There were a few nervous moments, but in the end Bison fans were able to relax and celebrate a hard fought win in the second round of the FCS Playoffs.
Despite a slow start and 14-point deficit with 10 minutes to go in the first half, the NDSU football team roared back and flew past Abilene Christian Saturday afternoon 51-31, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with 7th-seeded Mercer.
NDSU took the opening kick and marched down the field to the ACU 3 yard line. On 4th down, coach Tim Polasek opted for a field goal instead of an offensive play, and the boot was good for a 3-0 lead. But 15th-seeded ACU responded with a 75-yard drive and capped it off with a 13 yard touchdown pass from star quarterback Maverick McIvor and the Wildcats had the attention of everyone in the Fargodome with a 7-3 lead.
NDSU was unable to do much with the ensuing possession and punted back to ACU. The drive started at the Wildcats 10 yard line with 4 seconds to play in the first quarter and if any of the fans thought the Wildcats were content just to seek a modest gain to close the quarter, they would have been wrong. Running back Sam Hicks took a handoff and sprinted 90 yards through the Bison defense and a stunned Fargodome crowd was looking up at a scoreboard that said 17-3 in favor of Abilene Christian heading to the second quarter.
The Bison needed a spark, and they got one on the ensuing kickoff when freshman Jackson Williams took the kick 5 yards deep in his end zone and dashed through the ACU kick coverage for a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown (that actually covered 105 yards). Griffin Crosa kicked his second of three field goals, and RaJa Nelson caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Cam Miller to put the Bison ahead 20-17 before halftime.
Bison fans were breathing easier but the game was still in doubt. McIvor came in as a top-5 FCS quarterback and the Bison knew he was not done fighting. But the Bison defense regained its footing while the offense kicked into another gear. Miller ran the ball in for a 1-yard score to open the 3 rd quarter, then connected on two more TD passes in the third, a 30-yard strike to TK Marshall down the right sideline and a 36-yarder to Bryce Lance that beat the Wildcats deep.
ACU got a 3 yard Sam Hicks rushing score but heading to the fourth, NDSU had a 41-24 lead and NDSU fans were able to enjoy the popcorn a bit more comfortably. ACU was not done fighting, and added a short rushing score to begin the quarter, but NDSU got a Griffing Crosa field goal, and a Logan Kopp interception and touchdown return, and NDSU was into the national quarterfinals with a 51-31 win.
NEWS AND NOTES
Linebacker Enock Sibomana made a game-high 10 tackles for NDSU, linebacker Nick Kubitz had six stops, and defensive tackle Eli Mostaert made five tackles with two tackles for loss and one sack.
Miller finished 20 of 29 passing for 274 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, and he also rushed for one score. Miller broke Brock Jensen’s NDSU career passing completions record and also passed Jensen for second on the Bison career list for passing touchdowns now with 74.
Lance led eight Bison receivers with five catches for 70 yards, Nelson made five catches for 26 yards, and Braylon Henderson had three receptions for 67 yards including a diving 32-yard snag to spark NDSU's go-ahead touchdown drive.
CharMar Brown led the Bison rushing with 58 yards on 16 carries.
Crosa converted field goals from 21, 37 and 24 yards to pass Shawn Bibeau for second all-time at NDSU with 53 career field goals made. Crosa also converted six PAT kicks to extend his career total to 264, breaking Cam Pedersen's NDSU, Missouri Valley Football Conference and NCAA FCS record of 261.
The crowd of 10,373 was the second smallest for a fall NDSU home playoff game.
STAT WRAP
ACU NDSU
Total Yards 345 375
Pass Yards 153 274
Rushing Yards 192 101
Penalty Yards 8-62 4-30
1st Downs 16 19
3rd Downs 5-13 1-10
4th Downs 1-3 2-2
Time of Possession 29:28 30:32
-Courtesy NDSU Sports Information
NEXT UP FOR THE BISON
No. 2 NDSU hosts No. 7 Mercer in the national quarterfinals Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ABC. Tickets are now on sale. Unclaimed season tickets go on sale at 8:00 Wednesday morning.
Mercer is making its first trip to the FCS quarterfinals, after besting 10th-seeded Rhode Island 17-10 Saturday on the Bears home field. The Bears used a 25-yard interception return from Senior Safety Myles Redding and a stingy defense to get the win.
For Redding, it was his seventh interception of the season, tying him with teammate TJ Moore for the most in the nation.
Mercer trailed Rhode Island 10-7 heading to the fourth quarter, but the Bears got a short touchdown pass and a field goal for the come-from-behind win.
Senior Running Back Dwayne McGee finished with 114 yards on 21 carries and CJ Miller added 81 yards on 10 carries for Mercer (11-2), which remained unbeaten in seven home games. The Bears totaled 230 rushing yards on the day, but quarterback Whitt Newbauer had a nondescript day, going 10-20, for just 57 yards and a touchdown. Mercer plays in the Southern Conference, and is located in Macon, Georgia. The Bears two losses this season were at unranked Samford 55-35, and at FBS Alabama 52-7 who was ranked 9 th in FBS at the time.
They have several quality wins, winning at #14 Chattanooga and #23 Wofford, giving up only 3 points in each game. They also beat #23 East Tennessee State and #24 Western Carolina at home.
The Bears have used a formula of “run the ball and stop the run” to pile up their 11 wins. Mercer leads the nation in several rush defense stats, including 858 yards allowed, 2.23 yard per rush, and 66.0 rushing yards per game.
Mercer has been effective with its own rushing attack, averaging 171.5 yards per game but overall has seen its offense rank just 40 th in total offense, with 389.2 yards per game.
