The North Dakota State football team got what it wanted out of its first two games: two wins and improvement in areas of concern. Now it prepares for a road trip to Bowl Championship Subdivision Wyoming.

NDSU, ranked No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision's coaches poll, jumped on top of Central Connecticut State early and coasted to its 14th straight home victory, a 50-14 win in front of a sellout crowd of 18,868 at the Fargodome.

"We wanted to come up with a statement," said Bison running back Pat Paschall. "It's like a boxer. If you hit him with a good right hook, they know it's coming again. Next time, they might try to duck it."

NDSU landed several punches in a four-touchdown first quarter that saw the Bison outgain the Blue Devils 246 yards to 65 and tally eight more first downs. Quarterback Nick Mertens, who finished the game 15 for 23 with 186 yards, capped a game-opening drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Schultenover.

The Bison scored again five plays later after forcing a Blue Devils punt. Redshirt freshman running back D.J. McNorton reached the end zone on a 13-yard run.

The Blue Devils second possession ended with a blocked punt that Daniel Eaves recovered in the end zone for a 21-0 Bison lead midway through the first quarter. The Bison then put together a nine-play, 76-yard drive capped by a 17-yard Paschall touchdown for a 27-0 lead.

Paschall had a game-high 117 yards rushing on a career-high 14 carries. He took over for Tyler Roehl, who added 100 yards on four carries in the first quarter before leaving the game with an ankle sprain.

Bison head coach Craig Bohl said improving the running game was an area of concern following the season opener. The Bison tallied just 149 yards rushing in the win.

"We had a chip on our shoulder for what we did last week," Paschall said.

The Blue Devils offense couldnt get its potent rushing attack on track. Central Connecticut was the 10th-ranked rushing team in FCS in 2007, and junior running back James Mallory had an FCS-leading 256 yards in Central Connecticuts season opener. Mallory gained 21 of his 116 yards on his team's first offensive play, but couldn't find much breathing room until the game was out of reach.

Linebacker Ramon Humber, who had 10 tackles and a sack, said the goal was to make the Blue Devils one dimensional.

The Bison heavily rotated players in preparation for a grueling stretch of its schedule.

NDSU listed 30 players on its defensive stat sheet. Ten receivers caught the ball and seven carried it.

The goal was to build depth and avoid injuries as the Bison head into their next game at Wyoming. When it comes down to Monday, its back to business, Humber said.

CCSU 0 7 0 7 - 14

NDSU 27 16 0 7 - 50

First Quarter

NDSU: Jordan Schultenover 5 pass from Nick Mertens (Bibeau kick), 12:06.

NDSU: D.J. McNorton 13 run (Bibeau kick), 7:53.

NDSU:Daniel Eaves punt block return (Bibeau kick), 6:24.

NDSU: Pat Paschall 17 run (kick failed), 1:00.

Second Quarter

NDSU: McNorton 7 run (Bibeau kick), 7:33.

NDSU: Jerimiah Wurzbacher 7 pass from Mertens (kick failed), 4:51.

CCSU: Josue Paul 18 pass from Hunter Wanket (Joe Izzo kick), 2:13.

NDSU: Bibeau 37 field goal, 0:51.

Third Quarter

No scoring.

Fourth Quarter

NDSU: Wurzbacher 11 pass from Mertens (Bibeau kick), 14:53.

CCSU: Josh Vargas 3 run (Izzo kick), 10:54.

Team Statistics

CCSU NDSU

First downs 15 27

Rushes-yards 39-203 45-330

Yards passing 101 194

Passing 15-26-0 16-25-0

Punts-average 8-32.1 2-37

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1

Penalties 6-47 6-68

Individual Statistics

Rushing: CCSU-James Mallory 17-116, Aubrey Morris 8-40, Danny Williams 5-27, Hunter Wanket 3-11, Josh Vargas 3-9, Jermaine Roberts 1-2, Eric Richardson 1-1, Anthony McCoy 1-(-3). NDSU-Pat Paschall 14-117, Tyler Roehl 4-100, Matt Voigtlander 10-82, D.J. McNorton 12-40, Kole Heckendorf 1-4, Warren Holloway 1-(-1), Nick Mertens 3-(-12).

Passing: CCSU-Hunter Wanket 8-17-0, Aubrey Norris 7-9-0. NDSU-Nick Mertens 15-23-0, Troy Jackson 1-2-0.

Receiving: CCSU-Nick Colagiovanni 5-31, Josh Vargas 2-14, Jermaine Roberts 2-10, Greg Grochowski 2-9, Josue Paul 1-18, Eric Richardson 1-11, Matt Gomes 1-6, James Mallory 1-2. NDSU-Tyler Jangula 4-43, Jerimiah Wurzbacher 3-32, Jordan Schultenover 2-17, Pat Paschall 1-25, Kole Heckendorf 1-24, Lee Vandal 1-20, Alex Belquist 1-12, Warren Holloway 1-8, Shamen Washington 1-7, D.J. McNorton 1-6.

Interceptions: CCSU-none. NDSU-none.

Record: CCSU 1-1, NDSU 2-0.