SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –
John Crockett rushed for a season-high 177 yards and
Carson Wentz threw a school-record five touchdown passes to lead No. 4-ranked North Dakota State to a 45-10 win at Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Football Conference on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Plaster Stadium.
Defensive end
Kyle Emanuel had a team-high 10 tackles with two sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and an interception for the Bison, who improved to 10-1 overall and 6-1 in the MVFC. Missouri State fell to 4-7 overall and 1-6 in the conference.
Wentz started the game 1 of 6 with two interceptions before completing 14 of his final 16 passes including a pair of TD strikes to cousin
Connor Wentz on plays of 13 and 14 yards.
Andrew Bonnet,
Trevor Gebhart and
Zach Vraa also caught TDs.
Wide receiver
Eric Perkins had kickoff returns of 32 and 37 yards, and also returned two punts with a long of 15 yards in his first game as NDSU's primary kick returner.
NDSU made Missouri State pay for a pair of interceptions. The Bison followed
Travis Beck's 21-yard return with Bonnet's 16-yard TD catch on the next play, and Emanuel had a 27-yard return to MSU's 16 that led to a 14-yard Wentz-to-Wentz touchdown two plays later.
Vraa had his 10th career 100-yard receiving game with five catches for a season-high 119 yards. He made catches of 20 and 45 yards before a 40-yard TD strike in the third quarter and passed
Ryan Smith for fourth place on NDSU's all-time receptions list with 149 career catches.
NDSU outgained Missouri State 226-99 on the ground and held the Bears to just 3 of 15 on third-down conversions.
NDSU's
Esley Thorton had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery,
Tre Dempsey had eight tackles in his first career start in place of injured cornerback
CJ Smith,
Nate Tanguay had a strip sack, and
Zach Colvin and
Colten Heagle each forced fumbles.
Carson Wentz tied the school record of five TD passes set by Tony Stauss in 2003 against South Dakota and tied by Steve Walker in 2007 against Sam Houston State. Wentz finished 15 of 22 passing with a career-high 247 yards.
North Dakota State closes out the regular season hosting Youngstown State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. The Penguins are 7-4 overall, 4-3 in the MVFC after a 27-24 overtime loss to Indiana State.
