Photo by Jake McNeill. Sophomore transfer quarterback Wyatt Oak throws a pass in the first half against Minot State in the season opener Saturday evening. SMSU fell to the Beavers 42-9 and had six turnovers.

MARSHALL — As Mattke Field filled with eager fans and a desire to watch the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs play Minot State, in search of their eighth consecutive win against the team, the Mustangs fell to the Beavers 42-9 Saturday evening in the annual Ag Bowl and season opener.

The Beavers ultimately were able to win with their defense, breaking down SMSU’s offense and forcing six turnovers. They completed four total defensive touchdowns, one on a fumble recovery and three others from returned interceptions.

“You’re going to face the offensive football, and so you have to be good at being able to try to stop them and get them in long third down situations to get the ball to your offense. At times, we did that, at times we didn’t,” SMSU head coach Scott Underwood said, who is in his third season. “We made some mistakes across the board offensively, so we got to work back to get those corrected … We turned the ball over way too much to be successful. We got to be able to hang on to the football, got to be able to throw it and secure it from that end of it.”

For the sixth straight season, SMSU has a new starting quarterback in sophomore Wyatt Oak, a transfer from Pasadena City College. Oak threw for a total of 88 yards and one touchdown on five complete passes from 13 attempts and two interceptions. Another transfer from East Los Angeles College, junior Jacob Honstetter, took over as starting running back, and he led the team in 94 rushing yards.

Junior Gideon Ervasti led the Mustangs with 11 total tackles, five solo and six assisted.

The Mustangs had a total of 241 rushed yards and 119 receiving, while Minot had 202 rushed yards and 32 receiving.

SMSU entered the game with a 9-1 winning record over Minot, winning the last seven meetings, including a 28-23 victory in last season’s opener, which the Beavers have now snapped.

To officially begin the season, the Mustangs won the toss and started on defense, as Nathan Stearns began the night with a 55-yard kickoff.

Junior defensive lineman Joe Buelow protected the line right away, grabbing three tackles, as Minot turned the ball over to the Mustangs on a fourth down.

Honstetter got the first down on SMSU’s first two offensive possessions, running 11 yards.

Minot got on the board at the 9:34 mark in the first quarter after Oak fumbled at the 43-yard line, recovered by Minot’s Ike Mikaela who ran into the endzone and a good field goal kick brought the Beaver’s the early 7-0 lead.

In response to stop the Beaver’s early momentum, SMSU grabbed another first down after Honstetter rushed for a four-yard gain to get to the 45 yard line, and Colin Maher ran another 15 yards directly after.

Oak was sacked for a loss of eight yards on the third and 11, and Stearns attempted a 42 yard field goal attempt which was successful, to get SMSU on the board and cut the deficit to 7-3 with four to go in the first.

At the end of the first quarter, Buelow tallied a game-high six tackles and Honstetter with a team-high 17 rushing yards.

Minot began the second quarter with an immediate touchdown with Erik Palmquist rushing the middle for 14 yards, and a successful field goal, advancing their lead to 14-3.

Honstetter got the Mustangs going for a large first down, running 55 yards to the 20-yard line.

“We felt like, as we saw him in fall camp, that he has some things that can add to our rushing game,” Underwood said. “He’s got to continue to try to expand his role offensively with us.”

Minot didn’t let SMSU take further advantage of their run, as Nalu Cordeiro intercepted the pass from Oak and returned to their endzone for 92 yards, and a successful kick, which brought the score to 21-3 at the 12:21 mark in the second.

“It was a struggle for Wyatt and some of the things that he did, and just turning the ball over, fumble wise, you got to work on ball security there,” Underwood said. “I think some of the passes that he might have thrown were under duress a little bit, and probably just need to tuck those down and run. Also, we had some tips, so it wasn’t all his. It came off the hands of our receivers, so we have to be either more accurate, or be able to hang on it for receivers.”

The crowd and Mustang bench erupted at the ten minute mark as Oak threw his first touchdown of his SMSU career in a 55-yard pass to Colin Maher, and brought the score to 21-9.

The field kick attempt was unsuccessful by Stearns.

Minot State turned the ball back over to SMSU after not grabbing a first down, and the Mustangs had another opportunity to get on the board. Oak completed a pass to short right Zander Wolf for 14 yards, and followed with a six yard gain.

Two incomplete passes in a row turned the ball back over to the Beavers after driving eight plays for 25 yards.

The half ended in the Mustang’s possession, with Honstetter rushing left for nine yards from a handoff and Oak rushing the middle for another seven yards for a first down.

The score remained at a 21-9 Minot lead at half, where Oak had so far thrown five complete passes on 11 attempts and one interception for 88 yards, while Minot’s Carson Chrsman threw two complete passes on four attempts and no interceptions for 26 yards.

“We were having the ball to open the quarter, you have to put together a drive to get points on the board, and then you’re sitting at a one score game,” Underwood said about what he told the team at halftime. “I thought we started out and did some plays, but again, the procedural stuff and penalties … Obviously that [another turnover] made it a tougher battle, an uphill battle as we went.”

Coming out of the locker room, SMSU did not gain enough yardage and the ball returned to Minot, who also gave it back to the Mustangs after the defensive line limited the Beavers from advancing the field.

However, a fumble from Oak gave it back to the opponents, who were able to eventually kick a 33-yard field goal attempt, but hit the left goal post and was unsuccessful.

With under five minutes to go in the third quarter and the Mustangs entering desperation to get a touchdown, Cordeiro intercepted Oak’s pass once more and returned to the Beavers endzone for a 29-yard touchdown, extending their lead to 28-9.

“We missed tackles or missed assignment, and again, that was able to [gain] ball possession and time possession for them and continue with drives,” Underwood said.

Redshirt freshman Kendon Krogman stepped in for quarterback, and threw two complete passes for a total of seven yards, but the Mustangs were unable to get the first down.

The final 15 minutes of the game were crucial for SMSU, who needed to cultivate an immediate offensive impact at a shot to create a comeback. But, the Mustangs continued to struggle to find their footing as the Beavers ran in for one more touchdown and a good field goal kick with 13 minutes left, bringing the score to 35-9.

Krogman remained on the field running the offense. His pass was intercepted at 12:08 to again return to Minot State, who were not able to return to their end.

Krogman rushed for 21 yards between two straight plays, to grab the much needed first down. He then completed a 13-yard pass to Jake Anderson to get to the 36 yard line.

However, Minot grabbed another interception off of Krogman’s pass and ran for 65 yards to their endzone for a 42-9 lead, which was their fourth defensive touchdown of the game.

Krogram in the end threw five complete passes on eight attempts and two interceptions for 31 yards.

The last time the Beavers defeated SMSU was in 1996, also on the Mustang turf.

The Mustangs (0-1, 0-1 NSIC) will next travel to Bemidji State (1-1, 0-1 NSIC) on Sept. 14 for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The most recent time the two met last season, SMSU fell 34-14.

“You can’t let game one define you, even though we turned the ball over way too many times,” Underwood said. “For us, it’s to correct the mistakes that we have, particularly with some of the younger players we had playing out there today. Do everything we can to be better in week two than certainly we were in week one.”