PLAYOFF HISTORY BISON PLAYOFF HISTORY · 106 yards, 61 of them by back Tim Mjos. Arlington scored first after a 54-yard bomb ... zly fumbles and the expertise of quarterback Mike

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BISON POSTSEASON FACTSNumber of Years In Postseason Play: 26Total Games Played: 59Record: Won 45, Lost 14 (10-1 in FCS, 40-13 in NCAA playoffs overall)1964 Mineral Water Bowl: NDSU 14, Western State (Colo.) 131965 Pecan Bowl: NDSU 20, Grambling 71967 Pecan Bowl: Texas-Arlington 13, NDSU 01968 Pecan Bowl: NDSU 23, Arkansas State 141969 Camellia Bowl: NDSU 30, Montana 31970 Camellia Bowl: NDSU 31, Montana 161976 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 10, Eastern Kentucky 31976 NCAA Semifinals: Montana State 10, NDSU 31977 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 20, Northern Michigan 61977 NCAA Semifinals: Jacksonville State 31, NDSU 71981 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 24, Puget Sound 101981 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 19, Shippensburg State 61981 NCAA Championship: SW Texas State 42, NDSU 131982 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 21, Virginia Union 201982 NCAA Semifinals: UC Davis 19, NDSU 141983 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 24, Towson State 171983 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 26, UC Davis 171983 NCAA Championship: NDSU 41, Central State (Ohio) 211984 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 31, UC Davis 231984 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 25, Nebraska-Omaha 141984 NCAA Championship: Troy State 18, NDSU 171985 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 31, UC Davis 121985 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 16, South Dakota 71985 NCAA Championship: NDSU 35, North Alabama 71986 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 50, Ashland (Ohio) 01986 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 35, Central State (Ohio) 121986 NCAA Championship: NDSU 27, South Dakota 71988 NCAA First Round: NDSU 49, Augustana (S.D.) 71988 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 36, Millersville (Pa.) 261988 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 42, Cal State-Sacramento 201988 NCAA Championship: NDSU 35, Portland State 211989 NCAA First Round: NDSU 45, Edinboro (Pa.) 321989 NCAA Quarterfinals: Jacksonville State 21, NDSU 171990 NCAA First Round: NDSU 17, Northern Colorado 71990 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 47, Cal Poly 01990 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 39, Pittsburg State 291990 NCAA Championship: NDSU 51, Indiana (Pa.) 111991 NCAA First Round: Mankato State 27, NDSU 71992 NCAA First Round: NDSU 42, NE Missouri State 71992 NCAA Quarterfinals: Pittsburg State 38, NDSU 37 (OT)1994 NCAA First Round: NDSU 18, Pittsburg State 12 (3 OT)1994 NCAA Quarterfinals: North Dakota 14, NDSU 71995 NCAA First Round: NDSU 41, North Dakota 101995 NCAA Quarterfinals: Pittsburg State 9, NDSU 71997 NCAA First Round: NW Missouri State 39, NDSU 282000 NCAA First Round: NDSU 31, NW Missouri State 172000 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 43, Nebraska-Omaha 212000 NCAA Semifinals: Delta State 34, NDSU 162010 NCAA First Round: NDSU 43, Robert Morris 172010 NCAA Second Round: NDSU 42, Montana State 172010 NCAA Quarterfinals: Eastern Washington 38, NDSU 31 (OT)2011 NCAA Second Round: NDSU 26, James Madison 142011 NCAA Quarterfinals: NDSU 24, Lehigh 02011 NCAA Semifinals: NDSU 35, Georgia Southern 72011 NCAA Championship: NDSU 17, Sam Houston State 62012 NCAA Second Round: NDSU 28, South Dakota State 32012 NCAA Quarterfinal: NDSU 14, Wofford 72012 NCAA Semifinal: NDSU 23, Georgia Southern 202012 NCAA Championship: NDSU 39, Sam Houston State 13

Championship Breakdown: National Championships: 10 (1965, 1968, 1969, 1983, 1985, 1986,

1988, 1990, 2011, 2012) National Runners-up: 3 (1967, 1981, 1984) National Third-Place Finishes: 5 (1970, 1976, 1977, 1982, 2000)**Championships & placings prior to 1973 were determined by AP or

UPI polls...Championships & runnerup finishes after that were through the NCAA playoff format...Third-place finishes after 1973 were the result of semifinal losses in the playoff system.

The Bison ran for 243 yards to dominate action in their first bowl appearance.

1964 Mineral Bowl EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo.—The Bison became the first team in North Dakota history to receive an invitation to play in a postseason bowl game and the Thundering Herd made the best of the occasion to post a 14-13 win and cap an out-standing 10-1 season. That first bowl opponent was Western State of Colorado. After a scoreless first quarter, NDSU got on the scoreboard with a six-yard pass from QB Pierre DuCharme to halfback Bruce Airheart. Minutes later, the Bison's Rudy Baranko inter-cepted a pass in the end zone and returned it to the NDSU 43. Three plays later Airheart went 43 yards to score his second TD of the day. Western State, 9-0 during the regular season, scored in the second period and tallied again in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 14-13 with 2:48 left. The Mountaineers attempted the 2-point conversion, but it failed as a heavy rush broke up the pass. NDSU's Airheart was named the MVP of the game.

Statistics NDSU WSCFirst Downs 18 8Yds. Rush 243 129Yds. Pass 87 124Passes 9-14-1 10-29-1Punts 7-28.8 7-35.5Penalties 9-83 8-80Fumbles/Lost 4-4 4-3

Western State 0 7 0 6 -- 13NDSU 0 14 0 0 -- 14NDSU--Airheart 6 pass from DuCharme (DuCharme kick)NDSU--Airheart 43 run (DuCharme kick)WSC--Wilson 1 run (Simmons kick)WSC--Wilson 15 pass from Novak (pass failed)A--6,000

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Steve Irgens (83) puts the heavy hit on Gram-bling's QB in the 1965 Pecan Bowl victory as Ardell Wiegandt (60) and another unidentified Bison come to his aid.

1967 Pecan Bowl ABILENE, Texas—The cold and the ice of P.E. Shotwell Stadium combined with the stiff de-fense of the Texas-Arlington Rebels to pin a 13-0 Pecan Bowl loss on the previously undefeated North Dakota State Bison. The result allowed both teams to finish 10-1 for the season as the Bison pulled in second and the Rebels third in the national wire service poll. The Bison rushing machine was limited to just 106 yards, 61 of them by back Tim Mjos. Arlington scored first after a 54-yard bomb moved the ball deep into NDSU territory. The 6-0 score held up until just two minutes remained in the game when an intercepted pass led to the final TD. The Bison threatened on numerous occa-sions, reaching the Rebel 21, 16, 12 and 7-yard lines before being stopped.

Statistics NDSU UTAFirst Downs 12 14Yds. Rush 106 96Yds. Pass 94 118Passes 8-25-2 11-28-0Punts 7-39.4 9-39.1Penalties 5-60 3-24Fumbles/Lost 1-1 4-2

Texas-Arlington 0 6 0 7 -- 13NDSU 0 0 0 0 -- 0UTA--Griffin 1 run (kick failed)UTA--Luft 5 run (Butler kick)A--1,000

1965 Pecan Bowl ABILENE, Texas—A determined NDSU football team posted a convincing 20-7 Pecan Bowl victory over famed Grambling College here to cap a perfect 11-0 season and take firm hold of the No. 1 national rating in College Division football. The Bison, one of the best defensive teams in the nation, allowed Grambling just 97 yards in total offense. The Bison opened up scoring by marching the opening kickoff 80 yards with Ken Rota going the final five. The Bison upped the margin to 13-0 in the second quarter with Jim Carlson passing 68 yards to Lowell Linderman for the score. Grambling collected its only score on a 93-yard kickoff return to open the second half. NDSU fullback Roger Mische plunged two yards in the final quarter to finish the scoring. Rota gained 96 yards on 22 carries and was named the outstanding back. Linderman was picked as the outstanding lineman.

Statistics NDSU GramblingFirst Downs 13 4Yds. Rush 206 90Yds. Pass 107 16Passes 4-12-0 2-12-1Punts 7-14.5 9-31.2Penalties 2-10 6-40Fumbles/Lost 0-0 0-0

Grambling 0 0 7 0 -- 7NDSU 6 7 0 7 -- 20NDSU--Rota 5 run (kick failed)NDSU--Linderman 68 pass from Carlson (Aheman kick)G--Smith 93 kickoff return (Bean kick)NDSU--Mische 2 run (Ahneman kick)A--8,500

Snow, cold, and empty seats greeted North Dakota State's entry into the 1967 Pecan Bowl.

1968 Pecan Bowl ARLINGTON, Texas—Paul Hatchett ran for 106 yards and a touchdown as North Dakota State's awesome offense rolled to 23 first-half points to stop Arkansas State University 23-14 here in the fifth annual Pecan Bowl football game. The Bison, ranked No. 1 in the nation, looked to make it a runaway in the opening two periods when Joe Roller, Hatchett, Ken Blazei and Bruce Grasamke combined for the three TDs and a field goal. Roller caught an 11-yard pass from Grasamke and Hatchett traversed 18 yards for first-quarter TDs. Blazei then booted a 30-yard field goal and Grasamke ran in from four yards out before the halftime gun. The Indians got two fourth-quarter TDs but had little other success against the Herd. Hatchett was voted the outstanding offensive player of the game.

Statistics NDSU ASUFirst Downs 17 19Yds. Rush 236 53Yds. Pass 66 173Passes 8-18-2 13-36-2Punts 6-26.8 8-33.9Penalties 2-16 7-61Fumbles/Lost 2-1 1-1

Arkansas State 0 0 0 14 -- 14NDSU 14 9 0 0 -- 23NDSU--Roller 11 pass from Grasamke (Blazei kick)NDSU--Hatchett 18 run (Blazei kick)NDSU--FG Blazei 30NDSU--Grasamke 45 run (kick failed)ASU--Hamilton 10 run (Casey pass from LaGrone)ASU--Hamilton 1 run (run failed)A--7,200

Paul Hatchett gained 106 yards and scored a TD in the win over Arkansas State.

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1969 Camellia Bowl SACRAMENTO, Calif.—North Dakota State steamrolled the University of Montana 30-3 here in the Camellia Bowl meeting between the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the nation. Any doubt to the Bison's grip on the top slot was disspelled by the overwhelming display of the Fargo team. But this time, NDSU changed the script slightly. The Bison went to the air as QB Bruce Grasamke completed 16 of 25 passes for 206 yards as the Bison finished with a total of 234 passing yards and 421 yards in total offense. Grasamke opened the scoring with a 7-yard run in the first period. After a Montana field goal, NDSU followed with 24 consecutive points. Paul Hatchett took in a 15-yard pass from Grasamke, Jim Twardy kicked a 23-yard field goal, Dennis Preboski ran 38 yards for another score, and Tim Mjos hauled in an 8-yard pass from Mike Bentson for the final TD. NDSU finished 10-0-0 for the season.

Statistics NDSU MontanaFirst Downs 24 12Yds. Rush 187 125Yds. Pass 234 63Passes 19-28-2 7-30-3Punts 7-32.7 6-42.4Penalties 7-99 4-30Fumbles/Lost 1-0 2-1

Montana 0 3 0 0 -- 3NDSU 6 10 0 14 -- 30NDSU--Grasmake 7 run (kick failed)UM--FG Worrell 33NDSU--Hatchett 15 pass from Grasmake (Twardy kick)NDSU--FB Twardy 23NDSU--Preboski 38 run (Twardy kick)NDSU--Mjos 8 pass from Bentson (Twardy kick)A--14,912

1970 Camellia Bowl SACRAMENTO, Calif.—North Dakota State made it two in a row over the University of Montana in Camellia Bowl action by whipping the Grizzlies 31-16 to cap another undefeated season. The Bison defeated Montana 30-3 in 1969 Camellia Bowl and now have won five of six bowl games during a seven-year span. This time, the Bison took advantage of five lost Griz-zly fumbles and the expertise of quarterback Mike Bentson. Bentson totalled 208 yards in total offense and scored three TDs. His TD runs came on bursts of 4, 1 and 5 yards. Dennis Preboski tallied from five yards out and Jim Twardy booted a 34-yard field goal. NDSU rolled up a 28-3 margin in the second period and was never seriously threatened.

Statistics NDSU MontanaFirst Downs 17 19Yds. Rush 189 176Yds. Pass 110 138Passes 9-20-2 8-14-1Punts 5-33.8 5-36.6Penalties 5-66 6-65Fumbles/Lost 1-0 6-5

Montana 0 10 6 0 -- 16NDSU 14 14 3 0 -- 31NDSU--Bentson 4 run (Twardy kick)NDSU--Bentson 1 run (Twardy kick)UM-FG Worrell 29NDSU--Bentson 5 run (Twardy kick)NDSU--Preboski 5 run (Twardy kick)UM--Kent 1 run (Worrell kick)UM--Blacas 5 run (kick failed)NDSU--FG Twardy 34A--13,177

Bison quarterback Bruce Grasamke (1) keeps the ball against Montana in a 30-3 win.

NDSU's defense forced six Mon-tana turnovers, including five lost fumbles.

1976 NCAA Quarterfinal RICHMOND, Ky.—North Dakota State over-came five lost fumbles with two first-half scores and then used a stubborn defense that yielded but refused to break for a 10-7 NCAA quarter-final victory in the Division II national football playoffs over Ohio Valley Conference champion Eastern Kentucky. The Bison, ranked 10th in the nation and six-point underdogs to the fifth-ranked Colonels of EKU, scored on QB Steve Campbell's 3-yard run in the first quarter and a 38-yard field goal by Mike McTague in the second quarter. And, the Bison were inside the EKU 25 three other times only to lose the ball on fumbles. The defense was superb in the first half, holding the Colonels to just 72 yards total of-fense. EKU came alive in the second half and the Bison held on downs twice inside the 20 and forced the Colonels to miss two other field goal attempts. Eastern Kentucky finished with 338 yards total offense while the Bison had 298 yards.

Statistics NDSU EKUFirst Downs 15 17Yds. Rush 288 190Yds. Pass 10 148Passes 1-7-0 10-19-2Punts 5-40.4 6-36.5Penalties 7-75 5-45Fumbles/Lost 5-5 4-1

E. Kentucky 0 0 7 0 -- 7NDSU 7 3 0 0 -- 10NDSU--Campbell 3 run (McTague kick)NDSU--FG McTague 38EKU--Nelson 34 pass from House (Landis kick)A--3,360

Freshman QB Steve Campbell (5) engi-neered NDSU's upset of Eastern Kentucky.

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1977 NCAA Quarterfinal FARGO, N.D.—A bitterly cold, snowy and windy day greeted the No. 1-ranked North Da-kota State Bison and the No. 10-ranked Northern Michigan Wildcats at Dacotah Field as the 1977 NCAA playoffs opened. The Bison played a near flawless game and posted a 20-6 win over the Wildcats to advance to the semifinals. High mounds of snow around the field and a 7 degree temperature at kickoff did little to chill the Bison as they jumped to a 7-0 halftime lead on a 3-yard run by Gordy Sprattler after a Don Hutson fumble recovery on the NMU 31-yard line. The Bison pushed it to 20-0 after three quarters with a pair of third-quarter TDs. Jay Klein fell on a fumbled Wildcat punt at-tempt in the end zone for the second NDSU TD and Bison QB Mark Speral crossed over from one yard out after Hutson picked off an enemy pass and returned it 17 yards to the Northern Michi-gan 15. The Wildcats scored early in the fourth period but were never in the game despite pick-ing up 240 yards in the air. The Bison recovered four NMU fumbles and snatched one pass in running their record to 9-1-1.

Statistics NDSU NMUFirst Downs 10 17Yds. Rush 186 53Yds. Pass 3 240Passes 1-7-1 16-30-1Punts 6-33.6 4-22.7Penalties 7-49 2-20Fumbles/Lost 0-0 8-4

Northern Mich. 0 0 0 6 -- 6NDSU 0 7 13 0 -- 20NDSU--Sprattler 3 run (McTague kick)NDSU--Klein recovered fumble in end zone (McTague kick)NDSU--Speral 1 run (kick blocked)NMU--Florini 1 run (kick failed)A--2,200

1976 Grantland Rice Bowl FARGO, N.D.—Montana State University scored a third-period touchdown and added a fourth-quarter field goal to overcome a 3-0 North Dakota State University halftime lead and capture a 10-3 NCAA semifinal playoff victory in the Grantland Rice Bowl at Dacotah Field over a stubborn Bison squad. Montana State, the No. 1 team in the na-tion (and the eventual national champion), had its hands full with the Thundering Herd before 6,100 fans and a regional ABC television audience. The Bison took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 25-yard field goal by Mike McTague. NDSU had another excellent scoring opportunity in the first half but missed by inches on a fourth down at the MSU 31. The Bison reached Montana State territory twice in the second half with a pass interception thwarting the best bid on a first-down play at the 24-yard line. The Bison lost four interceptions and two fumbles on a coldy, windy and snowy day. The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Herd and it was only the second Bison loss in nine postseason appearances dat-ing back to 1964.

Statistics NDSU MSUFirst Downs 8 16Yds. Rush 146 174Yds. Pass 51 76Passes 4-19-4 8-15-1Punts 5-41.4 6-38.3Penalties 7-58 3-53Fumbles/Lost 3-2 1-0

Montana State 0 0 7 3 -- 10NDSU 3 0 0 0 -- 3NDSU--FG McTague 25MSU--Damberger 5 pass from Dennehy (Muri kick)MSU--FG Muri 34A--6,100

It was a cold, snowy day for the 1977 quarter-final game.

Motorized brooms cleared the field of snow while ABC's cameras were bundled up to pre-vent freezing.

1977 Grantland Rice Bowl ANNISTON, Ala.—An obviously subpar exhibi-tion by the North Dakota State football team resulted in a 31-7 upset loss to host Jacksonville State in the Grantland Rice Bowl as the Bison fell for the second straight year in the NCAA semifinal contest. Whether or not a suspected case of food poisoning had an effect on the Bison team play can't be determined, but the club was extremely sluggish. Jacksonville State completely dominat-ed play. The normal strong Bison rushing attack gained just 148 yards and didn't get into paydirt until 13:47 remained in the game on a 2-yard plunge by Gordy Sprattler. The Bison defense allowed bowl game-record highs of 223 yards rushing and 413 yards total offense to the Gamecocks. The loss snapped an eight-game Bison win streak before 10,000 fans and a regional ABC television audience.

Statistics NDSU JSUFirst Downs 13 20Yds. Rush 148 223Yds. Pass 96 180Passes 10-21-2 17-25-0Punts 7-32.0 4-37.5Penalties 3-29 3-26Fumbles/Lost 3-3 4-3

Jacksonville St. 10 14 7 0 -- 31NDSU 0 0 0 7 -- 7JSU--Coleman 1 run (Riddle kick)JSU--FG Riddle 27JSU--Barker 5 pass from Green (Riddle kick)JSU--Walker 1 pass from Green (Riddle kick)JSU--Green 5 run (Riddle kick)NDSU--Sprattler 2 run (McTague kick)A--10,000

Gordy Sprattler

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1981 NCAA Quarterfinal BURIEN, Wash.—Sixth-ranked North Dakota State scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes of play to stop the No. 3-ranked Univer-sity of Puget Sound 24-10 in the first game of the 1981 national playoffs. The Bison, a renowned ground team, used the pass to set up the winning TD. A 49-yard strike to Robert Blakley from quarterback Mark Nellermoe gave the Bison a first down on the UPS 20 and set up Jeff Willis' 6-yard run three plays later to give the Bison their ninth win of the campaign. Moments later, a pass interception by Mike Stratton set up a 1-yard Nellermoe plunge and the Bison were in the semifinals. The 1-2 punch of Mike Kasowski and Kevin Peters paced the Bison to a 281-yard rushing day. Kasowski had 106 yards including a 1-yard TD run while Peters had 114 yards. Mark Luedtke's 24-yard field goal with six seconds left gave the Bison a 10-7 halftime lead after the Bison blocked a UPS punt. The Bison controlled the UPS ground attack to the tune of 52 yards in 39 carries but were troubled by a tremendous aerial assault by UPS quarterback Rod Drivstuen. Drivstuen completed 20 of 30 passes for 207 yards and one TD includ-ing 10 to slick receiver Mike Bos.

