FARGO — There wasn’t much of a need for Jacksonville State head football coach Charles Kelly to get a history lesson on North Dakota State football, or the Fargodome for that matter. He was the defensive coordinator for Nicholls State (La.) when the Colonels played the Bison halfway through the 2005 season.
He hasn’t seen many changes since Craig Bohl took over the NDSU program in 2003. Bohl and his successors Chris Klieman, Matt Entz and now Tim Polasek all won Division I FCS national titles.
“They’ve had somebody in that family throughout the years,” Kelly said.
That family will be playing its first game as an FBS program on Saturday when the Bison host the Gamecocks. The nationally televised game will be aired on CBS Sports Network with a 4:30 p.m. kickoff.
“We can’t control how many people they have, we can’t control whether we play in the parking lot,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t matter. It’s still going to be 100 yards long and 53 yards wide. They’re going to have two goalposts and that’s how we’re going to play.”
In a sense, the Gamecocks don’t differ much from NDSU in the philosophy of offense. JSU easily led Conference USA in rushing last season averaging 247 yards in 13 games. Louisiana Tech was next at 195 yards a game.
Kelly said this week his team needs to run the ball to win and pass the ball to score.
An offseason emphasis has been to be more efficient in the passing game behind returning veteran quarterback Caden Creel, who was fifth in CUSA in rushing a year ago.
He had good numbers last season completing 130 of 211 passes (62%) for 1,514 yards, 9 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to throw it 60 times a game because I’ve seen very few teams that won championships when you do that,” Kelly said. “I think we have some talented guys there but we have to prove it in a game.”
Fans will easily recognize receiving target No. 1 in 6-foot-8 senior Deondre Johnson, who led the team in receptions last season with 30. Six of those went for touchdowns and his 24.1 yards per catch average was easily tops on the team.
“You gotta have people you trust who touch the football every snap,” Kelly said. “It’s all about the ball. You have to be able to protect the ball to have a chance to be successful.”
NDSU, by the way, beat Nicholls 26-13 in the 2005 game. The Colonels outgained the Bison on the ground 243-195, but an NDSU safety and interception late in the game sealed a hard-fought win.
Saturday’s Kelly rematch is expected to have a similar theme. He was a lifelong assistant beginning his coaching career in 1990 before taking the reins at Jacksonville last season. Since 2008, he was at Georgia Tech, Florida State, Tennessee, Alabama, Colorado and Auburn.
“This is why you play – to play in games like this,” Kelly said. “It’s two great institutions that have years and years of winning. It’s a great opportunity for both schools with them making the move up like we did a few years ago.”
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.