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Opponent Preview: North Dakota State

Jack Illustrated

Opponent Preview: North Dakota State

Well, it is here! Dakota Marker Week. I probably don’t need to rehash this rivalry too much because everyone who is likely to read this knows how much these two teams hate each other. In the spring season, the Jackrabbits dominated the Bison on their way to a 27-17 victory in Fargo. The Jacks danced on the Bison logo at midfield and made their players and fans angry. There will plenty of emotion in this game. Like all Dakota Marker matchups, this game will be won and lost in the trenches. The team who is more physical and controls the line of scrimmage will win. That is just how these games go. The Bison come in undefeated (8-0) and are in contention for a top 2 seed for the FCS playoffs.

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Offense

The Bison offense is once again dominant on the ground. They are averaging 260.8 yards per game on the ground and 144.4 through the air on their way to scoring 33.5 ppg. The Bison have only yielded 10 sacks this season, convert on 44% of their 3rd down opportunities and score 82% of the time in the redzone but just 67% are touchdowns. Because of this ground and pound mentality they are controlling the ball for 31:28 per game. One major thing of note, the Bison are not beating themselves. They have committed just 7 turnovers on the season; 5 INT and 2 fumbles.

The QB position has been taken over by #7 Cam Miller (6-1, 208). #2 Quincy Patterson (6-3, 246) was the starter for much of the season but was benched against Missouri State two weeks ago after throwing an interception which was his 3rd in three games. Miller has sparked the passing attacking which had gone dormant under Patterson and passed for 185 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT on an efficient 10 of 14 passing against Indiana State. On they year he has completeled 21 of 29 passes for 336 yards, and 6 TDs. Most importantly, it appears he has a strong connection with NDSU star receiver Christian Watson that Patterson simply does not have. Quincy Patterson is much more of running QB and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him come in for a series or two as a change of pace type player. On the year he is the Bison leading rusher with 422 yards, 5.3 average, and 6 TDs. In terms of passing he is completing 54.5% of his passes for 813 yards and 6 TD with 4 INT.

As always, the NDSU backfield is loaded with talent that is really diverse in their abilities. #29 Dom Gonnella (5-11, 205) is the starter and he has a 5.9 ypc average for 344 yards and 2 TDs. #4 Kobe Johnson (5-9, 188) is a truly dynamic player with the ball in his hands and reminds me of Ty Brooks in a lot of ways. He busted off a 97 yard touchdown run against the Sycamores and now has 380 yards and a 6.9 ypc average and a TD. Besides these two, the Bison have SMU Transfer #22 TaMerik Williams (6-1, 225) who has a 7.4 ypc average for 245 yards and 4 TD. They have the jitterbug #21 Jalen Bussey (5-5, 161) who has a 6.5 ypc average for 169 yards and 2 TD and they also have their fullback who is a hammer in #44 Hunter Luepke (6-1, 236). He has 211 yards with a 5.7 ypc average and 3 TD. It is an impressive group and they definitely don’t rely on one care to carry the load. Luepke has been battling injuries this season and it sounds like he was dinged up on his touchdown on Saturday. His status is unknown at this time.

The wide receiver group for the Bison is pretty dynamic. #1 Christian Watson (6-5, 208) is one of the most talented wide receivers in the league. He has 26 receptions for 506 yards and 6 TDs. As mentioned previously, he has a connection with Miller and over the past two games has 8 receptions for 129 yards and 2 TD. He is also a threat to run the ball on jet sweeps and has 8 carries for 60 yards. # 11 Phoenix Sproles (6-0, 193) is back from an injury that kept him out of the entirety of the spring. He has 12 receptions for 145 yards and 1 TD. Sproles is shifty in space. I’d anticipate Malik Lofton on Sproles and DyShawn Gales (if available) on Watson this week. #17 Raja Nelson (5-8, 189), #0 Zach Mathis (6-6, 203) , and #12 Braylon Henderson (5-9, 176) are other Bison receivers who are talented but just haven’t produced this season as expected. Henderson has elite speed and is fun to watch when he is at full speed (hopefully we don’t see that this weekend). The Bison also have two solid tight ends that are vastly underutilized by the Bison offense. #87 Noah Gindorff (6-6, 266) and #81 Josh Babicz (6-6, 255) are studs but they just don’t have a pass catching role. Gindorff has 9 receptions and TD while Babicz has 4 receptions and 2 TD. They are also both very good blockers.

The Bison offensive line is improved from the spring. It looks like they took the call to become more physical to heart and working on earning back the “Rams” nickname. From left to right they go #70 Cody Mauch (6-6, 301), #66 Nash Jensen (6-4, 328), #72 Jalen Sundell (6-5, 298), #63 Zach Kubas (6-4, 302), and #67 Cordell Volson (6-7, 313). Sundell returned to the lineup against Indiana State after missing the previous few weeks due to injury. In that time #77 Brandon Westberg (6-4, 287) filled in. Obviously this group has performed well in the run game and has only surrendered the 10 sacks and only 4 during the conference portion of the schedule.

