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Why North Dakota State should be ranked in the Top 20
North Dakota State, the five-time defending FCS champs, defeated No. 13 Iowa on the road Saturday, and there was nothing fluky about it. It was the Bison's fifth consecutive win over FBS opponents and moved them to 8-3 in their last 11 against "the big boys."
The Bison out-rushed a team that prides itself on being physical and tougher than everyone they play. The Bison out-rushed Iowa 239-34, holding the Hawkeyes to 1.4 yards per carry and minus-seven yards in the second half. It is worth noting that Iowa was missing their center James Daniels and right guard Sean Welsh, two of their best linemen.
On the heels of that win, NDSU received 74 points in this week's AP Top 25 poll and were essentially No. 28. I'd have slotted them somewhere in the top 20 based primarily on how the Bison took it to a solid team in a road game, no less. Then again, NDSU did need overtime to win its first two games. Both were at home and both were over FCS opponents -- Eastern Washington and Charleston Southern.
On Tuesday, I asked Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz if, after playing the Bison, how comparable that team is to other Top 25 teams. Ferentz began by saying he didn't put much stock in polls in September, and stopped short of providing any poll comparisons: "We've played a lot of good teams in my 17 years and they're a really good football team, a really good football team," said Ferentz. "We got what we deserved, and they got what they deserved. They played the best game Saturday and deserved to win."
Ferentz, a life-long O-line coach, was very impressed by what he saw from the Bison, especially in the trenches.
"There are some similarities in what we try to do and what they do," he said. "They're a very aggressive, physical team. They do a lot of man-blocking. No matter what your scheme may be, it's really about the execution. When you watch the film, do the players do what those coaches are asking them to do? With (the Bison) you can see when people are really together and really well-coached, and that is certainly the case with North Dakota State. They're very well-coached at every position."
Anthony Becht, a former NFL player, who called the North Dakota State-Iowa game for ESPN2, said the Bison have a Big Ten caliber team.
"Their O-line is FBS quality," he said. "They ran right it down their throat, between the tackles. I was really impressed with their O-line.
"From a schematic standpoint, it's Wisconsin-type of offense. They develop their players. I think their offensive coordinator (Tim Polasek) is a good play-caller. He had a nice plan, changed it up and made some nice adjustments."
Becht also was impressed with how tough the Bison linebackers are and how hard their outside guys are to block. The Bison did get some bad news earlier this week that Nick DeLuca, one of those linebackers, is out for the rest of the season after injuring his shoulder. He was the team's leading tackler in the win over Iowa.
Losing a key player, though, is hardly new for the Bison. Last year, it was their star QB going down. Two seasons ago, it was linebacker Travis Beck who got sidelined and DeLuca, who stepped up. The year before that, it was another starting middle linebacker that got injured, but the Bison just kept on winning.
"The single most-impressive things I can tell you about North Dakota State is they won five national championships," said Ferentz. "That is really impressive but if you start thinking about what that really entails, that is four playoff games a year--win or go home. They're 20-0 in those games in five years. Think about Bill Russell's record in the NBA finals. How hard is that to sustain that level of success?
"The other thing that really intrigued me to no end and impressed me was, it'd be easy to say 'Well, they had the No. 2 pick in the draft last year in Carson Wentz. He missed eight games last year and the quarterback who is playing right now for them stepped in as a redshirt freshman and they went 8-0. How many teams have you ever heard doing that? That really speaks well of the program and the culture they've established there. Our respect for them is tremendous and rightly so."
