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Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024
Johnson City, TN, (7,694), 5:30 p.m. EST
It will mark just the second all-time meeting between North Dakota State and East Tennessee State; The Bison won the only other meeting between the two, getting a 27-3 triumph over ETSU in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs in the 2021 postseason. The Bison are 8-0 all-time against teams from the Southern Conference since 2004.
East Tennessee State—Tre Lamb (1-1, 1st year); North Dakota State—Tim Polasek (1-1, 1st Year)
East Tennessee State has hosted some big games before at William B. Greene Stadium against non-conference foes, however, few will rival the one it will on Saturday afternoon when the second-ranked North Dakota State rivals rumble into Johnson City to battle the Bucs for just the second meeting between the two on Saturday evening.
The other game that would rival this game Saturday night at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium is the 2017 matchup with top-ranked James Madison, as the Dukes came to Johnson City in what was the third season after resurrecting the Bucs program after a 12-year hiatus, and the Dukes handed ETSU a humbling, 52-10, defeat.
It’s not been a good start for the Southern Conference in non-conference play so far in 2024. Ranked home losses by both Furman and Western Carolina to Charleston Southern (Big South/OVC) and Campbell (CAA) weren’t a good look for the league, and those two defeats helped off-set what was a solid 26-19 win by Wofford on the road at No. 14 Richmond (CAA).
With that said, the Bucs need to play well. What that will look like doesn’t mean ETSU has to win the game, however, it would certainly be a huge Eagles feather in the cap if the Bucs could find a way to pull off the shocker in week three. While JMU was ranked higher back in 2017, it would be a good argument that Tim Polasek’s team is the best team to ever play in Johnson City.
Both Polasek and Lamb are in their first season leading their respective programs, with Lamb having been a head coach at Gardner-Webb for four years prior to making his way to the Tri-Cities. He took the Bulldogs to the playoffs in his final couple of seasons as the head coach, winning back-to-back Big South/OVC titles.
Unlike Lamb, Polasek has deep roots with the program he currently coaches in Fargo, having served as an assistant under Craig Bohl from 2006-12, coaching the Bison running backs. He then moved on to become the tight ends coach at Northern Illinois in 2013 before spending four seasons from 2017-20 as the offensive line coach at Iowa, turning out some of the best in college football during his time with the Hawkeyes. Then he returned to coach for his mentor—Bohl—at Wyoming as the offensive coordinator from 2021-2023. To say Polasek has seen a thing or two in his time as an assistant prior to returning to Fargo to replace Matt Entz last December is an understatement.
In his initial stint as NDSU’s head coach, Polasek helped oversee the transition into a full-time FCS member for the Bison. If you’ll remember, that 2006 season was a breakthrough season for the Bison at the FCS level, despite the fact they weren’t yet eligible NCAA Division FCS postseason play. It was probably hard to be a fan for the Bison from 2004-08, as NDSU had some teams that were absolutely playoff worthy. The 2006 squad, which was Bohl and Polasek’s first in charge, saw the Bison lose just one game, finishing the season with a 10-1 mark.
The only loss for the Bison came against an FBS foe, as NDSU dropped a 10-9 to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, which is also a program that NDSU routinely out-recruits for talent, with Trey Lance being the most notable of those "steals" from that school up in Minneapolis. During that 2006 season, one of the results that raised more than a few eyebrows for those around the FCS nation, including both fans and media alike, was NDSU’s 34-14 demolition of No. 21 Georgia Southern in Statesboro.
At that time, winning at Paulson Stadium for the opposition—especially non-conference opposition—was something that just didn’t happen all that often, much less seeing the Eagles beaten by three touchdowns on their own field. It was comparable for a non-conference foe coming to the Fargo Dome and beating the Bison by three scores, which just doesn’t happen. Highlighting that ’06 win in Southern Conference territory even more was what Georgia Southern had done just two years earlier to South Dakota State in Statesboro, defeating the Jackrabbits 63-7 on that occasion.So to beat the Eagles on their turf, even though it was a season that GSU would land flat on its face with just a 3-8 season under first-year and only year head coach.
For Lamb, he’s familiar with the Southern Conference and he’s grown up in a family that has a strong familiarity with the league. His uncle coached and played in the league at Furman before moving onto Mercer, while he’s battle in the recruiting landscapes year in and year out with Southern Conference teams to try and sign players. Lamb is young, energetic and looking to win right away. He has brought a good talent base along with him to help him achieve that goal. The opportunity on Saturday evening will offer him the opportunity achieve two goals with one win, which is garner the biggest win of his young career, and without question establish the biggest win for ETSU since returning to the gridiron in 2015, as well as one of the biggest regular season wins in either era of football for the Bucs.
