SIOUX FALLS – In a game full of ebb and flow, the #14 University of Sioux Falls (4-0, 4-0 NSIC), utilizing a 34-3 run in the third quarter, rallied and then held off #22 Bemidji State, 37-36 in an nailbiting NSIC win between two nationally ranked teams from opposite divisions in the NSIC. With the victory, USF, which overcame an early 17-point deficit against BSU, took over the NSIC lead at 4-0 as its only unbeaten team.

Before 1,626 in attendance at Bob Young Field, the Cougars stopped a two-point conversion by BSU (3-1, 3-1 NSIC) with 17 seconds left to preserve their perfect start to the season. The Cougars, which improved to 56-5 at Bob Young Field, also won their fourth contest in five meetings with BSU. USF has opened 4-0 for the third straight season.

The Cougars, which picked up their 419th all-time win, received another stellar offensive performance while getting timely plays from the defense. Junior Max Mickey again paced USF's rushing attack, which generated 406 yards on the ground on 41 attempts. Mickey had 14 carries for a career-best 207 yards and a 75-yard TD run. He recorded his third 100 yard rushing game this year and his first career game over 200 yards. In fact, he became USF's first 200-yard rusher in a game since Nephi Garcia had 225 on Nov. 15, 2014 in the snow against Wayne State also at Bob Young Field. Mickey, who ranked second nationally in yards per carry at 11.96, averaged 14.79 yards per carry against BSU.

USF, which now has rushed for at least 300 yards in all four games this season, also had a third straight 100-yard rushing game from senior quarterback Luke Papilion, who had 17 carries for 163 yards and a 46-yard TD run. Papilion also completed 23-of-41 passes for 229 yards and two TDs as he accumulated 392 yards in total offense. Papilion now has 10, 100-yard rushing games in his career, which is tied for fifth all-time at USF. With 392 yards in total offense, Papilion recorded his 21st game of 300 yards or more. Plus, he now has six games of 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing.

While Mickey and Papilion made life difficult for the BSU defense, senior wide receiver Josh Angulo also was tough on the Beavers. He tied a USF game record with a career-best 15 catches for a career-best 164 yards and three TDs.  Angulo's reception mark tied that of Kalen DeBoer, who had 15 catches vs. Nebraska-Wesleyan on Nov. 2, 1996.

USF, which came into the game ranked seventh in NCAA DII in total offense (547.3), improved on those numbers of 636 yards on 83 plays or 7.7 average. In fact, USF has now had at least 400 yards offense in 13 straight games and recorded its 10th game with 600 yards or more in the Jed Stugart era.

"We started out a little slow but picked things up," said Stugart, who won his 57th game as head coach at USF. "In the first half, we simply made too many mistakes but had a good halftime session. We made some adjustments and came out fast in the third quarter."

Down 20-3 at the break, USF exploded for a season-high 34 points in the third quarter to take a 37-23 lead. It was a game marked by offense with the Beavers totaling 486 yards on 82 plays, including 259 yards passing. Jordan Hein led BSU by completing 20-of-34 passes for 259 yards with three TD passes along with a TD run.

BSU struck fast by scoring a pair of TDs in the opening five minutes of the game. Hein connected with Vince Dinkel on a 17-yard TD strike for a 7-0 lead at the 12:26 mark. After a USF fumble, the Beavers silenced the home crowd when Hein connected with Christian Lunde on a 24-yard TD pass. Down 14-0, the Cougars put together a nine-play, 51-yard scoring drive which resulted in Brett Garner's initial field goal of the season from 27 yards at the 2:15 mark of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, USF moved the ball but were hurt by turnovers. The only score was from Lunde, who had two catches for 52 yards, as he hauled in a 28-yard TD pass from Hein. BSU's Isaac Aneroid missed the extra point as BSU took a 20-3 lead to halftime. USF had the ball deep in BSU territory but Papillion's pass was picked off in the end zone with 27 seconds left in the half.