Statistics NDSU UPSFirst Downs 23 19Yds. Rush 281 52Yds. Pass 89 218Passes 3-5-0 21-33-2Punts 4-39.5 6-33.2Penalties 4-28 10-95Fumbles/Lost 5-2 3-3

Puget Sound 7 0 3 0 -- 10NDSU 0 10 0 14 -- 24UPS-Bos 19 pass from Drivstuen (Laughlin kick)NDSU--Kasowski 1 run (Luedtke kick)NDSU--FG Luedtke 24UPS--FG Laughlin 29NDSU--Willis 6 run (Luedtke kick)NDSU--Nellermoe 1 run (Luedtke kick)A--4,500

Top IndividualsRushing--Peters (NDSU) 26-114; Kasowski (NDSU) 20-106; Bagby

(UPS) 16-41; Lindblad (UPS) 10-31Passing--Drivstuen (UPS) 20-30-1, 207 yds.; Nellermoe--(NDSU)

3-5-0, 89 yds.Receiving--Bos (UPS) 10-144; Estes (UPS) 5-40; Bowton (UPS)

2-24; Lindblad (UPS) 2-0

1981 NCAA Semifinals SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.—North Dakota State powered its way past Shippensburg State Col-lege and into the championship game of the NCAA football playoffs with a wind-blown 18-6 victory over the Raiders. Eighth-ranked Shippensburg carried the nation's top record into the battle (12-0). The Raiders held the Bison to a 6-6 halftime tie before NDSU pulled away with two second-half touchdowns before a regional ABC television audience. It was an awesome rushing performance that eventually ground the Raiders down. Run-ning back Mike Kasowski gained 142 yards and scored two TDs while his mate, Kevin Peters, picked up 138 yards. Quarterback Mark Neller-moe added 93 yards and one score as the Herd gained 382 yards rushing. Kasowski scored from seven yards out on the first NDSU possession before SSC put together a 19-play, 90-yard march to tie at 6-6. Neller-moe's 12-yard run gave the Bison a permanent lead late in the third quarter after the Bison recovered a SSC fumble near midfield. The insurance score came on the next Bison possession as NDSU marched 81 yards in 8 plays with Kasowski taking it the final 14. The win was the 10th straight for the Bison (10-2).

Statistics NDSU SSCFirst Downs 21 27Yds. Rush 382 143Yds. Pass 34 250Passes 2-6-0 19-36-1Punts 3-38.0 4-34.3Penalties 6-37 6-50Fumbles/Lost 2-2 4-2

Shippensburg 6 0 0 0 -- 6NDSU 6 0 6 6 -- 18NDSU--Kasowski 7 run (Kick failed)SSC--Sodrosky 11 pass from Ebersole (Kick failed)NDSU--Nellermoe 12 run (pass failed)NDSU--Kasowski 13 run (run failed)A--7,400

Top IndividualsRushing--Kasowski (NDSU) 20-142; Peters (NDSU) 20-138; Neller-

moe (NDSU) 18-93; Friese (SSC) 21-83Passing--Ebersole (SSC) 19-36-1, 250 yds.; Nellermoe (NDSU)

2-6-0, 34 yds.Receiving--Noon (SSC) 5-67; Friese (SSC) 5-57; Zubia (SSC) 4-76;

Tidd (NDSU) 2-34

Mike KasowskiKevin Peters

1981 Palm Bowl McALLEN, Texas—It was the classic matchup for the NCAA Division II national football cham-pionship as the Bison battled Southwest Texas State. No promoter could have dreamed of a bet-ter finish. The Bison entered with 10 straight wins and faced their former coach, Jim Wacker. Current NDSU head coach Don Morton was a chief assistant under Wacker three seasons earlier at NDSU. Wacker and Morton were close friends and combined to author a book on football and the veer offense. The two clubs had many similarities on the field. Perfect 80-degree weather and a week-long buildup promised fireworks. The Bison jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their first possession with Mark Nellermoe capping a 69-yard drive with a 1-yard run. Two costly second-quarter fumbles set up a pair of Bobcat TDs and the Bison were down 14-7 before Kevin Peters (above) exploded in from two yards out to cap an 88-yard drive 37 seconds before halftime. Two Mike Miller bombs in the third quarter coupled with crippling injuries to running back Mike Kasowski and linebacker Todd Lecy spelled defeat for the Herd.

Statistics NDSU SW TexasFirst Downs 14 27Yds. Rush 220 328Yds. Pass 87 198Passes 3-7-1 8-14-1Punts 6-48.0 4-39.3Penalties 4-42 6-45Fumbles/Lost 5-4 6-3

SW Texas State 0 14 14 14 -- 42NDSU 7 6 0 0 -- 13NDSU--Nellermoe 1 run (Luedtke kick)SWTS--Williams 6 run (Neunhoffer kick)SWTS--Vela 35 pass from Miller (Neunhoffer kick)NDSU--Peters 2 run (Kick failedSWTS--Vela 64 pass from Miller (Neunhoffer kick)SWTS--Deary 44 pass from Miller (Neunhoffer kick) SWTS--Williams 2 run (Neunhoffer kick)SWTS--Jacoby 2 run (Neunhoffer kick)A--9,415

Top IndividualsRushing--Williams (SWTS) 22-153; Peters (NDSU) 10-79; Miller

(SWTS) 20-74; Kasowski (NDSU) 10-69Passing--Miller (SWTS) 8-14-1, 198 yds.; Nellermoe (NDSU)2-5-1,

50 yds.Receiving--Vela (SWTS) 2-99; Deary (SWTS) 2-41; Blakley (NDSU)

1-41; Barnes (NDSU) 1-37

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1982 NCAA Quarterfinal FARGO, N.D.--North Dakota State hosted an NCAA playoff game for the first time since 1977 and the Bison were rewarded with a scary 21-20 opening-round victory over Virginia Union. The Bison scored two fourth-quarter TDs including a 1-yard run by Jeff Willis with 1:06 remaining in the game to pull out the win. NDSU trailed 20-7 early in the final stanza before hold-ing the Panthers inside the Bison 40. The Herd then marched 59 yards in four plays with Mark Nellermoe hitting two big passes in the drive to Stacy Robinson and Jeff Conley. On the next possession, the Bison marched 80 yards in 16 plays for the game-winner. The series was marred by an inadvertant whistle by an official on an apparent Virginia Union pass interception, and the ball was returned to the Bison on the Panther 14-yard line. The Bison scored four plays later. Virginia Union scored first and had a 12-0 lead before the Bison's Jim Dick blocked a punt that was downed on the Union 2-yard line. Nell-ermoe took it in from the 1 on the next play.

Statistics VUU NDSUFirst Downs 21 16Yds. Rush 251 140Yds. Pass 65 105Passes 6-12-0 8-21-1Punts 4-31.5 6-26.8Penalties 9-67 3-45Fumbles/Lost 5-2 0-0

Virginia Union 6 6 8 0 -- 20NDSU 0 7 0 14 -- 21VUU-Cathion 6 run (kick wideVUU-Smith 26 run (pass failed)NDSU--Nellermoe 1 run (Luedtke kick)VUU--Cathion 2 run (Cathion pass from Cathrone)NDSU--Harris 9 run (Luedtke kick)NDSU--Wills 1 run (Luedtke kick)A--4,300

Top IndividualsRushing--Davis (VUU)15-80; Smith (VUU) 10-72; Harris (NDSU)

12-63; Cathion (VUU) 11-53Passing--Nellermoe (NDSU) 8-21-1, 105 yds.; Johnson (VUU) 3-4-

0, 34 yds; Cauthrone (VUU) 3-8-0, 31 yds.Receiving--Conley (NDSU) 5-43; Robinson (NDSU) 2-51; Bland

(VUU) 2-30; Davis (VUU) 2-5

1982 NCAA Semifinals DAVIS, Calif.—North Dakota State's dream of a return trip to the NCAA national champion-ship game fell exactly seven yards and a fingertip short as the Bison fell for the first and only time of the season, 19-14, to undefeated University of California-Davis. All-American quarterback Ken O'Brien was the difference in the first two quarters and the first five minutes of play in the third stanza. O'Brien hit 25 of 38 passes for 253 yards and scored all three Aggie touchdowns on 1-yard runs.

Then NDSU took over. The Bison had the ball 21 minutes in the final two periods. NDSU moved to the Davis 28- and 12-yard lines, but came away without any points before the Bison finally went 65 yards in 18 plays to score on a 13-yard run by Jeff Wil-lis. That tally

closed the gap to 19-14. North Dakota State's final chance came on the next possession as the Bison marched 49 yards in 11 plays to the Cal-Davis 8-yard line, setting up a first-and-goal situation with less than 25 seconds to play. An incomplete pass and a 1-yard gain by Willis put the ball on the seven with 11 seconds remaining. Another incomplete pass set up the final play of the game and Mark Nellermoe's pass to tight end Mark Luedtke in the back of the end zone was off the receiver's fingertips. Thus, a 12-1 season came to a close. The game was watched nationally on CBS television. Cal-Davis moved on to the NCAA championship game with a perfect 12-0 record.

Statistics NDSU UCDFirst Downs 18 19Yds. Rush 150 81Yds. Pass 189 264Passes 9-25-3 28-42-2Punts 4-38.3 5-37.3Penalties 4-33 7-57Fumbles/Lost 3-1 2-1

NDSU 0 7 0 7 -- 14Cal-Davis 7 6 6 0 -- 19UCD--O'Brien 1 run (Sullivan kick)UCD--O'Brien 1 run (kick failed)NDSU--Robinson 69 pass from Nellermoe (Luedtke kick)UCD--O'Brien 1 run (run failed)NDSU--Willis 13 run (Luedtke kick)A--10,400

Top IndividualsRushing--Rogers (UC-D) 17-69; Willis (NDSU) 15-66; Harris (NDSU)

11-44; Nellermoe (NDSU) 17-20Passing--O'Brien (UC-D) 25-38-2, 253 yds.; Nellermoe (NDSU)9-

25-3, 189 yds.Receiving--Rogers (UC-D) 10-62; Williams (UC-D) 7-97; Fleming

(UC-D) 7-71; Robinson (NDSU) 4-131Bison players celebrate a big play against Virginia Union.

Jeff Willis

1983 NCAA Quarterfinals FARGO, N.D.—For the second straight year, North Dakota State opened NCAA playoff action on the home turf of Dacotah Field and the Bison responded with a 24-17 victory over Towson State of Maryland. The Bison led 14-0 in the opening quarter of play as Jeff Willis and Jeff Bentrim collected short scoring runs. Willis' TD was set up by Jeff Willer's

recovery of a fumble on the Towson 40-yard line. Bentrim's 13-yard run in the third quarter and Ken Kubisz' 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter upped the Bison margin to 24-10 before TSU scored with 1:10 left to cut the gap.

Freshman running back Chad Stark did

not score a touchdown, but his 164 yards rushing in 26 carries was nearly an NCAA single-game playoff record. The win was the 22nd straight at home for NDSU and the victory was the 32nd in 35 games for NDSU.

Statistics TSU NDSUFirst Downs 18 22Yds. Rush 111 304Yds. Pass 222 86Passes 19-39-2 4-11-0Punts 6-37.8 6-38.8Penalties 3-30 8-50Fumbles/Lost 2-2 3-3

Towson State 0 10 0 7 -- 17NDSU 14 0 7 3 -- 24NDSU--Willis 2 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 1 run (Kubisz kick)TSU--FG Nolan 31TSU--O'Neal 15 pass from Rogers (Nolan kick)NDSU--Bentrim 13 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--FG Kubisz 24TSU--Lewns 12 pass from Rogers (Nolan kick)A--5,600

Top IndividualsRushing--Stark (NDSU) 26-164; O'Neal (TSU) 22-89; Bentrim

(NDSU) 26-69; Molstre (NDSU) 8-33Passing--Rogers (TSU) 19-39-2, 222 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 4-11-0,

68 yds.Receiving--Murphy (TSU) 5-59; O'Neal (TSU) 4-57; Baer (NDSU)

2-32; Mejia (TSU) 4-31

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1983 Palm Bowl McALLEN, Texas—North Dakota State con-tained the most explosive offense in the country while scoring 41 points itself in rolling to a 41-21 victory over Central State University of Ohio to capture the NCAA Division II national football championship before a large CBS regional televi-sion crowd on a hot and windy afternoon. The Bison, in claiming their first on-the-field national title and fourth small college crown over-

all, broke to a 21-0 first quarter lead.

Working into a strong wind, Central State punts of 9 and 16 yards, sandwiched around a pass interception by NDSU linebacker Jim Dick, gave the Bison three scoring opportuni-ties to capitalize

on. Freshman quarterback Jeff Bentrim hit Stacy Robinson with a 10-yard TD pass to cap a 35-yard, six-play drive. Following the interception, Bentrim ran for 34 yards on the third play of the drive for the second score. The third TD came as the Bison drove 60 yards in seven plays with freshman Chad Stark going the final yard. Mike Stratton's 36-yard interception return (90, shown above) set up a second-half TD as another key play.

Statistics NDSU CSUFirst Downs 22 15Yds. Rush 314 137Yds. Pass 47 147Passes 3-12-0 13-27-2Punts 3-17.0 6-33.5Penalties 7-44 6-89Fumbles/Lost 0-0 3-1

NDSU 21 7 10 3 -- 41Central State 0 14 7 0 -- 21NDSU--Robinson 10 pass from Bentrim (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 34 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Stark 1 run (Kubisz kick)CSU--Cummings 1 run (Joseph kick)CSU--Corbin 2 run (Joseph kick)NDSU--Willis 3 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--FB Kubisz 31NDSU--Molstre 4 run (Kubisz kick)CSU--Corbin 35 run (Joseph kick)NDSU--FG Kubisz 25A--5,275

Top IndividualsRushing--Bentrim (NDSU) 21-120; Corbin (CSU) 18-86; Stark (NDSU)

15-68; Molstre (NDSU) 13-58Passing--Woody (CSU) 13-27-2, 147 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 3-11-0,

47 yds.Receiving--Smith (CSU) 8-86; Robinson (NDSU) 3-47; Corbin (CSU)

2-32; Woody (CSU) 1-12

Ken Kubisz

1983 NCAA Semifinals DAVIS, Calif.—North Dakota State totally domi-nated the final 30 minutes of action offensively and defensively as the Bison scored a 26-17 NCAA semifinal victory over the University of California-Davis to advance to the Palm Bowl for the second time in three years. The Bison, trailing 17-10 at halftime, scored 16 unanswered points in the second half. All-American middle guard Mike Stratton set the tone in the second half by deflecting UCD's first pass by Scott Barry and then intercepting the ball on the Aggie 26-yard line to set up a 21-yard Ken Kubisz field goal. Kubisz kicked four field goals in the contest including a 26-yarder in the first quarter and boots of 39 and 20 in the fourth. Jeff Bentrim's 1-yard run late in the first half tied the count at 10, but UC Davis scored with six seconds left on a 1-yard run. Chad Stark scored the only second-half TD on a 7-yard run after Barry Sorensen returned a short punt 10 yards. The Bison held UC Davis to just one first down and 28 total yards in the first 28:30 of the second half. UC Davis collected just 45 yards rushing in the game. Stark gained 79 yards and James Molstre had seven for the Herd while Bentrim completed 9 of 21 passes for 132 yards.

Statistics NDSU UCDFirst Downs 19 15Yds. Rush 245 45Yds. Pass 132 198Passes 9-21-0 22-32-2Punts 6-39.8 8-42.5Penalties 8-47 4-27Fumbles/Lost 2-1 3-1

NDSU 3 7 10 6 -- 26UC Davis 0 17 0 0 -- 17NDSU--FG Kubisz 26UCD-Barry 1 run (Sullivan kick)UCD--FG Sullivan 45NDSU--Bentrim 1 run (Kubisz kick) UCD--White 1 run (Sullivan kick) NDSU--FG Kubisz 21NDSU--Stark 5 run (Kubisz kick) NDSU--FG Kubisz 40NDSU--FG Kubisz 20A--9,100

Top IndividualsRushing--Molstre (NDSU) 13-75; Stark (NDSU) 24-79; Robinson

(NDSU) 2-41; Klos (NDSU) 5-19Passing--Barry (UCD) 17-26-2, 140 yds.;Bentrim (NDSU) 9-21-0,

132 yds.; Wilkinson (UCD) 5-7-0, 70 yds.Receiving--Baer (NDSU) 5-71; Fleming (UCD) 6-66, Williams (UCD)

4-57; Rogers (UCD) 5-20

1984 NCAA Quarterfinals FARGO, N.D.—For the third straight year, the NCAA Division II playoffs opened in Fargo and North Dakota State responded with a 31-23 victory over the University of California-Davis in what may have been one of the most exciting games ever played at Dacotah Field. UC Davis jumped to a quick 10-0 lead before the Bison could get untracked. NDSU managed only 33 yards and two first downs in the opening quarter of action and could have been down 17-0 except for Ken Kubisz' recovery of a UC Davis fumble at the NDSU 4-yard line midway through the period. But the second quarter belonged to the Bison as NDSU marched 84, 31 and 69 yards to come up with two TDs and a missed field goal. A 28-10 lead slipped to 28-23 as the Aggies scored a pair of fourth-quarter TDs on Scott Barry passes of 12 and 3 yards. Ken Kubisz' 30-yard field goal with 1:55 left gave the Bison a 31-23 lead, but the Aggies were not through. Barry, 29 of 47 for 355 yards, had four chances from near midfield at the end of the game, but his final toss was tipped several times in the end zone before falling incomplete at the horn.

Statistics UCD NDSUFirst Downs 24 16Yds. Rush 73 358Yds. Pass 355 83Passes 29-47-4 3-10-1Punts 4-40.3 5-35.0Penalties 6-43 3-20Fumbles/Lost 4-1 4-1

UC Davis 3 7 0 13 -- 23NDSU 0 14 14 3 -- 31UCD--FG Sullivan 37UCD--Ligons 17 run (Sullivan kick)NDSU--Robinson 45 pass from Bentrim (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Stark 69 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 1 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 14 run (Kubisz kick) UCD--Williams 12 pass from Barry (Sullivan kick)UCD--Cuenin 3 pass from Barry (Sullivan kick)UCD--Cuenin 3 pass from Barry (pass failed)NDSU--FG Kubisz 30A--13,758

Top IndividualsRushing--Stark (NDSU) 16-156; Bentrim (NDSU) 23-110; Ligons

(UCD) 18-84; Molstre (NDSU) 9-48Passing--Barry (UCD) 29-46-4, 355 yds.; Bentrim 3-10-1, 83 yds.Receiving--Williams (UCD) 8-116; Sinnett (UCD) 7-85; Robinson

(NDSU) 2-58; Ligons (UCD) 5-53

Stark--156 yards rushing

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1984 NCAA Semifinals FARGO, N.D.--No. 1-ranked North Dakota State and second-ranked Nebraska-Omaha squared off in the 1984 NCAA semifinals at Daco-tah Field in a rematch of their regular season battle on the same field two months earlier. The Bison won in October by a 41-23 count and repeated the effort to the tune of 25-14 in 19-degree weather and light snow. The Bison jumped to a 12-0 lead on a 3-yard run by Hank Klos and a 19-yard gallop by James Molstre. Leading 12-7 in the third quarter, Jeff Bentrim found Stacy Robinson in the end zone for a 14-yard score to cap a 70-yard drive late in the period. The Bison salted it away in the middle of the fourth quarter on a 20-yard run by Molstre, who gained 95 yards and scored two TDs. Omaha hit on 18 of 35 passes for 198 yards but turned the ball over four times.

