The last two weeks of November have not given Montana State much time to celebrate.
Following an epic 29-25 victory in which the Bobcats rallied from a 22-0 deficit to beat rival Montana in Missoula, MSU had to readjust and prepare for the first round of the FCS playoffs.
Following Saturday’s convincing 35-14 win over Incarnate Word, MSU will have to move forward, this time with a focus on one of the great dynasties college football has ever seen.
But Montana State head coach Jeff Choate asked for at least a moment to savor his team’s accomplishment on Saturday afternoon. A team that sat at 4-4 at the end of November has now won four straight games, including the first playoff win by a Bobcat team since 2012 and the seventh FCS playoff victory in MSU’s history. A trip to Fargo to take on defending national champion North Dakota State is Montana State’s reward.
“Obviously, everybody’s going to want to talk about North Dakota State, but give us 24 hours, OK?” Choate requested of the assembled media after his team’s first-round playoff victory. “I’ll see you guys on Monday for that.”
Choate joined Clyde Carpenter, Tony Storti, Jim Sweeney, Sonny Holland, Dave Arnold, Mike Kramer and Rob Ash as MSU coaches with post-season victories. MSU is now 11-8-2 in its postseason history, including 7-7 in the FCS playoffs.
“What a great team win on Saturday,” Choate said during his Monday press conference.
What awaits Montana State in Fargo, North Dakota is a dynasty unseen since Division I-AA football began in 1978. NDSU has claimed six of the last seven national titles, including five straight between 2011 and 2015. North Dakota State lost to James Madison in the semifinals of the 2016 FCS Playoffs only to rip off 14 wins during another run to the title last season.
“I haven’t watched any film on them but I know they are a perennial power,” MSU sophomore quarterback Troy Andersen said following the playoff win. “I’m sure they are really, really well coached and a really good football team overall. We are going to have our hands full but we are going to have a plan and go out and do our best.”
NDSU is gunning for a ninth straight appearance in the semifinals of the tournament. The team recently claimed its eighth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference title by going undefeated during the regular season for the second time during a run that has seen the Bison win 108 of 116 games since the start of the 2011 season.
The Bison are 151-24 at the Fargodome since the raucous indoor venue opened in 1993, including 21-1 in the playoffs. NDSU is 28-2 in the FCS playoffs all-time. The Bison’s first berth came in 2010 and included a 42-17 win over Montana State on the way to the semifinals. NDSU lost in overtime to eventual national champion Eastern Washington. North Dakota State moved to Division I in 2004 and joined the MVFC in 2008.
Montana State has been to the playoffs nine times, winning the 1984 national championship with three straight postseason victories. MSU experienced an 18-year playoff drought before making appearances in the tournament in 2002, 2003 and 2006 under Kramer, winning its first playoff game in more than two decades 31-13 over Furman in 2006.
Ash led Montana State to four playoff appearances in five seasons, winning second round games over New Hampshire in 2011 and Stony Brook in 2012.
MSU’s win over UIW came in Montana State’s first playoff game since 2014 and marked its first postseason win in six years.
“It will be a fun trip,” Choate said. “I’m excited to go see this place. I’m excited to measure ourselves against a team the caliber of North Dakota State.
“Now we will have played the No. 1 (NDSU), the No. 2 seed (Weber State), the three (Eastern Washington), the five-seed in South Dakota State and then you throw in that we played the four-seed (Kennesaw State last year and we are playing a competitive schedule. We are playing the type of teams that we have to play to know what we have to do.”
QUICK HITS
Location: Fargo, North Dakota
Nickname: Bison
Founded: 1890. The public university was founded as the North Dakota Agricultural College as the research land-grant university for the state of North Dakota. NDSU is a comprehensive doctoral research university with programs involved in very high research activity.
The university also operates the state agricultural research extension centers spread across the state on over 18,488 acres.
Enrollment: 14,358 with an endowment of $201.6 million.
Stadium: The Bison have played in the Fargodome since it opened in 1993. It holds 18,700 for football games and over 19,000 including standing room only tickets. The Bison have only lost one playoff game in the history of the Fargodome. The tremendous crowd noise caused by the venue’s steel roof disrupts many opposing offenses and creates one of the best home field advantages in college football.
NDSU has averaged 18,480 in seven home games this season.
The Coach: Chris Klieman, fifth season at NDSU
The Northern Iowa alum coached defensive backs at his alma mater on Mark Farley’s staff from 2006 until 2010.
In 2011, Klieman joined Craig Bohl’s staff at North Dakota State and the following year, assumed the role of defensive coordinator. He took over when Bohl left for Wyoming after 2013’s undefeated season to cap NDSU’s first three-peat.
Klieman led the Bison to a 14-1 record capped by a come from behind 29-27 victory over Illinois State in the FCS championship game. Klieman’s second season kicked off with a memorable 38-35 loss to Montana in Missoula in the first college football game of the fall that season.
NDSU bounced back to win 13 games, including ousting Montana 37-6 in the second round of the FCS playoffs and capping a fifth straight national title with a 37-10 win over top-seeded Jacksonville State.
The Bison lost a playoff game for the first time ever in the semifinals in 2016, falling 27-17 to James Madison a step short of the championship game. NDSU’s only loss since came at No. 8 South Dakota State last November. The Bison won six straight games to end last season, including a 17-13 win over James Madison in the championship game for Klieman’s third national title.
“I think Coach Klieman is the perfect guy for that job,” Choate said. “It’s not just that he’s been a winner there at North Dakota State but he was a winner as a player at UNI, a coach at UNI. He’s a guy who is doing a great job continuing a legacy and putting his own stamp on things.”
