North Dakota State and South Dakota State steamrolled to the FCS quarterfinals with lopsided wins and UNI's upset bid fell one score short at sixth-seeded UC Davis. The Bison will face eighth-seeded Colgate next week; South Dakota State travels to fourth-seeded Kennesaw State, and UNI ends its season at 7-5.
Friday, Dec. 7
#7 Maine at #2 Weber State, 7 pm CT (ESPN2)
Saturday, Dec. 8
#8 Colgate at #1 North Dakota State, 11 am CT (ESPN)
#5 South Dakota State at #4 Kennesaw State, 1 pm CT (ESPN3)
#6 UC Davis at #3 Eastern Washington, 3 pm CT (ESPN3)
Updated Bracket (PDF)
#1 NORTH DAKOTA STATE 52, MONTANA 10
FARGO, N.D. - No. 1-ranked North Dakota State rushed for 407 yards and scored on its first six possessions to beat 23rd-ranked Montana State 52-10 in the second round of the FCS playoffs Saturday, Dec. 1, before a crowd of 17,007 at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. Lance Dunn carried 11 times for 127 yards and an NDSU postseason record-tying four touchdowns, Bruce Anderson went 13 times for 118 yards and one TD, and Ty Brooks had six carries for 103 yards and a score for the Bison (12-0).
NDSU averaged 9.2 yards per carry and had three 100-yard rushers for the first time since 1996 when Reggie Scott (170), Kevin Feeney (145) and Jake Morris (109) did it against Minnesota State Mankato. Montana State (8-5) connected on a 71-yard pass to the NDSU 4 on the game's first offensive play but couldn't get in the end zone. James Hendricks broke up a third-down pass in the end zone and the Bison forced a 24-yard field goal after an MSU false start penalty. The Bobcats got only three more first downs before halftime and went 0-for-7 on third-down conversions while the Bison opened a 35-3 halftime lead.
Dunn scored on runs of 1, 11, 1 and 46 yards all in the first half, tying the NDSU postseason mark of four rushing TDs set by DJ McNorton in the 2010 second round playoff game at Montana State. NDSU's seven total rushing TDs tied a school postseason record set in 1988 against Augustana (S.D.).
MSU quarterback Troy Andersen rushed for a game-high 129 yards on 24 carries including a 51-yard touchdown sprint on a fourth-and-1 in the third quarter. NDSU linebacker Jabril Cox made a game-high 10 tackles, Dan Marlette added eight stops, and Jackson Hankey and Mason Hofstedt had six tackles apiece. Cornerback Marquise Bridges made his second interception of the year, defensive end Caleb Butler forced a fumble, and Michael Tutsie blocked a punt for NDSU.
North Dakota State advanced the quarterfinal round for the ninth straight season where the Bison will take on eighth-seeded Colgate (10-1). The Raiders kicked a 38-yard field goal on the game's final play to beat James Madison 23-20 in the second round Saturday.
#5 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 51, DUQUESNE 6
As snow descended on Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Saturday afternoon, fifth-seeded South Dakota State turned to a potent rushing attack to advance to the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals with a convincing 51-6 victory over Duquesne. In winning their fifth consecutive game, the Jackrabbits improved to 9-2 overall and will travel to fourth-seeded Kennesaw State. Game date and time is expected to be announced late Saturday. Duquesne, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, ended its season with a 9-4 overall record.
On the opening drive of the game, SDSU went to the air, converting on fourth-and-1 from midfield on a pass from Taryn Christion to Cade Johnson. The pair hooked up three plays later on a 43-yard touchdown to cap a nine-play, 75-yard drive. It was Johnson's 16th touchdown reception of the season, tying the Jackrabbit single-season record set by Jake Wieneke in 2014 and matched in both 2016 and 2017. After Brandon Snyder forced and recovered a fumble in the closing minute of the first quarter to give SDSU a short field, the Jackrabbits extended their lead to 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter as wide receiver Isaiah Hill took a handoff from Johnson on a reverse and weaved his way around right end for a 23-yard touchdown run.
