North Dakota State destroys drake 66-3 in opening-round FCS playoff game

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Cam Miller threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns and North Dakota State annihilated Drake 66-3 in an opening-round game of the FCS playoffs on Saturday.

NDSU advances to the second round and next week plays sixth-seeded Montana State (8-3). The Bison have won four of their last five. NDSU moved its record to 45-4 in the FCS playoffs, including a 35-1 record in the Fargodome.

After Miller fumbled the ball away on the first play from scrimmage, North Dakota State (9-3) rebounded to score touchdowns on its final five drives of the first half and led 35-3 at halftime.

Drake took a 3-0 lead on Shane Dunning's 30-yard field goal with 12:34 left in the first quarter. By the end of the quarter though, Cole Payton had a 20-yard scoring run and Raja Nelson had a 5-yard scoring run for a 14-3 North Dakota State advantage.

Miller completed 10-of-11 passes and Payton had 104 yards rushing on 13 carries and scored twice.

Luke Bailey threw for 111 yards for Drake and was intercepted twice.

Drake (8-4) made its first FCS playoff appearance in program history by virtue of winning the Pioneer Football League outright. ___

Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here ___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football