ST. PAUL, Minn. - On a picturesque fall Saturday in Minnesota's capital city, Concordia-St. Paul (1-5 NSIC, 0-1 North) dropped its homecoming game 42-14 to Bemidji State (4-2 NSIC, 2-0 North) at Sea Foam Stadium. The Golden Bears return to the road next Saturday, heading to the North Shore to face #19 Minnesota Duluth (5-1 NSIC, 2-0 North) with a noon kickoff at Malosky Stadium.

The game featured numerous big plays, with six of the eight touchdowns scored in the game spanning at least 40 yards in Concordia's first-ever NSIC North Division contest.

Entering play, Concordia featured the 18th-ranked pass defense in the country, averaging 148.8 passing yards allowed while Bemidji State entered with the seventh-ranked passing offense in the nation with 339.0 yards per game through the air.

Concordia struck first on a 40-yard touchdown on a double-pass with redshirt freshman wide receiver Evan Peterson connecting deep despite pressure to junior wide receiver Jake Shepley for the game's first touchdown. It was Concordia's second possession of the game, set up by junior safety Rhett Sheehan's second interception of the year on the previous play to turn over the Beavers on their opening drive. The interception, secured at the 16-yard line, was returned 44 yards to set the offense up with the ball at the BSU 40.

Sheehan led CSP's defensive effort with 10 tackles including 1.0 for loss and added a pass breakup. Shepley now leads the team with three receiving touchdowns on the season.

But despite the early INT and big pass play for CSP, it was Bemidji State's pass attack that would win the day. BSU quarterback Brandon Alt completed 18-31 for 354 yards and three touchdowns. He was particularly devastating to the Golden Bears on third downs, converting a pair of 3rd-and-longs (9, 10) on their first scoring drive and another on their second (10) scoring drive of the game. For the game, BSU was 7-of-16 on third down compared to CSP's 1-of-14.

The Golden Bears, meanwhile, had four different players complete passes in the game including the wide receiver double-pass from Peterson, but injuries also played a role in Concordia's passing offense.

Freshman Bryce Sievers led the Golden Bears with 9-16 passing for 83 yards on a day when the team completed 16-26 for 151 yards and a touchdown, but combined to throw a pair of interceptions and take four sacks with one fumble lost.

After the early lead, Concordia's defense held BSU on the ensuing possession before Alt finally found the end zone on a 51-yard TD strike to Brendan Beaulieu to tie the game with 5:02 to play in the opening quarter.

Late in the quarter, freshman defensive back Anthony Ukofia made a momentum play for the CSP special teams, blocking Bemidji State's punt and recovering inside the BSU red zone at the 18-yard line. But stalled out with a 4th-and-4 after a 13-yard 3rd-and-long connection from Abe Schwartz to Kevin Ventura-Cortes, the Golden Bears weren't able to convert the field goal with a snap-hold miscue to allow BSU to take over on downs.

The Beavers answered, converting a 3rd-and-10 from the CSP 44 yard line during a 9-play, 74-yard drive that ended with the first of two rushing touchdowns by BSU backup quarterback Sam McGrath. He scored again with just over a minute to play in the half following a CSP fumble at its own 13-yard line for a 21-7 BSU lead entering the break.

The second half opened with each team scoring from 70-plus yards on back-to-back plays, starting with Alt connecting with Malik Williams for a 75-yard touchdown. Concordia running back Lajuan Preston followed with a 71-yard touchdown run for a 28-14 score early in the third quarter.

Preston had his top performance of the year, rushing for 83 yards on nine carries and a 9.2 average.

Concordia's defense held BSU on downs at the CSP 34 on the next drive with Shawn Aarhus batting down Alt's pass at the line of scrimmage, but the Golden Bears would stall out around midfield, setting up another Alt-Williams 75-yard touchdown and a 35-14 margin midway through the third quarter.

Williams finished with three catches for 160 yards and two scores for BSU.

Concordia would misfire on a 4th-and-1 rush attempt up the middle, but would once again turn over the Beavers when Jake Richardson pounced on a fumble from a bad snap on the ensuing drive.

The Golden Bear offense, now seeing its third quarterback with Sievers under center, marched to the BSU 6-yard line after converting a 4th-and-2 on a BSU offside penalty and a 4th-and-9 on a 33-yard pass from Sievers to Mason Van Zeeland on a free play. BSU would pick up an interception on the next play, with Jake West returning it 96 yards for a score, sealing the game with 8:19 to play in the game and a 42-14 margin.

Van Zeeland led CSP's receivers with five catches for 73 yards with 10 Golden Bears earning targets from CSP's four different passers.

Defensively, junior nose tackle Mel Jeudy led the interior with six tackles including 3.0 tackles for loss while Richardson added a pair of tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and three tackles, Aarhus had a pass deflection and three tackles with a half tackles for loss and Mark O'Reilly had a pair of hurries in one of the unit's top games of the season.

Reserve linebacker Foster Conzet had another steady day with nine tackles and now leads the team with 37 tackles on the year.

On special teams, freshman Parker Dahlman had a 36.9 punting average on seven punts with a pair inside the 20 and a long of 52, Alex Andrade had a 40-yard kickoff return and Ukofia had the blocked punt and recovery.