Statistics UNO NDSUFirst Downs 17 20Yds. Rush 126 307Yds. Pass 198 52Total Offense 324 359Passes 18-35-2 6-11-0Punts 4-25.5 6-29.0Penalties 3-25 1-5Fumbles/Lost 5-2 1-1

Neb.-Omaha 0 7 0 7 -- 14NDSU 6 6 7 6 -- 25NDSU--Klos 3 run (kick blocked)NDSU--Molstre 19 run (pass failed)UNO--Gurley 1 run (Morris kick)NDSU--Robinson 14 pass from Bentrim (Kubisz kick)UNO--Munro 26 pass from Naran (Morris kick)NDSU--Molstre 20 run (kick failed)A--11,090

Top IndividualsRushing--Molstre (NDSU) 15-96; Stark (NDSU) 14-72; Macaitis

(UNO) 12-64; Bentrim (NDSU) 20-63Passing--Naran (UNO) 18-35-2, 198 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 6-11-0,

52 ydsReceiving--Allen (UNO) 6-68; Munro (UNO) 6-64; Robinson

(NDSU) 4-33; Quaites (UNO) 2-42

1984 Palm Bowl McALLEN, Texas—North Dakota State fell two yards or one second short, depending on your viewpoint, of its second straight NCAA Division II national football championship as Troy State Uni-versity of Alabama handed the Bison a last-gasp 18-17 defeat. The Bison, leading 17-15 with 1:36 left in the game after a 19-yard field goal by Ken Kubisz, watched as the Trojans desperately moved the ball upfield. With no time outs left, the Trojans reached the Bison 33-yard line with less than 15 seconds remaining and apparent confusion on the field. The field goal team was rushed into the game and with one tick left on the clock, the ball was snapped. Freshman kicker Ted Clem got the 50-yard attempt off at the gun and the longest field goal in Troy State history stunned a disbelieving Bison team. It spoiled a storybook ending. With the Bison down 15-14, quarterback Jeff Bentrim on the sidelines with an injury, and just over seven minutes remaining, little-used fifth-year quarter-back Dale Hammerschmidt took the Bison on a 78-yard drive to the Troy State 2-yard line before settling for the three points.

Statistics TSU NDSUFirst Downs 26 15Yds. Rush 249 175Yds. Pass 210 156Total Offense 459 331Passes 16-27-0 6-15-1Punts 2-42.5 5-46.2Penalties 9-78 9-81Fumbles/Lost 1-1 0-0

Troy State 0 7 5 6 -- 18NDSU 14 0 0 3 -- 17NDSU--Molstre 6 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 1 run (Kubisz kick)TSU--Christensen 4 run (Clem kick)TSU--FG Clem 32TSU--Safety (Punt snap downed in end zone)TSU--FG Clem 24NDSU--FG Kubisz 19TSU--FG Clem 50A--4,500

Top IndividualsRushing--Horstead (TSU) 23-113; Stark (NDSU) 14-91; Chris-

tensen (TSU) 14-60; Turk (TSU) 7-46Passing--Christensen (TSU) 11-20-0, 167 yds.; Turk (TSU) 5-7-0,

43 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 3-11-1, 92 yds.; Hammerschmidt (NDSU) 3-4-0, 64 yds.

Receiving--Robinson (NDSU) 4-128; Cox (TSU) 7-93; Holling-sworth (TSU) 5-77; Ostlie (NDSU) 2-28

James Molstre

James Molstre

1985 NCAA Quarterfinals DAVIS, Calif.—North Dakota State totally dominated the line of scrimmage as the Bison posted an impressive 31-12 victory over the na-tion's No. 1-ranked football team, University of California-Davis, in the quarterfinals. It was the fourth straight year that the teams had met in the playoffs and the third straight win for NDSU over the Aggies. Two UC Davis mistakes late in the first period resulted in two Bison TDs in the span of 84 seconds. Quarterback Jeff Bentrim scampered 29 yards for a score on the first play after Tyrone Braxton recovered an Aggie fumble for a 7-0 NDSU lead. On the next UC Davis offensive play, defensive back Ken Kubisz picked off a floating pass in the flat and returned it 19 yards for a TD. James Molstre's 11-yard run midway through the second quarter capped a 10-play, 76-yard drive for a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. The Bison took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 72 yards in five plays with Bentrim finding Len Kretchman open for a 34-yard TD reception, and the verdict was sealed. Despite a 24 for 37 passing day and 224 aerial yards, the Bison put great pressure on UCD quarterback Chris Peterson. NDSU controlled the ball for over 33 1/2 minutes.

Statistics NDSU UCDFirst Downs 21 18Yds. Rush 352 68Yds. Pass 87 224Total Offense 439 292Passes 3-6-0 24-37-2Punts 4-38.7 6-41.8Penalties 9-60 7-49Fumbles/Lost 4-3 3-1

NDSU 14 7 7 3 -- 31UC Davis 0 6 0 6 -- 12NDSU--Bentrim 29 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Kubisz 19 pass interception return (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Molstre 11 run (Kubisz kick)UCD--Bispo 14 pass from Petersen (kick failed)NDSU--Kretchman 34 pass from Bentrim (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Kubisz FG 30UCD--Tarr 5 pass from Petersen (pass failed)A--7,900

Top IndividualsRushing--Stark (NDSU) 17-111; Bentrim (NDSU) 14-86; Molstre

(NDSU) 14-65; LaBine (NDSU) 6-38Passing--Petersen (UCD) 24-37-2, 224 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 2-5-0,

46 yds.; Stark (NDSU) 1-1-0, 41 yds.Receiving--Mandeville (UCD) 6-95; Kretchman (NDSU) 2-46; Bosch

(NDSU) 1-41; Adkins (UCD) 3-31

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1985 NCAA Semifinals VERMILLION, S.D.—An almost unbelieveable option play late in the second quarter ignited North Dakota State's offense and the spark car-ried the Bison to a 16-7 NCAA semifinal victory over South Dakota. This was a game of great emotion for the Bison after suffering through a 38-14 shellacking at the hands of the Coyotes two months earlier on this same field. But it was a phenomenal play by Jeff Bentrim and James Molstre that stirred the Bison. Trailing 7-0 late in the first half, Bentrim optioned the right side of his offensive line, was

hit and going down, but managed to pitch the ball to Molstre at the last instant and "Sir James" flew down the right sideline for a 68-yard TD burst. The Bison regained the ball at the Coyote 35-yard line with just 1:35 left in the half and got a Ken Kubisz field goal of 28 yards three seconds before the gun to

take a 9-7 halftime lead. The Bison chewed up the second half clock for seven minutes with a 15-play, 63-yard drive that gave the Herd some slack. Bentrim carried the ball six of the last seven plays and scored from 1 yard out. In between USD's first-quarter score and a last-ditch drive at the end, NDSU's defense was overpowering. The Coyotes could muster only 125 yards total offense and threatened just once (in the second quarter), but they were stopped by a Todd DeBates fumble recovery. NDSU's ball control was so effective in the second half that USD had the ball for only three possessions.

Statistics NDSU USDFirst Downs 19 19Yds. Rush 356 178Yds. Pass 33 159Total Offense 389 337Passes 2-7-1 13-25-2Punts 4-41.5 6-36.0Penalties 2-10 4-25Fumbles/Lost 2-0 1-1

NDSU 0 9 7 0 -- 16South Dakota 7 0 0 0 -- 7USD--Tweet 74 pass from Jones (McLoughlin kick)NDSU--Molstre 68 run (kick failed)NDSU--FG Kubisz 28NDSU--Bentrim 1 run (Kubisz kick)A--10,000

Top IndividualsRushing--Molstre (NDSU) 10-140; Bentrim (NDSU) 29-96; Ham-

brick (USD) 16-69; Stark (NDSU) 13-63Passing--Jones (USD) 13-25-2, 159 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 2-7-1,

33 yds.Receiving--Tweet (USD) 5-111; Bosch (NDSU) 2-33; Hambrik (USD)

5-22; Waechter (USD) 1-18

1985 Palm Bowl McALLEN, Texas—North Dakota State's defense played a flawless game and the offense found enough power against one of the top defenses in the nation to guide the Bison to a 35-7 victory over North Alabama and the 1985 national championship. The Bison scored on two of their first three possessions and then turned three Lion mis-cues into two touchdowns in the third period as the game broke open. Bison kick return specialist Tyrone Braxton set the tone for the day as he took the opening kick-off back 73 yards to the North Alabama 27-yard line. Six plays later, on his first carry, quarter-back Jeff Bentrim scored from four yards out. The Bison upped the lead to 14-0 late in the quarter on a 3-yard run by James Molstre as the Bison mounted an 80-yard, nine-play drive. Charlie Stock's fumble recovery at the UNA 26 on the opening possession of the second half set in motion a turn of events that resulted in three straight Bison TDs. Fullback Chad Stark scored after the recov-ery, Bentrim crossed the line after Stock picked off a pass four minutes later, and just another 60 seconds later, Paul Nielsen's fumble recovery at the UNA 13 led to a 13-yard TD pass from Bentrim to Len Kretchman.

Statistics UNA NDSUFirst Downs 13 14Yds. Rushing 179 255Yds. Passing 83 79Total Offense 262 334Passes 7-18-3 4-5-0Punts 8-36.0 5-35.0Penalties 3-27 6-36Fumbles/Lost 5-3 6-3

North Alabama 0 0 0 7 -- 7NDSU 14 0 21 0 -- 35NDSU--Bentrim 4 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Molstre 3 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Stark 18 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 1 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Kretchman 10 pass from Bentrim (Kubisz kick)UNA--Johnson 1 run (Knowles kick)A--6,000

Top IndividualsRushing--Stark (NDSU) 18-113; Johnson (UNA) 29-111; Bentrim

(NDSU) 16-43; Molstre (NDSU) 12-40Passing--Bentrim (NDSU) 4-5-0, 79 yds.; Garner (UNA) 1-4-1, 35

yds.; Metcalf (UNA) 4-12-2, 24 yds.; Elliott (UNA) 2-2-0, 24 yds.

Receiving--Kretchman (NDSU) 3-58; Banks (UNA) 1-35; Yeager (UNA) 2-24; Stark (NDSU) 1-24

Chad Stark (26) ran for 113 yards.

Jeff Bentrim

1986 NCAA Quarterfinals FARGO, N.D.—"It was no contest." That statement constituted the lead in the Fargo Forum and quite simply put the proper perspective on North Dakota State's 50-0 NCAA Division II quarterfinal win over Ashland College of Ohio on a cloudy, 29-degree day at Dacotah

Field. The Bison scored three touchdowns and blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety in the opening 12 minutes of play and the rout was on. Se-nior quarterback Jeff Bentrim ran for two TDs and passed for an-other while backfield mate James Molstre scored a pair of TDs and ran for 122 yards before a knee injury in

the second half ended his sterling career. In winning for the 20th time in the last 21 games (20-0-1), NDSU ran for an NCAA Division II playoff record 523 yards. How good were the Bison? "Beano Cook of USA Network said recently that NDSU was the 10th best team in the nation, regardless of divisions," Ashland coach Fred Martinelli said. "I think he's pretty close."

Statistics Ashland NDSUFirst Downs 11 28Yds. Rushing 124 523Yds. Passing 66 45Total Offense 190 568Passes 10-27-2 4-8-1Punts 9-30.5 3-36.0Penalties 3-25 6-64Fumbles/Lost 1-0 1-1

Ashland 0 0 0 0 -- 0NDSU 22 7 7 14 -- 50NDSU--Molstre 12 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Safety (punt blocked out of end zone)NDSU--Bentrim 4 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Kretchman 7 pass from Bentrim (run failed)NDSU--Molstre 35 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 1 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Barta 6 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Paulson 43 run (Kubisz kick)A--12,092

Top IndividualsRushing--Molstre (NDSU) 10-122; Lloyd (NDSU) 12-95; Stark

(NDSU) 9-85; Paulson (NDSU) 5-83Passing--Biondo (AC) 9-24-2, 66 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 2-5-1,

24 yds.Receiving--Burkett (AC) 4-15; Clouatre (AC) 2-31; Gleason (NDSU)

1-17; Paulson (NDSU) 1-15

Doug Lloyd (37) takes a handoff against the Eagles.

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1986 NCAA Semifinals FARGO, N.D.—The praise for the 1986 North Dakota State football team continued as the Bison pinned a 35-12 whipping on Central State of Ohio in the semifinals. "The Bison have a program that's on the same level as a Division I-A team," said CSU coach Billy Joe. "We played about as well as the Bison allowed us." "That's simply the most awesome defense you'll ever want to see," said Central State quar-terback Vince Leavell. "We didn't execute and it was because of that defense." Kodak All-America running back Terry Mor-row of Central State called the Bison defense the best in the country. "Everyone of them gets to the ball," he said. "They're so disciplined and they all do what has to be done every play. With-out a doubt, those were my toughest yards." NDSU's defense came up with three turn-overs and limited CSU to just 48 yards in 33 running plays. Again, it was senior quarterback Jeff Bentrim who made the Bison attack go. Bentrim ran for 111 yards and two TDs and fired a pair of scoring aerials to sophomore split end Len Kretchman to account for four of the five Bison TDs. The win advanced NDSU to the national title game for the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in the last six seasons.

Statistics CSU NDSUFirst Downs 9 19Yds. Rushing 48 316Yds. Passing 211 117Total Offense 259 433Passes 11-26-2 5-12-0Punts 8-34.6 5-30.6Penalties 5-55 4-40Fumbles/Lost 1-1 3-1

Central State 0 0 0 12 -- 12NDSU 7 7 21 0 -- 35NDSU--Bentrim 5 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Lloyd 33 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Kretchman 20 pass from Bentrim (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Kretchman 71 pass from Bentrim (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Bentrim 17 run (Kubisz kick)CSU--Moore 75 pass from Leavell (kick failed)CSU--Morrow 2 run (run failed)A--12,380

Top IndividualsRushing--Bentrim (NDSU) 18-111; Lloyd (NDSU) 16-84; Morrow

(CSU) 22-68; Toshner (NDSU) 2-44Passing--Leaveall (CSU) 11-23-1, 211 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 3-8-0,

102 yds.Receiving--Moore (CSU) 4-122; Morrow (CSU) 3-24; Kretchman

(NDSU) 2-91; Street (CSU) 2-45

1986 NCAA Championship FLORENCE, Ala.—North Dakota State cap-tured its third national NCAA Division II football title in the last four years on a cool December day at Braly Stadium with a sound 27-7 win over North Central Conference rival South Dakota. "I wish to hell they would get out of Division II," said South Dakota head coach Dave Triplett following the game. "They can go wherever they want."

This revised billboard in Florence said it all.

And, again, the key to the Bison success rested with quarterback Jeff Bentrim. The senior who started in all four of the champion-ship games over his career, ran for 111 yards and two TDs while leading the NDSU offense to a 354-yard total offense performance. The special teams were responsible for the final three TDs of the game, pinning USD at the 1-yard line on a kickoff return that led to one score, Tyrone Braxton's 84-yard punt return early in the second half upped the lead to 20-0, and Daryl Illikainen's recovery of a fumbled USD punt return in the fourth quarter set up the last score.

Statistics USD NDSUFirst Downs 14 19Yds. Rushing 184 313Yds. Passing 69 47Total Offense 253 360Passes 6-13-1 4-6-1Punts 3-36.7 1-32.0Penalties 3-11 3-25Fumbles/Lost 2-2 1-0

South Dakota 0 0 7 0 -- 7NDSU 0 14 6 7 -- 27NDSU--Bentrim 4 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Barta 1 run (Kubisz kick)NDSU--Braxton 84 punt return (kick failed)USD--Jones 1 run (McLoughlin kick)NDSU--Bentrim 4 run (Kubisz kick)A--11,506

Top IndividualsRushing--Bentrim (NDSU) 20-111; Lloyd (NDSU) 16-78; Toshner

(NDSU) 9-66; Jones (USD) 19-51Passing--Jones (USD) 5-8-0, 65 yds.; Bentrim (NDSU) 4-6-1,

47 yds.Receiving--Kretchman (NDSU) 2-22; Parr (USD) 2-17; Southwick

(USD) 1-30; Stark (NDSU) 1-14

1988 NCAA First Round FARGO, N.D.—Domination was the key word in North Dakota State's opening effort in its 1988 drive for the NCAA title. A 49-7 thumping of Augustana College in a rematch of these clubs' scintillating September conference battle (a two-point NDSU win) was the result. The credit went to the Bison offensive line. "Up front, we did not play that well against Augustana (the first time), so we came into this game de-termined," said Bison All-American center Mike Favor. "We wanted to dominate the line." That they did. The Herd racked up 474 yards rushing, scored all seven TDs on the ground and totaled 531 yards of offense in the game.

Statistics AC NDSUFirst Downs 14 24Yds. Rushing 134 474Yds. Passing 99 57Total Offense 233 531Passes 9-24-3 4-8-0Punts 3-29.6 1-23.0Penalties 2-14 3-28Fumbles/Lost 3-2 3-3

Augustana 7 0 0 0 -- 7NDSU 14 21 0 14 -- 49NDSU--Lloyd 6 run (kick failed)NDSU--Lloyd 1 run (Satter run)AC--SanAgustin 4 run (Westwood kick)NDSU--Simdorn 11 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Toshner 18 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Satter 26 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Paulson 5 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Owen 2 run (Boe kick)A--7,500

Top IndividualsRushing--Lloyd (NDSU) 15-132; Burmeier (AC) 19-92; Paulson

(NDSU) 9-90; Simdorn (NDSU) 13-78Passing--Nelson (AC) 5-18-2, 37 yds.; Owen (NDSU) 2-4-0, 39 yds.;

Bishop (AC) 2-4-1, 21 yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 2-4-0, 18 yds.Receiving--Thomas (AC) 3-31; Johnson (NDSU) 2-22; Versteeg (AC)

1-25; Goettl (NDSU) 1-23

NDSU's defense held Augie to just 233 yards total offense.

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1988 NCAA Quarterfinals FARGO, N.D.—Millersville earned the respect of the North Dakota State football team and its fans, but the Bison collected the victory as the Herd rallied for a 36-26 NCAA quarterfinal win. The Bison had to do it the hard way. Down 26-14 early in the fourth period, the Herd put together a pair of quick-hitting drives to take the lead midway through the quarter. Sophomore quarterback Chris Simdorn, who scored all three fourth-quarter Bison TDs, capped a 71-yard, seven-play drive with a 1-yard run to cut the margin to 26-21. Three plays later, the Herd regained the ball at midfield. Simdorn's 38-yard run on first down set up his 2-yard run three plays later that moved the Bison ahead for the first time in the game. Simdorn ended the scoring with less than a minute to go as he broke a 66-yard run as the Bison were attempting to run out the clock.

