Andrew Zimmel KBMW 1450
Many fans are going to be disappointed when they find out that this week’s game against the Towson Tigers is almost impossible to watch. The game won’t be on either of North Dakota State’s media partners-ESPN+ or WDAY. The only way to watch Saturday’s match up is to get a FloSports subscription. Is it worth $20 bucks to see the Bison play a 1-1 team that lost last week 26-14 to New Hampshire? It’s debatable.
This will be the first game the Bison will be playing on the road since their loss in the playoffs. The games at the Fargodome this season have been blowouts where many fans knew the outcome midway through the third quarter (if not earlier). The Bison are outscoring opponents 92-6 on the season- one of the largest point differentials in college football, and have established themselves as a run first team. The Bison have zero players in 50 when it comes to “points responsible for” but have the eighth best offense in the FCS.
Which tells the story so far for the Bison. This is one of the most unified teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. The one-two punch of Kobe Johnson and Dominic Gonnella has worked well for the Bison so far. Gonnella is averaging almost 9 yards per carry and in the blowout win over Valparaiso the Bison had seven players rush for over 20 yards. They have a stable of guys who can move the ball down the field behind an offensive line that has done a good job of keeping Quarterback Quincy Patterson upright in the rare passing situations.
But like I’ve been saying for the better part of two weeks, we still really don’t know that much about the Bison. We don’t know what this team looks like when they trail or have their backs against the wall. We haven’t see the Bison take on a team that can run on their defense or bottle up Patterson and the five different running backs the Bison can put on the field. And we might not.
South Dakota State and Sam Houston State, the two teams that faced off in the championship last spring, both haven’t scheduled any world beaters either. Both teams have been able to handle their business without much of a hiccup. And for someone who really enjoys college football I understand that this is part of the sport.
Powerhouses will schedule teams like Valparaiso, Southeast Missouri State and Linderwood as tune up games before facing off against real competition. It makes sense, however I hate it. I know more about Montana than I do about North Dakota State and that’s frustrating.
The Bison take on the Towson Tigers, a team that fell to 1-1 after a 26-14 loss to New Hampshire. The Tigers trailed by 13 at halftime and were able to claw their way back before New Hampshire scored in the fourth to secure the win. The Tigers weren’t able to play last season due to COVID-19 and lost they lost their two most impactful players to the pro levels in with Quarterback Tom Flacco and lead wide receiver Shane Leatherbury moving on. Now, Redshirt Junior Jeff Miller and Grad Transfer Chris Ferguson battle for playing time to be the main play caller. Ferguson got the start against New Hampshire but got benched for Miller who threw two INTs and a touchdown. Neither has looked particularly good.
Bottom line. The Bison could win Saturday afternoon with their second string. If Cam Miller took all the first team snaps and NDSU decided to just run their second team out there after the first quarter, I would still feel very confident that NDSU would win by at least two scores. The defense is too good and the Tigers have no defensive answer to a team that can run the ball.
The Bison take a break, then travel to North Dakota for the first real test of the season October 2nd. So the most important thing about Saturday is coming out of it with no injuries. Health is the ultimate game changer, if North Dakota State can get through the season without any major injuries to its core players, a semi finals appearance is the bare minimum for this squad.
To wrap it up, I would like to tell Towson that only allowing the game on FloSports might be the smartest thing that the program has done. Seriously. It’s a win-win. If you win, you just beat one of the best teams in college football and if you lose, nobody was be able to witness it. This is your Super Bowl Towson, so if you lose by 21+ points it will be in front of a decent crowd that will go to the bathroom in the second quarter and not return after Gonnella’s second score. I can’t believe I’m going to dish out money to watch a blowout.
Prediction: NDSU 40 Towson 10
