The Climb Begins: NDSU Defeats Air Force 38-32 in Mountain West Opener

Following back-to-back wins, North Dakota State began its climb to the top of the Mountain West by heading into the mountains of Colorado Springs to take on the Air Force Academy Falcons. The Bison headed into foreign territory, but behind General Tim Polasek, the Bison soldiers followed the battle plan, battled through thin air, and emerged from the battlefield with a 38-32 win at the “base” to start their climb towards a conference championship.

The Bison welcomed themselves to their new league by getting into formation and marching 75 yards down the field on nine plays. The drive was capped off by a 31-yard scamper from Myles “Money” Mitchell, and the Bison grabbed the early lead.

NDSU would then give the Falcons a taste of their own medicine on their next drive. Following a Falcons three-and-out.

The Bison trench warfare continued to wear down the Falcons as Nathan Hayes would lead a “Bison Drive”. Hayes would lead a 16-play, 80-yard drive that he would finish off himself as he took a quarterback draw 17 yards to the house. NDSU’s lead was 14 points while Air Force had run just three plays for a grand total of eight yards.

The Falcons would get tricky in order to get on the board in the second as wide receiver Mason Hayes would find fellow pass catcher Adam Hrynciw on an option pass to cut the lead in half. Air Force used the artillery to get back in the game, but the Bison passing game would strike big on their next drive.

NDSU would drive down to the Air Force 44 yard-line where they faced a fourth and two. Coach Polasek decided to roll the dice and go for it. He would roll boxcars as Hayes completed a slant pass to Mekhi Collins, who ran away from the Falcons' defense for a 44-yard scoring strike, and the Bison lead was back to two scores.

The late stages of this half were a blitzkrieg on both sides of the battlefield as the Bison drove down to the Air Force 11-yard line before Hayes would have a pass slip out of his hand and be intercepted by Blake Fletcher for an 85-yard pick-six.

Matthew Stenbroten would block the PAT, so the Bison lead was eight.

Hayes would shake off the pick to lead his third straight two-minute drill touchdown drive. After connecting with Jackson Williams for a 51-yard completion to the one, Myles Mitchell would find the end zone from a yard out, and the Bison lead was 15 heading into the break.

The United States Air Force is known for their B-52 bombers, but to start the second half, the Bison utilized the H-2 bomber as Hayes would open the second half scoring with a 41-yard bomb to Minot’s Logan Conklin, and NDSU had blown the game open, 35-13. The Herd looked to have this game wrapped up, but the Cadets from the Air Force Academy wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Colorado Springs is known for its thin air due to being 6,035 feet above sea level. That caught up to the Bison in the second half as the Falcons began to wear down a defense that couldn’t catch its breath. Air Force would score 12 unanswered points to begin the fourth with touchdown runs from quarterbacks Liam Szarka and Kemper Hodges.

With Air Force trimming the lead to 35-25 and the Bison looking exhausted, only one man could swing momentum for the Bison: Drew Klein. NDSU’s kicker has been a secret weapon for NDSU, going five for five on field goals. His season-long was 48 yards heading into the game, but with his team facing a fourth-and-nine from the Air Force 38 and his defense exhausted, Coach Polasek called on Klein.

The school record for the longest field goal was held by Ken Johnson when he hit a 55-yarder vs. South Dakota State in 1997. Well, Kenny can move over, as Klein would take advantage of the thin air to hit from 56 yards out to push the lead to 13.

Air Force would score late to make it a one-possession game, but NDSU would run the clock out and take the flag with a 38-32 road win.

Nathan Hayes went 15 of 23, passing for 228 yards, 2 TD’s, and an INT. He threw passes to 10 different receivers; Logan Conklin led all receivers in yards with 57 and a touchdown catch.

“The Stable” ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Myles Mitchell was the featured back as he ran for 61 yards and two scores.

Head Coach Tim Polasek said after the win, “I thought our guys did an excellent job, but we still gotta be a little bit better in the run game.”

The Bison look to build on the improvements made in the run game against Air Force as starting guard Josh Magin works his way back from an ongoing hip injury. The trio of Mitchell, Scott, and Punni combined for 133 of NDSU’s 374 total yards.

“Code Green” had a strong first half, holding Air Force to 105 total yards in the first half, and was able to hold off the Falcons late, even though they were on the field for more than 30 game minutes.

Donovan Woolen led the team in tackles with 11, while Gavin Sell and Peder Haugo recorded an interception and a sack, respectively.

Air Force was third in the country last year in rushing offense with 261 yards per game. NDSU held the Falcons to 204 yards rushing after rolling up 431 yards in their week one win.

Quarterback Liam Szarka led all rushers with 88 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 103 yards and an INT. Uncharacteristically for the Falcons, they threw for two touchdowns, as Matt Long and Adam Hrynciw each caught a TD.

The Falcons were led by linebacker Blake Fletcher on defense as he recorded 14 tackles and an 85-yard pick-six to give his team life in the second quarter. Dallas Daley also had double-digit stops with 11.

Air Force Head Coach Troy Calhoon said after the loss, “You look in all three facets. We just didn't play well enough to beat a team that did play really good football. We've got to be better in that, and we can be better in that. And we're going to be better in that, too.”

Falcon linebacker Blake Fletcher knows his team has to start better, but he also puts this loss in perspective: “We got to come out and start faster, especially as a defense, but honestly as a whole team. We let them get up early and shot ourselves in the foot too many times early, gave them some momentum. But I think also as a team, we know that we're not going to let this one game affect the rest of the season.”

The Bison hit the road again this weekend for their final game against a non-MW opponent as they face the other team to move up to FBS with them this offseason, Sacramento State. The Hornets of the Mid-American Conference come into their matchup with the Bison 1-2, after losses to Eastern Michigan and Fresno State. In their losses, the Hornets have been outscored 69-20. NDSU and Sac Stat have met only one previous time, a 1988 DII playoff game in which the Bison beat the Hornets 42-20 at Dacotah Field.

Kickoff between the Bison and Hornets is set for 9:30 p.m. Central from Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. The game can be seen on ESPN and heard on Bison 1660/92.7 FM.