In truth, USF has been hurt by slow starts this season. However, the three points scored against BSU was a season-low. On the other hand, USF has owned the second half of games. Coming into the game, they held a 70-13 advantage in the second half, including 35-0 in the third quarter. On this night, the Cougars had their batteries recharged at halftime as they outscored BSU, 34-10 in the third quarter.

In fact, USF reversed the script on the visitors as they scored 14 points in nearly a blink of an eye. First, Mickey dashed a career-best 75-yards on the first offensive play of the third quarter to trim the deficit to 20-10. After Delvin Batiste had his second interception of the season, USF scored in six plays with Angulo catching a bullet from backup quarterback Corbin Lawler, who replaced Papilion after he lost his helmet on a run near the goal line.

The Cougars kept the pressure on and Angulo caught his second TD pass of the night, a four-yard strike from Papilion at 8:33 mark of the third quarter as USF took its first lead of the game at 24-20. The big play in the 80-yard drive, which took just 1:25, was a 33-yard run by Mickey. After the USF defense held BSU, the Cougars struck again when a wide open Angulo hauled in a 43-yard TD pass from Papilion as USF, which missed the extra point, led 30-20 with 6:28 to play.

BSU answered with a 41-yard field goal from Aanerud with 5:03 to play. But then Papilion, who ran over and around defenders all night, took off on a 46-yard TD run for a 37-23 lead at the 2:27 mark to cap a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive in 2:16. BSU would answer on a two-yard run by Tahi Nomane, who capped a 67-yard drive with his seventh rushing TD of the season. In the fourth quarter, USF failed to convert a 43-yard field goal and BSU made their late charge led by Hein. With just 17 seconds to go, Hein scored on a TD run. On the ensuing extra point, BSU decided to go for two and the win but USF forced a fumble by Juwaan Richard and retained a 37-36 lead. USF recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

While USF's defense gave up some points and yards, they came up big at the end. USF was led by Cliff Redmond and Kyle Campiotti who both had nine tackles. Campiotti had his first career sack and a TFL. Jeffrey Harman had two interceptions, the first two of his career, and four tackles. Logan Dykstra had a sack, three tackles and a TFL. In total USF had three interceptions, two sacks and three pass breakups.

"I think we are all a little drained after that game," said Stugart. "Bemidji State is a really good football team and came here ready to play. But I keep going back to what I said about this team USF earlier, it is a resilient group who just find a way to win. They believe in each other."

Next for USF will be the "Key to the City" game against city rival Augustana (3-1), which dropped a 41-38 decision to Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday.

NOTES
 ~ With its 636 yards in total offense, USF leads the NSIC with 569.5 yards in total offense per game. In fact, USF has 1,521 rushing yards or nearly 500 more than its closest competitor, UMD, 1,046. USF is averaging a league-high 9.1 yards per carry. In fact, through four games, USF is just 770 yards away (2,291) from matching last year's rushing total for the season.
~ Max Mickey has now rushed for 646 yards on 51 carries with 3 TDs for a league-best average of 161.5 yards per game. Through four games, he is averaging 12.7 yards per carry. He has had rushing totals of of 178, 185 and 207 already this season.
~ Luke Papilion has 36 carries for 477 yards and nine TDs or 119.2 yards per game in 2016. He is averaging 9.9 yards per carry. Also for Papilion, he had two more TDs and has 69 in his career. With his 229 yards passing, he moved past USF Hall of Fame quarterback Kurtiss Riggs (7,329 yards, 1993-96) in passing yards with 7,568 or 98 yards from the all-time USF passing leader Dax Michelena, who had 7,665 from 1997-2001. He is also near the total offense career mark also held by Michelena, who had 10,410 yards. With his 392 yards vs. BSU, Papilion now has 10,341 yards or just 72 yards away from the record.
~ Angulo now ranks fifth all-time at USF in catches (172), yards (2,371) and TD receptions (27).