ST. PAUL, Minn. - In a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the NSIC South Division, it was #3 Minnesota State (3-0 NSIC, 3-0 South) topping Concordia-St. Paul (2-1 NSIC, 2-1 South) 29-3 on Saturday afternoon at Sea Foam Stadium.

The Golden Bears look to get back in the win column on the road, heading to Wayne State next Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff and remaining on the road against the NSIC North Division the following week at St. Cloud State on Saturday, October 5 at 1 p.m.

The Golden Bears faced an MSU squad that entered play averaging 550 yards of total offense including 364 on the ground. Concordia's defense made strong plays throughout, limiting MSU to 386 yards of total offense and 220 rushing yards, well below their early season pace.

But the Minnesota State defense was better on this Saturday, holding the Golden Bears to 134 yards of total offense and eight first downs. A week after Concordia rolled up 300 rushing yards in a road win at Upper Iowa, the Mavericks held the Golden Bears to 14 rushing yards on the day.

Concordia also had to overcome a disadvantage in field position with MSU averaging a start at its own 38 while Concordia would average a start on its own 22. And that was magnified early in the game, as MSU started on average near midfield (own 48) in the first quarter while Concordia's first quarter start was the 22.

Sophomore linebacker Jake Portz had his second consecutive double-digit tackle performance with a game-high 15 stops, just a week after recording 18 at Upper Iowa. Portz has 40 tackles in the first three games of the season.

Senior defensive end Jackson Dobbs added eight tackles including a pair for loss and a first quarter sack on third down to stop MSU's opening drive for a three-and-out.

Junior linebacker Dalton Smerchek also had a sack among his seven tackles and junior defensive end Chris Garrett continued his torrid pace with another sack along with 1.5 tackles for loss and five tackles. Garrett now has four sacks on the season and has made 18.0 sacks and 20.5 TFLs across the past nine games.

The CSP defense also received its first interception by junior Lorenzo Kendricks, halting an MSU drive at the 30 yard line in the second quarter.

On the other side, MSU rolled up 13.0 tackles for loss as a team and matched Concordia's three sacks. The Mavericks also won the turnover battle with a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception. Jack Leius led MSU with seven tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss in the game.

Concordia's offense was paced by senior wide receiver MJ Williams with four catches for 52 yards and a long of 35 while senior wide receiver Jabril Clewis had a pair of grabs for 39 yards.

Senior quarterback Maxon Hutton completed 11-of-21 for 120 yards and a long of 35, adding 15 yards in the run game including a long of 19 yards.

MSU was led by running back Nate Gunn, who produced 103 yards on 14 attempts after sitting out the first quarter. Three MSU quarterbacks combined to complete 17-of-27 for 166 yards and a touchdown.

On special teams, senior Danny Laudet converted a fourth quarter 44 yard field goal and executed a 42.3 punting average on seven punts with a long of 63.