For three straight years, Northern State has taken its lumps against two-time defending Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Wisconsin-Stevens Point. But Saturday night that all changed with a 28-21 overtime win in Stevens Point.

In a game filled with a laundry list of sidenotes, perhaps the most surprising to most was the absence of head coach Ken Heupel, who opted to watched his son Josh, a senior all-American candidate quarterback at Oklahoma, lead the Sooners to a 45-7 win in Norman. But NSU head assistant coach Ron Williams aptly stepped in and recorded his first collegiate win. The victory snapped a 14-game non-conference winning streak for UWSP -- 13 wins of which came against Division II or Division 1-AA opponents. It also ended an era of home-opening perfection. For 13 years, UWSP's Spud Bowl celebrated the school's football home opener, and for 13 years, the Pointers responded with victories. In 1998, the Wolves were a Spud Bowl victim. In 2000, with 20-yard touchdown run by Harlon Hill candidate Tyrone Morgan, they mashed the Pointers' Spud supremacy into a thing of the past.

Morgan finished the game with 35 carries for 194 yards and three touchdowns. In just his third season at NSU, Morgan is now just 250 yards away from setting the school's career rushing record, which is currently held by Jim Kretchman's 4,121 yards from 1952-55.

But NSU's offense featured much more than just their workhorse in the backfield. Senior quarterback Nate Breske (Webster) was 17-of-32 for 200 yards and a touchdown. With senior wideout Adam Syphers (Klamath Falls, Ore.) leading the receiving corps with six catches for 95 yards and Breske hitting six different receivers on the night, NSU's offense showed a glimpse of a balanced attack to be feared. The Wolves racked up 411 yards of total offense on the night. UWSP also racked up big numbers on the night, but NSU's defense made enough big plays to make the difference. Junior linebacker Eddie Hernandez (Miami, Fla.) led all tacklers with 10 stops, including four for loss. Senior cornerback Torry Thompson (Layton, Utah) was also all over the field, making five tackles on the night to go with a fumble recovery, pass breakup and interception. His pick on UWSP's first possession of the second half thwarted what had been a promising drive. The Pointers were methodically moving the ball down the field and tried to score over the top on what would have been a go-ahead touchdown, but Thompson had none of it.

Leading 14-13 late in the third quarter, Breske tossed up a 32-yard touchdown strike to 6-foot-5 senior wideout Reggie Schulte (Tyler, Minn.) to give the Wolves a more comfortable lead. But it was short-lived, as the Pointers came back on their very next possession to score on a five-play, 67-yard drive. The fourth quarter consisted of both defenses coming up big to stop drives. In overtime, each team gets a possession from the opponent's 25-yard line. Whoever is ahead at the end of each team's possession wins, or the game goes to another overtime. Pointers won the toss and elected to let NSU's offense take the field first. After a five-yard run by Morgan, he squirted through and found paydirt. NSU's defense responded and closed the door on UWSP with a four-and-out to win the game.