Relative to their nine championships in 10 fall seasons from 2011 to 2021, North Dakota State might seem like it’s in a bit of a slump over the past two years. The Bison lost the national title game in 2022 and a semifinal game in 2023. Since starting their unprecedented run in 2011, NDSU has missed the title game just three times, losing to James Madison in 2016, Sam Houston State in the spring of 2020, and Montana in 2023.
Of those three losses – 27-17 to JMU, 24-20 to SHSU and 31-29 to UM – one was a quarterfinal loss to SHSU during the Covid season, which was lacking normalcy. Another was a double-overtime loss on the road to UM in the 2023 semifinals that coincided with arguably the worst regular season for NDSU and the only season it was wasn’t seeded for the FCS playoffs since 2010.
That’s kind of hard to define as a slump. But it’s readily apparent that the Bison are improved from 2023 to 2024 and one big difference is new head coach Tim Polasek, who took over for Matt Entz. Entz left to take an assistant coaching job at the University of Southern California last off-season and was recently named the head coach at Fresno State.
Polasek is well-aware of the tradition of NDSU football. He was an assistant coach for the Bison for a total of 10 years from 2006-12 and from 2014-16.
“Ultimately, it really helps you to navigate through communicating to young players that, ‘hey, here’s the standard, this is the expectation of not only the community but the BFPA – the Bison Football Player’s Association – the former players have laid down such an unbelievable standard here going all the way back to ’65,’” Polasek said. “It’s not just about the Division I era. When you have that kind of history … we can get that instilled in the younger guys faster than a program that doesn’t have that kind of history.”
North Dakota State has a record nine FCS titles despite only occupying Division I for 20 years. Before that, NDSU claimed College Division national titles in 1965, 1968 and 1969 while winning D-II national championships in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990.
The Bison looked average after a 6-3 start to the 2023 season, which saw a 24-19 home loss to upstart South Dakota, allowing rival North Dakota to ring up 49 points – the most since 2009 – in a 49-24 loss and then committing three turnovers to reigning, and eventual, national champion South Dakota State in a 33-16 defeat. The 6-3 record was stunning enough in and of itself, but the manner in which the Bison were dispatched was a shock to observers all around the nation.
At the time, losing at home to South Dakota seemed like a fluke. It was the first conference game of the season and came after NDSU rang up three straight wins by an average of 27 points per game. The expectation was that the Bison would bounce right back with a stretch of four relative gimmes before traveling to Brookings to face the Jackrabbits in a rematch of the previous season’s title game. Whether the Bison were looking too far ahead is a likely excuse but the lopsided loss to UND is one that Fighting Hawk’ fans are probably still relishing in.
The silver lining of those three losses was the fact that NDSU’s defense wasn’t giving up a lot of yards. The three opponents were simply taking advantage of every mistake the Bison made and turned those opportunities into points. NDSU allowed just 249 yards to USD, 328 to UND and 365 to SDSU.
The Bison appeared to have the ship righted after the loss to the Jackrabbits as they won the last two regular season game by convincing scores and crushed Drake 66-3 in the first round of the playoffs after failing to get a top eight seed for the FCS playoffs. That set up a showdown in Bozeman against a Montana State team champing at the bit to right its own ship after not only a disappointing regular season, but also a four-game playoff losing streak to NDSU.
The game with the Bobcats followed a pattern that no one expected other than the close 35-34 final score.
The Bobcats shutdown the Bison’ premier quarterback and 2024 Walter Payton Award finalist Cam Miller, who finished the game with just 15 yards rushing on 15 carries and completed just five of 13 passes for 66 yards. Leading 28-21 and holding a 430-258 edge in total yards, MSU was on the verge of taking control the game as it drove into NDSU’ territory late in the third quarter. The Bison would stop the Bobcats on a fourth and two from the NDSU 37 and then knocked MSU quarterback Tommy Mellott out of the game with a leg injury on the Bobcats’ next possession.
From there, the Bison made the plays it needed to make, while the Bobcats could not. NDSU capped off a nine play, 89-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown run by TK Marshall, then got two sacks to knock MSU out of field goal range to force overtime. In overtime, the Bison scored after six plays to take a 35-28 lead, while the Bobcats got a 25-yard touchdown run by Scottre Humphrey, but saw their extra point blocked to end their season as NDSU advance to the quarterfinals.
Dodging that bullet, the Bison then made quick work of USD in avenging their earlier loss with a resounding 45-17 win. That sent them into a semifinal showdown with Montana in the semifinals and despite holding the Grizzlies to just 234 yards in regulation, the Bison were unable to secure a spot in the title game as UM got a brilliant effort from Junior Bergen, who scored on a punt return in the fourth quarter, then caught a touchdown pass in first overtime and threw for a 2-point conversion in the second overtime.
The offseason saw the coaching change as Entz accepted an assistant coaching job at USC and Polasek was hired. He has the Bison back on track by taking NDSU from a four-loss team that allowed 45 points in one game in 2023 to within a win of a national championship.
“I think he’s made it clear what the standard is,” Miller said. “He preaches it throughout the week. What’s impressed me the most about him is he’s a motivator and you know how much he cares. Guys really rally behind that.”
“You do everything you can as a leader to not make it about yourself,” Polasek said. “That’s not coach speak. This game will be about the players. For me, because our players practice and prepare so hard, I haven’t been nervous for a game yet. I’m hoping it’ll be that way again this week. For me, it’s just an opportunity to be down there with a great group of guys, another great Bison football and to put them in a position to win the game.”
The Bison have lost just two games in 2024 with one being a season opening loss at nationally ranked Colorado (31-26) with the clock expiring as the Bison reached the Buffaloes four-yard line. The other came in the last seconds of their season finale against Final Four combatant South Dakota (29-28).
North Dakota State will try to win its 10th FCS and 18th overall national championship when it faces Montana State in Frisco, Tex. on Monday at 5:00 Mountain time.
