BIG RAPIDS, Mich. -- Steve Short completed 15-of-22 passes and Lee Marana rushed for 153 yards to lead Michigan Tech to a convincing, 41-7 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Ferris State today. The Huskies offense dominated play as it racked up 499 total yards and held the ball for nearly 43 of the 60 minutes. It also tallied 302 rushing yards against a highly-touted FSU rush defense.

Billy Koenig capped a game-opening, 80-yard drive with a one-yard dive to put the Huskies on the board midway through the first quarter. Alex Tiseo missed the extra point, however, to keep the score, 6-0. Ferris drove 74 yards on their first possession and had first and goal at the six-yard line. Tech's defense stood tall and stuffed the Bulldogs on four straight downs including a fourth-and-goal from a couple inches out.

FSU did get on the board with 6:33 to play in the second quarter when quarterback Ryan Kaul found Cole Meredith in the endzone for a 17-yard TD. Josh Eichler's extra point gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the game, 7-6. Tech answered on their next drive. Short found Kirk Williams wide open over the middle on a third-and-13 play for a 34-yard touchdown with 2:14 left in the half. The Huskies got the ball back 28 seconds later after FSU threw three incomplete passes and punted. Short then engineered an eight-play, 57-yard drive with only one timeout to put seven more points on the board. The scoring play was a 23-yard pass from Short that found its way to Keith White after looking as though it might be intercepted. The score was 20-7 at the half.

Ferris' biggest play of the day came on the opening kickoff of the second half when Jim Skodak returned Zach Hudson's kickoff 61 yards into Tech territory. Four plays later, the Bulldogs fumbled on an option pitch and the Huskies recovered. Marana then rushed 11 times in 13 plays to get MTU to the one-yard line. Koenig punched in the TD for a 27-7 advantage at the 6:13 mark of the third quarter.

Robert Haynes' interception of a Kaul pass one minute later put Tech's offense back on the field, where it used 2:50 off the clock and scored again. Marvin Atkins rushed it into the endzone on a draw play to blow the game open, 34-7.

Michigan Tech stopped FSU on downs each of their last two possessions and wore out the fourth quarter clock with 98 more rushing yards. Marana closed out the game's scoring with a one-yard run at the 7:27 mark of the fourth quarter.

Short finished with 197 yards passing and two touchdowns and rushed for 63 yards. The freshman was critical in the Huskies converting a remarkable 16-of-18 third downs. Atkins tallied 73 yards on 15 carries. Williams had his first 100-yard receiving game of the season on seven catches. White finished with four catches for 63 yards.

Despite the Huskies defense being on the field for only 17 minutes, senior safety Ryan Essex tallied 10 tackles. Cheyne Nelson added five tackles and the fumble recovery.

Michigan Tech (2-4, 2-4 GLIAC) will return home for two games, starting with next Saturday's (Oct. 14) contest against Saginaw Valley State.

Notes: Koenig finished the game with two touchdowns and did not punt once . . . Head coach Tom Kearly improved his career record to 2-4 . . . Kirk Williams extended his streak of games with a catch to 12 . . . MTU has defeated FSU four consecutive times.