SDSU pushed the lead to 24-0 going into intermission with 10 points in the final 92 seconds of the second quarter. Missouri Valley Football Conference Freshman of the Year Pierre Strong continued his late-season surge with a 52-yard touchdown run down the right sideline one play after the Jackrabbit defense stuffed Duquesne on fourth-and-1. A stifling Jackrabbit defense quickly posted a three-and-out to get the ball back near midfield. Christion ran for 17 yards to set up a 39-yard field goal by Chase Vinatieri.
Duquesne put together its lone scoring drive of the afternoon to open the second half. Daniel Parr connected with Kellon Taylor for 68 yards to the Jackrabbit 7 before finding the end zone from 3 yards out. The extra point was blocked. The Jackrabbits quickly regained the momentum, reeling off 20 points in the span of a little over three minutes. Hill scored for the second time on a reverse, this time going around left end for a 15-yard score. Two plays after a Larenzo Williams interception and 22-yard return, Mikey Daniel got into the scoring act by hurdling a defender en route to a 27-yard highlight-reel touchdown run. The final SDSU tally of the scoring blitz came on a 43-yard interception return for touchdown by Zy Mosley -- his team-leading fourth interception of the season.
Daniel, who gained a career-high 100 yards on 10 carries, provided the final margin with a 4-yard touchdown run two minutes into the fourth quarter. As a team, the Jackrabbits racked up 326 yards on the ground, averaging 8.1 yards per carry. Strong ended the afternoon with 92 yards on 12 carries. Meanwhile, the SDSU defense never let the Duquesne running game get on track, holding the Dukes' All-America running back candidate A.J. Hines to only 21 yards on 10 carries. Duquesne managed only 84 total yards on the ground in 35 attempts. Logan Backhaus and Christian Rozeboom each registered seven tackles to lead the Jackrabbits, who notched three sacks and eight tackles for loss in the contest.
#6 UC DAVIS 23, UNI 16
DAVIS, Calif. – The UNI football team rallied from a 23-6 deficit to cut the lead to 23-16 in the fourth quarter, but failed to get into the end zone on the final drive and fell to six-seed UC Davis on the road in the second round of the FCS Playoffs Saturday. The Panthers had opportunities to score, including a pair of turnovers in UC Davis territory and two missed field goals, but in the end, the Aggies outlasted the clock and got stops.
UNI took an early lead with a field goal on its first drive. Davis answered with a field goal of its own, before UNI again took a 6-3 lead with 4:16 left in the first. The Aggies answered with a touchdown pass to go ahead 10-6 and never trailed again. Davis led 13-6 at the half and hit a field goal and scored a touchdown in the third quarter to take the 23-6 lead, but the Panthers answered with a one-yard touchdown from Trevor Allen with 6:00 to play in the third quarter. The Panthers again got on the board in the fourth with a 45-yard field goal from Austin Errthum with 14:09 to play.
The Panthers drove to the Davis 35-yard line, but a pass attempt on fourth down was broken up with less than three minutes to play and the Aggies held on for the win. Eli Dunne was 22-40 for 273 yards and a pair of interceptions. Marcus Weymiller, Trevor Allenand Tyler Hoosman combined for 121 yards on the ground while nine Panthers caught passes led by Allen with five. Terrell Carey caught two passes for a team-high 56 yards.
UNI's Duncan Ferch and Austin Evans both tallied interceptions on the day with returns into Davis territory, but the Panther's failed to score on both opportunities. UC Davis' Keelan Doss caught 9 catches for 137 yards, but was effectively shut down in the second half, catching just one ball for nine yards after the break. The high-powered Aggie offense was held well below its season scoring average and their third-lowest total of the season.
UNI ends the season with a 7-6 record after its fourth trip to the FCS Playoffs in five seasons. UC Davis advances to play Eastern Washington in the FCS Quarterfinals.