The Salukis get to go from one dome in the Dakotas to another in back to back weeks.
North Dakota State football deserves no introduction. They've won 8 of the last 10 national championships and despite going through multiple head coaches, continue to be a dominant force in FCS. This season, the Bison had another strong season going 10-1, only losing to rival South Dakota State on the road.
The Bison are coached by Matt Entz, in his 3rd year with the program. Entz was the defensive coordinator at North Dakota State before taking over for Chris Klieman when he left for Kansas State. Entz won the National Championship in his first season as head coach with Trey Lance at QB and is 33-4 overall as Bison coach.
Meet the Bison:
The Bison remain a juggernaut in the MVFC. They lead the MVFC in points per game on offense with 35.3 points per game and they lead the MVFC in points allowed per game on defense with 12.1 points allowed per game. The Bison were a distant 1st in the MVFC in rushing yards per game (271.8 per game) but 9th in passing yards per game (160.1 passing yards per game).
On the defensive end, the Bison were 2nd in rushing yards allowed per game (85.1 rushing yards against per game) and 1st in passing yards allowed per game (177.2 passing yards against per game). The Bison also led the MVFC in sacks with 40.
On special teams, the Bison were a distant 1st in the MVFC in punt return average. They had 18 total punt returns for 282 yards and a TD. If the Bison had one weakness this year, it was their kicking game. The Bison were 10th in the MVFC in net yards per punt and were 8th in the MVFC in field goal % (12-17, 70.6%).
The Bison have used two different quarterbacks this season. They started with 6'3 Junior Quincy Patterson but have switched to 6'1 Sophomore Cam Miller. Miller was a 3 star recruit by 247 out of Solon, Iowa and chose North Dakota State over offers from Northern Iowa and South Dakota State. Miller played in the final eight games last season for the Bison including the two playoff games after the Bison played musical chairs with the QB position after Trey Lance declared for the NFL Draft. In the two playoff games last year against Eastern Washington and Sam Houston State, Miller combined for just 140 passing yards on just 29 combined attempts with 2 TD's and 2 interceptions. Miller took over for Patterson during their 7th game against Missouri State and has started every game since. Miller has been very efficient passing this season completing 73% of his passes and has 942 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He's also added 149 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
When it comes to running the football, the Bison have a Swiss army knife of running backs. North Dakota State has had 16 different players run the football this season and as a team they've combined for 2,990 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns. Their leading rusher is 6'1 Junior TaMerik Williams. Williams was a 3 star recruit out of Angleton, TX and committed to SMU over offers from Houston, Memphis, New Mexico State, and Louisiana. He spent 2 years at SMU where he combined for 2 touchdowns before transferring to North Dakota State this offseason. This season for the Bison, Williams has rushed 74 times for 493 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns. North Dakota State's 2nd leading rusher has been 5'9 Junior Kobe Johnson. In Johnson's Freshman season, he rushed for 660 yards and 4 touchdowns and was named to the MVFC All-Newcomer Team. In the Spring season, Johnson played sparingly due to injury but this season he's bounced back rushing for 437 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Bison have two other rushers with 4 rushing touchdowns each in 5'5 Sophomore Jalen Bussey and 6'1 Junior fullback Hunter Luepke.
North Dakota State's leading wide receiver is 6'5 Senior Christian Watson. In Watson's Sophomore season, he caught 34 passes for 732 yards and 6 touchdowns which led to him being named to the All-MVFC second team. In the Spring season, Watson caught 19 passes for 442 yards and was named to the All-MVFC first team. This season, Watson's had his best overall season despite the changes at quarterback catching 39 passes for 739 yards and 7 touchdowns and was named to the All-MVFC first team again.
North Dakota State's leader in sacks and tackles for loss is 6'3 Senior defensive end Brayden Thomas. Thomas started his collegiate career at the University of Mary before transferring to Minnesota State after his Freshman season. After his Junior season, where he led Minnesota State with 21 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks, he transferred to North Dakota State. This season, Thomas led the team and the MVFC with 10.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks and was 2nd to Northern Iowa's Jared Brinkman for MVFC Defensive Player of the Year. Thomas was named to the All-MVFC first team.
Massey Ratings:
Massey Ratings predicts a 31-21 North Dakota State win and gives SIU a 24% chance of winning.
Links:
Nick Hill Press Conference 11/29
ND State Press Conference 11/29
SIU/South Dakota Radio Highlights
This Spring was pretty fun, I think SIU should do that again 👍:
Good stuff on the Bison message board. Look under topic-SIU or USD. They seem very confident their players are jacked for revenge. Would love to see the Dawgs go punch them in the mouth again.
From Nick Hill's presser today it sounds like Avante Cox will be able to play Saturday, but it sounds like Justin Strong may be out with a sprained ankle.
Wow - that was sweet watching us kick them in the junk!!! Do the hurry up and come to play Dawgs - we can do it again!
RB Romeir Elliott radio interview with Gene Green:
Ranking the favorites to win the national championship:
https://herosports.com/fcs-football-favorites-2021-national-title-16-bzbz/
Can’t wait for this game. I like that it’s indoors and think that favors SIU at least a little bit.
I am hoping for a good game and best effort. Regardless of the outcome as long as we play at the top of our talent and best of our ability without making dumb mistakes (including the play calling and time management decisions) I will be happy. We are still playing, we have a chance.
I think this game comes down to two things...Line play and running the ball. On Defense we have to be able to limit the run game. If you look at all their close games/one loss this year, that's been the common theme. Keep them under 150 total on the ground and make their QB beat you. If they get in to 2nd/3rd and shorts where they can run play action off their run schemes, their QB WILL beat you.
On offense it's going to be all about the big guys up front. Since Francis went down at center the O-line has struggled, in pass protection and with penalties especially. We have to establish the run game early, if we get one dimensional it's going to be a long day. Our line cannot hold up against a Bison D-line that knows we are going to drop back and pass the ball. They can play two high all day and be in Baker's face every play (see Youngstown game). When I say run game, I include things like those quick WR screens to the boundary (essentially a run play), take whatever they'll give you, just stay out of 3rd and longs. Against South Dakota they were able to do that and had a good 3rd down conversion rate as a result. Also, we have to finish off drives in the red zone (that's where we struggled against SD).
This is a big game for this team and I hope they come ready to play! If they pull off a win here, they have a good shot at getting to the Semis. Go Dawgs!
Saw where NDSU is favored by 14.5 points. I think we can keep it within that. This team seems to thrive in an away game as an underdog. A win would sure cast a better light on the last half of the season and would go a long way towards keeping the 2022 recruiting class together until signing day (don't know if you guys noticed the Connor Lair decommitment yesterday).
I’m mostly at peace with this season no matter how this game goes. Didn’t think they deserved to make the playoffs but they did and won a game on the road. This team had the talent to do better this season but we’re much better off than we were two years ago and Hill has recruiting rolling even with the loss of Lair to Missouri State.
This team tends to give the Bison fits as seen from the last 2 seasons. Even in the 2-9 season at the FargoDome they had chances against Easton Stick before it just got out of hand.
Saw where NDSU is favored by 14.5 points. I think we can keep it within that. This team seems to thrive in an away game as an underdog. A win would sure cast a better light on the last half of the season and would go a long way towards keeping the 2022 recruiting class together until signing day (don't know if you guys noticed the Connor Lair decommitment yesterday).
I saw the decommitment, but he is from the Springfield area, so I was honestly surprised we got him in the first place. Not so worried about that one. If we see multiple decommitments, I'll start to get nervous.
