Underdog Bobcats take on powerful North Dakota State in Fargo

The last time North Dakota State took on the Montana State football program in a playoff was eight years ago and the Bison were a Division I championship wannabe.

Now football teams aspire to be like the Bison.

The powerful NDSU program has won six of the last seven FCS national championships, a streak that was jump-started by a 42-17 victory in Bozeman in 2010, and the Bison are unbeaten and top-ranked entering Saturday’s second-round playoff game in Fargo, N.D.

“(The Bison are) arguably the standard bearer for all of college football, not just the FCS, when you look at the success that they’ve had,” Bobcat head coach Jeff Choate said. “Nobody can really match what they’ve done over the past decade, and you can include Alabama in that.”

To be sure, the Bobcats figure to be big-time underdogs when teams kick it off Saturday at 1 at the Fargodome. North Dakota State, 11-0 and coming off a first-round playoff bye, owns a 21-1 postseason record in its dome and will have more than 18,000 loud fans providing support against the Bobcats (8-4).

Said Choate: “I never back down from a fight.”

Both teams have superstar quarterbacks.

North Dakota State’s Easton Stick, a senior from Omaha, is 45-3 as a Bison starter and owns school records for passing touchdowns (82) and total offense (10,283 yards). Stick is a fleet runner and accurate passer who is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, which goes to the most outstanding player in FCS football.

The Bison have a huge offensive line that averages about 305 pounds per man and run for more than 265 yards per game. Stick completes 60 percent of his throws and has just four interceptions to go along with 22 touchdown tosses.

He’s far from a one-man team, too.

The Bison had 15 players selected either first or second team all-Missouri Valley Conference, a group that includes receiver-return specialist Darrius Shepherd, who was just the second player in league history to make the first team at two positions.

Stick was named Missouri Valley offensive player of the year, while sophomore linebacker Jabril Cox, a 231-pound native of Kansas City, Mo., won top honors on defense.

Choate said Cox is “good enough to play in any conference in college football.”

The Bobcats have won four in a row, led by star sophomore quarterback Troy Andersen, a rangy athlete with uncommon speed who has 1,283 rushing yards on the year. He’s scored a record 20 rushing touchdowns and has made steady progress as a passer.

The Bobcat attack also features talented freshman halfback Isaiah Ifanse (982 yards, 7 TDs).

The Cats rely on a ball-control offense and opportunistic defense that has produced 11 fumble recoveries the last five games.

The teams have a lengthy history of memorable games, although the Bobcats have never played in the Fargodome. The Bison victory in Bozeman eight years ago – MSU led 17-14 early in the fourth quarter before NDSU scored the game’s final 27 points – marked the start of a football dynasty that included the careers of Craig Bohl, now the Wyoming head coach, and Carson Wentz, now the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Bobcats have proved resilient this season, as was evidenced two weeks ago when MSU fell behind 22-0 in Missoula to the Montana Grizzlies before rallying for a 29-25 triumph. Last week Montana State bounced Incarnate Word (Texas) 35-14 in a convincing victory.

After losing mid-season games at Weber State and Idaho State in consecutive weeks, the Bobcats have ripped off four straight wins. It is MSU’s longest win streak since 2014, which was the last time the Cats earned a playoff bid.

Montana State is in the national playoffs for the 14th time, the ninth as a Division I program (I-AA or FCS). The Cats are 11-8-2 all-time in the postseason and 10-7 in the playoffs.

North Dakota State has won 14 national championships, including FCS titles (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017), NCAA Division II crowns (1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990) and College Division first-place finishes (1965, 1968, 1969).

Saturday’s game will be the 35th between the Bobcats and Bison, although most were played when the teams were in NCAA Division II. Montana State leads 21-14 in the series, which dates back to 1914.

Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN3, which requires a subscription.

