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North Dakota State did not play with their food Saturday, rolling over the Southern Illinois Salukis 38-7 in a victory that checked every box. The Bison advance to their twelfth consecutive FCS Quarterfinal appearance.

The Fargodome atmosphere was less than electric for the kickoff between the two Missouri Valley conference rivals. 12,557 fans bought tickets to see the Bison play a home playoff game- something that just a year ago seemed almost impossible. It was the lowest attended playoff game since Robert Morris in 2010.

 

The lack of fans didn’t seem to effect the Bison players however. Even with the flu going through the Bison herd, and All Conference first teamer Christian Watson sitting out the game, the Bison were sitting pretty with Cam Miller under center.

NDSU kicked to start, and the Salukis immediately tried to establish an identity running the ball. A series of penalties prevented SIU from converting multiple first downs and the Bison were able to start their first offensive possession from their own 17.

The Bison all season long have shown fans and analysts alike that they are a run first team that can throw if forced too. Nobody seemed to let Southern Illinois that before the game. The Salukis were shredded, torn to pieces, on the ground beginning with a TaMerik Williams 27 yard run that set the tone for the game. Williams rushed for a game high 112 yards. He was one of four Bison players that were able to rush for over 50 yards against SIU.

The thing that tickled me most about the nine play, 83 yard drive capped off by a Miller nine yard scramble that gave the Bison a 7-0 lead that they would never relinquish, is the fact that NDSU is, by definition, an “indoor team”. They will play over half their games this season inside. But some how, the Bison squad are the most “outdoor, frozen tundra” team in the country. There isn’t another team across the NCAA that would feel more at home in an Antartica exhibition game and it showed on Saturday

Miller, who threw for 88 yards and rushed for 61 and two TDs, was an excellent game manager. I don’t think he’s been the best player on the field all season, but when Head Coach Matt Entz asks him to just hand the ball off to the stable of running backs- he can do that with the best of them. The Bison averaged 6.3 yards per carry against SIU, and in the first quarter they already had their foot on the Salukis throat. NDSU rushed for 113 yards in the first quarter to Northern Illinois’ 90 total yards.

The only score of the game for SIU came to start the second quarter. Trailing by 10, the Salukis’ Nic Baker connected with Landon Lenoir for 22 yard strike to make it 10-7. The Bison were able to respond with a 13 play, 65 yard score that chewed up the clock. NDSU’s patented multi play drives got them to this point, but North Dakota State really laid it on thick. The Bison had three double digit play drives, all leading to touchdowns.

And that was the story of the game. SIU punted three times after their lone score, and turned the ball over on downs twice in the fourth quarter. The lack of creativity by Head Coach Nick Hill, an alumni of Southern Illinois, was the difference between a competitive game in the Fargodome on Saturday and the product we got.

The Bison almost doubled the time of possession battle, holding onto the ball for almost 40 minutes of game time compared to SIU’s 22.

In the second half, even Quincy Patterson was able to get into the scoring action, rushing in from 32 yards out to put the icing on the cake for NDSU and secure the 38-7 win.

The Bison will face off against ETSU next week, with the date and time to be announced later.