Ames, Iowa
Wasn’t everything supposed to be different for North Dakota State’s football team?
A new head coach. New players, especially an unproven quarterback. A new coaching staff. A new athletic director, who is as of today a mystery.
And wasn’t it supposed to be totally different because of the massive hole left by 24 seniors who left the Bison after last year’s third straight Football Championship Subdivision national title?
Somebody forgot to pass the memo to first-year coach Chris Klieman and the 2014 edition of the Bison.
NDSU opened the season last weekend by rolling Iowa State of the Big 12 Conference 34-14 on a splendid and jam-packed Jack Trice Stadium. What was supposed to be a new era of Bison football stepping gingerly into the spotlight was instead a butt-kicking of epic proportions, leaving 50,000-plus Cyclones fans to bolt early while 5,000 or so yellow-clad NDSU faithful stayed behind to salute their heroes.
For the fifth straight time against an FBS opponent, NDSU prevailed. Iowa State joins Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado State and Kansas State on the list of big-time schools dispatched by the Bison.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
“Coaches change, players come in and out, but the culture never changes,” said Bison senior safety Christian Dudzik.
It is not earth-stopping surprising the Bison beat Iowa State. Even with the departure of ultra-successful coach Craig Bohl and most of his staff to Wyoming and the graduation of those two dozen seniors like Billy Turner, Brock Jensen and Marcus Williams, the cupboard was not bare at NDSU.
But what has to have other Missouri Valley Conference and FCS schools muttering under their breath is the way the Bison dismantled the Cyclones.
It.
Was.
The.
Same.
It was the exact same formula NDSU has used for the past four years to become the undisputed kings of the division. A punishing running game. A poised, athletic quarterback. A stout play-making defense. Solid special teams. Superior coaching.
It was 2011, ’12 and ’13 all over again.
Let’s call it deja ‘SU.
“We’re ready to keep this train rolling,” receiver Zach Vraa said.
Look at the stats: 503 total yards, including 299 rushing (138 and three touchdowns from John Crockett). New quarterback Carson Wentz completed 18 of 28 passes with no interceptions. The defense forced two interceptions and held Iowa State to 253 yards. It’s the same blueprint.
Right down to the star players. Who are new, of course. Not that it mattered.
The Bison were reeling until Crockett took a handoff from Wentz and sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown to pull NDSU within 14-7. It was the proverbial switch getting flipped. The Bison came to life. The Cyclones shrank. The partisan crowd went mostly silent.
It was the Bison’s play of the game.
“That was a huge play for Crockett,” Bison defensive end Kyle Emanuel said.
From that play on, it was a butt-whooping for the team from Fargo. It wasn’t even close.
The offensive line gelled. The interior defensive line stiffened. It was Bison football again. Apparently nothing changed.
“It was just great resolve. That’s just what we do,” Dudzik said. “We never get nervous, we never worry. We just know that we’re going to keep the pace, keep doing what we do on defense and the offense is going to score eventually.”
“It was just Bison football. It’s what we do.”
And the machine rolls on. Everything was supposed to be different. Instead, it looks eerily the same.
When do the tickets for Frisco, Texas, go on sale?
(Mike McFeely is a talk-show host on KFGO-AM 790 in Fargo-Moorhead. His program can be heard 2-5 p.m. weekdays. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMcFeelyKFGO).