MINOT, N.D. – With redshirt freshman quarterback Adam Mullen tossing three TD passes and junior running back Thuro Reisdorfer rushing for two scores, plus a stout defensive performance, the University of Sioux Falls Football Team (1-1) earned a 49-10 road win over Minot State on Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

With the victory, USF, which will host Concordia St. Paul (1-1) on Military Appreciation Day on Sept. 18 at Bob Young Field, moves to 1-1 on the season with its 70^th win in 90 NSIC games. The Cougars improved to 8-1 against MiSU with its eighth straight win over the Beavers since a 20-13 loss in 1994 in the NAIA playoffs. USF is now 35-10 in NSIC road games with a 29-5 cross divisional mark, which includes a 14-3 road mark.
 

"We had a sound game plan put together by the coaching staff and our team showed outstanding execution and efficiency throughout the game," said USF Head Coach Jon Anderson, who won his 25^th game at USF He now ranks fourth all-time on USF's coaching wins chart. "The big thing for us was to eliminate the critical mistakes that we made a week ago. And, we did that. I am really happy for our team, who really wanted to prove themselves," Anderson said in a post-game radio interview with the voice of the Cougars Tom Frederick.

After Minot State jumped to a 7-0 lead, USF had a run of 21 straight points to grab a 21-7 lead. Then USF built the lead to 35-10 early in the third quarter before adding a pair of scores in the fourth quarter.

"I thought we settled in and played hard. It was good to see because I have watched how these guys have put the work in all fall. I am happy for them. They were able to take advantage of a number of things. It was a nice victory for this team," added Anderson.

The Cougars rolled up 462 yards in total offense on 62 plays or 7.45 yards per play. The USF ground attack generated 252 yards on 37 carries while USF had 210 yards through the air. For the second straight week, Reisdorfer surpassed 100 yards rushing as he had 16 carries for 125 yards and two TDs (2, 44). He now has 275 yards in the first two weeks and has surpassed 1,500 yards (1,527) rushing in his career.

In the passing game, Mullen had a second straight solid outing by completing 19-of-23 passes for a career-best 203 yards and a career-high three TDs. Sophomore quarterback Josh Swanson also saw action for USF and hit on 3-of-3 passes for 29 yards and his first career TD as USF had four TD passes and two rushing scores. Jaqueze Lockett added nine carries for 79 yards and Landon Freeman had seven carries for 23 yards.

The receiving corps was led by senior wide receiver Dominic Pegley, who had six catches for 120 yards (career-high at USF) while redshirt freshman Trevon Brown had four catches for 41 yards and his first receiving score – 16-yard TD reception. Also, Tavian Tumbleson (18-yards), Sean Zsori (10 yards) and Carter Slykhuis (13 yards) all caught their first TD passes at USF.

On defense, Cameron Alfaro had seven tackles in his first game in a USF uniform while Harvey Enalls added five stops and now has 144 in his career. With a strip sack and four tackles, Joey Wehrkamp now has 10 career sacks and 22 TFLs. Bryce Jackson had his first career interception and Dorian Fedrick also had a pick for USF, which had a plus-three turnover margin with a blocked punt leading to an 18-yard TD return by Dom Pegley.
  
Minot State was led by quarterback Bo Bolinske, who completed 13-of-28 passes for 183 yards and a TD. Ali Mohamed had two catches for 88 yards and a TD.
 

MiSU struck first as Bolinske and Mohamed connected on a 69-yard screen pass that resulted in a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. After that, USF took control. On the ensuing possession, USF tied the game at 7-7 when Reisdorfer scored the first of his two TDs on a two-yard run.  USF's scoring drive covered 67 plays and eight plays with a 38-yard reception by Pegley as the big play. After holding MiSU, USF's special teams came through with the go-ahead score. After the defensive stop, Pegley blocked the punt and had a scoop and score of the blocked punt for 18 yards as USF took a 14-7 lead. The punt block TD was the first by USF since Nov. 14, 2015 when Kyle Athmann returned a punt for a TD.  The 18-yard TD on a punt return by Dom Pegley is USF  37th defensive/special team score in the program's DII era and 12th on special teams.

Early in the second quarter, the Cougars extended their lead to 21-7 after Brown hauled in his first career TD as Mullen found him from 16 yards. On that scoring drive, USF moved the ball 62 yards in 10 plays. After a 20-yard field goal from MiSU's Dillon Fedor, USF had another answer and score. USF drove 71 yards on nine plays and redshirt freshman wide receiver Carter Slykhuis hauled in a 10-yard TD pass from Mullen as USF took a 28-10 lead.

After the second half kickoff, Reisdorfer recorded a 44-yard TD run to give USF a 35-10 lead. It was his 21st career TD at USF. In the fourth quarter, seniorTavian Tumbleson hauled in an 18-yard TD pass from Mullen with 12:06 to play in the fourth quarter for a 42-10 lead.  USF added another TD when Swanson connected with tight end Sean Zsori for a 10-yard TD and the lead grew to 49-10.