Spring 2021 Preview: NDSU

The Jacks head up to Fargo this weekend to take on the NDSU Bison. The Bison enter the fray with a 5-1 record and the Jacks sit at 4-1.  The Bison have the extra win because they played one game in the fall.  The Bison have been on a roll since getting blown out by SIU 38-14 and look as dangerous as ever.    

Offense

The Bison offense as usual, is powered by the run.  In the spring season, they are averaging 23.8 points per game, 218.8 yards per game on the ground and 128.2 yards through the air.  They are controlling the ball for 29 minutes and 30 seconds per game.

The quarterback position has been mainly handled by Iowa State transfer #8 Zeb Noland (6-2, 224).  Noland has a really strong arm and can throw the ball on a rope.  He has completed 51.8% of his passes and has passed for 567 yards, 4 TD, and 6 INT.  Zeb struggles with accuracy when pressured and is not as mobile as previous Bison QBs. True freshman #7 Cam Miller (6-1, 205) has replaced a struggling Noland twice this season and has performed well completing 61.5% of his passes for 74 yards while adding 73 yards and a TD on the ground.  However, he hurt his wrist versus UND and his status is unknown.  Fun fact, Cam was high school teammates with Adam Bock and AJ Coons.  

At running back the Bison are as loaded as ever, even with a number of defections and a significant injury to lead back Seth Wilson.  Against UND, fullback #44 Hunter Luepke (6-1, 245) returned to the lineup after missing the first four games of the spring season and has rushed for 190 yards against UND. Freshman #29 Dominic Gonnella (5-11, 205) has had a good season for the Bison rushing for 248 yards on 47 attempts. #24 Kobe Johnson (5-9, 180) is a homerun threat and has 239 yards on 52 attempts and 2 TD.  He is also dangerous as a receiver where he has 5 receptions for 46 yards.  However, Kobe hurt his leg against UND and his status is unknown and he was removed from the depth chart prior to the USD game so he is likely out. The next man up is the electric #21 Jalen Bussey (5-5, 161) who has a 9.4 yard per carry average on 26 carries and 3 TD; including one from 63 yards out.  He was also out against UND but should be good to go for this week.  Any of these guys are threats to break a big run and are tough to get on the ground. #49 Hunter Brozio (6-0, 235) steps in as the fullback when Luepke is at running back. He has not carried the ball and has just one catch on the season.  

The wide receiver group is a little thinner but still is talented.  The group is lead by #1 Christian Watson (6-4, 200) who is one of, if not thee, best wide receiver in the Valley.  Watson has great speed and obviously has the size to go up and make contested catches.  He has 9 receptions for 206 yards and a TD which came on a 63 yard reception against UND.  Don't let his statistics fool you, he is a threat!  He is joined by #19 Jake Lippe (6-2, 205), #89 Cole Jacob (6-1, 203), and #12 Braylon Henderson (5-8, 170).  Lippe has 6 receptions for 77 yards and a TD, Jacob has 4 for 41, and Henderson has just 2 for 88 yards but one of those receptions came on an 81 yard bomb.  He has world class speed and should be respected for that. #17 Raja Nelson (5-9, 187) is a freshman wide receiver who is seeing some action in the lineup.  He has two catches so far but you can tell the Bison really like what they have in him. This group has also been without their number two receiver #11 Phoenix Sproles (6-0, 188) for much of the spring season.  Their is some speculation that he is getting close to returning and he would certainly be a boost for the Bison in the passing game.  As always, the Bison love to utilize their tight ends and they have two really good juniors this year. #81 Josh Babicz (6-6, 255) has 8 receptions for 84 yards and  #87 Noah Gindorff (6-6, 266) has 7 receptions for 52 yards and a TD. In addition to their role in the passing game, they are both excellent blockers in the run game.  The Bison love to go heavy with both tight ends aligned on the same side and they tend to run in that direction and they do it until you prove that you can stop it.  Once you do, they leak one of the tight ends out or send a back on an arrow route.    

The offensive line for NDSU is big and physical (as usual).  From left to right they go #70 Cody Mauch (6-5, 295), #66 Nash Jensen (6-4, 327), #72 Jalen Sundell (6-5, 294), #61 Zach Kubas (6-4, 300) and #67 Cordell Volson (6-7, 310).  True freshman #74 Grey Zabel (6-4, 280) started at right guard against UND and looked really good in doing so.  If Kubas is healthy enough to play this week, it is not a given that he will start over Zabel. This group has a few new faces due to graduation and Dillion Radunz preparing for the NFL draft. However, we can always count on NDSU's offensive line to be good.  They just are.  They've only given up 2 sacks and 7 more QBHs on 96 drop backs this spring. 