Statistics MU NDSUFirst Downs 27 19Yds. Rushing 210 434Yds. Passing 235 48Total Offense 445 482Passes 19-36-2 4-7-1Punts 4-40.5 5-37.4Penalties 6-50 5-65Fumbles/Lost 1-0 5-3

Millersville 3 17 0 5 -- 26NDSU 0 7 7 22 -- 36MU--FG Hadfield 18MU--Smith 9 pass from Stover (Hadfield kick)MU--FG Hadfield 24NDSU--Kretchman 25 pass from Owen (Boe kick)MU--Smith 19 pass from Stover (Hadfield kick)NDSU--Satter 76 run (Boe kick)MU--Highley 3 run (pass failed)NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Simdorn 2 run (Satter run)NDSU--Simdorn 66 run (Boe kick)A--10,200

Top IndividualsRushing--Simdorn (NDSU) 21-167; Highley (MU) 26-114; Satter

(NDSU) 7-81; Owen (NDSU) 5-68Passing--Stover (MU) 19-38-2, 235 yds.; Owen (NDSU) 2-4-1, 36

yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 2-3-0, 12 yds.Receiving--Smith (MU) 6-93; Malatesta (MU) 4-54; Kretchman

(NDSU) 3-42; Deans (MU) 3-35

1988 NCAA Semifinals FARGO, N.D.—A trio of 100-yard rushers propelled North Dakota State to a 42-20 win over Cal State-Sacramento as the Bison earned a trip to the national championship game for the fifth time in the last six years. The option offense was at its best, scoring five of its six touchdowns on drives of 70, 80, 88, 62 and 80 yards. "I've had a lot of experi-ence with the veer," said CSUS head coach Bob Mattos, "but not enough experience to stop it today." The Bison racked up 413 yards rushing and 446 yards total offense but one of the biggest plays of the day was made by the defense. Leading 21-7 late in the third quarter, Bison cornerback Steve Ehlert picked off a pass and ran it back 38 yards to the CSUS 1-yard line to set up an NDSU touchdown. Sophomore Tony Satter (118 yards), senior Doug Lloyd (115 yards and two TDs), and sopho-more Chris Simdorn (108 yards and three TDs) worked the veer to perfection.

Statistics CSUS NDSUFirst Downs 18 25Yds. Rushing 109 413Yds. Passing 210 33Total Offense 319 446Passes 13-23-3 4-9-0Punts 3-33.6 3-36.3Penalties 3-20 4-35Fumbles/Lost 1-0 2-0

CSU-Sacramento 0 7 7 6 -- 20NDSU 7 7 14 14 -- 42NDSU--Simdorn 5 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Lloyd 68 run (Boe kick)CSUS--Trosin 4 run (Gill kick)NDSU--Lloyd 1 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Boe kick)CSUS--Young 24 pass from Trosin (Gill kick)NDSU--Owen 20 run (Boe kick)CSUS--Weaver 64 pass from Trosin (kick failed)NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Owen kick)A--13,200

Top IndividualsRushing--Satter (NDSU) 17-118; Lloyd (NDSU) 8-115; Simdorn

(NDSU) 26-108; Hair (CSUS) 12-83Passing--Trosin (CSUS) 13-22-3, 210 yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 3-5-0,

25 yds.; Satter (NDSU) 1-1-0, 8 yds.Receiving--Young (CSUS) 5-70; Johnson (NDSU) 3-30; Weaver

(CSUS) 2-70; Brye (CSUS) 2-33

Chris Simdorn (10) breaks free for some of his 108 yards rushing.

Jeff Dockter (45) puts the heat on Millerville's Bret Stover.

1988 NCAA Championship FLORENCE, Ala.—The 1980s will be remem-bered as the "Decade of the Bison" in NCAA Divi-sion II football. North Dakota State won its fourth national championship in six years with a 35-21 victory over Portland State. The triumph capped a 14-0 season

for the Bison, the most victories in school his-tory.

The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, but North Dakota State took the second-half kickoff and drove 63 yards for the go-ahead score.

"We decided to ... put the game in the hands of the players who brought us to the party, and that's our offensive line," said

Hager about his team's second-half performance. Running back Tony Satter, who rushed for 151 yards and two TDs, capped that first drive of the second half with a spinning, slipping dive into the end zone from 10 yards out. Quarterback Chris Simdorn scored one of his two TDs a short time later after a Todd Zabel pass interception to give the Bison command.

Statistics PSU NDSUFirst Downs 18 19Yds. Rushing 95 339Yds. Passing 333 26Total Offense 428 365Passes 22-35-1 2-4-0Punts 2-36.5 5-20.8Penalties 4-30 1-15Fumbles/Lost 2-1 2-0

Portland State 0 14 0 7 -- 21NDSU 7 7 14 7 -- 35NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Boe kick)PSU--Evers 45 pass from Crawford (Brumfield kick)NDSU--Satter 70 run (Boe kick)PSU--Corrigan 16 pass from Crawford (Brufield kick)NDSU--Satter 10 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Boe kick)NDSU--Toshner 11 run (Boe kick)PSU--Naone 11 pass from Crowford (Brufield kick)A--6,763

Top IndividualsRushing--Satter (NDSU) 11-151; Delgardo (PSU) 13-80; Simdorn

(NDSU) 13-65; Lloyd (NDSU) 14-62Passing--Crawford (PSU) 22-35-1, 333 yds.; Owen (NDSU) 1-3-0, 17

yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 1-1-0, 9 yds.Receiving--Delgardo (PSU) 6-76; Corrigan (PSU) 5-125; Naone (PSU)

4-60; Evers (PSU) 3-55

Satter's 70-yard run was a classic.

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1989 NCAA First Round FARGO, N.D.—If one enjoyed an offensive ex-plosion, then this NCAA Division II opening round game was the place to be. The two clubs combined for 77 points, 666 yards rushing, and 916 yards total offense as North Dakota State advanced with a 45-32 win over eastern foe Edinboro University. Bison quarterback Chris Simdorn, bothered by both a broken foot and turf toe, managed just 16 yards in 20 carries, but he scored two TDs. However, the rest of the Bison running back corps (five) combined to average eight yards per carry. Junior Tony Satter (138 yards and two TDs) and freshman Pete Erickson (116 yards and one TD) split time slicing up the Edinboro defense. Satter did virtually all his damage in the first half before suffering an ankle injury while Erickson took up the banner in the second half and recorded his first career 100-yard effort.

Statistics EU NDSUFirst Downs 19 26Yds. Rushing 41-231 72-435Yds. Passing 155 95Total Offense 386 530Passes 11-34-3 4-11-0Punts 3-37.3 4-39.7Penalties 3-35 8-90Fumbles/Lost 2-1 3-1

Edinboro 0 12 8 12 -- 32NDSU 16 7 14 8 -- 45NDSU--Gunning 30 run (kick wide)NDSU--FG Herbel 28NDSU--Satter 3 run (Herbel kick)EU--Cole 1 run (run failed)NDSU--Satter 33 run (Herbel kick)EU--Conway 47 run (pass failed)NDSU--Erickson 1 run (Herbel kick)EU--Conway 85 kickoff return (Priester pass from Galupi)NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Herbel kick)EU--Cole 18 run (pass failed)EU--Cole 10 run (run failed)NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Oden run)A--8,400

Top IndividualsRushing--Satter (NDSU) 14-138; Cole (EU) 28-125; Erickson (NDSU)

16-116; Sieh (NDSU) 11-85; Gunning (NDSU) 6-56Passing--Galupi (EU) 11-24-3, 155 yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 4-11-0,

95 yds.Receiving--Priester (EU) 5-100; Cole (EU) 3-14; Oden (NDSU) 2-41;

Stone (EU) 2-36; Goettl (NDSU) 1-34; Stockstad (NDSU) 1-20

Tackles--Wayne (EU) 10-5=15; Williams (EU) 7-6=13; Hartwig (NDSU) 0-12=12; Willis (EU) 8-3=11; Hansen (NDSU) 2-8=10

1989 NCAA Quarterfinals JACKSONVILLE, Ala.—North Dakota State's last-gasp rally fell just a fingertip short as the Bi-son season came to an end on a cool and cloudy afternoon at the hands of Jacksonville State, 21-17. The Bison controlled much of the football game but two critical lapses cost the Herd. Down 21-3, the Bison regrouped in the fourth quarter, reaching the JSU 34 without scoring be-fore Simdorn scored on the next possession from 15 yards out with 5 1/2 minutes remaining. The next possession also resulted in a score but the 92-yard, 14-play drive may have taken too much time. Simdorn hit Troy Stockstad over the middle for a 21-yard TD pass with 58 seconds left to close to 21-17. Jacksonville State coach Bill Burgess called the Bison scoring drive "the best I've seen in my 26 years of coaching." NDSU's last chance was an onside kick that touched a Bison player's fingers before the Gamecocks covered the ball.

Statistics JSU NDSUFirst Downs 12 21Yds. Rushing 46-174 63-253Yds. Passing 46 87Total Offense 220 340Passes 2-8-1 6-18-1Punts 6-40.2 5-34.4Penalties 8-84 4-55Fumbles/Lost 3-1 3-2

NDSU 0 3 0 14 -- 17Jacksonville St. 0 7 14 0 -- 21JSU--Carpenter 1 run (Stinnett kick)NDSU--FG Herbel 22JSU--Gulledge 1 run (Stinnett kick)JSU--Gulledge 29 run (Stinnett kick)NDSU--Simdorn 15 run (Satter run)NDSU--Stockstad 21 pass from Simdorn (run failed)A--8,500

Top IndividualsRushing--Satter (NDSU) 25-128; Carpenter (JSU) 17-63; Gulledge

(JSU) 13-62; Simdorn (NDSU) 19-54; Erickson (NDSU) 8-49; Stevenson (JSU) 7-22

Passing--Simdorn (NDSU) 6-17-0, 87 yds.; Gulledge (JSU) 2-8-1, 46 yds.

Receiving--Stockstad (NDSU) 3-41; Oden (NDSU) 2-41; Sanders (JSU) 1-32; Blue (JSU) 1-14; Goettl (NDSU) 1-5

Tackles--Clark (NDSU) 6-11=17; Heichel (NDSU) 4-6=10; Hartwig (NDSU) 0-9=9; Goodwin (JSU) 8-0=8

Chris Simdorn

Erickson charted his first career 100-yard game.

1990 NCAA First Round FARGO, N.D.—North Dakota State used the same formula--a strong running game with an occasional pass mixed in plus a rock-solid defense--that had worked all season long and the Bison parlayed it into a 17-7 opening-round NCAA playoff victory over Northern Colorado. The Bison opened the

game with a 10-min-ute, 13-second drive and settled for a field goal of 22 yards to go up 3-0. The Bears ran only three plays in the first quarter and NDSU earned a 17-0 halftime lead that could have been more. With starting quarterback V.J. Lech-man shelved early in the second half with a knee injury, Northern Colorado rallied on

the arm of backup Craig Moddelmog, who fired a third-quarter TD pass and had the Bears on the Bison 12 early in the fourth quarter before Chris Stroup's pass interception ended UNC's last threat in the game. The Bison allowed UNC just 32 yards on the ground and totaled 332 yards rushing while con-trolling the ball for over 38 minutes. The game ended UNC's season at 7-4-0.

Statistics UNC NDSUFirst Downs 9 27Yds. Rushing 24-32 69-332Yds. Passing 182 123Total Offense 214 455Passes 16-25-2 6-14-1Punts 5-42.0 2-33.0Penalties 6-42 4-38Fumbles/Lost 0-0 5-2

Northern Colo. 0 0 7 0 -- 7NDSU 3 14 0 0 -- 17NDSU--FG Bowden 22NDSU--Satter 36 run (Bowden kick)NDSU--Geren 33 pass from Simdorn (Bowden kick)UNC--Artz 3 pass from Moddelmog (Donovan kick)A--7,103

Top IndividualsRushing--Satter (NDSU) 20-160; Sieh (NDSU) 14-73; Simdorn

(NDSU) 25-49; Hansen (NDSU) 6-29; Burns (UNC) 9-29Passing--Moddelmog (UNC) 11-16-2, 159 yds.; Simdorn (NDSU)

6-14-1, 123 yds.; Lechman (UNC) 5-9-0, 23 yds.Receiving--Clay (UNC) 4-113; Geren (NDSU) 3-65; McDonald

(NDSU) 3-58; Cutler (UNC) 3-44; Wainright (UNC) 3-12Tackles--Jin Hensel (UNC) 7-4=11; Greg Tucker (UNC) 2-9=11; Rob

Greenwood (NDSU) 2-7=9; Erin McGaffin (UNC) 3-6=9; Don Wallin (UNC) 3-6=9; Tom Galida (UNC) 3-6=9

Tony Satter celebrates after his second quar-ter TD run.

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1990 NCAA Quarterfinals FARGO, N.D.—Cal Poly entered the NCAA quarterfinals with the second best defense against the rush and top defense against the score in the nation, but it was no help as North Dakota State's powerful offense totaled 463 yards and rolled to a virtually uncontested 47-0 whipping of the Mustangs. The Bison trio of Chris Simdorn (116 yards), Tony Satter (109 yards) and Marty Sieh (99 yards) accounted for 324 yards rushing and five TDs as NDSU advanced into the semifinals. The defense forced four turnovers and limited the potent Mustangs to 218 yards total offense. The result didn't surprise Cal Poly head coach Lyle Setencich. "I told you that coming in here was like going to Iraq with a 22 (caliber gun), didn't I?" he said after the game. Cool temperatures and gale-force winds did not help the Californians' cause.

Statistics Cal Poly NDSUFirst Downs 13 23Yds. Rushing 47-148 65-452Yds. Passing 70 11Total Offense 218 463Passes 6-17-2 1-4-0Punts 6-32.1 1-38.0Penalties 17-138 8-86Fumbles/Lost 4-2 4-3

Cal Poly 0 0 0 0 -- 0NDSU 7 14 14 12 -- 47NDSU--Simdorn 3 run (Bowden kick)NDSU--Simdorn 6 run (Bowden kick)NDSU--Greenwood 61 pass interception return (Bowden kick)NDSU--Sieh 23 run (Bowden kick)NDSU--Satter 6 run (Bowden kick)NDSU--Sieh 6 run (kick wide)NDSU--Beachy 32 run (run failed)A--8,253

Top IndividualsRushing--Fragiadakis (CP) 29-122; Simdorn (NDSU) 21-116); Satter

(NDSU) 14-109; Sieh (NDSU) 10-99; Gunning (NDSU) 6-45; Beachy (NDSU) 3-43

Passing--Lafferty (CP) 6-17-2, 70 yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 1-4-0, 11 yds.

Receiving--Fragiadakis (CP) 4-23; Keeline (CP) 2-32; Holloway (CP) 1-15; McDonald (NDSU) 1-11

Tackles--Clark (NDSU) 3-9=12; Monte (NDSU) 1-10=11; Wright (CP) 3-8=11; Lombardi (CP) 2-8=10; Wash (NDSU) 2-7=9

The Bison defense col-lected its first shutout of the season.

1990 NCAA Semifinals FARGO, N.D.—North Dakota State used a devastating ground attack and picked off two key passes in the final four minutes of the game to advance to the NCAA Division II championship game for the seventh time in the last 10 years with a 39-29 victory over Pittsburg State of Kansas in the semifinals. The matchup between the Gorillas and the Bi-son was a classic battle that saw the lead change hands seven times before NDSU finally emerged with its 13th win without a defeat. Trailing 29-25 with 11 minutes left, NDSU countered with a 74-yard drive in 12 plays that ate up six minutes of the clock with Tony Satter taking a Chris Simdorn pitch 10 yards for the go-ahead TD. Three plays later, NDSU junior outside linebacker Todd Wash tipped a Pitt State pass and sophomore defensive end Brian Sweeney hauled it in for a 12-yard interception return. The Bison put the game away four plays later when senior running back Marty Sieh took another Simdorn pitch and knifed into the end zone from four yards out for the insurance score. The game was sealed a minute later when junior outside linebacker Tony Monte picked off another PSU offering, all but ending the Gorillas' 12-1 season.

Statistics PSU NDSUFirst Downs 16 25Yds. Rushing 37-137 62-343Yds. Passing 196 81Total Offense 333 424Passes 9-18-2 6-9-0Punts 1-26.0 1-23.0Penalties 3-15 7-45Fumbles/Lost 0-0 1-0

Pittsburg State 3 12 7 7 -- 29NDSU 7 7 11 14 -- 39NDSU--Simdorn 3 run (Bowden kick)PSU--FG Jenkins 22PSU--FG Jenkins 24PSU--FG Jenkins 31NDSU--Simdorn 4 run (Bowden kick)PSU--Moore 80 kickoff return (pass failed)NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Simdorn run)PSU--West 72 pass from Padden (Jenkins kick)NDSU--FG Bowden 22PSU--West 13 pass from Padden (Jenkins kick)NDSU--Satter 10 run (Bowden kick)NDSU--Sieh 4 run (Bowden kick)A--9,086

Top IndividualsRushing--Satter (NDSU) 17-176; Simdorn (NDSU) 23-75; Moore

(PSU) 14-66; Sieh (NDSU) 15-53Passing--Padden (PSU) 9-18-2, 196 yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 6-9-0,

81 yds.Receiving--West (PSU) 8-189; McDonald (NDSU) 3-38; Cahill

(NDSU) 2-34Tackles--Tafoya (PSU) 5-8=13; McMillian (PSU) 7-3=10; Thornton

(PSU) 4-6=10; Hartwig (NDSU) 1-6=7; Hansen 3-4=7; Stew-art (NDSU) 2-5=7; Clark (NDSU) 3-4=7

1990 NCAA Championship FLORENCE, Ala.—North Dakota State explod-ed for touchdowns on all five of its possessions in the third quarter and turned the NCAA Division II football championship into a 51-11 rout over Indi-ana U. of Pennsylvania. Quarterback Chris Simdorn (at right), the Harlon Hill recipient as the nation's top player in Division II, demonstrated why he won the award as he ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and passed for 179 yards (completing four of eight tries) and three scores. His 324 yards in total offense was a school playoff record. Tony Satter's 174 yards (on just 12 carries) lifted his 1990 tournament yards to 619 to break the NCAA record of 580 set by Johnny Bailey of Texas A&I in 1988. It was the eighth straight time that Satter had ran for over 100 yards in playoff action. The NDSU defense sacked IUP quarterbacks 10 times for 69 yards in losses including Bison outside linebacker Todd Wash, who was in on six sacks.

