FARGO - The biggest question mark heading into North Dakota State's season opener was the player under center.

Junior quarterback Nick Mertens spent three years learning from previous starter Steve Walker. It appears the education paid off.

Mertens shined while throwing the football and No. 2-ranked NDSU turned in a workman-like season-opening performance in a 41-6 win over Austin Peay before a sellout crowd of 18,701 at the Fargodome. It was NDSU's 10th consecutive season-opening win and first as an official member of the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA).

Austin Peay head coach Rick Christophel said stopping the run game was his defensive game plan. Although effective, it opened up the passing game for Mertens, who completed 16 of 18 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns. Mertens admitted he was nervous before the game, but a 69-yard completion to tight end Jerimiah Wurzbacher on the game's second play helped settle him down.

"I didn't want to throw it over (Wurzbacher's) head," Mertens said. "Thankfully he caught it and we were rolling."

Mertens' favorite target was senior receiver Kole Heckendorf. He caught all three NDSU touchdown passes, including a 5-yard post route to give the Bison a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter. Heckendorf had eight receptions for 179 yards. He expanded NDSU's lead to 27-0 on the first offensive play of the second half. He caught a deep Mertens pass and sidestepped two defenders for a 69-yard touchdown just 20 seconds into the third.

NDSU's most glaring weakness was kickoff coverage. Austin Peay averaged nearly 36 yards per return and started four drives inside Bison territory. Despite the good field position, the Governors were unable to capitalize. Austin Peay managed just 91 yards of total offense, including 12 plays that resulted in negative yardage. The Governors mustered one first down in the first half.

Austin Peay's defense did hold NDSU's highly touted rushing game in check. It took until the third offensive series of the third quarter before NDSU found some running room. The drive provided 73 of NDSU's 149 yards rushing and resulted in a two-yard Tyler Roehl touchdown to make it 34-6. Roehl had a game-high 74 yards on 15 carries.

Mertens' biggest mistake gave the Governors their only offensive momentum. He threw an interception to Kevis Buckley and his 24-yard return helped set up a six-play scoring drive.

"From the sideline I thought it was too much coverage to be throwing into," said NDSU head coach Craig Bohl.

However, by then the game was out of hand. NDSU's starting backfield sat out the entire fourth quarter, and the defense substituted liberally throughout the game. Bohl said the frequent rotations were a departure from previous years, and it was done to prepare for conference play. NDSU is entering its first year in the Missouri Valley Conference, and five of the Bison's eight league opponents were ranked in the top 25 going into the opening week of the season.

"The opening game is always interesting," Bohl said. "We begin to find out what kind of team we have."

APSU 0 0 6 0 - 6

NDSU 10 10 21 0 - 41

Scoring summery

First quarter

NDSU - Shawn Bibeau 33 field goal, 10:22.

NDSU - Kole Heckendorf 5 pass from Nick Mertens (Bibeau kick), 4:01.

Second Quarter

NDSU - Heckendorf 43 pass from Mertens (Bibeau kick), 13:09.

NDSU - Bibeau 26 field goal, 1:22.

Third Quarter

NDSU - Heckendorf 69 pass from Mertens (Bibeau kick), 14:40.

APSU - Ryan White 2 run (kick failed), 8:35.

NDSU - Tyler Roehl 2 run (Bibeau kick), 3:26.

NDSU - Cyrus Lemon 30 interception return (Bibeau kick), 1:48.

Fourth Quarter

No scoring.

Team Statistics

APSU NDSU

First downs 6 17

Rushes-yards 36-56 40-149

Yards passing 35 304

Passing 5-13-1 16-19-1

Punts-average 6-34.8 3-44

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-0

Penalties 2-10 6-61

Individual Statistics

Rushing: APSU - Ryan White 9-26, T.C. Jennings 1-12, Terrence Holt 1-3, Theo Townsend 7-5, Jontamion Forrest 2-5, Gary Orr 3-(-15), Jeff Lyle 12-28, Darryl Miller 1-(-8). NDSU - Tyler Roehl 15-74, Pat Paschall 7-16, D.J. McNorton 8-31, Matt Voigtlander 5-25, Nick Mertens 3-9, Kole Heckendorf 1-1, Troy Jackson 1-0.

Passing: APSU - Orr 2-9-1, Jennings 3-4-0. NDSU - Mertens 16-18-1, Jackson 0-1-0.

Receiving: APSU - Lanis Frederick 1-16, Jontamion Forrest 1-12, Scott Thomas 1-5, Adrian Mines 1-4, Theo Townsend 1-(-2). NDSU - Kole Heckendorf 8-179, Jerimiah Wurzbacher 2-84, Roehl 2-4, Alex Belquist 1-12, Warren Holloway 1-9, Gary Williams 1-9, Matt Veldman 1-7.

Interceptions: APSU - Kevis Buckley. NDSU - Cyrus Lemon.

Records: APSU 0-1, NDSU 1-0.