert plays to stall the SFA offense.

North Dakota State held a 571-325 advantage in total offense including a robust 350 yards rushing. However, the Bison were whistled for 12 penalties for 103 yards compared to seven for 60 yards for SFA. NDSU's defense held the Lumberjacks to 98 yards of total offense in the second half.

Southall led the Stephen F. Austin offense with 82 rushing yards on 20 carries. He completed 18 of 33 passes for 196 yards and one TD. Dominique Edison was his favorite target with five receptions for 33 yards. Punter Ryan Gooch averaged 43.4 yards per punt and pinned NDSU inside the 20 on four occasions.

NDSU quarterback Steve Walker completed 12 of 18 passes for 174 yards and four interceptions. Walker, who had only four interceptions all of last season, became the program's all-time passing yardage leader and now has 4,880 yards. He passed the mark of 4,769 set by Kevin Feeney (1995-98). Kole Heckendorf caught six passes for 65 yards. Heckendorf moved up to No. 5 all-time in receptions at NDSU with 95, past Chuck Wald (1967-69).

The play of the game may have been when Bison punter Mike Dragosavich and Richardson hooked up on a 47-yard pass play on a fourth down and eight play from the NDSU 9 yard line in the final quarter. However, that drive stopped on an interception.

North Dakota State is scheduled to host No. 16 Sam Houston State (2-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Fargodome. The Bearkats defeated Arkansas-Monticello 48-10 on Saturday night.