DULUTH — An early touchdown from Jacob Honstetter wasn’t enough to spark the Southwest Minnesota State University football team to a road win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. The No. 10 Bulldogs responded to the Mustangs’ early lead with 49 unanswered points, downing SMSU 63-28 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup.

Jacob Honstetter broke loose for a 75-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, giving SMSU a 7-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game. Yet, Duluth quarterback Kyle Walljasper responded with a 16-yard touchdown to Nick Ojile and a 75-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Menzel, and a 1-yard touchdown run from Francis O’Malley gave the Bulldogs a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.

Honstetter finished the game with three attempts for 70 yards in the game, while Greg Schaefer added another 24 yards on four carries. SMSU finished with a total of 93 yards on 22 carries, while Randall Austin’s three carries for 63 yards led Duluth to a total of 172 yards on the ground.

Macloud Crowton threw a pair of touchdown passes and three interceptions in the game. He completed 19 of his 37 attempts for 290 yards.

SMSU’s offense showed some promise in the second half, scoring 21 points after the break. The Mustangs’ point total for the game fell just shy of their cumulative total of 30 points through the first three games of the season.

SMSU broke up the Bulldogs’ scoring run with a five-yard touchdown pass to Colin Maher in the third quarter. After Menzel caught another touchdown pass from Jacob Eggert in the fourth, Shaun Walrath brought in a 35-yard touchdown, and Crowton ran in a five-yard touchdown after a 50-yard touchdown run from Randall.

Tryg Auten finished as SMSU’s leading receiver with five catches for 76 yards, followed by Walrath’s three catches for 75 yards. Jonathan Wamsley also contributed a pair of receptions for 44 yards.

Linebacker Eniedi Isuk came up with an interception in the game for SMSU, his first in his collegiate career.

Walljasper completed 17 of his 21 passes in the game for 276 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. Menzel led the receiving corps with three catches for 106 yards and Dehnicke added another seven catches for 92 yards, each with a pair of touchdowns.

Gideon Ervasti had a team-leading 10 total tackles and tied SaMaury Alexander with six solo tackles. He also combined with Jojo Parham for a sack while Logan Booth had a solo sack.

SMSU falls to 1-4 on the season with the loss and returns home to host Sioux Falls (2-3) for Homecoming day on Saturday at 5 p.m.