ST. CLOUD, MInn. -- Jesse Springer and Trey Pipkins were all smiles on the sideline in the closing minutes of #20 University of Sioux Falls Football Team's 49-13 NSIC win over St. Cloud State (0-1) in the season opener at Husky Stadium on Thursday night before 2,724 in attendance.

And, the two offensive line stalwarts had good reason for the feel good attitude after playing key roles as USF (1-0) rolled up 585 yards in total offense, including 343 yards rushing. It is the most rushing yards for USF since rolling up 424 against Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 5, 2013.

"Yes we are pretty excited about tonight's effort," said Springer, a junior from Denver, Colo. "It was a lot of fun to get after it tonight."

The play upfront wasn't lost on USF head coach Jed Stugart. "You know we had a little bit of a slow start tonight but we ran the ball really well and that was because of an offensive front that was physical and a pair of running backs (Justin Fulks, Max Mickey) who wouldn't go down on the first or second hit. It was a stellar effort," said USF head coach Jed Stugart, who won his 54th game at USF as the program picked up its 416th all-time win. "It was a great win to open the season. I am pleased with our effort on both sides of the ball," he said.

It was a night when the offense, directed by offensive coordinator Dustan Hovorka, rolled up its fifth game of 500 yards or more in the past 13 games. In addition, the defense, led by defensive coordinator Tremaine Jackson, had three sacks and two interceptions while limiting SCSU to 13 points.

With 585 yards on 64 plays, the Cougars averaged 9.1 yards per play, which is the best mark at the NCAA DII level and the best since averaging 11.4 yards per play (638 yards on 56 plays)  in a 66-13 win over Doane College on Sept. 18, 2010.

As for the rushing attack, the Cougars had two players rush for over 100 yards in the same game for the first time since a 35-31 win over Minnesota-Duluth at Bob Young Field in the third game of the 2015 season. Junior Max Mickey had 13 carries for a career-best 178 yards or 13.7 yards per carry, and added a 20-yard TD reception. Meanwhile, Justin Fulks had 13 carries for 103 yards and a TD.  Meanwhile senior Luke Papilion accounted for four TDs, including two TD runs and two TD throws. The Harlon Hill candidate completed 10-of-20 passes for 171 yards and two TDs, including a 64-yard pitch and catch with senior Brady Rose, who had a big game with seven receptions for 163 yards. Rose also threw his first career TD pass, a 39-yard toss to Kyle Groeneweg.  Papilion also completed a TD throw to Josh Angulo.

"No matter how we look at it, this group went on the road and showed its heart. They battled throughout and found a rhythm in the second half," said Stugart.  

The defense was led by newcomer Trevor Coleman, a junior linebacker, who had seven tackles as did sophomore defensive end Logan Dykstra, who had 1.5 TFLs while Evan Gentry had six stops and a TFL. Michael Mehling had five stops and a TFL in his first career start while Drew Jackson and Josh Butler also had five stops.

After both teams failed to show any sustained offense early, the Cougars broke through when Papilion scored on a three-yard run with 1:27 to play in the first quarter. While Papilion scored the TD, Mickey, led by USF's offensive front, punished the SCSU defense. Mickey totaled 75 yards rushing on three carries, to take USF inside the SCSU five yard line.  Mickey had runs of 35, 11 and 28 yards during the series.

The home standing Huskies answered at 11:06 left in the second quarter, when Jaden Huff scored on a two-yard run.

Later in the second quarter, USF put together a promising drive before a couple of huge penalties (holding and offensive pass interference) put the Cougars in a 1st and 35 situation. But the USF offense was undaunted with a 15-yard pass from Papilion to Rose and then Mickey had a 21-yard run on third down in which he broke several tackles to give USF a first down. "That was such a huge possession for us," said Stugart.

No doubt it turned out that way. Rose caught a 26-yard pass from Papilion and Fulks followed with a 14-yard run with Papilion pushing the lead to 14-7 with a nine yard TD run with 1:13 to play in the half.

In the second half the Cougars took control of the game but not before the defense came up huge. With SCSU on the doorstep, Matt Young had his first career interception and returned it 32 yards which halted the Huskies' bid to tie the game.

From there it was all USF. The Cougars had a seven-play 68 yard scoring drive in which Angulo caught a seven-yard scoring pass from Papilion. The drive pushed USF's lead to 21-7 at the 9:07 mark of the third quarter. It was part of 28-0 run by USF from the second quarter into the fourth quarter. The Cougars' lead grew to 28-7 when Rose caught the 64-yard TD pass from Papilion with 7:12 to play in the third quarter.  Then, USF came up with a gadget scoring play that effectively ended the SCSU hopes. With 2:52 to play, Rose tossed a 39-yard TD pass to Groeneweg. It was the first TD pass from a non quarterback since Nephi Garcia connected with Josh Angulo on a 69 yard scoring play in the 42-10 Mineral Water Bowl victory over Central Oklahoma in December, 2014.

Down 35-7, the Huskies put up a score early in the fourth quarter when John Pass hooked up with Nate Meyer on a five-yard TD strike with 13:05 left to play. Soon thereafter, the Huskies recovered a Mickey fumble but USF's defense ended any thoughts of a miracle finish when Delvin Batiste recorded his first career interception and had a 53-yard interception return. Two runs by Fulks followed as his five-yard TD run with 10:31 to play in the game gave USF a 42-13 advantage. USF finished the scoring when Mickey reached the end zone on a 20-yard TD pass from Corbin Lawler with just 5:25 to play.

Notes –
~ With two TD passes Luke Papilion tied Chad Cavender (2006-07) for fourth on the all-time TD pass list at USF with 64.
~ Josh Angulo caught his 22nd career TD reception, which places him sixth on USF's all time chart. Angulo had two receptions and passed Trey Erickson (2004-07) for fifth on the all-time receptions list with 152.
~ Brady Rose moved up the career yardage list with his 163 yards pushing him to 1,854 and seventh on USF career receiving chart
~ Next for USF will be its home opener against Minnesota State Moorhead on Sept. 10 at Bob Young Field. Gametime will be 6 p.m.