The brand that is North Dakota State football didn’t start overnight, but rather has deep roots that can be traced back to their days as a Division II and NAIA member. The Bison have won at every level and it has everything to do with their culture, and though you won’t find it as often now in other programs, however, that overall formula for success has allowed them to go back time and time again and hire from within.
Since winning its first of nine national titles at the FCS level in 2011, the Bison have posted an insane 82-6 record against non-conference opposition. With three losses in the FCS playoffs (Montana in 2023 semifinals, Sam Houston State in 2021 quarterfinals,and James Madsion in 2017 national title game) and two losses to FBS programs (Arizona and Colorado), that leaves only regular-season non-conference loss since 2011, which came in the 2015 FCS Kickoff Classic at Washington-Grizzly Stadium to Montana, as the Grizzlies took what was a thrilling, 38-35, win in what was the FCS Kickoff Classic and was, indeed, a classic.
New head coach Tim Polasek has continued in the Bison way, and he inherited a veteran unit that is once again primed and lathered to make a run at a 10th FCS national title in a 13-year span. NDSU comes into the matchup in SoCon country off a big win in their home opener over Tennessee State, taking out the Tigers, 52-3.
As for the 2024 season, the Bison welcomed the return a total of nine all-conference All-Missouri Valley Football Conference performers from a year ago and are a prime candidate to win it again this year, or at least provide South Dakota State stiffer competition for the crown than it has the past two years.
Now it’s a second battle with a team from the Volunteer State, and it should be a tougher test. Leading a well-balanced offense is Cam Miller 32-of-40 passing, 458 yds, 4 TDs/21 rush att, 122 yds, 3 TDs, 5.8 YPC) under center, and he is also one of the leading candidates for the top award given to the top player in the FCS, which is also known as the Walter Payton Award. Miller is more than capable as a dual threat starter under center, but he has the luxury of having a solid backup, in Cole Payton (5-of-7 passing, 44 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT) to provide a change-up at the position if the situation should call for it.
Miller set a school record with a 72% completion rate last season and is off to another stellar start this season, having missed on only eight of his 40 throws this season, and has yet to throw an INT. All told in now his fourth season as the starter for the Bison, Miller has 52 TD passes, 15 INTs for 6,928 yards. As a running threat in his career with the Green and Gold, Miller has totaled 1,768 rushing yards and 39 TDs on the ground in his career. Miller is set to make his 41st-career start on Saturday evening against the Bucs.
The Bison had less yards of total offense (436 yds) last week in the 52-3 win over Tennessee State than it did in its season-opening, 31-26, setback to FBS Colorado (449 yds). The Bison posed 226 yards on the ground and another 210 through the air in what was a big win over the Tigers. Meanwhile, after surrendering 502 yards to the Buffaloes in the season-opener in Boulder, the Bison were extremely stingy in last Saturday’s win, allowing the Tigers only 200 yards of total offense.
While Miller is the leading rusher for the Bison through the first two games of the season, the leading option in the backfield is TK Marshall 5 att, 8 yds, 1.6 YPC, while fullback Truman Werremeyer is a blocking force in front of him. Miller, Marshall and Werremeyer form a solid rushing triumvirate in the backfield, and it’s a unit that benefitted from a physical offensive front last season to rank fourth nationally in rushing offense, averaging 237.3 YPG last season. Through the first two games this season, the Bison are averaging 191.5 YPG on the ground, while averaging 39.0 PPG and 442.5 YPG of total offense.
The one interesting aspect of this NDSU offense is its offensive line. Normally decorated with both all-conference and All-America talent, which often leads to a career at the next level, entered the season with as many question marks as any other unit on the team coming into 2024. Some of that is due to the new transfer portal era everyone in FCS is dealing with, so reloading that talent along the offensive front and developing the talent it already has within its ranks will be the two main components of the offense that would at least, on paper, need the most attention in 2024. It will likely be a big determining factor on whether we see the Bison once again in Frisco or not.
The two returning starters along the offensive front for the Bison coming into the season were both left tackle Grey Zabel and right tackle Mason Miller. The Bison are massive across the offensive front, as Zabel is 6-6, 305 lbs, while Miller comes in at 6-7, 305 lbs. The rest of the offensive front includes projected starting center Trent Fraley (6-1. 299 lbs), left guard Griffin Empey (6-3, 295 lbs), and right guard Jake Rock (6-7, 315 lbs). Zabel was a preseason All-America selection and is one of those linemen that figures to have a bright future playing at the next level.