Statistics IUP NDSUFirst Downs 9 23Yds Rushing 38-68 63-456Yds. Passing 75 179Total Offense 143 627Passes 7-20-1 4-9-0Punts 11-34.9 4-30.8Penalties 3-15 3-33Fumbles/Lost 0-0 3-2

Indiana (PA) 3 8 0 0 -- 11NDSU 7 7 30 7 -- 51IUP--FG Jaworski 42NDSU--Simdorn 1 run (Bowden kick)NDSU--Goettl 37 pass from Simdorn (Bowden kick)IUP--White 13 pass from Aliucci (Kovell pass from Aliucci)NDSU--Hansen 6 run (kick wide)NDSU--Simdorn 44 run (kick wide)NDSU--McDonald 75 pass from Simdorn (kick wide)NDSU--Goettl 57 pass from Simdorn (kick wide)NDSU--Satter 66 run (kick blocked)NDSU--Hansen 5 run (McDonald kick)A--10,080

Top IndividualsRushing--Satter (NDSU) 12-174; Simdorn (NDSU) 16-145; Sieh

(NDSU) 11-65; Mann (IUP) 11-42; Rock (IUP) 6-36Passing--Aliucci (IUP) 7-19-0, 75 yds.; Simdorn (NDSU) 4-8-0,

179 yds.Receiving--Hill (IUP) 4-54; Goettl (NDSU) 2-94; McDonald (NDSU)

2-85; White (IUP) 1-13; Crockett (IUP) 1-13Tackles--Pascarella (IUP) 8-18=18; Detwiler (IUP) 9-3=12; Wash

(NDSU) 5-5=10; Clark (NDSU) 2-8=10; Hansen (NDSU) 6-2=8

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1991 NCAA First Round FARGO, N.D.—Mankato State used a punish-ing, time-consuming ground game and a stingy defense to post a 27-7 win over North Dakota State in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The loss for NDSU, the defending national champion, was the first opening-round defeat for a Bison team in championship play in 12 post-season tournaments dating back to 1976. And, it snapped a 14-game home field winning streak in playoff action for the Herd. The Mavericks did it in workmanlike fashion, driving 59 yards with the opening kickoff to put the Bison in an early hole and scored again on the next possession. MSU's play in the opening 16 minutes was so dominating that NDSU had the ball for only three offensive snaps. The Bison averted the shutout early in the fourth quarter when Arden Beachy found split end T.R. McDonald for a 20-yard scoring pass. The Maverick defense limited the Bison rushing game to just 90 yards on a cold, windy day while MSU racked up 238 yards rushing and attempted just two passes. MSU had the ball for over 39 minutes in avenging a 21-13 regular-season loss to the Herd.

Statistics MSU NDSUFirst Downs 17 11Yds. Rushing 70-238 29-90Yds. Passing 0 144Total Offense 238 234Passes 0-2-0 12-25-1Punts 6-31.5 5-35.0Penalties 9-66 2-20Fumbles/Lost 0-0 2-1

Mankato State 7 14 0 6 -- 27NDSU 0 0 0 7 -- 7MSU--Pass 2 run (Navitsky kick)MSU--Fossey 2 run (Navitsky kick)MSU--VanOverbeke 24 interception return (Navitsky kick)MSU--Fossey 13 run (kick wide)NDSU--McDonald 20 pass from Beachy (Millfors kick)A--4,839

Top IndividualsRushing--Fossey (MSU) 24-118; Wallace (MSU) 24-76; Pass (MSU)

19-44; Sanchez (NDSU) 5-37; Erickson (NDSU) 6-35Passing--Beachy (NDSU) 12-25-1, 144 yds.; Pass (MSU) 0-2-0, 0

yds.Receiving--McDonald (NDSU) 5-82; Cahill (NDSU) 3-20; Erickson

(NDSU) 2-13; Geren (NDSU) 1-22; Sanchez (NDSU) 1-7Tackles--Hartwig (NDSU) 5-10=15; Stewart (NDSU) 4-5=9; Ritacco

(MSU) 6-3=9; Steinberg (NDSU) 5-3=8; Monte (NDSU) 3-5=8

1992 NCAA First Round FARGO, N.D.—North Dakota State used a punishing ground attack to post a 42-7 win over Northeast Missouri State in the opening round of the NCAA Division II football playoffs. The Bison rolled up 493 yards rushing and totaled 36 minutes of ball possession in upping their season chart to 10-1 and setting up a quar-terfinal matchup between the top two ranked teams in the nation. NDSU posted a pair of touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to race to a 28-0 halftime advantage. NDSU iced the game by driving 92 yards and scoring on junior quarterback Arden Beachy's 16-yard TD pass to junior split end T.R. McDon-ald. The Bison closed out the scoring a minute later following a fumble recovery and a 29-yard run by junior Raul Sanchez. Sanchez was one of three Bison backs with over 100 yards rushing. He totaled 105 yards on 10 carries while senior Mark Hansen churned out 164 yards in 14 carries including two first-half TDs. Beachy scored once, collecting 112 yards on 25 carries.

Statistics NEMSU NDSUFirst Downs 19 30Yds. Rushing 30-124 68-493Yds. Passing 184 92Total Offense 308 585Passes 15-27-4 5-11-1Punts 3-45.6 1-40.0Penalties 4-30 6-50Fumbles/Lost 3-2 2-1

NE Missouri St. 0 0 7 0 -- 7NDSU 14 14 0 14 -- 42NDSU--Erickson 12 run (Millfors kick)NDSU--Hansen 9 run (Millfors kick)NDSU--Beachy 12 run (Millfors kick)NDSU--Hansen 44 run (Millfors kick)NEMSU--Walker 32 pass from Thompson (Rudel kick)NDSU--McDonald 16 pass from Beachy (Millfors kick)NDSU--Sanchez 29 run (Millfors kick)A--6,230

Top IndividualsRushing--Hansen (NDSU) 14-164; Beachy (NDSU) 25-112; San-

chez (NDSU) 10-105; Guthrie (NEMSU) 19-104; Gidley (NDSU) 6-49

Passing--Thompson (NEMSU) 13-23-4, 168 yds.; Beachy (NDSU) 5-10-1, 92 yds.

Receiving--Walker (NEMSU) 8-122; Guthrie (NEMSU) 4-37; McDonald (NDSU) 2-32; Skie (NDSU) 1-18; Erickson (NDSU) 1-17

Tackles--Della Vedova (NEMSU) 3-8=11; Flanagan (NEMSU) 5-6=11; Schaffner (NDSU) 2-7=9; Grutter (NEMSU) 4-4=8; Merriman (NEMSU) 4-4=8; Hendrix (NEMSU) 3-5=8

1992 NCAA Quarterfinals PITTSBURG, Kan.—NDSU's dream of a ninth national grid championship died just an inch short of the goal line as the Bison fell 38-37 in overtime to defending national champion Pitts-burg State. Billed as a classic confrontation between the two clubs that had won the last two national crowns, this game did not disappoint. The two clubs each mounted a pair of long first-half drives to go into the locker room at 14-all. NDSU opened up 24-14 and 31-20 leads in the second half before Pitt State tied the contest on Ronnie Moore's fourth TD of the game and a 39-yard field goal by Jeff Wood with two seconds left. Moore scored again in the overtime, the first ever played by a Bison team, but NDSU closed to within one at 38-37 on Arden Beachy's 26-yard pass to Craig Geren. The Bison opted for the win with a two-point conversion try but were stopped short up the middle. But a penalty against PSU gave the Herd a second chance and Mark Hansen's desperation dive for the goal line wide right on the pitch came up an agonizing inch short.


Pittsburg State 7 7 6 11 7 -- 38NDSU 7 7 10 7 6 -- 37NDSU--Erickson 4 run (Millfors kick)PSU--Moore 2 run (Wood kick)PSU--Moore 1 run (Wood kick)NDSU--Beachy 3 run (Millfors kick)NDSU--Carlson 30 run (Millfors kick)NDSU--FG Millfors 26PSU--Moore 1 run (kick failed)NDSU--Carlson 18 run (Millfors kick)PSU--Moore 13 run (Moore run)PSU--FG Wood 39PSU--Moore 1 run (Wood kick)NDSU--Geren 26 pass from Beachy (run failed)A--5,200

Top IndividualsRushing--Moore (PSU) 31-151; Hutchins (PSU) 18-77; Carlson

(NDSU) 9-73; Beachy (NDSU) 24-70; Sanchez (NDSU) 7-51; Hansen (NDSU) 12-51

Passing--Hutchins (PSU) 10-17-1, 154 yds.; Beachy (NDSU) 9-13-0, 119 yds.

Receiving--Staten (PSU) 7-105; Geren (NDSU) 4-62; McDonald (NDSU) 3-21; Cahill (NDSU) 2-36; Sparkman (PSU) 2-35

Tackles--Wilson (PSU) 6-10=16; Schaffner (NDSU) 1-13=14; Brown (PSU) 4-10=14; Hegerle (NDSU) 7-5=12; Steinberg (NDSU) 1-11=12

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1994 NCAA First Round PITTSBURG, Kan.—In what is rapidly becoming a classic series, North Dakota State and Pittsburg State met for the fourth time in the last five years, this time in the opening round of the NCAA playoffs. It took three overtimes before a jubilant Bison squad prevailed 18-12 in a sea of rain and mud.

1994 NCAA Quarterfinals GRAND FORKS, N.D.—The University of North Dakota came up with a crucial fumble recovery on the North Dakota State 17-yard line late in the first half and converted it into the winning score for a 14-7 victory in the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs. It was the first time since 1945 that the two arch-rivals had met twice in the same season and the first ever postseason meeting between the Bison and the Sioux. The Bison scored first as they marched 66 yards in 11 plays to score on Rob Hyland's 1-yard dive. UND put together a long drive at the begin-ning of the second quarter to tie the contest before coming up with the vital miscue. NDSU drove into UND territory on its first four possessions of the second half but came away with nothing after being stopped on downs twice and turning the ball over on pass intercep-tions twice.

Statistics UND NDSUFirst Downs 15 12Yds. Rushing 41-137 55-172Yds. Passing 102 55Total Offense 239 227Passes 9-20-1 4-14-2Punts 4-31.0 3-37.3Penalties 1-2 4-28Fumbles/Lost 2-2 1-1

North Dakota 0 14 0 0 -- 14NDSU 7 0 0 0 -- 7NDSU--Hyland 1 run (Millfors kick)UND--Almlie 4 run (Gomez-Tagle kick)UND--Leingang 1 pass from Wagner (Gomez-Tagle kick)A--10,060

Top IndividualsRushing--Almlie (UND) 32-128; Hyland (NDSU) 24-86; Roller

(NDSU) 12-40; Miller (NDSU) 12-28; Wilson (NDSU) 6-15Passing--Wagner (UND) 9-20-1, 102; Hyland (NDSU) 4-14-2, 55Receiving--Leingang (UND) 3-43; McElroy (UND) 3-31; Holm

(NDSU) 2-31; Swanson (NDSU) 1-19; Langer (UND) 1-12Tackles--Callahan (UND) 4-8=12; Mooney (UND) 5-5=10; Tibesar

(UND) 6-3=9; Boeshans (NDSU) 3-4=7; Jones (NDSU) 7-0=7

NDSU's Jason Miller (27) gains yardage.

Field conditions were poor at best during pre-game warmups and rapidly deteriorated as a driving rain continued. Pitt State, undefeated and ranked third in the nation, drew first blood late in the first quarter. But, on a day when the kicking game was impossible, the PAT kick failed. NDSU put together a long drive that con-sumed the final 8 1/2 minutes of the third period and tied the game on Rob Hyland's 1-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Bison could have won the game in regula-tion after Mikel Kallenbach's pass interception with 1:26 left, but it was impossible to handle the field goal snap in the sea of mud on the 23-yard attempt. Both teams scored in the second overtime with NDSU's TD coming on a fourth-down pass from Hyland to Swanson from seven yards out. The Bison collected the winner in the third overtime when Hyland hit Kelly Artz with a 21-yard completion to the 1-yard line. Hyland scored three plays later and the Bison secondary batted down a Pitt State desperation fourth-down pass at the goal line to end the game.


Pittsburg State 6 0 0 0 0 6 0 -- 12NDSU 0 0 0 6 0 6 6 -- 18PSU--Moreland 3 run (kick failed)NDSU--Hyland 1 run (kick failed)PSU--Moreland 2 run (pass failed)NDSU--Swanson 7 pass from Hyland (kick failed)NDSU--Hyland 1 run (run failed)A--5,000

Top IndividualsRushing--Hyland (NDSU) 29-87; Mayfield (PSU) 21-84; Fairchaild

(PSU) 15-83; Moreland (PSU) 21-44; Scott (PSU) 7-29Passing--Hyland (NDSU) 10-27-2, 102; Moreland (PSU) 1-6-1, 5Receiving--Artz (NDSU) 6-71; Swanson (NDSU) 3-20; Holm (NDSU)

1-11; Hudson (PSU) 1-8Tackles--Sweet (PSU) 3-13=16; Boeshans (NDSU) 3-10=13; Carson

(PSU) 1-12=13; Bradbury (PSU) 3-9=12; Gossard (NDSU) 2-9=11; Jones (NDSU) 2-9=11; Harris (PSU) 2-9=11; Brown (PSU) 3-8=11

1995 NCAA First Round GRAND FORKS, N.D.—Behind a pair of fresh-men backs, North Dakota State dominated the final three quarters of play and romped to a 41-10 NCAA opening round win over arch-rival North Dakota. The win avenged a 21-7 loss during the regu-lar season to the Sioux two weeks earlier on this same field. A 14-play, 62-yard drive that started late in the first period and finished more than 8 1/2 minutes later with a Kevin Feeney 2-yard touchdown run turned this contest around. The Sioux jumped to a 10-0 lead in the opening two possessions but garnered just 84 yards the rest of the way against a spirited Bison defense. The Feeney touchdown midway through the second quarter was the first of four scored by the Bison freshman quarterback. Another Bison yearling, running back Reggie Scott, ran for 155 yards and two scores including a 22-yarder that put the Bison ahead for good later in the second quarter. NDSU put up 413 yards of total offense including 376 in the final three periods. Feeney toted the ball 27 times for 135 yards and com-pleted 10 of 11 passes for another 116 yards in earning National Offensive Player of the Week honors in Division II.

Statistics UND NDSUFirst Downs 8 23Yds. Rushing 25-85 55-297Yds. Passing 115 116Total Offense 200 413Passes 9-19-0 10-11-0Punts 5-26.8 2-31.5Penalties 2-10 3-15Fumbles/Lost 0-0 0-0

North Dakota 10 0 0 0 -- 10NDSU 0 14 14 13 -- 41UND--FG Gomez-Tagle 20 UND--Moore 4 run (Gomez-Tagle kick)NDSU--Feeney 2 run (Marma kick)NDSU--Scott 22 run (Marma kick)NDSU--Feeney 3 run ((Marma kick)NDSU--Scott 25 run (Marma kick)NDSU--Feeney 1 run (kick failed)NDSU--Feeney 5 run (Marma kick)A--5,595

Top IndividualsRushing--Scott (NDSU) 23-155; Feeney (NDSU) 27-135; Moore

(UND) 16-75Passing--Feeney (NDSU) 10-11-0, 116 yds.; Klancher (UND)

9-19-0, 115 yds.Receiving--Scott (NDSU) 4-21; Ostby (UND) 3-72; McElroy (UND)

3-15; Swanson (NDSU) 2-35; Gidley (NDSU) 2-13Tackles--Hillesheim (UND) 11-0=11; Tibesar (UND) 8-1=9; Mitch-

ell (UND) 7-2=9; Witt (NDSU) 3-6=9; Fredricks (NDSU) 3-4=7; Kallenbach (NDSU) 3-4=7

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1995 NCAA Quarterfinals PITTSBURG, Kan.—It was billed as another classic between two traditionally strong foes, and it lived up to its billing. Defense and kicking were the orders of the day and the Gorillas' kicking game proved to be the difference in a 9-7 win. Freshman punter Brian Moorman kept the Bison pinned deep in their own territory for much of the game. He nailed four inside the 20 including second-half punts to the Bison 13-, 1- and 19-yard lines. The Gorillas scored on their first possession and marched to the Bison 20 on the second pos-session before the Bison came up with a fumble recovery on the 10. NDSU countered with a 94-yard, eight-play scoring drive in the second quarter as backup quarterback Craig Aamot stepped in on the final two plays of the drive to score from two yards out. North Dakota State's best opportunity in the second half came on its first possession, driving to the PSU 21-yard line and coming up one yard short on fourth down. The game was won in the final quarter when a Bison punt from the NDSU 39 was blocked out of the end zone for a safety. NDSU had one final chance to move the ball but never got beyond its own 20-yard line.

Statistics PSU NDSUFirst Downs 16 10Yds. Rushing 57-206 40-151Yds. Passing 73 83Total Offense 279 234Passes 6-16-1 6-13-0Punts 4-40.3 7-33.1Penalties 5-36 7-46Fumbles/Lost 1-1 0-01-0

Pittsburg State 7 0 0 2 -- 9NDSU 0 7 0 0 -- 7PSU--Fairchild 2 run (Barcus kick)NDSU--Aamot 2 run (Marma kick)PSU--Safety, punt blocked through end zoneA--5,800

Top IndividualsRushing--Johnson (PSU) 21-84; Moreland (PSU) 15-70; Scott

(NDSU) 17-59; Roller (NDSU) 7-55; Feeney (NDSU) 13-44Passing--Feeney (NDSU) 6-13-0, 83 yds.; Moreland (PSU) 6-15-1,

73 yds. Receiving--Gidley (NDSU) 3-70; Aiken (PSU) 3-46; Fairchild (PSU)

3-27; Artz (NDSU) 2-1Tackles--McGivern (PSU) 3-15=18; Fredricks (NDSU) 2-11=13;

Brown (PSU) 5-8=13; Parks (PSU) 3-9=12; Kallenbach (NDSU) 6-5=11; Jacobsen (NDSU) 6-4=10

1997 NCAA First Round MARYVILLE, Mo.—North Dakota State won two thirds of the game (offense and defense) but lost the special teams play and that was the dif-ference as the third-ranked Bearcats of Northwest Missouri State ended NDSU's season in a wild affair, 39-28. The Bison had leads of 7-0, 14-3 and 21-12 and that could have been more except for an inadvertant whistle that nullified a Jeff McKinnon pass interception that was returned for a touch-down. But four turnovers, a poor punt snap that resulted in a safety, and two long kickoff returns were the blows that hurt the most. A 53-yard return late in the first half set up a Bearcat TD just before intermission and an 86-yard return by Tony Miles for a score late in third quarter changed the momentum of the game. A 36-yard pass interception return for a TD in the final 12 seconds of the game was icing as the Bison were attempting a desperation drive at the end. Senior running back Jake Morris concluded a great career for the Bison with 155 yards and two TDs, although he was unavailable at the end of the game due to an ankle injury.

