FARGO, N.D.--Daniel Eaves returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown and D.J. McNorton rushed for 146 yards and two TDs on Saturday, Oct. 23, as North Dakota State rallied for a 27-15 victory over Indiana State in a Missouri Valley Football Conference game played before 15,245 in the Fargodome.

Eaves, a junior free safety, picked off a Ronnie Fouch pass and raced 53 yards to put NDSU ahead 14-12 with 9:18 left in the third quarter. The pick was set up on Preston Evans' quarterback hurry. It was the third interception of the season for Eaves. It was the first interception for a TD for a Bison player since the 2008 season opener when Cyrus Lemon returned a pick 30 yards against Austin Peay..

The Bison (5-3, 2-3 Missouri Valley) trailed 12-0 before McNorton scored on a 3-yard with 35 seconds left in the first half.

McNorton, who also led the team with 86 yards on three receptions, added another 3-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter. He reached 100-yards rushing for the fourth time this season and for the third game in a row.

Derrick Lang added a 1-yard TD run with 4:22 left in the third quarter to extend the NDSU lead to 21-12..

Fouch completed 25 of 47 passes for 330 yards and a touchdown for Indiana State (4-3, 2-2). Justin Hilton had nine catches for 96 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown with 3:02 left in the first half that put the Sycamores up 12-0.

The 27 yards rushing allowed by the North Dakota State defense is the lowest since giving up -14 against Concordia-St. Paul in 2006. The Sycamores came into the game averaging 234.7 yards per game on the ground. The Bison held Indiana State to 3 of 15 in third down conversions.

NDSU defensive tackle Matthew Gratzek returned after missing two games and matched his career high with three QB hurries. Defensive end Cole Jirik had two sacks and a fumble recovery, while Coulter Boyer added a sack and forced fumble. Freshman strong safety Colten Heagle shared game-high tackle honors  with nine stops including 2.5 tackles for loss in his first collegiate start. Linebacker Chad Willson finished with nine tackles.

North Dakota State held a 381-357 edge in total offense. Jose Mohler completed 12 of 20 passes for 185 yards. The Bison had a 32:04 to 27:56 advantage in time of possession.

NDSU head coach Craig Bohl improved to 57-28 overall to move into a three-way tie for No. 3 on the school's all-time coaching win list with Don Morton (1979-84) and Casey Finnegan (1928-40). Rocky Hager (1987-96) is No. 1 with 91 and Ron Erhardt (1966-72) is No. 2 with 61.

The Bison improved to 32-2-2 in Harvest Bowl games. Eaves was the game's MVP.