MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Junior quarterback Jake Hodge threw two touchdown passes, but the Minnesota State University Moorhead football team fell short against No. 4-ranked Minnesota State on Saturday, losing to the Mavericks 69-13 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Saturday in Moorhead, Minn.

MSU improved to 2-0 on the year with the win while the Dragons fell to 0-2.

Hodge was 14-of-26 passing for 108 yards and two scores. He also rushed for a team-high 58 yards. Sophomore receiver Cory Ambrose had four catches for 42 yards and a score while junior Adam Jiskra had three catches for 20 yards and a score.

Junior running back Zayne Medhaug rushed for  51 yards on 14 carries for MSUM, which finished with 271 yards of total offense.  Minnesota State Mankato finished with 611 yards of offense, including 350 on the ground. The Dragons also had four turnovers while the Mavericks had just one. MSUM had 16 first downs while Minnesota State had 30.

Sophomore cornerback Sheldon Jones had 11 tackles and three pass break-ups for MSUM. Sophomore defensive lineman Ryan Dahleen had 10 tackles, including one for a loss, while junior cornerback Chris Binford had nine tackles.

The Dragons struggled going into the wind in the first quarter, managing just 63 yards of offense on 23 plays. Minnesota State built a 20-0 lead after one quarter after gaining 135 yards themselves and capitalizing on a Dragon fumble.

"The field position early -- we struggled into the wind from an offensive standpoint and a special teams standpoint," MSUM head coach Steve Laqua said. "When you let a good team play with a short field, especially early in a game, it's going to be a long day."

Trailing 27-7, MSUM put together a solid drive in the second quarter. MSUM marched 75 yards on 14 plays and scored when Hodge hit Ambrose from 15 yards out, bringing the Dragons within 27-7 with 7:45 left in the opening half.  Medhaug rushed for 35 yards on that drive while Ambrose caught three passes for 33 yards.

The Mavericks scored another touchdown later in the half to build a 34-7 lead, which was the halftime score.

"Mankato is an extremely good team and they played well at the start of the game particularly," Laqua said. "The hole they put us in early was tough for us to come out of."

The Dragons added another touchdown in the third quarter as Jiskra caught a 3-yard pass from Hodge to make it 41-13 with 6:26 left. That capped off an eight play, 63-yard march with the key plays being a 19-yard reception by Jiskra and a 20-yard run by Hodge.

The Mavericks put the game away with 28 unanswered points to secure the win.

MSUM plays at Wayne State next Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m. in Wayne, Neb.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Today marked the first time that the Dragons were held under 20 points at home since losing 31-10 to Minot St. on October 27, 2012.