The game: The Bulldog football team (6-2) won their 15th consecutive home game and fifth straight in a 66-17 blowout of Minnesota-State Crookston on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Malosky stadium.
Outmatched in all facets of the game, Minnesota-Crookston still managed to score two touchdowns in the first half. However, never coming within 14 points of UMD, UMC was never truly in the game after the Bulldog starters jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first ten minutes of the game.
The Bulldog offense dominated with the football—no matter who was holding it. UMD scored on their first ten possessions of the game, and had 509 yards of offense in the first three quarters. Eleven different Bulldogs gained yards on the ground and eight different players had receptions.
The takeaway:
It was a breakout game for junior transfer Darren Walker. The running back had a career high 136 rushing yards, all in the first half. While no single player had astronomical numbers, a number of players got into the game. The Bulldogs had eleven players who picked up rushing yards against UMC. Without starting running back Logan Lauters for the fourth straight week, the Bulldog rushing attack looked strong, racking up a total of 378 yards on the ground.
Defensively, a handful of broken tackles led to 17 UMC points, but the Bulldogs responded in a big way after giving up touchdowns in back to back possessions. Freshman linebacker Gus Wedig led UMD with 8 tackles. Overall, 26 different players had at least one stop against Minnesota Crookston.
It was their second consecutive game against a winless opponent, but the second straight game in which UMD displayed a lot of depth in a lopsided win.
The win leaves the Bulldogs undefeated in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division play (4-0), with three such contests left in the regular season.
The Numbers:
3.3: The Bulldog defense held UMC to an average of just 3.3 yards per carry on offense. With 142 rushing yards and 105 passing yards, Minnesota Crookston averaged just 3.9 yards per offensive play against UMD.
6: UMD found the end zone on their first six possessions. A different player scored each of those touchdowns.
378: Even without their starting running back, the Bulldogs dominated in the running game, totaling 378 yards. Four different backs had at least 40 yards.
Wait…. What?
Senior captain John Harden, a 305 pound nose tackle, scored the first touchdown of his collegiate career in the first quarter on a two yard run. Harden has lined up in the backfield to help block a handful of times this season, but his two carries were the first times he has been handed the football.