ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-5 NSIC, 0-2 South) dropped a 54-14 NSIC South Division contest at Sea Foam Stadium to visiting Wayne State (4-2 NSIC, 2-0 South) on Saturday afternoon. Senior wide receiver Cordell Smith became Concordia's sixth 2,000-yard receiver with a first half touchdown catch in the loss.

Concordia's path intensifies in week seven with a trip to #3 Minnesota State (6-0 NSIC, 2-0 South) on Friday night at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato, Minn.


CU Football vs. Wayne State 10.11.2014 - Images by Justin Oakman

After Wayne State scored the first 17 points in the opening 20-plus minutes of play, the Golden Bears got back into the contest with a pair of passing touchdowns by senior Jared Russo. The first was a 36-yarder to junior cornerback Jimmy Mireri who stunned the Wayne State secondary with his speed as Russo led him perfectly despite solid pressure from the WSC defensive front.

After the Wildcats responded with a touchdown, Russo connected with Smith for a 12-yard strike with 1:08 to play in the half to make it 24-14 as the Golden Bear offense was starting to click.

Concordia's offense put up 196 yards in the first half behind a strong display by Russo as he went 11-19 for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

But after Smith's touchdown, the Wildcats would pull away in a hurry. Wayne State scored a touchdown with seven seconds to play in the half and then scored again on its opening drive of the second half to take a 38-14 lead.

While the Wayne State offense was responsible for building the big lead, as WSC rolled up 338 yards on 53 plays in the first half including 21 first downs, it was the defense and special teams that buried Concordia in the third quarter.

Already leading 38-14, the Wildcats forced a fumble on Concordia's first play of the third quarter and returned it for a touchdown. The Golden Bears were unable to answer, as Wayne State intercepted Russo on the next drive and returned it 33 yards to the 12 yard line, setting up a touchdown on the next play.

Suddenly, Wayne State led 51-14 with 10:36 to play in the third quarter.

Concordia would hold WSC to a field goal the rest of the way, but the flurry of 27 points in a span of under six minutes of game action solidified the final result.

Russo finished the day 11-24 with 166 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Tre Spears led the running game with 19 carries for 75 yards. Smith was the top receiver with three catches for 51 yards and his fourth touchdown of the year. He now has 130 catches for 2004 yards and 24 touchdowns in 39 career games.

Wayne State quarterback Zach Osborn was excellent, completing 30-45 for 361 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked once by Nick Jauch, hurried seven times and intercepted once by Abdullah Asad. He found 11 different targets led by Cole McDaniel with seven catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns. The WSC run game produced 186 yards and three touchdowns led by Lane Yates with 11 carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Concordia's special teams had a busy day as senior Tom Obarski punted seven times for a 37.7 average with a long of 51 and one inside the 20. He also had three kickoffs with all three going through the end zone for touchbacks. The return game was led by Uzziah Davis as he racked up 178 all-purpose yards in the game with 146 via kickoff returns. He entered the game ninth in the country with 481 combined return yards, bolstering his total to 627.

Wayne State was decisive on third downs, converting 9-of-17 including 8-of-12 to start the day. Of those first four missed third downs, Wayne State put two fourth down conversions into the end zone, a 35-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 9, and a 34-yard 4th and 3 touchdown run. Both fourth down touchdowns came at points in the game where Concordia had a chance to turn the momentum back in its favor to keep the contest close.

Concordia, meanwhile converted 2-of-10 on third downs and finished the afternoon with 246 yards of total offense compared to 555 for WSC.