ST. PAUL, Minn. - On a beautiful fall Saturday, Concordia University's (2-2, 1-2 NSIC, 0-1 NSIC South) 2011 homecoming was spoiled by the visiting Minnesota State Mavericks (3-1, 3-0 NSIC, 1-0 NSIC South) in front of over 2,500 fans at Sea Foam Stadium in a 57-34 loss. Concordia senior running back Sam Campbell (Cary, Ill.) rushed 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns, accouting for 157 all-purpose yards. In doing so, Campbell surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards and 3,000 career all-purpose yards. It was his fourth career 100-yard rushing performance and 10th career 100-yard all-purpose game.

Campbell now sits at 2,064 rushing yards, 996 receiving and 3,089 all-purpose while continuing to extend his record for career running back receptions with 122. He also has 24 career touchdowns (20 rushing, 4 receiving) while throwing for another three scores through the air.

The Mavericks got out to a 41-0 lead in the first half as Concordia allowed MSU short fields and free yardage via the penalty. Concordia was flagged for 94 yards in the first half and 16 times for 129 yards in the game overall. MSU was penalized more than their fair share as well with 11 for 78 yards.

Despite the big first half deficit, Concordia rallied late in the first half for a 4-play, 41-yard drive as Campbell plunged in from five yards out for CU's first points. Campbell had a 19-yard reception while redshirt freshman Cordell Smith (Mequon, Wis.) had a six yard catch and a 21-yard catch to help set up the Campbell score.

Smith finished with career-highs in receptions (7) and yards (94) while scoring a touchdown for the third time in four career games.

Going into the break, MSU rushed for five touchdowns and 113 yards while throwing for 139 yards. Concordia was held to 86 yards through the air but the run game was productive with 76 yards on 15 attempts.

While Concordia's offense was able to put up over 160 yards in the first half, they failed to convert a third down in seven tries, missed a pair of fourth downs and had a costly fumble inside their own five yard line.

The penalties and the turnover set up short scoring drives for the Mavericks, as their first half touchdown drives were 55, 80, 46, 33 and 4 yards with four of those drives being four plays or less.

Concordia's offense got going in the second half, though, as redshirt freshman quarterback Jared Russo (Milwaukee, Wis.) threw for 222 of his career-high 318 yards in the final two quarters. It was his first career 300-yard performance and it came against the top-ranked pass defense in the nation as MSU was allowing just 88 passing yards per game prior to facing Russo.

Russo also threw a pair of touchdown passes, a 27-yarder to senior Charles Gilbert (Jacksonville, Fla.) on their opening drive of the half and a 13-yarder to Smith early in the fourth quarter.

He threw 54 passes in the game, two shy of the school record, while completing 25 passes to eight different targets with just one interception. He was not sacked in the game as the offensive line held strong while pushing forward in the run game with 145 team rushing yards on 28 attempts (5.2 per carry).

Gilbert, meanwhile, scored his 17th career touchdown in 16 games with 16 of those 17 scores coming from at 23-yards out. Today he hauled in a pair of passes for 43 yards. He also added 73 yards on four kickoff returns for 116 all-purpose yards.

Junior Tre Mason (League City, Texas) finished with five catches for 73 yards as well as rushing for a two yard touchdown on his only attempt in the run game.

Russo also worked the middle of the field well to junior tight end Nate Thienes (Mahtomedi, Minn.) with career-highs of six catches for 67 yards including a career long 28 yarder. Thienes proved a valuable target over the middle for Russo, showing ability to go up in traffic to haul in passes while being tough to bring down.

The strong second half offensive surge helped Concordia pull within 27 points, 47-20, at 13:51 in the fourth quarter and Campbell's second touchdown with 17 seconds left pulled them within 23 points.

The Golden Bears scored on all five of their trips to the red zone as well.

Defensively, Concordia rolled up 9.0 more tackles for loss, giving them 41 on the season while adding another sack for 15 total. Redshirt freshman Jordan Halverson (Fridley, Minn.) led the defense in his first career start with 11 tackles, 1.5 for loss.

Senior Al Quaye (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) finished off nine tackles as well, giving him 32 for the season and 249 in his career as he moved into seventh on the career list.

Concordia's lone sack was by junior Nathan Maher (Rockford, Minn.) and sophomore Thomas Flack (Savage, Minn.). Maher now has 4.0 sacks in as many games while Flack is second on the defense with 3.0.

Behind the line, junior Christian Mohan (Lancaster, Calif.) led the team with 2.0 tackles for loss while finishing a total of seven tackles, both career-highs. Senior Taylor Selby (Stratford, Wis.) added 1.5 TFL's and eight total tackles.

The Mavericks finished the game with 419 yards of total offense, 44 fewer than Concordia, but rushed for 202 yards and seven touchdowns on 45 attempts. They also did not commit any turnovers, were 8-14 on third downs and scored on all eight of their trips to the red zone with five touchdowns.

Andy Pfeiffer led the Mavericks with 19 rushes for 116 yards and a pair of scores while Jon Wolf added eight carries for 60 yards and two scores.

Jon Daniels, the fifth ranked pass efficiency quarterback in the nation entering play, completed 14-18 for 209 yards, did not throw an interception and wasn't sacked. His top target was Dennis Carter with seven receptions for 92 yards.

Concordia hits the road next Saturday when they travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. to face Augustana, currently 0-3 but playing tonight at Southwest Minnesota State. It will be an NSIC South Division contest for Concordia.