The Bison take a 17-game winning streak into Saturday’s matchup against Montana State. Klieman hired his former high school and college teammate Courtney Messingham as his offensive coordinator before last season. Messingham spent the 2016 season on Choate’s staff at Montana State.
NDSU OFFENSE – Players to watch
Easton Stick, quarterback, 6-2, 221, senior — The four-year starter — Stick took over for most of the 2015 season with senior and future NFL Draft pick Carson Wentz on the shelf — was named the Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Year last week. The Walter Payton Award finalist is second in FCS history with 45 career wins, trailing only former NDSU quarterback Brock Jensen.Stick has been a model of efficiency. His passing efficiency is 171.1, the second-best mark in the FCS. He is averaging 9.69 yards per attempt and 16.23 yards per completion while ranking second in the MVFC with 22 passing touchdowns and third with 11 rushing touchdowns.
Stick has thrown just 26 more passes than Andersen.
A three-time MVFC Offensive Player of the Week, Stick went 129-for-216 passing for 2,094 yards and broke NDSU career records for total yards (10,283), total touchdowns (117) and passing TDs (82). He is second in MVFC history for rushing yards (2,248) and touchdowns (35) by a quarterback.
“They have a four-year starter in Easton Stick who is the Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Year and very deservingly so,” Choate said. “He’s an amazing player.”
The 2017 FCS national title game Most Outstanding Player has thrown for 8,035 yards and 82 touchdowns in his career.
“He does not make mistakes,” Choate said. “Operates the system. When it’s not there, he’ll use his feet to get more or he’ll throw the ball away. He values the football. Extremely intelligent player.”
Lance Dunn, running back, 5-9, 208, senior — Dunn has been banged up, managing to start in seven games and play in 10 games this season. He’s been his normal explosive self when healthy, averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
He has 679 yards and eight touchdowns, the highest among NDSU’s tailbacks. His 125 carries are also the most on a team that has five ball carriers including Stick with at least 60 rushes.
North Dakota State is averaging 6.1 yards per rush and 265.4 rushing yards per game. Dunn had more than 100 yards against Northern Iowa, South Dakota and Youngstown State.
Bruce Anderson, running back, 5-11, 210, senior — The explosive, flashy running back has carried the ball more than 20 times just one time this season. He earned 23 carries against Northern Iowa and piled up a season-high 170 yards.
He’s only amassed 23 carries since then while struggling with injuries. HE carried the ball 12 times for 68 yards and two of his five touchdowns in NDSU’s 65-17 win over Southern Illinois in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Last season, Anderson was NDSU’s feature back, rushing for 1,216 yards and 12 touchdowns on 234 carries. In his career, Anderson has 2,575 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground while also returning a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns as a freshman in 2015.
“Those guys are both fast, thick, physical runners,” Choate said. “You can tell they’ve recruited to that.”
Darrius Shepherd, wide receiver, 5-11, 188, senior — After a steady first three seasons that included at least 40 catches and at least 599 yards, Shepherd has taken it up a notch this fall.
He has 50 catches, 837 yards and six touchdowns; huge numbers considering NDSU has only completed 134 passes this season. Shepherd has more than three times as many catches as NDSU’s second-leading receiver. Dallas Freeman has 16 catches for 306 yards.
Junior tight end Ben Ellefson has caught a team-high seven touchdowns.
Shepherd has caught 176 passes for 2,613 yards and 17 touchdowns in his career.
“He competes for the ball, has excellent speed, is a great route runner,” Choate said. “And he’s a dangerous punt returner so when he gets the ball in his hands, he can go any time.”
NDSU DEFENSE – Players to watch
Jabril Cox, outside linebacker, 6-3, 231, sophomore — The 2017 MVFC Freshman and Newcomer of the Year took it up a notch as a sophomore, earning Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year.
Cox’s length, speed and elite athleticism make him one of the most unique and talented players in the FCS.
With an equally dangerous ability to make plays in the edge and in coverage, Cox had eight tackles for loss, four sacks and four interceptions this season. He returned two of the picks for touchdowns.
He has 143 tackles, 8.5 sacks, five interceptions and 21 tackles for loss already in his career.
“This Jabril Cox kid, he could play anywhere. ANYWHERE,” Choate said. “He’d be starting at Notre Dame. I mean, this guy is a football playin’ Jesse. He’s 6-2-plus, 230, can run, will hit you. He’s second on the team in interceptions with four. He has two pick-sixes. You better know where he’s at.”
Robbie Grimsley, safety, 6-0, 194, senior — Minnesota’s 2014 “Mr. Football” and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune Twin Cities Player of the Year came to North Dakota State and broke into the starting lineup almost instantly.
He started 10 straight games down the stretch of NDSU’s 2015 national championship season and has not left the starting lineup since. He earned first-team All-Missouri Valley each of the last season seasons, earning STATS FCS All-American honors last season.
Saturday will mark Grimsley’s 51st straight start. He is tied with Cox for the team lead with 68 tackles. Grimsley has 2.5 tackles for loss a sack and a team-high five interceptions.
In his career, Grimsley has 289 tackles, 146 solo tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and an unbelievable 16 interceptions.
“They will plug him down in different spots so he’s unaccounted for in the run game,” Grimsley said. “He’s an excellent tackler. He knows where he is supposed to be and how to get there. It’s impressive.”
Greg Menard, defensive end, 6-2, 240, senior — Menard earned third-team All-American honors as a sophomore in 2015 by rolling up 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. He earned second-team All-American honors the following season after notching 11 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss.
He entered last season as a preseason All-American but tore his ACL the first week of fall camp, missing all of 2017 season.
Menard has bounced and been productive off the edge once again. He has a team-high 7.5 sacks and a team-high 9.5 tackles for loss. NDSU has 35 sacks and 18 interceptions as a team.
