North Dakota State football is officially through the “preseason” portion of their schedule as a 3-1 start had the Bison at #2 in the polls heading into Missouri Valley Football Conference play. NDSU’s ranking, according to many, wasn’t deserved as they struggled to run the ball and weren’t living up to the “Code Green” standard. A few felt that NDSU’s first conference opponent would further expose the herd’s issues and pull off an upset win.
The opponent: Illinois State. The Redbirds have not beaten NDSU since 2010, or 12 meetings, to be precise. The Bison and Redbirds were not even supposed to play this season as NDSU was supposed to play Western Illinois, but since the Leathernecks bolted for the Ohio Valley Conference, that created a hole in NDSU’s schedule, so ISU was added back to the 2024 slate. The Redbirds were 3-1 going into this game, but they were missing all-conference running back Mason King, who tore his ACL on just the second play of the season against Iowa. This was NDSU’s opportunity to tee off on a team that was down their best player, and the Bison looked every part of the #2 team in this one.
NDSU raced out of the blocks in the MVFC opener, forcing a three-and-out. Then, they marched 64 yards in 11 plays, capped off by a six-yard Bryce Lance jet sweep touchdown, giving the Bison the early 7-0 lead. The score was Lance’s fourth trip to the endzone on the season. Cam Miller has been playing at a Walter Payton Award level this year, and he carried that into Normal as he started the game 11 of 11 passing; his 12th pass of the game found Mekhi Collins in the back left corner of the endzone from 11 yards out to put NDSU ahead by two scores. Illinois State would score on their next possession to make it a 14-7 game, and that would be the score at halftime.
The Bison deferred to start the game, so they received the second-half kickoff, and they took full advantage of it as a seven-play, 69-yard drive would end with a touchdown as on a 3rd and eight from the ISU 40. The Redbirds decided to blitz seven men, but the problem is they forgot to cover Barika Kpeenu out in the right flat as he was able to win the 40-yard dash to the endzone to give NDSU a 21-7 lead. The Bison were far from done in the second half, as on their next possession, they got their new bell-cow running back involved as CharMar Brown finished off a six-play, 51-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown run to create even more breathing room.
“Code Green” would then stop Illinois State on downs to turn it over to the Bison offense, and they delivered once again as only four plays were needed on a 48-yard putaway drive as Barika Kpeenu’s nine-yard touchdown gave the Bison a 35-7 lead as well as #8’s second touchdown of the game. The Bison would put the finishing touches on a statement win early in the 4th quarter as Cole Payton, the do-everything piece of this Bison offense, performed one of his signature read-option runs 73 yards to the house to seal NDSU’s 42-10 win to open MVFC play.
NDSU looked like the #2 team in the country and perhaps the best team in the country as they answered any questions left over from non-conference play, holding one of the top rushing teams in FCS to eight rushing yards and 208 total yards; they also had five sacks and five tackles for loss. “Code Green” looked every bit of the Bison defense of old as they only allowed 10 points and zero rushing first downs. NDSU’s electric offense sparked the team’s dominance as they scored touchdowns on six of ten drives. Cam Miller and friends picked apart ISU’s defense to the tune of 544 total yards, 307 of which came on the ground led by CharMar Brown, who led all rushers with 17 carries, 100 yards, and a touchdown. Cam Miller continues to dazzle in his final season as he completed his first 13 passes and 20 of 23 passes overall for 216 yards and three touchdowns.
#2 NDSU is now 4-1 on the season and now takes dead aim on the school 75 miles up I-94 and the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. UND beat NDSU down last year 49-24 in a game that the Bison have not forgotten and looking for revenge. This is the highest anticipated meeting between these two teams since 2015, as the Fighting Hawks are ranked 9th and look like a top team in FCS. They also boast a non-conference win over Montana, and thanks to new QB Simon Romfo, dynamic receiver Bo Belquist, and a dominant run game, Bubba Schweigert’s team comes to Fargo with confidence and swagger. The winner of this game maintains their place as one of the top teams in the MVFC and has the inside track to a top seed. The FargoDome will be rocking for the first time in some time and it will be one heck of an enviorment for “The Battle of North Dakota.”