NDSU Cruises to Road Shutout Victory Over Indiana St.
The Bison went on the road and took out an overmatched Indiana St. team in dominant fashion by a score of 52-0.
Easton Stick threw for four touchdowns, two to Connor Wentz (cousin of Carson) and Lance Dunn ran in two scores of his own while the Bison defense forced six turnovers as NDSU coasted to a 5-0 record and 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
NDSU started their scoring barrage on their first possession in the opening quarter. A 31-yard pass from Stick to Darrius Shephard set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Stick to Wentz to go up 7-0. Two possessions later, Stick led an 11-play, 83-yard drive before hitting Wentz for his second score from 4-yards out to go up 14-0.
The Sycamores fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give the Bison a short field starting at the Indiana St. 18-yard line. Six plays later, Dunn scored on a 4th and goal from the 1-yard line to make it 21-0 and the rout was on. NDSU would force another turnover on the next possession that led to a 36-yard field goal from Cam Pederson to make the score 24-0. That's where it would stay going into halftime.
The second half was more of the same from the Bison as they scored on their first four possession of the half. Two of them coming after interceptions as NDSU's defense continued their onslaught. The Bison defense held the Sycamores to just 118 passing yards and had three interceptions overall.
In the third quarter, Stick hit both Dallas Freeman and Ben Ellefson on touchdown passes for 14 and 11 yards, respectively, while Dunn ran in another score from 2 yards out. Adam Cofield added an 11-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring.
Stick finished 18 of 23 for 191 yards passing with his 4 touchdowns. Dunn finished with 16 carries for 74 yards and the 2 touchdowns.
#2 North Dakota St. will visit a tough opponent on the road next week. They'll visit #3 Youngstown St. (3-1). That game is next Saturday at 6 p.m.