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KEARNEY — At halftime, the doubts existed.

History couldn’t be ignored. Neither can the scholarship differences. The University of Nebraska at Kearney’s last two playoff experiences had shown the program’s shortcomings.

“We were just overmatched by Pitt last time,” said sixth-year senior Jake Mandelko. “I was just a special teams player on that. We knew this time, if we played our game, we could hang with these guys and even get the win.“

For everyone else, history was being repeated.

Pittsburg State won that game in 2005 49-20. And Texas A&M Kingsville beat the Lopers 58-40 in 2003.

At halftime Saturday, Saginaw Valley State, another team with twice as many scholarships as UNK, appeared ready to hang another playoff loss on the Lopers. The 16th-ranked Cardinals were leading 20-7 and had just scored on the last play of the half.

For some of the fans at Foster Field, it was time to go home and watch the Huskers and chalk up another disappointing loss for the Lopers. Those who stayed saw what might be the biggest win in Loper history, a dominating second-half performance and a 35-20 victory that sends the sixth-ranked Lopers (11-1) into the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs Saturday against defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth.

“This is probably the greatest football team, in my opinion, that’s ever played football here at the University of Nebraska at Kearney or Kearney State College. Eleven wins and a playoff win, that’s the first time for both of those,” Morris said.

But the best team in UNK history didn’t play like it in the first half: Two interceptions. Two fumbles. Seven yards of total offense in the first quarter.

“That was the worst bit of football I’ve played all year,” said quarterback Jake Spitzlberger, who threw two interceptions in his first five passes.

Rustin Dring had fumbled. Brendan Liess had fumbled. And Saginaw Valley, behind quarterback Chuck Dowdell, had piled up 284 yards.

“I was thinking, we need to do a better job of taking advantage of these turnovers,” Saginaw Valley coach Jim Collins said. “We moved the football, but it’s hard to see because we didn’t turn them into points.”

The Cardinals did show a quick-strike ability after the Lopers scored their only touchdown in the first half.

With only 17 seconds on the clock, Saginaw Valley scored in three plays, the big play a 44-yard pass to the 1-yard line from Dowdell to Nick Gallina. Gallina was knocked out of bounds with 1 second left and Bandon Hayes scored on the last play of the half.

“You’ve got to handle the adversity,” Morris told his team at halftime. You have to keep coming back. … It was what we were doing to ourselves and if we quit shooting ourselves in the foot, we could turn this thing around.”

The turnaround took a while to show up on the scoreboard.

“I knew things were going to get better,” Spitzlberger said. “I knew I was fine and I knew what our offense was capable of … and the guys picked me up well making plays around me.”

After halftime, everything picked up for the Lopers.

Spitzlberger finished with three touchdown passes, 184 yards passing and another 51 yards rushing.

“Jake’s a gamer. He’s a competitor and he wants to win,” Morris said. “He settled down and he really started doing things well in the second half. He made some clutch throws on third down.”

The offensive line did their part, giving Spitzlberger the time to make the throws and turning a highly-regarded Saginaw Valley defense into paving bricks for sophomore running back Rustin Dring.

“There was a couple times where the back got through to the second level … once he got to the second level, he turned on the jets and showed his speed. That’s what this game is all about is making plays, and they made some plays,” Collins said.

The Cardinals (9-3) were allowing 88 yards per game and had only given up 100 yards to one other back, the nation’s leading rusher, Joique Bell of Wayne State of Michigan. Bell had 106 yards against the Cardinals.

Dring, who had just 3 yards at the end of the first quarter, finished with 188. He scored on an 11-yard run in the third quarter and a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. He also had a 77-yard dash late in the game that set up the 1-yard score.

“At the beginning, it was 2, 3, 4 yards per carry, and at the end we started gashing them a little bit,” Dring said. “I do think we started wearing them down with that no-huddle offense.”

The no-huddle offense has been the Lopers’ bread and butter for the past 15 years or so. But, because former Loper quarterback Dennis Havrilla knew the language of the play-calling, the Lopers huddled this year against the Mustangs. They huddled against Colorado Mines, too, “because they’re smart,” Morris said. Since then, it’s stuck.

UNK started Saturday’s game in a huddle, too.

“When we got out of the huddle and got to the no-huddle, I thought that gave them some trouble, not only alignment and assignment but cardio-vascularly a little bit,” Morris said.

It also put the Lopers in a comfort zone.

“In the beginning, I thought their rush was getting some push back there and coming back in my face pretty quick. But toward the end of the game we gassed them out with that no-huddle offense and I didn’t feel the pressure at all,” he said.

While the offense found its tempo, playing the second half without a turnover, the defense made the plays it needed, especially in the fourth quarter when Mason Brodine and Mike Neal snagged interceptions.

“They definitely deserved the win. They have a great football team,” Collins said. “We didn’t do all the things it takes to win a football game. … We had a couple chances we didn’t convert on, then in the fourth quarter, they made some big plays. When we tried to get back in it, we had a breakdown.

“I don’t think we ran out of gas. They made some big plays and we didn’t.”

The interceptions spoiled an otherwise outstanding day by Dowdell. The UNK pass rush, which leads the nation in sacks, came close to sacking Dowdell several times, but he got away time and time again. He was sacked only once and finished with 57 yards rushing and 310 yards passing.

“That’s the best quarterback we’ve seen all year long. We haven’t seen anybody near that kid’s ability,” Morris said. “I was extremely impressed with him on film and I’m even more impressed now that I’ve seen him in person.”

For additional coverage from the game, check out the Mon., Nov. 16 Hub print edition.

To see photos from the game click here.

To see video highlights, and interviews with the coaches and players click here.

Click here to replay the live blog of the game.

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