Statistics NWMSU NDSUFirst Downs 14 22Yds. Rushing 31-47 61-250Yds. Passing 251 124Total Offense 298 374Passes 15-31-2 10-23-3Punts 6-30.5 6-37.0Penalties 7-66 4-40Fumbles/Lost 0-0 3-1

NW Missouri 3 7 16 13 -- 39NDSU 7 7 7 7 -- 28NDSU--Morris 4 run (Johnson kick)NWMSU--FG Purnell 43NDSU--Morris 64 run (Johnson kick)NWMSU--Hanson 19 pass from Greisen (Purnell kick)NWMSU--Safety, ball snapped out of end zone NDSU--Strehlow 5 pass from Feeney (Johnson kick)NWMSU--Miles 86 kickoff return (Purnell kick)NWMSU--Lane 29 run (Purnell kick)NWMSU--Becker 2 pass from Greisen (Purnell kick)NDSU--Nelson 4 pass from Feeney (Johnson kick)NWMSU--Nelson 36 interception return (kick wide) A--7,500

Top IndividualsRushing--Morris (NDSU) 28-155; Lane (NWMSU) 17-59; Feeney

(NDSU) 15-55; Dietrich (NDSU) 12-41; Johnson (NDSU) 1-24Passing--Greisen (NWMSU) 15-31-2, 251 yds.; Feeney (NDSU)

10-23-3, 124 yds.Receiving--Hanson (NWMSU) 5-117; Miles (NWMSU) 4-52;

Strehlow (NDSU) 4-38; Becker (NWMSU) 3-44; Swanson (NDSU) 2-44

Tackles--Nelson (NWMSU) 7-2=9; Crowe (NWMSU) 6-3=9; Keys (NWMSU) 4-4=8; Combs (NWMSU) 4-4=8; McCullum (NDSU) 3-3=6

2000 NCAA First Round MARYVILLE, Mo.—Junior running backs Lamar Gordon and DeShawn Perkins put up 100-yard rushing games as the Bison won their first opening-round NCAA playoff game since 1995 with a 31-17 upset win over defending national champion Northwest Missouri State, 31-17. Gordon ran for 130 yards and a touchdown, and caught a 39-yard TD pass as the Bison snapped a 24-game Bearcat winning streak. Perkins pitched in with a career-high 134 yards, including an 8-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to clinch the game. NDSU took over in the third quarter with a pair of long drives. Ryan Johnson threw his second TD pass of the day, a 13-yarder to Jared Peck, on the opening drive of the second half to regain the momentum for the Herd. Gordon's 4-yard TD run on the next possession was the game-winner. Perkins capped it with the short run after he exploded for 60 yards on the previous play. With all that offense, it was the defense that stole the day. NDSU limited the defending champs to 81 yards rushing and 205 yards of total offense until the Bearcats got a 60-yard TD pass on their final offensive play of the day. Statistics NDSU NWMSUFirst Downs 19 14Yds. Rushing 56-282 31-81Yds. Passing 77 184Total Offense 359 265Passes 4-15-0 20-43-0Punts 8-39.4 9-36.0Penalties 9-99 3-29Fumbles/Lost 3-2 2-1

NDSU 10 0 14 7 -- 31NW Missouri 0 10 0 7 -- 17NDSU--FG Pederson 47NDSU--Gordon 39 pass from Johnson (Pederson kick)NWMSU--FG Timmerman 20NWMSU--Jansen 7 run (Timmerman kick)NDSU--Peck 13 pass from Johnson (Pederson kick)NDSU--Gordon 4 run (Pederson kick)NDSU--Perkins 8 run (Pederson kick)NWMSU--Hill 60 pass from Miles (Timmerman kick)A--7,650

Top IndividualsRushing--Perkins (NDSU) 14-134; Gordon (NDSU) 30-119; Jansen

(NWMS) 18-59; Miles (NWMS) 2-41Passing--Miles (NWMS) 20-43-0, 184 yds.; Johnson (NDSU)

4-15-0, 77 yds.Receiving--Hill (NWMS) 9-107; Miles (NWMS) 5-40; Jansen

(NWMS) 5-16; Peck (NDSU) 2-27Tackles--Miller (NWMS) 4-6=10; Williams (NWMS) 3-7=10;

Evenson (NDSU) 6-3=9; Quinlin (NWMS) 3-6=9; Becker (NWMS`) 4-4=8; Simmons (NWMS) 2-5=7; Wayne (NWMS) 1-6=7; Swanson (NDSU) 5-1=6; Maher (NDSU) 1-5=6; Schneckloth (NWMS) 1-5=6; Murphy (NDSU) 5-0=5

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2000 NCAA Quarterfinals OMAHA, Neb.—North Dakota State exploded for 20 points in the second quarter and overcame a 14-0 deficit to roll to a 43-21 win over Nebras-ka-Omaha in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. The Bison running game paved the way for the victory. NDSU ran for 214 yards against a run defense that was the best in the nation, allowing just 47 yards per game. Bison junior tailback Lamar Gordon ran for 144 yards and three TDs while sophomore quarterback Graig Gorder passed for 187 yards and two TDs in a relief role. NDSU was down 14-0 after the first two Omaha possessions of the game, but the Bison quickly regained the momentum. Gordon scored from 22 yards out and came back with a 6-yard TD run to cut the deficit to two early in the sec-ond quarter. Gorder passed five yards to tight end Craig Tangen 2 1/2 minutes later to give the Bison the lead for good at 20-14. That came after the Bison recovered an Omaha fumble, one of four lost by the Mavericks on the day. Gorder, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fourth quarter, was filling in for senior starter Ryan Johnson, who was hurt early in the first quarter, suffering a knee injury that ended his season. NDSU totaled 401 yards of offense and the Bison limited Omaha to 303 yards. The Bison defense added a pass interception by Travis Sturdevant and finished with five turnovers on the day. The win avenged a 6-3 loss to UNO in the regular season and snapped the Mavs' 11-game overall winning streak and a 23-game home vic-tory streak.

Statistics NDSU UNOFirst Downs 17 14Yds. Rushing 51-214 43-190Yds. Passing 187 113Total Offense 401 303Passes 7-15-0 8-15-1Punts 8-35.0 6-38.3Penalties 9-76 5-55Fumbles/Lost 1-0 4-4

NDSU 6 20 17 0 -- 43Neb.-Omaha 14 0 0 7 -- 21UNO--Dustin 1 run (Severson kick)UNO--Turman 18 run (Severson kick)NDSU--Gordon 22 run (kick wide)NDSU--Gordon 6 run (pass failed)NDSU--Tangen 5 pass from Gorder (Nelson from Gorder)NDSU--Perkins 4 run (pass failed)NDSU--FG Pederson 27NDSU--Nelson 33 pass from Gorder (Pederson kick)NDSU--Gordon 1 run (Pederson kick)UNO--Recek 5 pass from Guidry (Severson kick)A--9,400

Top IndividualsRushing--Gordon (NDSU) 27-142; Wright (UNO) 12-74; Kammrad

(UNO) 14-56; Perkins (NDSU) 11-55; Turman (UNO) 10-54Passing--Gorder (NDSU) 7-12-0, 187 yds.; Guidry (UNO) 5-8-1, 62

yds.; Turman (UNO) 3-7-0, 51 yds.Receiving--Nelson (NDSU) 3-109; Krause (UNO) 3-44; Tangen

(NDSU) 2-18; Dustin (UNO) 2-36Tackles--Shafer (NDSU) 7-4=11; Bi. Erenberg (NDSU) 6-2=11; Brice

(UNO) 6-4=10; Hoffman (UNO) 3-7=10; Stovall (UNO) 1-7=8; Cooper (UNO) 1-6=7; Bays (NDSU) 2-4=6; Swanson (NDSU) 4-1=5; Gjellstad (NDSU) 2-3=5; Butler (UNO) 2-3=5

2000 NCAA Semifinals CLEVELAND, Miss.—North Dakota State dug itself a 20-0 hole in the first quarter and could not come all the way back, falling to Delta State in the NCAA Division II semifinals, 34-17. Delta State, the eventual national champion, took advantage of an NDSU fumble to score on its first possession, blocked a punt on NDSU's ensuing possession into the end zone for a score, and hit a 74-yard TD pass on the first play of its next posses-sion to jump to the 20-point margin. The Bison (12-2) came back with three second-quarter scores, capping a 92-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run by All-American Lamar Gordon. Redshirt freshman QB Jason Jordon, getting his first start after season-ending injuries to Ryan Johnson and Graig Gorder in the quarterfinal win over Nebraska-Omaha, fired his first career TD pass, a 5-yarder to Jared Peck, to cut the margin to 20-13. Junior kicker Aaron Pederson added a 44-yard field goal just before the half and it was 20-16 at the intermission. However, with a strong wind at their backs in the third quarter, the Bison failed to score and Delta State controlled the ball for over 10 minutes of the quarter. DSU wrapped up the game late in the fourth quarter with a short drive after a Bison punt into the stiff wind failed to cross midfield. Delta State's final score came on an intercepted pass as the Bison were forced to gamble in the final two minutes.

Statistics NDSU DSUFirst Downs 17 13Yds. Rushing 48-159 49-182Yds. Passing 131 116Total Offense 290 298Passes 11-25-2 4-8-1Punts 4-25.5 3-23.0Penalties 8-81 7-76Fumbles/Lost 1-1 0-0

NDSU 0 16 0 0 -- 16Delta State 20 0 0 14 -- 34DSU--Flowers 26 pass from Bright (Dorgan kick)DSU--Stevenson 19 return of blocked punt (Dorgan kick)DSU--Franklin 74 pass from Bright (kick failed)NDSU--Gordon 3 run (run failed)NDSU--Peck 5 pass from Jordan (Pederson kick)NDSU--FG Pederson 44DSU--Bright 4 run (Dorgan kick)DSU--Johnson 32 interception return (Dorgan kick)A--6,850

Top IndividualsRushing--Gordon (NDSU) 34-140; Bright (DSU) 18-79; McDonald

(DSU) 15-54; Perkins (NDSU) 10-28; Flowers (DSU) 6-22; Hart (DSU) 5-16

Passing--Jordan (NDSU) 11-25-2, 131 yds.; Bright (DSU) 4-8-1, 116 yds.

Receiving--Nelson (NDSU) 6-105; Franklin (DSU) 3-90; Flowers (DSU) 1-26; Lewis (NDSU) 1-12; Gordon (NDSU) 1-6; Peck (NDSU) 1-5; Dettmann (NDSU) 1-4

Tackles--Bell (DSU) 10-5=15; Johnson (DSU) 8-4=12; Polk, (DSU) 8-3=11; LeClair (NDSU) 7-2=9; Bi. Erenberg (NDSU) 7-1=8; Beckett (DSU) 7-0=7; Brown (DSU) 5-2=7; Bell (DSU) 3-3=6; Simmers (NDSU) 6-0=6; Swanson (NDSU) 4-2=6; Shafer (NDSU) 3-3=6; Murphy (NDSU) 0-6=6

2010 NCAA First Round FARGO, N.D.—D.J. McNorton ran 27 times for 110 yards and a TD and caught two passes for 110 yards and a score as North Dakota State beat Robert Morris 43-17 on Nov. 27, 2010, before a Fargodome crowd of 12,202 in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs. Brock Jensen threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score as for the Bison (8-4), who play at Montana State (9-2) at 1 p.m. (Central) Saturday, Dec. 4, in Bozeman. Robert Morris (8-3), making its first appearance in the FCS playoffs, led 7-6 at halftime before Jensen, a redshirt freshman, hit on a pair of scoring passes in the third quarter. Jensen tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Warren Holloway on third-and-12 and a short middle screen that McNorton took 49 yards for a score to put the Bison ahead 20-7. Jensen was 10-for-24 for an NDSU playoff-record 229 yards and the Bison rolled up 482 yards of total offense. The old record was 206 yards set by Bruce Grasamke in the 1969 Camelia Bowl against Montana. McNorton reached 100 yards for the seventh time over the past nine games for NDSU. Myles Russ ran 27 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns for the Colonials. Russ scored from nine yards out and Greg Langer hit a 46-field goal with 12:05 left to cut the Bison lead to 20-17 with 12:05 left in the fourth quarter. Jensen scored from five yards out to cap a six-play, 84-yard drive to put NDSU ahead 27-17 with 8:57 left. That march was highlighted by a 61-yard screen pass reception by McNorton. Following a muffed kickoff return, defensive tackle Matthew Gratzek recorded a safety to extend the advantage to 29-17 just 14-seconds later. McNorton scampered in from 12 yards out to up the lead to 36-17 with 6:24 remaining. Cornerback Josh Gatlin’s team-high fourth intercep-tion set up the final TD of the game, a 28-yard run from Mike Sigers with 5:31 left. Freshman linebacker Grant Olson led the Bison with 11 tackles in his first career start. Ryan Jastram connected on two field goals including a career long of 51 yards with 1:51 left in the first half.

Robert Morris 7 0 7 3 — 17North Dakota State 3 3 14 23 — 43Scoring Summary:RMU–Russ 5 run (Langer kick)NDSU–Jastram 34 field goalNDSU–Jastram 51 field goalNDSU–Holloway 32 pass from Jensen (Jastram kick)NDSU–McNorton 49 pass from Jensen (Jastram kick)RMU–Russ 9 run (Langer kick)RMU–Langer 46 field goalNDSU–Jensen 5 run (Jastram kick)NDSU–Gratzek safety, tackle QB in end zoneNDSU–McNorton 12 run (Jastram kick)NDSU–Sigers 28 run (Jastram kick)A–12,202

STATISTICS RMU NDSUFIRST DOWNS 17 20RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 38-161 48-253PASSING YDS (NET) 146 229Passes Att-Comp-Int. 24-9-1 24-10-1TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 62-307 72-482Punts (Number-Avg) 6-37.8 3-38.3Fumbles-Lost 5-2 3-1Penalties-Yards 5-70 6-47Possession Time 26:50 33:10

RUSHING: RMU-Russ 25-117, Sinclair 10-32, Link 1-7. NDSU-McNorton 27-110, Sigers 6-83, Jensen 5-29.PASSING: RMU-Sinclair 9-24-1 146. NDSU–Jensen 10-24-1 229.RECEIVING: RMU-King 5-68, Green 1-29, Coleman 1-21. NDSU–Holloway 5-62, Mack 3-57, McNorton 2-110.TACKLES (UA-A): RMU–Richards 3-6=9, DiMichele 3-4=7, Landers

5-1=6. NDSU-Olson 5-6=11, Heagle 5-2=7, Jemison 2-3=5.

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2010 NCAA Second Round BOZEMAN, Mont.—D.J. McNorton rushed 26 times for 207 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as North Dakota State overpowered No. 4-seeded Montana State in the fourth quarter en route to a 42-17 victory Dec. 4, before a sellout crowd of 14,277 at Bob-cat Stadium in the second round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs. McNorton ran for 163 yards and all of his TDs in the second half, and the Bison (9-4) scored four times after falling behind 17-14 on the first play the fourth quarter. McNorton’s 207 yards was a NDSU playoff record, topping the old mark of 176 set by Tony Satter against Pittsburg State in 1990. His four TDs were also a school playoff record topping the old mark of three TDs set five times by three different players including Lamar Gordon at Nebraska-Omaha in 2000. Denarius McGhee was 19 for 32 for 223 yards and a touchdown for the Big Sky Conference co-champion Bobcats (9-3). McNorton gave North Dakota State a 21-17 lead with a 19-yard touchdown run with 13:22 remaining and tacked on touchdown runs of 38 and 52 yards in the final 5:28. McNorton scored from 3 yards out with 6:57 to play in the third quarter to give North Dakota State a 14-7 lead. McNorton reached 100-yards rushing in a game for the eighth time over the last 10 games. It was the second time he rushed for over 200 yards this season. The Bison rushed 46 times for a season-high 376 yards and had 432 in total offense overall. Mike Sigers rushed seven times for 67 yards and a TD, while Jose Mohler ripped off a key 41-yard run in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Chad Willson led NDSU with 7 tackles including a sack. Five different players had sacks for the Bison, while Marcus Williams and John Pike each had interceptions. Preston Evans and Daniel Eaves both had a fumble recovery. NDSU added six tackles for loss, five pass breakups and a pair of QB hurries. It was NDSU’s first playoff road win since Nov. 25, 2000, when the Bison won 43-21 at Nebraska-Omaha in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. The teams played in the 1976 Grantland Rice Bowl on Dec. 4, 1976, with the Bobcats recording a 10-3 win in Fargo.

North Dakota State 0 7 7 28 — 42Montana State 0 7 3 7 — 17Scoring Summary:NDSU–Jensen 1 run (Jastram kick)MSU–Lloyd 16 pass from McGhee (Cunningham kick)NDSU–McNorton 3 run (Jastram kick)MSU–Cunningham 28 field goalMSU–Davis 1 run (Cunningham kick)NDSU–McNorton 19 run (Jastram kick)NDSU–McNorton 38 run (Jastram kick)NDSU–McNorton 52 run (Jastram kick)NDSU–Sigers 6 run (Jastram kick)A–14,277

STATISTICS NDSU MSUFIRST DOWNS 18 19RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 46-376 31-135PASSING YDS (NET) 56 245Passes Att-Comp-Int. 19-5-1 38-20-2TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 65-432 69-380Punts (Number-Avg) 6-43.3 7-38.1Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2Penalties-Yards 10-60 7-35Possession Time 31:05 28:55

RUSHING: NDSU-McNorton 26-207, Sigers 7-67, Mohler 5-48. MSU-Davis 15-64, Becksted 3-31, Gilbert 3-17.PASSING: NDSU-Jensen 2-6-0 20, Mohler 3-11-1 36. MSU–Mc-

Ghee 19-32-1 223, Kempt 1-6-1 22.RECEIVING: NDSU-Howard 3-45, Veldman 1-6, L.Smith 1-5. MSU–Akpla 7-120, Gilbert 4-15, Lloyd 3-55.TACKLES (UA-A): NDSU–Willson 3-4=7, Olson 6-0=6, M.Williams

5-1=6. MSU-Rider 6-3=9, Bignell 4-4=8, Schreibeis 4-3=7.

2010 NCAA Quarterfinals CHENEY, Wash.—Bo Levi Mitchell threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Hart on the first play of overtime and Eastern Washington recovered a goal-line fumble to beat North Dakota State 38-31 before a disappointing crowd of 4,060 at Roos Field in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) quarterfinals on Dec. 11. Taiwan Jones rushed for a career-high 230 yards for the fifth-seeded Eagles (11-2), who will host Villanova either Friday or Saturday in the semifinals. Jones had 203 yards in the first half including a 69-yard TD run. He only rushed 27 in the second half and fumbled several times. With the Bison (9-5) facing second-and-goal at the Eastern Washington 4-yard line, Brock Jensen was hit by J.C. Sherritt and the ball came loose when his hands hit the turf. Zach Johnson recovered in the end zone. An official review didn’t overturn the call and fans stormed the field. Mike Sigers tied a school record with two blocked kicks, a field goal and a punt, and also raced 94 yards with the kickoff to start the second half against Eastern Washington. It is the first kickoff return for a TD since 2007 when Shamen Washington went 93 yards at Mis-sissippi Valley State. Sigers now has four blocked kicks this season to tie the NDSU mark set by Al Nowak in 1970. His two blocked kicks in a game also tied the school record set Greg Bentson vs. Montana State in 1972. D.J. McNorton had 124 yards rushing and a touch-down for North Dakota State. McNorton rushed for 100 yards for the nine time over the past 11 games. The NDSU defense scored off an interception for the fourth time this season. Redshirt freshman Marcus Williams picked an EWU pass and returned it five yards for the score. Williams had four interceptions and a pass defended in 12 of 14 games. Senior corner Josh Gatlin intercepted his team-high fifth pass in the second half.

North Dakota State 0 10 14 7 0 — 31Eastern Washington 14 3 7 7 7 — 38Scoring Summary:EWU–Gehring 1 pass from Mitchell (Jarrett kick)EWU–Jones 69 run (Jarrett kick)NDSU–Jastram 41 field goalNDSU–McNorton 1 run (Jastram kick)EWU–Jarrett 36 field goalNDSU–Sigers 94 kickoff return (Jastram kick)EWU–Hoffman 88 kickoff return (Jarrett kick)NDSU–Williams 5 interception return (Jastram kick)NDSU–McNorton 21 pass from Jensen (Jastram kick)EWU–Edwards 4 pass from Mitchell (Jarrett kick)EWU–Hart 25 yd pass from Mitchell (Jarrett kick)A–4,060

STATISTICS NDSU EWUFIRST DOWNS 16 16RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 51-188 38-241PASSING YDS (NET) 128 141Passes Att-Comp-Int. 24-12-1 32-13-2TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 75-316 70-382Punts (Number-Avg) 7-34.6 4-33.8Fumbles-Lost 2-2 7-3Penalties-Yards 4-50 2-20Possession Time 32:17 27:43

RUSHING: NDSU-McNorton 29-124, Sigers 7-38, Voigtlander 2-22. EWU-Jones 20-230, Brown 9-15, Mitchell 8-(-3).

