FARGO — The results of North Dakota State’s defensive performance in its four nonconference games are in. The Bison won’t have to see Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter again, nor will they have to travel to Johnson City, Tennessee.
If there were hopes for a similarly convincing performance, they were not achieved on Saturday afternoon against Towson University (Maryland). Nevertheless, NDSU was able to fend off a strong second half from the Tigers and score a 41-24 home victory in front of 17,185 fans at Gate City Bank Field in the Fargodome.
“Nice homecoming,” said NDSU head coach Tim Polasek.
NDSU improved to 3-1 and next up is the Missouri Valley Football Conference, its lone loss to the Sanders- and Hunter-led University of Colorado. The win over Towson came after NDSU gave up 270 yards rushing last week at East Tennessee State, where the Bison were middle of the pack in FCS run defense.
NDSU rallied in this game, winning 38-35 despite the emphasis this week on better defensive performance. Towson finished the game with 205 yards on the ground.
“Big ‘O’ has saved us the last few weeks,” NDSU linebacker Logan Kopp said of the Bison offense. “But I’m excited because our best football is still ahead of us.”
Reliable senior quarterback Cam Miller was once again in top form, completing his first 14 attempts and completing 17 of 19 yards passing for 219 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman running back Marty Brown ran 24 times for 126 yards and three touchdowns and
“He’s a tough opponent,” said Polasek. “I feel that he’s in rhythm. The more pictures he gets, the better he gets. I’m happy with his performance and hope that he can build on that.”
Miller said, “The yards after contact must have been absurd, he got a few yards when there were none.”
True freshman Jackson Williams returned a 67-yard touchdown on a punt in the second quarter to give the Bisons a 24-3 halftime lead. It was Jackson’s first start as a punt returner.
And it looked like travel mode was appropriate. That didn’t happen.
Towson narrowed the gap to 24-10 midway through the third quarter with its best drive, 74 yards in eight plays. Backup quarterback Nathan Kent scored a two-yard touchdown on his first play of the season.
By this time, most of NDSU’s supporters, including about 75% of the student body, had already left the building, and Towson had the upper hand.
However, the Bison offense regained momentum and gained 82 yards to make it 31-10. Brown scored the touchdown with a two-yard run.
Towson didn’t reach 100 yards until the fourth quarter on a 12-yard, 100-yard run by quarterback Carlos Davis. This came during a drive that put the Tigers within 31-17, with Davis scoring unchallenged on a 14-yard QB draw.
“I think we played well in the first half,” said Kopp. “I think we have a lot of work to do in the second half. Our biggest focus is tackling No. 1 and limiting explosive plays.”
David Samson/The Forum
After Towson forced its first three-and-out and NDSU’s first punt, the Tigers were still in the game with 10:16 left and got the ball. They were really in the game after Tyrell Greene Jr. ran 72 yards up the middle virtually unchallenged on the first play of the game, making the score 31-24.
“When you look at pure yards, there are some issues, really disappointing to miss a long pass in the long run,” Polasek said. “That has to get better. I want our defense and our players to take responsibility for that so I don’t have to talk about it every week.”
It was the longest run against NDSU since Montana State’s Tommy Mellott ran 76 yards in last year’s FCS playoff game.
However, the Bison managed to win the game in two possessions. Griffin Crosa’s 34-yard field goal gave the Bison a 10-point lead with 4:28 left.
The teams scored field goals in the first quarter, with the Bison scoring on the game’s opening drive. Crosa was good from 37 yards. NDSU was able to build some distance on the next possession.
The big play in an 11-play, 80-yard drive was a pass from Miller to Chris Harris, a beautiful throw over the middle that nearly put Harris in the end zone. In fact, the 49-yard play reached the Towson 21-yard line on third-and-10.
“I’ve watched a lot of film on a lot of different guys and he’s fantastic,” Towson head coach Pete Shinnick said.
Brown scored the touchdown on fourth-and-2 and the score was 10-3 at the start of the second quarter.
Both teams were on opposite ends of special teams plays. NDSU’s Nick Kubitz blocked a Tigers punt and the Bison had the ball at the TU 41-yard line. But the Bison got their revenge when holder Kaedin Steindorf botched the snap on a fake field goal attempt and was caught in a flash.
Polasek said it would have been a walk-in touchdown if Steindorf had caught the ball cleanly.
Williams healed all wounds with his punt return, and Miller’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Lance late in the second quarter gave NDSU a 24-3 halftime lead.
“You can’t be down 24-3 against the No. 2 team in the country,” Shinnick said. “We made too many mistakes to play a team like that. We were close, we just need to find a way to kill it.”
Chris Flynn / The Forum
Jeff would like to dispel the notion that he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he has been a reporter for Forum Communications for three decades. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked for the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and, since 1990, The Forum, where he has covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough” and “Covid Kids.” He is the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” from April through August.
