UMD Crushes Moorehead

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

Even without its All-American running back in the lineup, the University of Minnesota Duluth’s ground game didn’t seem to miss a beat Saturday afternoon.

While senior Logan Lauters watched from the sidelines with a lower body injury, the Bulldogs still managed to roll up 335 rushing yards — 177 of which came from junior quarterback Drew Bauer — and got a three-touchdown day from junior wide out Beau Bofferding in a 47-14 road takedown of Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

The win pushed the Bulldogs’ overall record above the .500 mark for the first time this season at 3-2 and also hiked their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division winning streak to 21 games.

MSU-Moorhead, which is also now 3-2 on the year, lost for the 14th consecutive time to the Bulldogs and, for the eighth year in a row, gave up more than 45 points to UMD.

Bauer ran 26 times while setting a personal-high for ground yardage (his previous best was 173 yards in the 2013 NCAA II playoffs against Emporia State University). He parlayed one of those carries into a 46-yard gain — the longest of his UMD career and another into a two-yard scoring run.

The 2015 NSIC North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year also completed 14 of 23 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns, the last of which came two minutes into the fourth quarter — his last snap of the day. Bofferding was on the receiving end of two of those scoring strikes (six and three yards) and also sprinted 61 yards on an end around for another score (his longest run ever as a Bulldog).

Bauer’s replacement, sophomore Nate Ricci, ran for one touchdown (an 18-yard scamper with 2:57 to go in the fourth quarter that closed out the scoring) after latching on to a 10-yard touchdown toss from Bauer in the waning seconds of the first half.

MSU-Moorhead grabbed a 7-0 lead on the day’s opening series, going 75 yards in 14 plays, but the Bulldogs peeled off 34 straight points after that to put the game away. UMD held the Dragons to just 233 yards of total offense while accumulating 555 yards of their own (averaging 7.43 yards per play in the process).

Junior inside linebacker Beau Bates led all Bulldogs in tackles with eight while Darion Fletcher was credited with six stops and also came away with his second interception of the season (he has both of UMD’s two picks this fall).

UMD will return to James S. Malosky Stadium (where it is a perfect 24-0 lifetime against NSIC North Division foes) next Saturday for a Homecoming clash with St. Cloud State University.

Notes:  Beau Bofferding has now caught at least one pass in 18 straight games going back to last year. Bofferding led both team with six receptions Saturday afternoon  … Senior placekicker Andrew Brees nailed his first field goal try Saturday — a 2015 season-best 41-yarder — before having his 31-yard attempt blocked in the third quarter.

The two-time All-NSIC North Division first team pick was a perfect 6-for-6 in field goal efficiency this fall prior to that …. Drew Bauer‘s 397 yards of total offense was the sixth highest single-game harvest in program history and came one week after he generated 389 yards in a 28-24 home triumph over Upper Iowa University … freshman cornerback Sam Lynch made is first collegiate start and wound up with two tackles on the day.