(Fargo, ND) – On Saturday, August 29, the North Dakota State University Football team embarked on the program’s inaugural game as an FBS member. The Bison welcomed Jacksonville State into the Fargodome for the season-opening bout. The game would be played in front of 18,573 fans, and in the words of starting quarterback Nathan Hayes, “running out of that tunnel was a surreal feeling” as North Dakota State began the FBS journey.
NDSU and Jax State had met three previous times with the Gamecocks winning two of the three matchups. The Bison lost 31-7 in 1977 and 21-17 in 1989, but got their revenge thumping Jax State 37-10 in the January 9, 2016 in the FCS National Championship Game.
The Gamecocks won the coin toss and deferred their decision to the second half, so the Bison would receive the opening kickoff. The first ever offensive drive in the FBS for NDSU ended with a Nathan Hayes eight yard touchdown pass to Fargo native, Reis Kessel. NDSU took a 7-0 lead with 10:09 remaining in the first quarter following the eight play, 75 yard drive that spanned over 4:51 of game time. When asked about the historic moment in the post game press conference Kessel said, “It meant everything, kinda blacked out for a moment.” The Fargo South graduate ended by giving some emotion to the touchdown saying, “Definitely an amazing moment for sure”. When asked about Kessel scoring the program’s first FBS touchdown head coach Tim Polasek said, “He did some things really well. He ran a really good route and Nate Hayes threw a good ball”.
Following that first NDSU touchdown, the next drive for both teams were a three-and-out. Then Jacksonville State would get their first score of the season, capping off a six play, 64 yard drive over 2:35 of game time with a touchdown. Tie game 7-7.
At the tail end of the first quarter, Jackson Williams returned the following kickoff to the 35 yard line. NDSU’s drive continued through the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter. At the beginning of the second quarter the Bison decided to go for a fourth and 12 at the 36 yard line… Nathan Hayes would complete a 20 yard pass to Jackson Williams to move the chains and continue the drive. The drive would eventually stall out and Drew Klein would cap off the 14 play, 49 yard drive that spanned over 8:23 of game time with a 34 yard field goal. NDSU leads 10-7.
Following three uneventful drives total, two from Jax State and one from NDSU, the Bison would begin a drive at their own eight yard line with three minutes remaining in the half. The drive would end in disaster as Hayes would throw an interception to Jonavan Carr, giving the Gamecocks the football at the plus-21 yard line. Over the next three plays Jax State would total nine yards, setting up a fourth and one at the 12 yard line. The Gamecocks decided to go for it and the QB draw was stuffed by the Code Green defense. With no timeouts and 1:42 remaining in the first half, Hayes would have a chance at redemption, beginning at his own 12 yard line. NDSU would end up marching down the field 88 yards over eight plays while only using 1:24 of game clock to score. The play was a 44 yard touchdown pass from Hayes to Jordan McCants to increase the lead to multiple scores 18 seconds before the half. Also, McCants is a transfer from Jacksonville State. NDSU leads 17-7 heading into the half.
Jax State received the opening kickoff in the third quarter. The drive would end with a Marion Moore interception, giving the Bison the ball at their own 44 yard line. NDSU would chew up 4:15 of the game clock over seven plays and 30 yards, ending with a 44 yard Klein field goal. NDSU extends lead 20-7.
The Gamecocks next drive would end even worse… Not only would they turn over the ball, but NDSU would score on the same play of the turnover. On a second and 22 play from the Jax State 13 yard line, the Fargodome crowd would make their mark creating so much confusion that it would cause the Gamecocks center to snap the ball over their quarterback’s head while he was trying to call an audible. NDSU’s Blake Schiltz would recover the fumbled snap in the end zone for six. NDSU now leads 27-7.
The following drive, Jax State would stall out, but they would pin the Bison at their own one yard line and that’s how the third quarter would come to a close. Once the fourth quarter began, NDSU would continue to eat up clock, 5:15 to be exact, but the 12 play, 75 yard drive would also stall out. It ended in a Klein 42 yard field goal. NDSU now leads 30-7.
The Gamecocks would get one final chance to score, moving the ball to the NDSU 35 yard line to attempt a field goal. The 52 yard attempt had plenty on left, but would drift wide left of the cross bars, giving the Bison the ball back at their own 34 yard line. NDSU ate up 7:10 worth of game clock over 11 plays and 35 yards, ultimately settling for a Klein field goal from 48 yards out. NDSU extends lead to 33-7.
The closing minutes would bleed out with a stalled out Jax State drive, resulting in a punt, then NDSU taking a final kneel down. The Bison won the program’s first ever game as an FBS member over the Gamecocks 33-7.
Following the game Polasek was asked if this was a statement game from NDSU to the rest of the FBS… Polasek responded, “We’re gonna approach this thing with a great deal of humility”. Ending his thought by hinting towards the team needing to stay the course and continue to have humility throughout the journey and process.
Polasek ended his press conference by thanking the media and giving praise to the community, “This move up can be a big deal for the state, university, and city”. He concluded, “It’s going to be a fun ride. Go Bison”.
North Dakota State improved to 1-0 while playing in front of a nearly sold out Fargodome and a nationally televised audience on CBS Sports Network. The Bison will now host Fordham of the FCS on Saturday, September 5 with the kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and full game coverage available on Mountain West Plus.