ST. PAUL, Minn. - From the opening kickoff, Minnesota Duluth (2-0, 1-0 NSIC) took control in a 61-7 win over Concordia-St. Paul (0-2, 0-1 NSIC) in the Golden Bears' home opener on a crisp 50-plus degree evening at Sea Foam Stadium. 

Concordia will hit the road for the next two weeks, starting with a trip to Minot State (N.D.) next Saturday. 

Although the Golden Bears won the coin toss, the Bulldogs would score the game's first touchdown on the opening kickoff, a 90-yard touchdown by Jonathan Shrum. 

It was the first of three first-quarter touchdowns by the visiting Bulldogs, who would also reach the end zone three more times in the second quarter.

Concordia's special teams picked up some revenge, though, blocking the game's first PAT with Marvin Stringfellow plowing through the middle of the line, while Drake Teal would block UMD's PAT on their first touchdown of the second quarter, as well. 

Golden Bear punter Caden Carsen also had a strong special teams performance with a 44.2 average on six punts including a long of 57 yards with CSP holding a 37.3 net average on his six punts. 

The Bulldogs would add two more touchdowns in the third quarter when the Golden Bears caught a spark from a pair of their younger offensive players.

Freshman quarterback Lincoln Graf connected in stride with redshirt freshman wide receiver Timothy Davis at CSP's 35 yard line, absorbing a hit as he threw the fastball strike over the middle of the field to the full-speed Davis, who did the rest as he out-paced the balance of the Bulldog secondary 65 additional yards for a 79-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive with 12:08 to play in the game.

Davis led all Northern Sun players this week with 127 receiving yards on five receptions and seven targets, picking up 80 yards after the catch. After two weeks, he's the third-leading receiver in the NSIC with 200 yards on eight catches, averaging 25.0 per reception. 

Graf, who was CSP's third quarterback of the game and fourth of the season, completed 10-of-17 in his first taste of college game action as a true freshman, compiling 182 yards and averaging 18.2 per completion with a touchdown, no interceptions and didn't take a sack. 

Junior Reed Styer earned the week two start for Concordia, and had some strong first-half plays as he led Concordia with 50 rushing yards on eight attempts including a long run of 37 yards. He also completed 3-8 for 20 yards before leaving due to an injury after a first-down run. 

The Golden Bears compiled 109 team rushing yards on 28 attempts, averaging 3.9 per carry against the Bulldogs, with Parkees Harris rushing six times for 30 yards and Daniel Hornacek adding 8-27. 

The Golden Bears had 329 yards of total offense, with 220 through air between Graf, Styer and Jackson Compton. 

The defensive effort was sparked by linebacker Mike King's team-high nine tackles, adding 1.0 for loss. Defensive back Jameson Jean added five tackles (four solo) with 1.0 for loss and a forced fumble. Melikai Red had a sack as one of his pair of tackles, as well. 

UMD was led by quarterback Kyle Walljasper who accounted for four touchdowns on just 11 plays of total offense, completing 7-10 for 156 yards and three touchdowns while adding a 7-yard touchdown run on his lone running play. 

Walljasper was relieved by Jacob Eggert at halftime, with the UMD backup completing 6-8 for 85 yards and a touchdown. The duo combined for 241 passing yards on 13-19 passing with four touchdowns and had 5-14 rushing with another touchdown. 

Zachary Welch led a Bulldog run game that had 37-203 and three scores as a team by rushing 11 times for 75 yards, while Alex Riley had 7-56 and a touchdown. CSP held starting running back Derrick Johnson to 11-33 on the ground.