Millersville, Pa. - Millersville's defense picked off four passes and tallied eight sacks, smothering Ursinus' offense to just 30 rushing yards and 184 total yards through four quarters. But it was Ursinus' defense that made four crucial plays during the extra sessions that lifted the visiting Bears to a 17-9 win in five overtimes.

The longest overtime game in Millersville history saw all 26 of the combined points scored after the two clubs played to a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation--a feat that had not occurred at Millersville since a 1972 0-0 tie with Shepherd. The Marauders and Bears traded field goals in the first overtime and both came up empty in the second. The Marauders were stuffed on a fourth-and-one and Ursinus' Eric Boyer, who hit one of three field goal attempts in overtime, missed his second attempt. The third overtime saw Ursinus strike first with a four-yard touchdown from Corey Kelly but the two-point try failed. Millersville scored a TD on a three-yard keeper by Blake Cahill. But with a chance to win the game on the two-point conversion, Cahill's pass could not connect with Phil Overton in the right corner of the end zone.

Millersville came up empty, missing a 35-yard field goal to start the fourth, but Ursinus failed to capitalize, missing a 35-yard of its own. But Ursinus ended the game in the fifth. The Bears marched 25 yards in just two plays, scoring the winner on Kelly's 10-yard romp into the end zone. Millersville needed a touchdown and two-point conversion to keep the game alive, but the drive fizzled on the 17-yard line after four fruitless pass plays.

After totaling just 184 yards of offense and 30 rushing yards through the first four quarters, Ursinus received 35 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Corey Kelly in overtime. Bello, who came in relief after starter Nick Lundholm threw three first-half picks, went 3-for-3 for 44 yards in the OT's.

Millersville certainly had its opportunities before the game even reached overtime. Linebacker Rob Varner (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) intercepted a pass at the 14 minute mark of the second quarter and sprinted toward the end zone. At the Ursinus one yard line, amidst a pile of Bears, the ball popped free, rolled through the end zone, resulting in a touchback for Ursinus. With just over nine minutes left in the game, rookie Sheldon Snell (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) broke through the line on a rush and raced 51 yards to the Ursinus 31, but the ball was ripped free from his arm and recovered by Ursinus, spoiling a big play and potential scoring opportunity. The very next offensive drive, the Marauders dropped back-to-back passes on third and fourth down, ending the drive at the Ursinus 39 with 13 seconds left in regulation

Millersville finished with eight first downs--five of which were generated in regulation. While the Marauders totaled 178 rushing yards, it managed just 43 through the air. Ursinus finished with 61 yards on the ground and 198 passing.

The Marauder defense was led by Varner's productive debut. Including his interception, he totaled 15 stops, one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. Sene Polamalu totaled 2.5 sacks, Rasheed Johnson totaled 11 tackles and a pick, P.J. Santos intercepted a pass, and Joey Pham intercepted a pass and broke up three more. The eight sacks were the most by a Marauder defense in more than a decade, and the four picks were the most since Oct. 22, 2011 against East Stroudsburg.

Millersville is back in action in exactly one week at Clarion, playing a second consecutive Thursday night game.