For the second consecutive week, #2 North Dakota State would play a team from Tennessee; this time, the Bison would travel to the “Volunteer State” and face the East Tennessee State Buccaneers from the Southern Conference. NDSU and ETSU’s last and only meeting came in the 2021 playoffs when the second-seeded Bison beat the seventh-seeded Bucs 27-3 in the quarterfinal round. Fast forward three years, and both teams have drastically changed their programs. NDSU has changed head coaches and has plenty of new talent that has maintained the standard that is North Dakota State football. East Tennessee State is in a rebuild of sorts as they hired a new coach, Tre Lamb, who came from Gardner-Webb University. The new leader of the Bucs took 25 former GWU players with him to ETSU to accelerate the rebuild in Johnson City. Lamb felt he had the talent on his team to make Sept. 14th, 2024, a day to remember for the East Tennessee State football program. It was that and more for both schools…
The second-ranked Bison were 27-point favorites entering William B. Greene Jr. Stadium, and they showed why on the opening series of the game as NDSU marched 82 yards down the field in nine plays as Bryce Lance took a jet sweep 18 yards on a 2nd and 13 to take an early 7-0 lead. ETSU responded by going on a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a three-yard Bryson Irby touchdown run to tie the game at seven. The Bison, not to be outdone by the Bucs, marched the same amount of distance in two fewer plays as an eight-play drive was topped off by some “Miller Magic” as on 2nd and goal from the ETSU seven, Cam Miller did his best Brett Favre impersonation by taking the snap, rolling right, evading a rusher and lobbing a touchdown pass into the waiting arms of Joe Stoffel for a 14-7 lead.
ETSU quickly responded with a six-play touchdown drive to tie the score at 14. The Bison broke the tie on the ensuing drive as Eli Ozick hit a 54-yard field goal to put NDSU up three. Ozick’s go-ahead kick was the second-longest field goal made in Bison football history, trailing only a 55-yard field goal made by Ken Johnson in 1997 against South Dakota State. NDSU’s three-point lead would last five plays as Bryson Irby would score from 61 yards out to grab a 21-17 lead into the locker room.
The Buccaneers would pad their lead to begin the third, as Bryson Irby’s third rushing touchdown of the game gave ETSU an 11-point lead. Each team only had one possession in the third quarter, but the Bison made the most of their chance as following a 62-yard kickoff return by Jackson Williams. Cam Miller then capped off a 13-play drive with a rushing touchdown to bring the Bison within five.
The fourth quarter began with what seemed to be a fatal swing to NDSU. The Buccaneers scored again, this time with quarterback Jaylen King finding tight end Cameron Lewis for a 19-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 35-23. The Bison and Bucs each traded possessions, and when the Bison got the ball back, it started slowly. A first-down reception by Jackson Williams got NDSU another fresh set of downs; then three incomplete passes gave the Bison a do-or-die scenario, 4th and 10 from the ETSU 41-yard line. That was when the magic started happening; Cam Miller heaved a prayer to John Gores, who caught the pass and raced to the three-yard line to give NDSU a first and goal. TK Marshall ran it in on the next play to bring the Herd within five with 1:59 left on the clock.
That was miracle #1; the next miracle came on the ensuing kickoff. The Bison had no choice but to attempt an onside kick, so punter and onside kick specialist Kaedin Steindorf ran toward the ball, bunted it up the middle, and started running after it, trying to recover it. He didn’t recover the ball, but after a Buccaneer player botched the recovery, the bouncing ball was recovered by Darius Givance of NDSU, giving the Bison miracle #2. The football gods were smiling down on the Bison; now, all they had to do was drive 58 yards for the win.
The Bison drove down to the ETSU 11-yard line, where it was 3rd and four. Cam Miller took the shotgun snap from Trent Fraley, faked the handoff to TK Marshal, dodged an ETSU rusher, and ran 11 yards to the endzone to give NDSU the lead. Miller then hit Bryce Lance on a slant pass for a two-point conversion to put NDSU up 38-35 with 50 seconds left. The Bucs were able to drive the ball to their own 37 before Logan Kopp intercepted Jaylen King’s final pass of the evening to seal a come from behind victory for the Bison.
Cam Miller passed for 250 yards and a touchdown while running for 47 yards and two scores. If you love offense, this game was for you as NDSU rolled up 481 yards of total offense while ETSU put up 381 yards total. The Bucs ran for 250 yards on the ground, running back Bryson Irby ran for 147 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries. The Bucs averaged 9.8 yards a carry, which is absurd when the Bison had given up only 55 yards on the ground per game through the first two weeks.
NDSU is now 2-1 on the season and will host the Towson Tigers out of the Coastal Athletic Association for Homecoming. The Bison had better be ready for a Tigers team that fell 14-13 at #5 Villanova on Saturday and will be looking to put another scare into a top five team. Kickoff between the Bison and Tigers is set for 1 p.m. from the FargoDome.