New Subdivision, No Problem: NDSU Rolls Jax State in FBS Opener, 33-7

It was seven months ago that North Dakota State made the monumental move from the valley to the mountains, leaving FCS behind for a new challenge: FBS football and the Mountain West Conference.

There will be many mountains for the Bison to climb, and the first was a familiar foe: the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State. Jax State met NDSU in the 2015 FCS title game and has had immense success at the FBS level, winning nine games each within the last three years and winning a Conference USA title in 2024.

The Gamecocks owned a 0-7 non-conference road game record since joining FBS in 2023. You can make it 0-8 as the Bison ran roughshod over Jax State in a 33-7 beatdown at the Fargodome for NDSU’s first win as an FBS program. It marks their first win over an FBS school in a decade — dating back to when they knocked off No. 13 Iowa at Kinnick Stadium.

Jax State won the toss and set the stage for NDSU to make an opening statement, and they did just that. In his first start in five years, quarterback Nathan Hayes emerged from the shadows of Cam Miller and Cole Payton to direct an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended in Hollywood fashion. Hayes capped off NDSU’s first FBS drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Fargo native Reis Kessel to give the Bison the early lead.

The Gamecocks fought back with a quick drive of their own as quarterback Caden Creel took a broken play 12 yards for the tying score. Creel was third in FBS a season ago in rushing yards by a quarterback.

Quarter two boiled down to the final two minutes of the half. With the Bison leading 10-7, Hayes was picked off by Jonavon Carr at the Bison 21-yard line, extending Jax State’s streak of forcing a turnover to 18 consecutive games. Any momentum the Gamecocks gained from the turnover was snuffed out four plays later on fourth and one from the NDSU 12 when DJ Voltz blew up Caden Creel for no gain.

Nathan Hayes took advantage, as with no timeouts and 1:42 to play, he drove NDSU to the Jax State 44 yard-line. With 26 seconds to play, Hayes fired a rocket down the right sideline that squeezed between two defenders and found former Jacksonville State wide receiver, Jordan McCants, for a 44-yard touchdown pass.

Jax State got the second-half kickoff, but the Gamecocks couldn’t get out of their own way as Creel would throw behind his intended target, Deondre Johnson, and was picked off by Marion Moore. The redshirt freshman corner set up a field goal try by Drew Klein, who converted from 44 yards out to give the Bison a 20-7 lead.

Later in the third quarter, disaster struck for the Gamecocks. Following a personal foul on Jax State, the ball sat at their own 14 yard line where center Lucas Mrachkovskiy snapped the ball before Caden Creel was ready for it. The ball rolled into the end zone, where Blake Schiltz fell on the ball for a defensive touchdown. Attendance has been an issue for NDSU in the past, but a crowd of 18,573 and a rowdy student section made the difference in the game, and specifically on that play.

The game came to an end with two more Drew Klein field goals of 42 and 48 yards to salt away NDSU’s inaugural FBS game with a 33-7 win over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

Bison players and coaches ran into the locker room to celebrate the win, but Tim Polasek was emotional after the win. “I think there’s going to be stories told about being here at this opening FBS game.” Polasek also thanked the fans, “For the people that chose to be here, participated, made a difference, impacted the game. So grateful to the fans. So appreciative to this whole process of being able to move up.”

The coach does understand that it’s just one game, so when asked if this was a statement win for the program, he replied, “I wouldn’t quite go that far yet. We’ve got some things to do here down the road before we can start getting anywhere close to boasting, and I hope our players stay humble and hungry and allergic to the big meal.”

Tight end Reis Kessel grew up in Fargo and attended Fargo South High School, so for him, scoring the first TD in FBS Bison history meant a lot to him. “It meant everything. Definitely kind of blacked out a little bit. It was definitely a surreal moment. Nathan made a great check on that play. The line blocked up front, and ultimately, it was really just a layup. He just threw it up to me. It was wide open and definitely just an amazing moment.”

The tenor was quite different for Jax State head coach Charles Kelly after the loss as he told Gamecock Sports Network radio after the game, “That’s just a good old-fashioned butt-whipping.” Kelly added, “They were very detailed, and we weren’t.” The devil was in the details for the Gamecocks as they were held to 170 total yards. Jax State put the ball on the ground four times; Code Green forced two turnovers — one of which resulted in six points — but they were stopped on 4th and short instead of taking the points and tying the game.

Quarterback Caden Creel went 12-for-23 for 85 yards and an interception; he tied the score in the second with a rushing touchdown, but was ineffective in the pocket. He was unable to connect with 6’8″ receiver Deondre Johnson who caught just two passes for 26 yards.

It was a different story for the Bison, as the 26-point margin of victory is the fourth-largest since 2000 by a school making its FBS debut. Only James Madison, South Florida and Liberty have scored more in their debuts.

Nathan Hayes was efficient in his first collegiate start; he was 14 of 22 passing for 160 yards, two first-half touchdowns and an interception. The ground game was on point for NDSU as they rushed for 209 yards behind “The Stable,” as Peter Havelka would put it. Myles Mitchell, DJ Scott and Nyoeti Punni combined for 185 yards on 32 carries.

Defensively, NDSU was dominant on the day paced by Donovan Woolen who led the team in tackles with 10 stops. Kelton McCaslin and Blake Schiltz combined for 2.5 sacks on the day, and Marion Moore notched his first career interception.

NDSU sent a message to the rest of the “Group of Six” that the Bison are to be taken seriously as a team that can contend for the Mountain West title in year one. Plus, the Bison take the early top spot in the conference after fellow MW members, San Jose St., Hawai’i and UNLV all lost in week 0 action.

The Bison return home on Saturday as they take on the Fordham Rams of the FCS Patriot League. The Rams lost their season opener at home to Colgate 24-14. Kickoff between the Bison and Rams is set for 2:30 p.m. inside the Fargodome. The game can be seen on WDAY/ABC and the MW+ App.