Mustangs come from behind to beat North Dakota 35-17, improve to 4-0

Posted: Sep 29, 2012 9:16 PM by Andrew Masuda
Updated: Sep 29, 2012 11:36 PM

Cal Poly football comes from behind to beat UND, stays undefeated

Behind a 21 point fourth quarter, the Cal Poly football team came from behind to win a Big Sky Conference showdown at the University of North Dakota 35-17 on Saturday inside the Alerus Center. The 23rd ranked Mustangs improved to 2-0 in conference and 4-0 overall. It's their first 4-0 start since 2004.

Debuting their new gold uniforms, the Mustangs stormed out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and led 14-7 at the half. But UND took a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter to trigger the Cal Poly comeback.

Cole Stanford started the rally with a 65 yard run to the UND 10 yard line. Andre Broadous ran it in from 3 yards out to give Cal Poly the lead right back 21-17 with 11:44 to play. UND was forced to punt a few possessions later, but went with the fake and reverse from its own 39 yard line. Tu'uta Inoke stopped Daryl Brown well short of the first down marker and Cal Poly took over on downs. However, Akeninyene Umoh fumbled the ball on Cal Poly's first play at the UND 35 yard line. UND settled for a 54 yard field goal attempt to close to within one point, but UCLA transfer Wesley Flowers blocked the kick and Cal Poly maintained its 21-17 lead.

The Mustangs capitalized on the special teams play with a 7 play, 60 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard touchdown run by Broadous to give Cal Poly a 28-17 lead with 3:54 to play.

Jake Irwin sacked Hendrickson behind the line of scrimmage and forced a fumble that was recovered by Sullivan Grosz at the UND 24 for Grosz's second fumble recovery of the game. Cal Poly needed just 3 plays to find the endzone again as Deonte Williams sprinted in from 18 yards out with 3:25 to play to seal the victory.

Williams finished with 125 yards rushing on 19 carries and 2 touchdowns. It marked his fourth-straight game this season with 100+ yards rushing. Stanford finished with 90 yards rushing on just 5 carries, while Umoh tallied 76 yards on 14 carries. Broadous rushed for 33 yards and 2 scores on 14 carries. The senior quarterback also threw for 74 yards and 1 touchdown on 3 for 5 passing. Stanford finished with 144 total yards of offense that included 2 catches for 54 yards and 1 touchdown.

Kennith Jackson led the Mustangs with 10 tackles. However, Nico Molino added 8 tackles and had 2 interceptions to give him 4 for the season. The Mustangs forced 4 turnovers in the contest. The first turnover came on UND's first possession of the game. Marcus Hendrickson completed a pass for 7 yards to Greg Hardin. But Jordan Williams popped the ball loose and Grosz recovered at the UND 27 yard line. The Mustangs cashed it in with a 20 yard pass Broadous to a diving Stanford, his first TD of the season, to give Cal Poly a 7-0 lead with 11:43 to go in the first quarter.

Williams scored a 3 yard touchdown run to give Cal Poly a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter. Williams' 6th touchdown of the season capped a 17 play, 80 yard drive that took 6:22 off the clock.

UND scored in the final minute of the first half on a 2 yard TD run by Mitch Sutton. It capped a 13 play, 82 yard drive that took 5:29 off the clock. The Mustangs still carried a 14-7 lead in the half. Cal Poly held the advantage of total yards in the first half of 160-76.

UND inched closer with a 26 yard field goal on its first possession of the third quarter to make it a 14-10 game. The Mustangs responded with a drive into UND territory but Bobby Zalud missed a 39 yard field goal, his third-straight miss. UND took its first lead of the game after a 12 play, 78 yard drive that took 6:16 off the clock.Hendrickson scored on a 2 yard run to give UND a 17-14 lead with 13:25 to go in the game. The Cal Poly defense shut them down from there.