STARTING LINEUPS

Montana State

Offense

LT: (63) Mitch Brott, 6-6, 290, jr, Billings West; LG: (51) Taylor Tuiasosopo, 6-3, 295, soph, Lancaster, Calif.; C: (70) Alex Neale, 6-3, 285, sr, Duvall, Wash; RG: (76) Lewis Kidd, 6-6, 305, soph, Fridley, N.M.; RT: (66) Connor Wood, 6-4, 300, fresh, Meridian, Idaho; QB: (15) Troy Andersen, 6-3, 225, soph, Dillon; TB: (22) Isaiah Ifanse, 5-10, 190, fresh, Bellevue, Wash.; WR: (10) Travis Jonsen, 6-2, 205, jr, Fullerton, Calif; WR: (85) Kevin Kassis, 6-0, 190, jr, El Dorado, Calif; WR: (86) Lance McCutcheon, 6-2, 195, soph, Bozeman; TE: (87) Connor Sullivan, 6-5, 250, sr, Ennis

Defense

Buck: (37) Bryce Sterk, 6-5, 250, jr, Lynden, Wash.; DT: (96) Zach Wright, 6-3, 270, New Braunfels, Texas; NG: (92) Tucker Yates, 6-0, 295, sr, Colstrip; DE: (57) Tyrone Fa’anono, 6-2, 270, sr, Oxnard, Calif.; WLB: (91) Michael Jobman, 6-4, 225, soph, Huntley Project; MLB: (41) Grant Collins, 6-4, 240, sr, Bozeman; SLB: (9) Jacob Hadley, 6-5, 220, Billings Central, soph; CB: (1) Greg Filer III, 6-0, 170, jr, Compton, Calif.; FS: (5) Jahque Alleyne, 6-1, 170, jr, Venice, Calif.; SS: (18) Brayden Konkol, 6-2, 200, jr, Belgrade; CB: (2) Tyrel Thomas, 5-8, 175, soph, Compton, Calif.

Specialists

PK: (23) Tristan Bailey, 6-1, 215, jr, Huntley Project; P: (40) Jered Padmos, 6-1, 190, jr, Jefferson (Boulder); Returns: (85) Kevin Kassis, 6-0, 190, jr, El Dorado, Calif.

North Dakota State

Offense

LT: (75) Dillon Radunz, 6-6, 299, soph, Becker, Minn.; LG: (64) Colin Conner, 6-5, 309, sr, Mineral Point, Wis.; C: (74) Luke Volson, 6-4, 306, sr, Balfour, N.D.; RG: (68) Luke Bacon, 6-5, 300, Granville, N.D.: RT: (68) Zack Johnson, 6-6, 316, jr, Blaine, Minn.; TE: (82) Ben Ellefson, 6-3, 250, jr, Hawley, Minn.; QB: (12) Easton Stick, 6-2, 221, sr, Omaha, Neb.; FB: (34) Brock Robbins, 6-1, 248, jr, Cavalier, N.D.; RB: (10) Lance Dunn, 5-9, 214, sr, Waterloo, Iowa, or (8) Bruce Anderson, 5-11, 210, sr, Ruskin, Fla.; WR: (83) Dallas Freeman, 6-1, 197, sr, St. Michael, Minn.; WR: (20) Darrius Shepherd, 5-11, 188, sr, Blue Springs, Mo.

Defense

DE: (95) Caleb Butler, 6-3, 240, sr, Coon Rapids, Minn., or (94) Stanley Jones, 6-3, 241, sr, Bismarck, N.D.; DT: (69) Blake Williams, 6-3, 288, sr, Washington, Mich.; NG: (63) Aaron Steidl, 6-2, 292, sr, Carlos, Minn; DE: (96) Greg Menard, 6-2, 240, sr, Lakeville, Minn. Or (91) Derrek Tuszka, 6-5, 243, jr, Warner, S.D.; WLB: (45) Levi Jordheim, 6-2, 222, sr, Dickinson, N.D.; MLB: (48) Dan Marlette, 6-1, 226, sr, Sioux Falls, S.D.; SLB: (42) Jabril Cox, 6-3, 231, soph., Kansas City, Mo.; CB: (21) Jalen Allison, 6-0, 188, sr, Papillion, Neb.; SS: (5) Robbie Grimsley, 6-0, 194, sr, Hutchinson, Minn.; FS: (6) James Hendricks, 6-1, 209, jr, Bemidji, Minn. Or (23) Jaylaan Wimbush, 6-0, 195, sr, St. Petersburg, Fla.; CB: (9) Marquise Bridges, 5-11, 180, jr, Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Specialists

PK: (36) Cam Pedersen, 6-2, 197, sr, Eau Claire, Wis.; P: (38) Garret Wegner, 6-0, 191, soph, Lodi, Wis.; Returns: (28) Ty Brooks, 5-9, 178, jr, Fargo, N.D. or (20) Darrius Shepherd, 5-11, 188, sr, Blue Springs, Mo.