SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - King Frazier ran for two touchdowns as North Dakota State remained undefeated with a 27-3 win over Missouri State on Saturday.
Frazier ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns and the North Dakota State defense had four takeaways and held the Bears to just 176 total yards.
“Great job by the defense,” NDSU coach Chris Klieman said. “We took the ball away like we needed to. It wasn’t a perfect game.”
Frazier scored on runs of 22 and 4 yards in the fourth quarter as the Bison (5-0, 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference) broke open a tight game. Leading 13-3 at the break, the Bison rushed for more than 200 of their 269 yards in the second half.
Missouri State (3-2, 1-1) had scored 130 points in four games coming in but never reached the end zone. It didn’t help that the Bears lost two fumbles and that NDSU picked off two passes and blocked a field goal attempt.
“Turnovers are big, especially in situations where everything changes the pace of the game and allows our offense to get close to the goal line and put one in,” said Aaron Steidl, who had a fumble recovery.
Missouri State took its only lead of the game 3-0 on Zach Drake’s 50-yard field goal with 9:43 left in the first quarter. The Bears drove down to the NDSU 23 before the drive stalled after gaining 30 of their 58 total yards in the first half.
NDSU’s offense struggled early. RJ Urzendowski’s bobbling one-handed 43-yard grab was NDSU’s first big play of the game. The Bison struggled on the ground and managed just minus-6 yards rushing in the first quarter. Urzendowski had four catches for 73 yards
Despite struggling on offense, the Bison tied the game 3-3 on Cam Pedersen’s 38-yard field goal with 8:14 left in the half.
NDSU then took advantage of Jalen Allison’s interception and went up 10-3 on Easton Stick’s 21-yard TD pass to Darrius Shepherd with 5:45 left in the half. Shepherd had four catches for 62 yards.
Stick completed 11 of 20 passes for 159 yards.
“We just kept attacking it and the offensive line stayed physical and just kept moving guys,” Stick said. “
Pedersen made it 13-3 with a 21-yard field goal with 27 seconds remaining in the half but he missed a 42-yard attempt early in the fourth quarter.
But the Bison turned a Missouri State fumble by quarterback Brodie Lambert into a 22-yard TD run by King Frazier with 13:08 to play.
NDSU’s Jaylaan Wimbush blocked Drake’s 45-yard field goal attempt with 10:08 left and NDSU turned that into a 4-yard TD run with 4:51 left. The drive took nine plays to cover 72 yards.
Lambert was 20-for-35 for 146 yards. Jason Randall led the Bears in rushing with 17 of their 30 yards on the ground.
Missouri State came in with the top overall defense in the MVFC, allowing just 299 yards per game. NDSU had 169 yards at half but finished with 428.
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