UND was forced to settle early in Saturday's game against Cal Poly. The Sioux settled for field goals, not touchdowns.
Cal Poly didn't settle. As a result, Cal Poly took control of the Great West Conference race by beating the Sioux 23-19 before 9,930 homecoming fans at the Alerus Center. Cal Poly improved to 2-0 in the league and 4-3 overall, while No. 18 UND dropped to 1-1 and 4-3.
The loss also was damaging for another reason: UND lost an opportunity for a statement win at home -- the kind that rejuvenates a fan base for the stretch run of a season.
"Hopefully, this is a lesson for us," UND coach Chris Mussman said. "The lesson being that we're a good football team but we have to play mistake-free football. We can't turn the ball over.
"It's a loss and it hurts. We have high expectations. We just can't get off to that kind of a start."
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UND's start was the difference.
Twice in the first quarter, UND had the ball deep in Cal Poly territory. Twice the Sioux settled for field goals. Cal Poly fumbled on its first play from scrimmage, leading to a UND first-and-goal from the Mustangs' 1. The Sioux, however, couldn't punch it in.
On UND's ensuing possession, the Sioux had a first down at the Mustangs' 37, but advanced no farther and settled again for a field goal.
"Missed opportunities," Mussman said. "It's frustrating. You get a turnover and get it down to the half-yard line and can't stick it in the end zone. And that becomes the difference."
Two Zeb Miller field goals gave the Sioux a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Cal Poly was hanging on.
"They could have slipped away at home in front of their big crowd," Cal Poly coach Tim Walsh said. "That could have changed the momentum of the football game (by scoring touchdowns). Those were two huge stops by our defense."
The fact that UND had to settle for field goals was one thing. UND turnovers were another thing. Quarterback Joey Bradley threw two first-half interceptions and was benched after going 4-for-17.
His replacement, Brent Goska, nearly led the Sioux to an improbable win.
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Cal Poly, powered by Jake Romanelli's rushing (93 yards) and receiving (38-yard touchdown reception), led 23-6 midway through the third quarter.
But the Sioux plugged away behind Goska. After Zeb Miller's third field goal cut the deficit to 23-9, Goska engineered an 81-yard scoring drive, capped by his 21-yard pass to Jake Miller. With 12:57 to play, UND was back into the game, trailing 23-16.
"It's not like it was my first game," Goska said.
Finally with some momentum, Zeb Miller's fourth field goal cut Cal Poly's lead to 23-19 with 7:25 to play. The Sioux defense got the stops it needed but the UND offense couldn't put the winning points on the board.
Goska's fourth-and-10 pass from the Cal Poly 39 was intercepted by Kenneth Jackson with 23 seconds to go.
"I just didn't get it over the linebacker's head," Goska said.
And UND also couldn't get over its two first-half interceptions. The second pick, coming from Angel Morales, led to Romanelli's 38-yard touchdown pass from Andre Broadous for a 13-6 lead. The first interception led to the second of James Langford's three field goals.
The silver lining, as small as it may be, was UND's comeback led by Goska.
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"The team that played more disciplined won it," UND defensive end Ross Brenneman said. "It came down to the little things. We had some turnovers and didn't create as many turnovers as we would have liked.
"We weren't assignment sharp (against Cal Poly's triple option) and we did our own thing in the second quarter that hurt us.
"We didn't quite get over the hump."
Cal Poly 23,
UND 19
Key play: Jake Romanelli's 38-yard touchdown pass from Andre Broadous for 13-6 Cal Poly lead.
Key player: Romanelli, 93 rushing yards.