PASSING: NDSU-Jensen 12-24-1-128. EWU– Mitchell 13-32-2-141.

RECEIVING: NDSU-Smith 4-31, McNorton 3-34, Mack 2-32. EWU–Hart 4-43, Herd 4-30, Edwards 3-60.TACKLES (UA-A): NDSU–Willson 3-6=9, Boyer 3-3=6, Anderson

4-1=5. EWU–Sherritt 7-8=15, Johnson 4-8=12, Washburn 4-6=10.

2011 NCAA Second Round FARGO, N.D.—D.J. McNorton rushed for 154 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, and North Dakota State beat James Madison 26-14 on Saturday, Dec. 3, before a crowd of 17,432 in a second-round FCS playoff game. Sam Ojuri added 61 yards and two scores for the Bison (11-1), who will host Lehigh in the quarterfinals next weekend. Lehigh (11-1) edged Towson 40-38 to advance. Justin Thorpe had 182 yards passing for the Dukes (8-5), hooking up with DeAndre’ Smith for a 20-yard score in the second quarter. In the fourth, Thorpe caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Kerby Long on a trick play. That pulled James Madison within 19-14 with 7:26 left. McNorton’s touchdown run came on North Dakota State’s next play from scrimmage, after an out-of-bounds kickoff gave the Bison the ball at their own 40. McNorton has rushed for over 100 yards in all four of the Bison FCS playoff games. It was his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and 11th of his career. North Dakota State held a 329-301 advantage in to-tal offense including 219 yards rushing. The Bison didn’t record a turnover for the seventh time in 12 games this season. Brock Jensen completed 11 of 18 passes for 110 yards. Warren Holloway caught seven passes for 78 yards. Ryan Jastram kicked a 53-yard field goal to put the Bison up 10-7 at halftime. He added a 44-yarder in the third quarter. Jastram’s previous career best was 51 yards against Robert Morris in last year’s first-round NCAA FCS playoff game. North Dakota State’s defense held James Madison to 1 of 4 in fourth down conversions including a pair of stops in the second half. Linebackers Chad Willson and Preston Evans each had 10 tackles to lead the way. Free safety John Pike recorded his fourth interception of the season to end the game. Defensive end Cole Jirik recorded a career-high nine tackles. Thorpe completed 21 of 38 passes for 182 yards and one TD. Dae’Quan Scott rushed 17 times for 63 yards as James Madison held a 30:13 to 29:47 edge in time of possession. Vidal Nelson recorded a game-high 12 tackles, while Stephon Robertson had 11 stops.

James Madison 0 7 0 7 — 14North Dakota State 0 10 6 10 — 26Scoring Summary: NDSU–Ojuri 1 run (Jastram kick)JMU–Smith 20 pass from Thorpe (Starke kick)NDSU–Jastram 53 field goalNDSU–Ojuri 6 run (kick blocked)NDSU–Jastram 44 field goalJMU–Thorpe 35 pass from Long (Starke kick)NDSU–McNorton 60 run (Jastram kick)A–17,432

STATISTICS JMU NDSUFIRST DOWNS 20 16RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 34-84 37-219PASSING YDS (NET) 217 110Passes Att-Comp-Int 39-22-1 18-11-0TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 73-301 55-329Punts (Number-Avg) 4-42.8 5-41.8Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0Penalties-Yards 4-20 4-45Possession Time 30:13 29:47

RUSHING: JMU-Scott 17-63; Anderson 9-24; Long 1-2. NDSU-McNorton 19-154; Ojuri 12-61; Lang 1-11.PASSING: JMU-Thorpe 21-38-1 182; Long 1-1-0 35. NDSU-Jensen

11-18-0 110. RECEIVING: JMU-Coble 6-34; Robinson 4-37; Barlow 4-34. NDSU-Holloway 7-78; Veldman 2-20; Vaadeland 1-6.TACKLES (UA-A): JMU-Nelson 4-8=12; Robertson 3-8=11; Allen

4-3=7. NDSU-Willson 4-6=10; Evans 0-10=10; Jirik 3-6=9.

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2011 NCAA Quarterfinals FARGO, N.D— Brock Jensen accounted for three touchdowns, and North Dakota State’s defense pitched a shutout against one of the top quarterbacks in the country for a 24-0 victory Saturday over Lehigh in a Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinal. Sam Ojuri rushed for 136 yards to lead the No. 2 seed Bison (12-1), who will face third-seeded Georgia Southern next weekend in Fargo. NDSU coach Craig Bohl credited his team’s blitzing defense and a noisy crowd of more than 18,000 fans at the Fargodome for holding down Lehigh’s Chris Lum, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the top FCS player. Lum completed 25 of 52 passes for 288 yards and two interceptions. ``We were hitting and hitting and hitting. That really takes a quarterback out of his rhythm,’’ Bohl said. Lum said he never felt comfortable in the pocket. `Ìt’s just a really good defense that threw every-thing at us,’’ Lum said. ``We moved the ball at times but didn’t finish.’’ Jensen scored on a pair of 1-yard sneaks, the last of which capped a 16-play, 80-yard drive to give the Bison a 24-0 lead with 7:23 left. He found Warren Holloway for a 38-yard score in the second quarter. Holloway tied a career-high with eight receptions. The Bison had an 11-play, 97-yard drive in the second quarter. `Ìt wasn’t one of our cleanest games,’’ said Bohl, noting that the Bison had three turnovers. ``But we played hard.’’ Lehigh had a chance to make it interesting late in the third quarter. Trailing 17-0, Lum drove Lehigh from its own 20 to the NDSU 11. The Mountain Hawks then put backup quarterback Michael Colvin in the game, and Colvin was intercepted by Preston Evans in the end zone. It was the first career interception for Evans. Lehigh coach Andy Coen said Colvin is a talented runner who has been used regularly in goal-line situa-tions. ``He was trying to make a play. That’s what happens when you’re down 17-0,’’ Coen said. Lehigh (11-2) played without top receiver Ryan Spadola, who was suspended earlier this week, and top running back Zach Barket, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury three games ago. ``He’s a great player,’’ Lum said of Spadola. ``During the game I’m not thinking about that at all. We had some other guys step up and play well.’’ Ryan Jastram kicked a 31-yard field goal just before halftime to give the Bison a 17-0 lead at the half. North Dakota State recorded its first shutout since 2006 against Mississippi Valley State (45-0), and its first shutout in the playoffs since the 1990 Division II quarterfinals against Cal Poly.

Lehigh 0 0 0 0 — 0North Dakota State 0 17 0 7 — 24Scoring Summary: NDSU–Holloway 38 pass from Jensen (Jastram kick)NDSU–Jensen 1 run (Jastram kick)NDSU–Jastram 31 field goalNDSU–Jensen 1 run (Jastram kick)A–18,111

STATISTICS LEHIGH NDSUFIRST DOWNS 19 20RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 22-68 36-221PASSING YDS (NET) 288 163Passes Att-Comp-Int 53-25-3 28-17-1TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 75-356 64-384Punts (Number-Avg) 6-36.5 4-45.2Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-2Penalties-Yards 6-50 6-54Possession Time 29:14 30:46

RUSHING: LEHIGH-Fitz 11-46; Sherman 4-18; Colvin 1-3. NDSU-Ojuri 17-136; McNorton 11-52; Lang 5-13.PASSING: LEHIGH-Lum 52-25-2 288; Colvin 0-1-1. NDSU-Jensen

17-28-1 163. RECEIVING: LEHIGH-Drwal 10-111; Kurfis 2-48; Haggins 2-32. NDSU-Holloway 8-96; McNorton 3-20; Bruhn 1-22.TACKLES (UA-A): LEHIGH-Gordon 5-9=14; Newton 2-9=11;

Groome 1-10=11. NDSU-Dudzik 4-3=7; Beck 4-3=7; Pike 3-3=6.

2011 NCAA Semifinals FARGO, N.D.—North Dakota State coach Craig Bohl received a present from the president of the university after his team’s first game of the season. It was an atlas of Texas. He put in on display Dec. 17 after quarterback Brock Jensen accounted for 231 total yards despite playing with the flu and receiver Warren Holloway scored twice to help the Bison defeat Georgia Southern 35-7 in a Football Championship Subdivision semifinal before 18,108 spectators in the Fargodome. North Dakota State (13-1) will face Sam Houston State (14-0) for the national championship Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas. It is the first FCS title game appearance for the Bison, who moved up to Division I in 2004. “I got this atlas from a supportive fan,” said Bohl, holding up the book he received from school President Dean Bresciani, who came to Fargo from Texas A&M. “He’s a prophet.” The Bison beat the Eagles (12-2) at their own game - rushing. North Dakota State had 314 yards on the ground to 186 for Georgia Southern and its highly touted triple option. It was the Eagles’ second-lowest running total of the season. The Bison outgained Georgia Southern 246-71 on the ground in the second half. “They whipped us,” Eagles coach Jeff Monken said. “They’re physical, and they’re tough. Those teams are hard to beat.” North Dakota State had a 451-333 advantage in total offense. The Bison forced three turnovers and turned them all into touchdowns. Holloway scored on a 19-yard reception from Jen-sen in the first quarter and a 17-yard run in the second quarter. Both came after Georgia Southern miscues, including a kickoff out of bounds late in the first half after the Eagles had tied the game 7-7. It took just two plays for NDSU to score after that, on Holloway’s end-around. That gave the Bison a 14-7 lead at halftime. “We’ve been talking about going to Frisco,” said Holloway, a 6-foot-2, 199-pound senior from Houston. “I get to play in front of my family.” Jensen gave the Bison breathing room with a 55-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter on a third down-and-3 play that made it 20-7. Monken said one of his cornerbacks missed a signal from the sideline to blitz. That touchdown capped a 96-yard drive after Travis Beck recovered a fumble when the Eagles were threat-ening to score. Jensen finished with a career-high rushing total of 94 yards even though he hadn’t eaten in 24 hours and needed intravenous fluids at halftime. Running backs Sam Ojuri and D.J. McNorton, who combined to rush for 194 yards, added touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Dominique Swope ran for 96 yards and scored on a 23-yard run for the Eagles, who lost in the semifinals for the second straight year. Quarterback Jaybo Shaw was chased all afternoon and finished with 41 yards rushing, including 27 yards in losses.

Georgia Southern 0 7 0 0 — 7North Dakota State 7 7 6 15 — 35Scoring Summary: NDSU–Holloway 19 pass from Jensen (Jastram kick)GSU–Swope 23 run (Mora kick)NDSU–Holloway 17 run (Jastram kick)NDSU–Jensen 55 run (kick failed)NDSU–Ojuri 4 run (McNorton pass from Jensen)NDSU–McNorton 4 run (Jastram kick)A–18,108

STATISTICS GSU NDSUFIRST DOWNS 18 20RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 48-186 37-314PASSING YDS (NET) 147 137Passes Att-Comp-Int 20-12-0 15-10-0TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 68-333 52-451Punts (Number-Avg) 2-38.5 4-32.2Fumbles-Lost 3-3 0-0Penalties-Yards 2-10 7-50Possession Time 30:49 29:11

RUSHING: GSU-Swope 23-96; Shaw 15-41; Robinson 5-35. NDSU-Ojuri 16-100; McNorton 13-94; Jensen 6-94.PASSING: GSU-Shaw 11-18-0 134; Edwards 1-2-13. NDSU-Jensen

10-15-0 137. RECEIVING: GSU-Showers 5-56; Wilcox 2-35; Bryant 2-28. NDSU-Holloway 5-68; Smith 2-31; Veldman 1-25.TACKLES (UA-A): GSU-Oehlbeck 5-4=9; Stanley 4-5=9; West-

brooks 4-3=7. NDSU-Heagle 9-6=15; Olson 2-6=8; Boyer 1-7=8.

2011 NCAA Championship FRISCO, Texas—North Dakota State quarterback Brock Jensen made the most of the big plays by special teams and defense, and the Bison are finally champions again. This title comes at a higher level. Jensen threw a touchdown pass right after a fake punt, then had a 1-yard keeper for another score after a long interception return and the Bison beat top-seeded Sam Houston State 17-6 in their first FCS championship game Saturday. “There was a real resolve and determination, especially by our seniors. We had a couple of tough years here,” coach Craig Bohl said. “Our guys wanted to make sure we returned Bison football to national prominence.” The Bison (14-1) got the last of their five NCAA Division II national championship game victories in 1990, and claimed three other titles before the first championship game was played in 1973. This was their first title game since moving to the higher division in 2004. “To come in and hold a team like Sam Houston to six points is a big deal,” linebacker Chad Wilson said. Sam Houston (14-1) had its lowest-scoring game of the season, 33 points below its FCS-best average, and was denied an undefeated season and its first Football Championship Subdivision title. The Bearkats had only 210 total yards. North Dakota State wasn’t much better on offense, with only nine first downs and 235 total yards. They didn’t even have a first down on their last four pos-sessions before halftime, and started the third quarter facing another fourth down. That’s when punter Matt Voigtlander, who also is listed as a running back, took off and ran 27 yards on fourth-and-4. “We had not run a fake all year. It was something we kept in our hip pocket,” Bohl said. “We needed to establish some momentum. We were disappointed we couldn’t get a first down in a normal way. Things were right and our players executed a right idea.” Voightlander made the call for the fake when he looked outside and saw a wide-open lane. “As open as it was, just about anyone could have done what I did,” he said. On the next play, Jensen threw a screen pass to D.J. McNorton, who then ran straight up to the field for a 39-yard touchdown play and a 10-6 lead. “It was a momentum changer,” Bearkats coach Wil-lie Fritz said. “We’re not a team that’s used to playing from behind.” North Dakota State had only one more first down after that until starting at the 1 following linebacker Tra-vis Beck’s interception and 63-yard return. Beck picked off the underthrown pass by Brian Bell, who managed to keep Beck out of the end zone despite his desperate leap trying to score. “It hit me right in the chest,” Beck said. “I said, ‘I better catch this one.’ I did what I could, but I couldn’t get in. Luckily, the offense finished it off.” It is the fourth consecutive year with a first-time FBS champion.

Sam Houston State 0 6 0 0 — 6North Dakota State 3 0 7 7 — 17Scoring Summary: NDSU–Jastram 19 field goalSHSU–Alaniz 24 field goalSHSU–Alaniz 31 field goalNDSU–McNorton 39 pass from Jensen (Jastram kick)NDSU–Jensen 1 run (Jastram kick)A–20,586

STATISTICS SHSU NDSUFIRST DOWNS 12 9RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 42-95 34-115PASSING YDS (NET) 115 120Passes Att-Comp-Int 32-12-2 20-10-1TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 74-210 54-235Punts (Number-Avg) 7-47.0 10-36.9Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1Penalties-Yards 3-15 4-35Possession Time 33:05 26:55

RUSHING: SHSU-Flanders 21-84; Sincere 9-14; Williams 1-8. NDSU-McNorton 14-39; Voigtlander 1-27; Ojuri 10-27.PASSING: SHSU-Bell 12-31-2 115; Sincere 0-1-0 0. NDSU-Jensen 10-20-1 120. RECEIVING: SHSU-Flanders 6-10; Williams 3-53; Diller 2-16. NDSU-McNorton 2-35; Smith 2-29; Holloway 2-15.TACKLES (UA-A): SHSU-Jenkins 6-6=12; Taylor 7-3=10; Cleveland

2-3=5. NDSU-Willson 6-5-=11; Evans 4-5=9; Beck 4-3=7.

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2012 NCAA Second Round FARGO, N.D—Brock Jensen accounted for three touchdowns and North Dakota State clamped down on the leading rusher in the division to defeat South Dakota State 28-3 on Dec. 1, before 18,428 fans at Gate City Bank Field in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The defending FCS champions spotted the Jack-rabbits a field goal late in the first quarter and then dominated the final three frames. The Bison held Zach Zenner to 46 yards rushing on 15 carries, more than 120 yards below his FCS-leading average. “Our guys are vets in the playoffs. There’s just a different look in their eye,” NDSU head coach Craig Bohl said. “Once we get to postseason play they’re kicking it into a different gear.” The win came three weeks after NDSU held off the Jacks 20-17 in a regular-season matchup. Jensen threw a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Garrett Bruhn, who had not played since Oct. 6 because of a high ankle sprain. Bruhn had one catch for 23 yards this season and only one touchdown in his career before hauling in passes of 12 and 9 yards from Jensen. The Bison added a trick play for good measure when diminutive wide receiver Ryan Smith took a handoff from Jensen, took cover behind one of his of-fensive linemen and scampered 32 yards untouched on an end around in the second quarter. Most of the SDSU defenders and the fans inside the Fargodome had their eyes on Jensen. The Jackrabbits scored first on a 26-yard field goal by Justin Syrovatka late in the first quarter. The Bison responded with a six-play, 75-yard drive, capped by the 12-yard touchdown pass from Jensen to Bruhn, to take the lead. Smith’s run polished off a 53-yard drive midway through the second quarter, and Jensen added a 2-yard touchdown run to finish off a 52-yard march and make it 21-3 at halftime. The Bison, who led the nation in total defense, held Zenner to 15 yards rushing in the first half. His longest run was 17 yards at the start of the third quarter. NDSU’s John Crockett rushed for 90 yards on 11 carries. The Bison stayed on the ground for most of the second half but scored the only touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Jensen to Bruhn. The Bison finished with a 328-217 edge in yards of total offense and held the ball for nearly 16 more minutes than the Jacks. “We had opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize,” SDSU quarterback Austin Sumner said. “You’ve got to give credit to their defense. They’re a solid group of guys and they’re well coached.”

South Dakota State 3 0 0 0 — 3North Dakota State 0 21 0 7 — 28Scoring Summary: SDSU–Syrovatka 26 field goalNDSU–Bruhn 12 pass from Jensen (Keller kick)NDSU–R.Smith 32 run (Keller kick)NDSU–Jensen 2 run (Keller kick)NDSU–Bruhn 9 pass from Jensen (Keller kick)A–18,482

STATISTICS SDSU NDSUFIRST DOWNS 10 19RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 23-21 45-218PASSING YDS (NET) 196 110Passes Comp-Att-Int 17-31-1 15-25-0TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 54-217 70-328Punts (Number-Avg) 6-46.3 5-47.8Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0Penalties-Yards 6-49 3-38Possession Time 22:06 37:54

RUSHING: SDSU-Zenner 15-46, Gandy 1-(-1). NDSU-Crockett 11-90, Ojuri 19-65, R.Smith 1-32.

PASSING: SDSU-Sumner 17-31-1 196. NDSU-Jensen 15-25-0 110. RECEIVING: SDSU-Rollin 5-49, Kool 5-48, Daughters 3-20. NDSU-R.Smith 5-31, Vraa 4-28, Bruhn 2-21TACKLES (UA-A): SDSU-Shafrath 4-14=18, Lally 4-7=11, Luxa

2-8=10. NDSU-Olson 2-7=9, Ollman 5-2=7, Littlejohn 1-6=7.