Defense

Since stubbing their toe against SIU, the Bison defense has pitched a shutout against MSU and allowed 13 points in consecutive weeks to Illinois State and UND.  They are allowing 115.6 yards per game on the ground and 163.6 through the air.  Teams are converting on just 33% of their 3rd down attempts against NDSU.  The one area that they seem to not be great in is the red zone; if you make it that far.  They have allowed a TD on 8 of 8 attempts this year.  

Up front, NDSU features the best pass rusher in the conference in #99 Spencer Waege (6-5, 274) who has 16 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 6.5 TFL, and 2 pass breakups.  Opposite him is #93 Logan McCormick (6-2, 246) who has 6 tackles and 2 sacks.  The DE group does rotate frequently and also features #5 Tony Pierce (6-1, 233) who  has has 15 tackles, 4 TFL, and .5 sack and Minnesota State Mankato transfer #98 Brayden Thomas (6-3, 260) who has 15 tackles and .5 sack on the year.  On the interior, the Bison have two big juniors and two very gifted redshirt freshman.  #92 Lane Tucker (6-3, 278) and #94 Costner Ching (6-3, 283)  have 9 tackles a piece with Tucker also adding a sack.  Tucker did not play against UND.  The young guns are #53 Eli Mostaert (6-3, 275) and #58 Javier Derritt (6-2, 279).  Both were highly regarded recruits and have played well this year.  Eli has 15 tackles and a sack while Javier has 6 tackles. 

The linebacking corp for NDSU mirrors SDSU in a lot of ways.  They don't have any pure thumpers like UNI and SIU but all have great movement and athleticism. Former safety #26 James Kaczor (6-0, 211) leads the way with 38 tackles and a .5 sack while middle linebacker #5 Jackson Hankey (6-1, 219) has 37 stops of his own along with .5 sack, 2 TFL and 2 PBU.  They are joined by a familiar last name, Cox.  Not Jabril but his younger brother #3 Jasir Cox (6-0, 207).  He is making a name for himself with 21 tackles, 3 PBU, and 1 forced fumble.  Hankey went out with a head injury against UND and missed the second half so in stepped #47 Luke Weerts (6-1, 219), another highly regarded recruit, who has 12 tackles of his own.  

The secondary is maybe the strength of this defense.  #7 Josh Hayes (5-11, 185) is a very good football player at cornerback.  He has 29 tackles and 3 PBU. Opposite him is #23 Jayden Price (6-0, 181)  who has 10 tackles.  #6 Destin Talbert (6-0, 185) is an experienced reserve who has 8 tackles and 4 PBUs.  The safety tandem for NDSU is pretty darn good with returning All-American #25 Michael Tutsie (5-11, 192) and the emerging #10 Dom Jones (6-2, 194).  These are two players have the ability to erase mistakes that happen in front them and are good against the run and pass.  Tutsie is 4th on the team in tackles with 24 while Jones has added 23 of his own in addition to 2 INT and a fumble recovery. #2 Dawson Weber (6-2, 181) has been listed on the depth chart as the starting safety opposite Tutsie but he has not played since the UCA game last fall.  I have no idea what his status is heading into this matchup as he is again listed on the NDSU depth chart.  #20 Julian Wlodarczyk (6-3, 203) is the backup safety and he has just 4 tackles on the season because Tutsie and Jones just don't come off the field.           

Special Teams

The Bison are always solid on special teams and certainly never bad.  The standout on special teams though is punter #38 Garret Wegner.  He has punted a bit more this season and has had a chance to show off his leg where he has 24 punts for a 47.2 yard average while punting 9 balls 50+ yards. Wegner has  taken over kickoff duties and has a 58.4 yard average and 2 TB on 10 attempts. Regular kicker #37 Jake Reinholz was injured against Illinois State and has been replaced by #39 Griffin Crosa who has gone 2 for 2 on his field goal attempts (41 and 35 yards).  Reinholz and Crosa combined are perfect on their extra point attempts.  One thing to watch is the Bison tendency to to go for two after a touchdown.  Entz showed no fear in 2019 doing this and has done it twice already this spring. 

The return game for NDSU is again solid.  Braylon Henderson and #17 Raja Nelson (5-9, 187) each have 3 attempts while Christian Watson has 2.  Watson leads the group with a 23.5 yard per return average.  Jayden Price is the punt returner and he has just two attempts on the season but returned one for an 85 yard touchdown.  The Jacks have been very good in punt coverage but Price is an athlete who is certainly worth keeping an eye on.  

Prediction

Jacks win a VERY physical battle 20-13   

How to Watch

Midco or ESPN+    

Go Jacks! 

Matt