Kearney, Neb. - The Wayne State football team used several big plays and rushed for 202 yards to beat 13th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney, 24-17 in OT, Saturday night at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.

This was the season-opener for both teams. Wayne has now beaten the Lopers three straight times, the second time that has happened in a series that covers 83 games and dates back to 1924. UNK now leads the series 58-19-6.

The Wildcats also snap the Lopers 11-game home win streak, which dated back to the 2008 season. That year, Wayne beat UNK, 28-12, in the season opener.

A crowd of 6,811 watched just the fourth OT game in UNK history. Before tonight, the Lopers hadn't gone past regulation since a 5 OT setback at Adams State, 54-48, in 1998. The only other OT game at Cope Stadium came in 1997 when the Lopers lost to Chadron State, 40-34.

Later in 1997, UNK won at New Mexico Highlands, 49-48, in 2 OT's.

Game Highlights
Down 17-7 at the half, UNK forced an extra session by scoring 10 points in the 4th quarter.

 Junior QB Jake Spitzlberger (Lakewood, CO) threw a 67-yard scoring strike to senior WR Kyle Kaiser (Broomfield, CO) at the 12:36 mark and then true freshman kicker Michael Gruber (San Diego, CA) made a 24-yard field goal with 4:33 left.

Instead of tying the game, UNK was poised to grab the lead as they had it first and goal at the nine.  However, two passes to junior WR Shane Carraher (Franklin) netted only two yards and then Spitzlberger's third down pass, under heavy pressure, to junior RB Rustin Dring (Kearney) was almost picked off by Wayne LB Anthony Hale.

Wayne had a chance to win the game in regulation but a 54-yard field goal from sophomore Max Martin was just right of the goal post as time expired.

UNK won the coin toss to start OT and decided to play defense first. The 'Cats, after a penalty, converted a key 3rd and six when sophomore QB Cyle Shultz threw a seven yard pass to senior RB Eric Meyer.

Six plays later, Meyer scored from one yard out. On the night, Wayne rushed 50 times for 202 yards with the longest run being a 16-yard carry.

When the Lopers got the ball, Dring started things off right with a five yard run. However, Spitzlberger would lose two yards on the next play and then threw an incomplete pass to Kaiser. On 4th down from the 20-yard line, a swarming Wayne "D" chased Spitzlberger to the left and he threw a pass near the goal line that was batted down by a couple of Wildcats.

UNK, playing with a young offensive line, finished with 332 yards on 67 plays. Running hard down the stretch, Dring finished with a team-best 68 yards on 18 carries while also making six catches for 38 yards.

In the air, Spitzlberger was 22 of 36 for 225 yards, one INT and one TD. Kaiser tied his career-high in catches (eight) that covered 146 yards. He also had 30-yard punt return.

An Illinois native, Schultz was impressive in his first collegiate start, rushing for a team-high 79 yards on 15 carries. He also 13 of 26 for 205 yards, two TD's and one INT.

First Half Recap
UNK grabbed the early lead when senior WR Brendan Liess (McCook) scored on a 29-yard reverse late in the 1st quarter. On the play, Liess was injured and didn't return.

The one play scoring drive was set up after junior corner Arthur Hobbs (San Diego, CA) picked off Shultz and brought the ball back 27 yards. A Loper penalty pushed things back 10 yards.

Earlier in the quarter, UNK was driving but junior DL Richard Daniel forced Spitzlberger to fumble at the Wildcat 21-yard line.

Like last season, Wayne turned to the big play to move ahead. A simple screen pass to sophomore RB Nick Pulscher resulted in a 78-yard TD that tied things at seven. Soon after, junior WR Mitch Montgomery caught a 59-yard scoring pass from Schultz.

Wayne then got a blocked punt from sophomore WR Kevin Paulsen to setup a 22-yard field goal from Nick Bell and a 10-point halftime lead.

The WSC lead could've been smaller as UNK saw Dring catch a 16-yard scoring pass, apparently making it a 14-13 game, but a Loper penalty wiped out the play. Two plays later, Gruber missed his first collegiate field goal attempt, a 31-yard effort that was just wide left.

Defensive Stats
UNK was paced by sophomore ILB's Ethan Kuhlmann (Athol, Kan.) and Justin Swedburg (Axtell). Kuhlmann had a team-high 16 stops (eight solo) with Swedburg having 11 tackles (eight assisted).

From his OLB spot, senior Jay Kropp (Grand Island) made eight tackles while Hobbs -- in his first game as  Loper -- had seven stops and two pass breakups.

Wayne was led by sophomore LB Ben Perry (11 tackles) and junior DB Javal Jones (six)

Up Next
UNK plays at nationally-ranked UNO on September 4th at 6:00 p.m. The game will once again be carried state wide by NET

Loper Record Notes
* Spitzlberger becomes the second QB to rush for 1,000 yards in a career (now 1,003); Rich Osentowski is the all-time leader at 1,534 yards

* Dring (2,362) is now 6th on the Loper all-time rushing list, moving past John Mackovicka ('70)and Luke Van Matre ('82)

* Kaiser vaults into 8th place on the career catches (now 110) list, moving past Ryan McCabe ('96) and Travis Vallin (''90)

* It's believed corner Ryan Lendrum (# 40/Carlsbad, CA) is the first Loper true freshmen, outside of kicker, to start a season opener since the late 1980's