Bison dominate in all three phases in blowout victory

The Bison football team had their way in week two, dominating Valparaiso in a 64-0 victory. While the defense stole the headlines in the season opener, the offense took back the spotlight in this one.

The 64-point win was the second-largest margin of victory in the Division-1 era for NDSU and was the most points scored by the Bison since their 2018 season finale against Southern Illinois where they scored 65 points.

The Herd made their presence felt from the get-go, as the defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game. This led to Jayden Price returning a punt for a 45-yard touchdown to give the Bison the early lead.

NDSU’s rushing attack carried the offense, as they ran for 458 yards on 43 attempts and had six rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Quincy Patterson led the way on the ground, rushing for 94 yards on just 4 attempts, including a 52-yard touchdown right before halftime.

Patterson’s rushing performance caught the eye of head coach Matt Entz.

“Those are the opportunities that he can create with his legs… He did a great job of just making a decision and making it fast and taking off with the football. And you saw his ability to break tackles and he runs pretty well for 245 pounds.”

The scary part is that it appears that the offense isn’t functioning how the Bison are imagining it yet. While they had no problems putting up points, it appears that the offense is still working on getting continuity on the offensive line, as well as the whole playbook yet to be opened up.

“I think there’s a fair amount that’s still guarded. We gotta continue to move at a decent pace, making sure that he’s (Patterson) comfortable, and it’s all eleven guys on offense that have to be comfortable. We’re still trying to create a little bit of continuity with our offensive line,” Entz said postgame.

Meanwhile, the defense was still excellent, pitching a shutout on that end. While Valpo held the ball for more than 35 minutes of gametime, they only got past the NDSU 40-yard line three times with two of those trips ending in turnovers.

The Bison were able to force three turnovers in the game, forcing two fumbles and Sam Jung intercepted his first career pass on the final play of the game.

NDSU will hit the road this Saturday to take on Townson. It will be interesting to see if Entz looks to open up more of the playbook or if they’ll continue to pound the opposing team with their ground game.

Anyways, the Bison should be heavy favorites as it appears Towson is still trying to decide on a starting quarterback and are coming off a loss to New Hampshire.