North Dakota State and Northern Iowa are two universities rich in football tradition and success. These two programs also share a mutual hatred for one another on the field, as these two Missouri Valley Football Conference foes have had some duels over the years. Heading into this past week’s matchup, the Bison had won the past nine meetings against the Panthers.
UNI has had a rough year as they were 2-6 on the season, but it could be said that Northern Iowa has had the toughest schedule in the FCS as their two wins are against Valparaiso and St. Thomas, two nonscholarship teams. Then they played two FBS opponents in Nebraska and Hawaii. Their conference slate has been brutal as they played #1 South Dakota State, #4 South Dakota, #9 North Dakota, and #18 Missouri State before heading to Fargo. For the Panthers, facing the #1 team for the second time in four weeks was once again a long day at the office.
Northern Iowa won the toss and elected to defer their choice to the second half, giving NDSU the ball first, but Cam Miller and the offense never stepped foot on the field as TK Marshall ran the kickoff back 100 yards to the house. The Fargodome crowd was muted momentarily as there was a penalty flag back at the 24-yard line, where Austin Altepeter may have blocked UNI linebacker Caleb Frazer in the back which would have sent NDSU back near their own goalline. However, after discussion, the referee Jason Berg said: “There is no foul on the play, the block was deemed legal, the result of the play is a touchdown.”
The Marshall kick-return was NDSU’s first kick-return touchdown since Christian Watson ran one back against Sam Houston in the 2021 spring FCS playoffs. UNI would respond with a 40-yard field goal by Caden Palmer to make it a 7-3 game. NDSU’s first offensive possession was typical Bison football: 13 plays, 74 yards, 7:40 off the clock, and a five-yard CharMar Brown touchdown to give NDSU a 14-3 lead.
On the ensuing drive, UNI would drive down to the NDSU nine, where they would face a 3rd and 6. Quarterback Matthew Schecklman called his own number and tried to pick up the first down himself, but Toby Anene knocked the ball free, and Jaylin Crumby recovered it, giving “Code Green” a redzone stop. The offense would take full advantage as they marched 94 yards in 13 plays, but the last play of the drive may have been the catch of the year as from the UNI 14 Cam Miller threw a jump ball to Bryce Lance, who caught the ball then got his right hand in bounds. In college, you only need one body part down in bounds, so one hand equals one foot, and NDSU would extend the lead to 21-3.
UNI would punt on its next drive, and the Bison would finish off their half of dominance with another scoring drive. This one was capped off with the arm of Cam Miller as he found Braylon Henderson on the flag route. The Herd covered 80 yards in just seven plays to extend the lead to 25 going into the locker room.
The Panthers received the second half kickoff and went three and out. Jackson Williams then returned the punt 29 yards near midfield and the Bison would just need two plays to find the endzone again. Miller would first find Bryce Lance for a 42 yard completion to put the ball at the UNI nine where Barika Kpeenu would score to push the lead to 35-6.
The Panthers would then score on back-to-back drives to get UNI within two scores, 35-19. The Bison would put the finishing touches on their victory by physically manhandeling the Panthers, running the ball on six of seven plays. The sixth run of a 75 yard drive found the endzone as Kpeenu would find the endzone again to put Northern Iowa away.
UNI made one final charge as they were able to reach the NDSU seven yardline and eventually got down to the one-yard line where on 4th and goal the “Code Green” stood tall once again as Panther running back Amauri Pesek-Hickson was stuffed at the goaline by Will Moesteart who forced Pesek-Hickson to fumble the football and it was recovered by Marcus Gulley at the four yardline.
For the ninth straight game and tenth straight time over UNI, North Dakota State beats Northern Iowa 42-19.
Cam Miller was once again on point as he was 17 of 20 passing for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Miller also passed Trey Lance for most pass attempts without an interception at 308 and counting. Marty Brown’s 124 yards and one touchdown led the way on the ground. He know has 798 rushing yards which puts him on pace for a 1,000 yard rushing season. Bryce Lance hauled in four passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. He now has nine scores on the year and he is now only six shy of tying Zach Vraa for the most in a single season.
The Bison go into the bye week with control of their own destiny. The path for NDSU to the #1 overall seed in the 2024 FCS playoffs is simple: Beat Missouri State, then beat South Dakota. Neither one of those games will be easy as the Bears are undefeated and 7-2 overall. They are ineligible for the playoffs but they can win the conference title so MSU will treat that game like a playoff game. Then the Bison go on the road to face a South Dakota team that will be playing for a top eight seed.
The road won’t be easy but the bye week came at a perfect time for NDSU as they haven’t had a week off in 16 weeks. The game to watch next week is in Grand Forks as South Dakota State will face North Dakota on Saturday and if UND loses they are likely eliminated from playoff contention. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. from the Alerus Center.