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Defense

The Bison defense is on a historic pace this season. They are allowing just 8.1 ppg. Opponents are earning 74.9 ypg on the ground and 169.5 through the air. This defense is fast, physical and has forced 8 interceptions and recovered 7 fumbles. They limit teams to just 21% conversion rate on 3rd down and have accumulated 31 sacks! Teams have reached the redzone just 12 times against the Bison defense. When they get there it doesn’t get any easier as they have scored just 50% of the time and only 4 of those 12 have been for touchdowns.

The biggest change for the Bison is the rapid improvement of their interior defensive line. The young duo of #58 Javier Derritt (6-1, 284) and #53 Eli Mostaert (6-3, 280) have rapidly improved. They are pushing the starters #92 Lane Tucker (6-3, 280) and #94 Coster Ching (6-4, 284) every week. #95 Michael Buetow (6-0, 283) is also a very capable reserve. Tucker has 20 tackles on the year with 2.5 sacks and 2 QBH while Ching has 13 stops. Derritt has 12 stops and 3 sacks while Mostaert has 25 tackles and 5.5 sacks. On the edge, #98 Brayden Thomas (6-3, 260) has 14 tackles, 6 TFL, and 4 sacks. #90 Tony Pierce (6-1, 236) has 14 tackles and #93 Logan McCormick (6-2, 242) has 13 tackles and 2 sacks, 2 PD, and a forced fumble. Thomas has missed a few games with an elbow injury but did return against Missouri State. NDSU is without their star defensive end Spencer Waege due to an ACL injury suffered in the 3rd game this season. Because of that injury #91 Will Mostaert (6-2, 248) has seen his snaps increase and he has delivered with 8 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 passes defended and a forced fumble.

The linebacking corps for the Bison have been hit hard by injury. #26 James Kaczour (6-0, 215) has not played since the UND game October 2nd but was listed on the depth chart last week.. It sounds like his status is unknown and he has just 8 tackles in two games. #51 Mason Hofstedt (6-1, 226) has filled in for him and has 20 tackles on the year. #52 Jackson Hankey (6-2, 219) is back in the middle and is a tackling machine with 50 tackles, 2.5 TFL, a sack, 2 QBH, and 2 forced fumbles. #3 Jasir Cox (6-1, 209) has improved from the spring and has 33 tackles, 1 sack, a team leading 3 INT, and 5 passes defended. #31 Cole Wisniewski (6-4, 221) is seeing plenty of action in the absence of Kaczour and he is 4th on the team in tackles with 26. He also has a sack, 1 pass defended and 3 more QBH. #47 Luke Weerts is a promising young player who was also lost to injury during the non-conference portion of the schedule.

The secondary for NDSU is sticky as always. #18 Courtney Eubanks (5-10, 185) is young but has quickly become one of the best corners in the league. He has 22 tackles, 1 sack, 2 PBUs. #23 Jayden Price (6-0, 186) is enjoying a solid year and had 9 tackles, 3 passes defended. #6 Destin Talbert (6-0, 185) is the 3rd CB and he has 20 tackles, 1 INT, 2 passes defended, and a forced fumble. This is a really solid trio when NDSU goes into its nickel package. #27 Marcus Sigle (5-11, 187) has 9 stops and an INT of his own from his reserve role. #25 Michael Tutsie (5-11, 192) is one of the best safties in the FCS. He is solid in the run game and against the pass. He is second on the team with 48 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 PBU, and 1 forced fumble. He roams all over the place and it will be important to identify where he is at pre-snap. He is next to #2 Dawson Weber (6-2, 192) who has 23 tackles, 2 INT, and 4 passes defended. #10 Dom Jones (6-3, 194) was a ballhawk in the spring when he filled in for the injured Weber but this fall he has just 11 tackles and a forced fumble.

Special Teams

NDSU is solid on special teams. #37 Jake Reinholz is STILL the kicker for NDSU. I swear he has been there since the Fargo Dome was built. On the year he has 36 kickoff attempts for a 55.9 yard average and just 4 touchbacks. NDSU wants to pins teams inside the 25 so it will be crucial that the return team is locked and loaded and providing room for the return men. Reinholz is 10 of 13 on his field goals with a long of 46. His misses have been from 53, 38, and 40 yards and all occurred inside a dome. NDSU added a solid player at punter in #41 Kaedin Steindorf and he has 31 punts for a 30.1 yard average with a long of 50 and 0 touchbacks while landing 13 inside the 20. The Bison have just allowed a 3.9 yard average on their 11 punts with a long of 7.

Raja Nelson and Christian Watson are the primary kick returners and both are dangerous. Nelson has 5 attempts for 118 yards, which is good for a 23.6 yard average but 50 of those yards came on one return. Watson has just 3 attempts for 69 yards and a long of 48. The Jacks should avoid kicking to Watson as a kick return from him can change the entire complexion of a game. In addition Jayden Price handles the punt return duties and he is electric. He has 16 attempts for a 13.3 yard per return average including a 45 yard touchdown.

Prediction

The Jackrabbits and Bison have such a strong dislike for one another. The Jacks whooped the Bison at the line of scrimmage last season. That is something that doesn’t happen to NDSU often and I doubt if it has been forgotten. The Jackrabbits will have to play their best and cleanest game of the year in order to beat this version of the Bison. I think this is another instant classic in a rivalry that has really delivered over the years.

Jackrabbits 27- Bison 24.

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