2012 NCAA Quarterfinals FARGO, N.D.—Linebacker Grant Olson set a school record with 29 tackles and North Dakota State rode its top-rated defense to a hard-fought 14-7 victory over Wofford on Dec. 8 in a NCAA FCS quarterfinal game. The defending FCS champion Bison (12-1) forced two turnovers, blocked a field goal and did not allow an offensive touchdown. They withstood two fourth-quarter drives by the Terriers, including one that ended on downs at the Bison 5 with less than 4 minutes left. “I guess I’m still at a little bit of a loss for words,” Olson said afterward. “It was a lot of fun. I’m so proud of this team. Coach told us to leave our hearts out there, and that’s what we did.” Olson, a junior linebacker from Plymouth, Minn., broke the previous record of 26 tackles set by NDSU safety Ken Clark in 1989. Wofford (9-4) finished with a 326-262 edge in yards of total offense, but Terriers head coach Mike Ayers said the game boiled down to lost opportunities and turnovers. “That being said, we played well enough defensive-ly to keep the game within a score and we fought our tails off to try to get down there and make it happen,” Ayers said. The Bison scored on two long drives in the first half, including a go-ahead 10-play, 97-yard march capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Brock Jensen to Zach Vraa 1:02 before halftime. That made it 14-7. NDSU also scored on the first possession of the game, going 75 yards in 10 plays before Sam Ojuri scored on a 1-yard run. Ojuri led the Bison in rushing with 72 yards. Wofford stayed true to its option offense led by fullback Eric Breitenstein, running the ball on 51 of 58 plays. Breitenstein, the No. 2 rusher in FCS, ran for 135 yards on 24 carries and became the first player to top 100 yards on the ground against NDSU. Wofford scored its only touchdown on a 35-yard in-terception return by Blake Wylie in the second quarter, tying the game at 7. Jensen said he felt pressure from the pass rush and the ball sailed on him. Wylie said he had been dreaming all week about making a big play. Wofford drove inside the Bison 10 twice in the fourth quarter. The first drive ended when NDSU’s An-thony LaVoy, a backup defensive lineman who started the season as an offensive lineman, blocked a 26-yard field goal by Kasey Redfern with 9 minutes remaining. “It wasn’t much, but I got it,” LaVoy said. “That is the first one that we have had blocked in, gosh, I don’t know how many years,” Ayers said. “Over a decade.” The second Wofford drive stalled 5 minutes later at the NDSU 5 when Donovan Johnson was tackled by Olson a yard short of a first down. Wofford had one more possession but could not move the ball from its own 42 with 49 seconds left and no timeouts. Cole Jirik and Andre Martin Jr. recovered fumbles for NDSU, which advances to next week’s semifinal game at home against Georgia Southern. “I appreciate the competition that we had today. That’s what our tournament is all about,” NDSU head coach Craig Bohl said. “We’re going to have to lick our wounds and get ready to play this next week.”

Wofford 0 7 0 0 — 7North Dakota State 7 7 0 0 — 14Scoring Summary: NDSU–Ojuri 1 run (Keller kick)WOF–Wylie 35 interception return (Redfern kick)NDSU–Vraa 16 pass from JensenA–18,267

STATISTICS WOF NDSUFIRST DOWNS 14 17RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 51-262 38-167PASSING YDS (NET) 64 95Passes Comp-Att-Int 6-7-0 13-18-1TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 58-326 56-262Punts (Number-Avg) 3-46.0 6-43.7Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-1Penalties-Yards 6-41 1-10Possession Time 30:20 29:40

RUSHING: WOF-Breitenstein 24-135, Kass 6-63, Johnson 11-42. NDSU-Ojuri 17-72, Jensen 12-60, Crockett 7-37.PASSING: WOF-Lawson 5-6-0 55, Kass 1-1-0 9. NDSU-Jensen

13-18-1 95. RECEIVING: WOF-Harpe 2-21, Breitenstein 2-10, Ashley 1-24. NDSU-Vraa 5-49, R.Smith 2-15, Moody 2-11.TACKLES (UA-A): WOF-Bratcher 4-5=9, Zotto 4-4=8, Shelton

5-2=7. NDSU-Olson 6-23=29, Beck 2-9=11, Dudzik 3-5=8.

2012 NCAA Semifinals FARGO, N.D.—Brock Jensen scored on a 5-yard quarterback draw on fourth down with 3 minutes left to rally North Dakota State to a 23-20 victory over Georgia Southern on Dec. 14 in the FCS semifinals. The defending champion Bison (13-1) advanced to the championship game Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas, against Sam Houston State (11-3) for the second straight year. `Ì am little bit out of words,’’ North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl said. ``That’s probably one of the most draining games I’ve ever been a part of.’’ Georgia Southern coach Jeff Monken, whose team lost to NDSU in last year’s semifinals, had to be consoled by four Eagles players after they finished interviews in the postgame press conference. Monken sobbed and then left the room for a few minutes before taking questions. `Ì apologize for losing my composure there,’’ Monken said. `Ìt hurts, it hurts bad.’’ Jensen’s run came on a fourth-and-3 play and it followed three timeouts, the first one by NDSU and the last two by Georgia Southern. Jensen said the play was called during the first timeout. Bohl said offensive coor-dinator Brent Vigen decided to stick with the play after much chatter among coaches on the field and coaches in the press box. ``There was a lot of debating going on. It was a chess match,’’ Bohl said. ``Those are the type of situations you live for as a competitor of the game,’’ Jensen said. ``We called it, there was a hole there for me, and I just tried to hit it as hard as I could.’’ Jensen’s run capped a 59-yard drive that was aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty on the Eagles. The drive started at the Bison 41 after a 15-yard penalty on Georgia Southern for a late hit. `Ì talk to our guys about a lot of things. All of them have to do the fundamentals, and that’s a fundamental thing,’’ Monken said of the penalties. The Bison survived a furious rally when Carlton Littlejohn blocked a 50-yard field-goal attempt with 34 seconds left by Drew Ruggles, who was recently recruited off the Georgia Southern soccer team. Quarterback Jerick McKinnon rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown for Georgia Southern (10-4). He scored on a 25-yard run late in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 20-16 lead after Bison Jordan Champion roughed the punter in the Eagles end zone. ``Without question, in my mind, I knew it was going to be a pivotal play,’’ Bohl said of the penalty. `Ònce you get through the frustration you say, hey, here’s a young man trying to make a play.’’ McKinnon’s touchdown followed a 53-yard touch-down run by NDSU’s Sam Ojuri, who scored two plays after Christian Dudzik forced McKinnon to fumble and Grant Olson recovered at the Bison 41. Ojuri rushed for 71 yards for North Dakota State. Jensen added 58 yards and John Crockett 55 yards rush-ing for the Bison. Georgia Southern outgained NDSU 430-277 in total yardage. Dominique Swope added 78 yards rushing for the Eagles.

Georgia Southern 6 7 7 0 — 20North Dakota State 6 3 7 7 — 23Scoring Summary: GSU–Wilcox 4 run (kick blocked)NDSU–Crockett 1 run (kick blocked)GSU–Swope 49 pass from McKinnon (Hanks kick)NDSU–Keller 36 field goalNDSU–Ojuri 53 run (Keller kick)GSU–McKinnon 25 run (Hanks kick)NDSU–Jensen 5 run (Keller kick)A–18,484

STATISTICS GSU NDSUFIRST DOWNS 20 17RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 55-271 31-200PASSING YDS (NET) 159 76Passes Comp-Att-Int 5-8-0 9-19-0TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 63-430 50-276Punts (Number-Avg) 3-40.3 4-55.0Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0Penalties-Yards 13-103 5-40Possession Time 33:05 26:55

RUSHING: GSU-McKinnon 31-168, Swope 14-77, Robinson 4-23. NDSU-Ojuri 6-71, Crockett 13-60, Jensen 10-58.PASSING: GSU-McKinnon 2-5-0 91, Youyoute 3-3-0 68. NDSU-Jensen 9-19-0 76. RECEIVING: GSU-Showers 2-28, Swope 1-49, Bryant 1-42. NDSU-R.Smith 4-29, Vraa 2-19, Gebhart 1-14.TACKLES (UA-A): GSU-Eubanks 5-4=9, Stanley 4-1=5, Westbrooks

4-1=5. NDSU-Beck 6-9=15, Dudzik 2-7=9, Olson 2-7=9.

PLAYOFF HISTORY

2013

BIS

ON

FO

OTB

ALL

130

INDIVIDUAL SINGLE GAME RECORDSRushing Attempts: 34, Lamar Gordon,vs. Delta

State, 2000 NCAA semifinalsYards Gained Rushing: 207, D.J. McNorton, at Mon-

tana State, 2010 NCAA FCS second roundTDs Rushing: 4, D.J. McNorton, at Montana State,

2010 NCAA FCS second round Passing Attempts: 28, Brock Jensen, vs. Lehigh,

2011 NCAA FCS quarterfinalPass Completions: 17, Brock Jensen, vs. Lehigh,

2011 NCAA FCS quarterfinalYards Gained Passing: 229, Brock Jensen, vs. Robert

Morris, 2010 NCAA FCS first roundCompletion Percentage: .722, Brock Jensen (13-18),

vs. Wofford, 2012 NCAA quarterfinalsConsecutive Passes Completed: 7, Bruce Grasamke,

vs. Montana, 1969 NCAA Camellia BowlPasses Had Intercepted: 3, Mark Nellermoe, vs. UC

Davis, 1982 NCAA semifinals; 3, Mark Rudrud, vs. Montana State, 1976 NCAA

Grantland Rice BowlTDs Passing: 3, Chris Simdorn, vs. Indiana (PA), 1990

NCAA championshipReceptions: 9, Chuck Wald, vs. Montana, 1969 NCAA Camellia BowlTotal Offense Attempts: 42, Mark Nellermoe, vs. UC

Davis, 1982 NCAA semifinalsTotal Offense Yards: 324, Chris Simdorn, vs. Indiana

(PA), 1990 NCAA championshipPunts: 9, Matt Voigtlander, vs. Sam Houston State,

2011 NCAA FCS championshipPunting Average: 55.0 (4-220), Ben LeCompte, vs.

Georgia Southern, 2012 NCAA FCS quarterfi-nals

Long Punt: 66, Matt Voigtlander, vs. Sam Houston State, 2012 NCAA FCS championship

Long Field Goal: 53, Ryan Jastram, vs. James Madi-son, 2011 NCAA FCS second round

Passes Intercepted: 2, Marcus Williams, vs. Sam Houston State, 2012 NCAA FCS championship

Tackles: 29, Grant Olson, vs. Wofford, 2012 NCAA FCs quarterfinals

INDIVIDUAL SINGLE SEASON RECORDSRushing Attempts: 91, Lamar Gordon, 2000 (3

games)Yards Gained Rushing: 619, Tony Satter, 1990 (4

games)TDs Rushing: 9, Chris Simdorn, 1988 (4 games)Passing Attempts: 81, Brock Jensen, 2011 (4 games)Pass Completions: 48, Brock Jensen, 2011 (4 games)Yards Gained Passing: 530, Brock Jensen, 2011 (4

games)Completion Percentage: .640, Bruce Grasamke (16-

25), 1969 (1 game)Passes Had Intercepted: 4, Mark Nellermoe, 1982

(2 games)TDs Passing: 4, Chris Simdorn, 1990 (4 games)Receptions: 22, Warren Holloway, 2011 (4 games)Yards Receiving: 257, Stacy Robinson, 2011 (4

games)TD Receptions: 3, Len Kretchman, 1986 (3 games)Total Offense Attempts: 120, Chris Simdorn, 1990

(4 games)Total Offense Yards: 669, Chris Simdorn, 1990 (4

games)TDs Scored: 9, Chris Simdorn, 1988 (4 games)Points Scored: 54, Chris Simdorn, 1988 (4 games)Passes Intercepted: 3, Marcus Williams, 2012 (4

games); 3, Todd Zabel, 1988 (4 games)Punts: 22, Matt Voigtlander, 2011 (4 games)Punting Average: 46.8, Ben LeCompte, 2012 (4

games, 19-889)Field Goal Attempts: Field Goals Made: 7, Ken Kubisz, 1983 (3 games)

PATs Attempted: 20, Kevin Boe, 1988 (4 games)PATs Made: 19, Kevin Boe, 1988 (4 games)

TEAM SINGLE GAME RECORDSRushing Attempts: 72, vs. Puget Sound, 1981 NCAA

quarterfinalsYards Gained Rushing: 532, vs. Ashland, 1986 NCAA

quarterfinalsFirst Downs Rushing: 25, vs. Ashland, 1986 NCAA

quarterfinals; 25, vs. NE Missouri State, 1992 NCAA first round

TDs Rushing: 7, vs. Augustana, 1988 NCAA first round

Passes Attempted: 28, vs. Montana, 1969 NCAA Camellia Bowl

Passes Completed: 19, vs. Montana, 1969 NCAA Camellia Bowl

Yards Gained Passing: 234, vs. Montana, 1969 NCAA Camellia Bowl

Passes Had Intercepted: 4, vs. Montana State, 1976 NCAA Grantland Rice Bowl

Completion Percentage: .722, vs. Wofford (13-18), 2012 NCAA quarterfinals

First Downs Passing: 13, vs. Grambling, 1965 NCAA Pecan Bowl

TD Passes Thrown: 3, vs. Indiana (PA), 1990 NCAA championship

Total Offense Attempts: 83, vs. Northern Colorado, 1990 NCAA first round

Yards Total Offense: 627, vs. Indiana (PA), 1990 NCAA championship

Touchdowns Scored: 8, vs. Indiana (PA), 1990 NCAA championship

Points Scored: 51, vs. Indiana (PA), 1990 NCAA championship

Field Goals Attempted: 4, vs. UC Davis, 1983 NCAA quarterfinals

Field Goals Made: 4, vs. UC Davis, 1983 NCAA quarterfinals

PATs Attempted: 7, vs. Indiana (PA), 1990 NCAA championship

PATs Made: 6, vs. Montana State, 2010 NCAA Second Round

6, vs. Sacramento State, 1988 NCAA semifinals; 6, vs. Ashland, 1986 NCAA quarterfinals; 6, vs. NE Missouri State, 1992 NCAA first roundLeast Yards Yielded Rushing: 21, to South Dakota

State, 2012 NCAA second roundMost Yards Yielded Rushing: 328, to SW Texas State,

1981 NCAA Palm BowlLeast Yards Yielded Passing: 0, to Mankato State,

1991 NCAA first roundMost Yards Yielded Passing: 355, to UC Davis, 1984

NCAA quarterfinalsLeast Yards Yielded Total Offense: 97, to Grambling,

1965 NCAA Pecan BowlMost Yards Yielded Total Offense: 526, to SW Texas

State, 1981 NCAA Palm BowlLeast Points Yielded: 0, to Cal Poly, 1990 NCAA

quarterfinals; 0, to Ashland, 1986 NCAA quar-terfinals

Most Points Yielded: 42, to SW Texas State, 1981 NCAA Palm Bowl

Fumbles: 6, vs. North Alabama, 1985 NCAA Palm Bowl

Fumbles Recovered: 5, vs. Montana, 1970 NCAA Camellia Bowl

Passes Intercepted: 4, vs. Sam Houston State, 2012 NCAA FCS championship; 4, vs. NE Missouri State, 1992 NCAA first round; 4, vs. Montana State, 1976 NCAA Grantland Rice Bowl

Punts: 9, vs. Sam Houston State, 2011 NCAA FCS championship

2012 NCAA Championship FRISCO, Texas— Quarterback Brock Jensen ran for three touchdowns, Sam Ojuri scored twice and North Dakota State beat Sam Houston State 39-13 in a title-game rematch Jan. 5, 2013, for its second straight FCS championship. Jensen scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard sneak in the third quarter, and Ojuri had a 2-yard TD run on fourth-and-1 after the Bison (14-1) got the ball with a fourth-down stop. The Bearkats (11-4) had a 40-yard touchdown run by Tim Flanders brought back by a holding penalty on the first possession of the second half, and Brian Bell’s second interception on the next play led to Jensen’s go-ahead score. The Bison, who won 17-6 a year ago, improved to 10-1 in the FCS playoffs with their eighth straight postseason win. Ojuri had 92 yards rushing, and Jensen added 44 to go with 115 passing yards. John Crockett had 80 yards rushing, 24 receiving and a 26-yard pass to set up a score on a trick play after taking a straight-ahead handoff. Bell threw for 255 yards against the nation’s best pass defense, but had three of Sam Houston’s four interceptions. Flanders, the school’s career rushing leader, was held to 53 yards on 19 carries. It was tied at 10 when Flanders broke loose on an apparent touchdown on the first possession of the second half. Instead, Sam Houston had a third long run deep into Bison territory wiped out by a holding penalty. None of the drives ended in points. After the holding call on Flanders’ run, Carlton Lit-tlejohn intercepted Bell’s pass while falling to his knees, and the turnover was upheld on review. Ojuri had 25 yards rushing on a drive that ended with Jensen’s score for a 17-10 lead. The Bearkats were driving again when Bell had to throw the ball away before getting slammed to the turf on fourth-and-1. The Bison further deflated the Bearkats when they turned a botched snap on the extra point into a 2-point conversion and a 25-10 lead on a desperation pass from kicker Adam Keller to Mike Hardie. NDSU scored the first touchdown in the second quarter by covering 65 yards on three running plays. Jensen ran 21 yards on third down, then Ryan Smith ran for 24, and Jensen scored from the 20. The 72-yard drive came after Marcus Williams set a North Dakota State record with his 17th career interception. Williams later added his 18th. Sam Houston State ended a championship game touchdown drought just before it reached six quarters and tied the score at 10 when Bell threw a 1-yard pass to K.J. Williams with 33 seconds left in the first half. Crockett’s career-long 57-yard run set up a 32-yard field goal by Keller to give North Dakota State a first-quarter lead. Miguel Antonio kicked a tying 38-yarder in the second quarter.

North Dakota State 3 7 15 14 — 39Sam Houston State 0 10 0 3 — 13Scoring Summary: NDSU–Keller 32 field goalSHSU–Antonio 38 field goalNDSU–Jensen 20 run (Keller kick)SHSU–T.Williams 1 pass from Bell (Antonio kick)NDSU–Jensen 1 run (Keller kick)NDSU–Ojuri 2 run (Hardie pass from Keller)SHSU–Antonio 32 field goalNDSU–Jensen 1 run (Keller kick)NDSU–Ojuri 11 run (Keller kick)A–21,411

STATISTICS NDSU SHSUFIRST DOWNS 22 23RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 45-300 38-116PASSING YDS (NET) 141 275Passes Att-Comp-Int 17-10-0 35-20-4TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 62-441 73-391Punts (Number-Avg) 4-42.0 2-45.0Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0Penalties-Yards 4-38 7-80Possession Time 30:13 29:47

RUSHING: NDSU-Ojuri 14-92; Crockett 11-82; R.Smith 5-47. SHSU-Flanders 19-53; Sincere 10-33; Bell 6-26.PASSING: NDSU-Jensen 9-16-0-115; Crockett 1-1-0-26. SHSU-Bell 19-33-3-255; Grett 1-2-1-20 RECEIVING: NDSU-Vaadeland 2-34; R.Smith 2-30; Crockett 2-24. SHSU-Sincere 4-83; Diller 4-46; T.Williams 4-41.TACKLES (UA-A): NDSU-Littlejohn 7-4=11; Shepherd 6-3=9;

Martin 3-4=7; SHSU-Taylor 5-6=11; Wade 4-4=8; Jackson 4-4=8.

PLAYOFF HISTORY

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PLAYOFF HISTORY BISON PLAYOFF HISTORY · 106 yards, 61 of them by back Tim Mjos. Arlington scored first after a 54-yard bomb ... zly fumbles and the expertise of quarterback Mike