There are solid options for Miller to look to in the passing game as well, with the return of Bryce Lance (10 rec, 138 yds, 2 TDs, 13.8 YPR) and RaJa Nelson (4 rec, 45 yds, 11.2 YPR) offering the two strongest options at both wideout positions, while Joe Stoffel (4 rec, 41 yds, 1 TD, 10.2 YPR) has worked his way into becoming the most reliable tight ends in the Missouri Valley Football Conference over the past couple of seasons. Lance is coming off a career-best performance in last week’s win over Tennessee State, as he hauled in a career-high seven passes for 106 yards, which includes the first two scoring catches of his career, which covered 14 and six yards, respectively, from Miller.
As physical and as balanced as the Bison are on the offensive side of the ball, the NDSU defense is seemingly as stout as they come year-in and year-out on the defensive side of the ball. The Bison welcomed the return of nine players with starting experience from a year ago. A large majority of a unit returns that surrendered just 19.9 PPG last season, which ranked 18th in the country in scoring defense at the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.
It all starts along maybe the top defensive line in all of FCS football. Highlighting that formidable defensive front entering the 2024 season are preseason All-America selection Eli Mostaert (6 tackles) and defensive end Dylan Hendricks (5 tackles, 1.0 TFL) highlight a strong unit that has been among the stingiest to run against in the FCS the past several seasons. Rounding out the starters along the defensive front are nose guard Jaxson Duttenheffer (2 tackles, 0.5 TFL. 0.5 sack) and defensive end Loshiaka Roques (5 tackles).
There is no drop-off in talent at linebacker, with Logan Kopp (4 tackles) and Luke Weerts (4 tackles) making life tough on running backs when trying to run up the middle against NDSU. On the perimeter, the athleticism of Oscar Benson (5 tackles) can provide an extra pass-rushing presence on the edge.
The back end of the NDSU defense would normally see Cole Wisnewski leading the way at safety, however, with him being out of the lineup due to injury, both free safety Sam Jung (11 tackles, 1 PBU) and strong safety Ryan Jones (6 tackles) will be called upon to provide extra run support and help over the top against the deep ball. Marcus Sheppard (3 tackles) and Anthony Chideme-Alfaro (2 tackles) will start at the respective cornerback spots.
East Tennessee State counters with an offensive that knows Tre Lamb’s system especially well and that’s because a large majority of them made the transition with him from Gardner-Webb to Johnson City during the off-season. While the Bucs and quarterback Jaylen King (26-of-46 passing, 308 yds, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) were inefficient throwing the ball in the season opener against Appalachian State in what was a 38-10 loss, but last week, the game against UVA-Wise offered the prime opportunity for the ETSU offense to fine-tune itself. King threw a career-best four scoring passes in last week’s lopsided win over the Highland Cavaliers.
In fact, in the win over UVA-Wise last Saturday, the Bucs ended up rolling up 61 points, which is the most points since returning to the gridiron in 2015. It marks the most points since scoring 68 points against Chattanooga on Nov. 15, 2003. All told, it would be the fourth-most points ever scored by the Bucs in any era of football. The Bucs finished off their season-opening win in style against lesser competition, rolling up 254 yards on the ground and finished with 27 first downs. ETSU had 360 more yards through the air, finishing the contest with 614 yards of total offense.
While King will once again be under center, the Bucs figure to quietly have one of the best running backs in the Southern Conference, in Bryson Irby (19 rush att, 111 yds, 5.8 YPC). Irby has picked up nicely off a solid 2023 season, where he was the Bucs leading rusher, finishing the season with 531 rushing yards to lead the team last season. Irby possesses breakaway speed coming out of the backfield and is also a threat catching the ball as a receiver coming out of the backfield.
Devontae Houston (21 rush att, 162 yds, 1 TD, 7.7 YPC) showed us his speed in the season opener against Appalachian State, which saw him carry it 83 yards to the house, which was responsible for ETSU’s only touchdown of the afternoon in the 38-10 loss. Houston enters Saturday’s contest as ETSU’s leading rusher.
As far as receiving threats are concerned, the Bucs have a solid wide receiver’s room, with a heavy influence from Gardner-Webb, which is great when you consider that’s also where the Bucs quarterback came from a year ago. Karim Page (3 rec, 54 yds, 18.0 YPR), Ephraim Floyd (4 rec, 39 yds, 1 TD, 9.7 YPR) and AJ Johnson (4 rec, 41 yds, 1 TD, 10.2 YPR) all came from Gardner-Webb. Johnson, in fact, was originally committed to LSU as a four-star recruit before ending up at Gardner-Webb and eventually, now ETSU. Backup tight end Jonathan Burns (4 rec, 92 yds, 1 TD, 23.0 YPR) also had a scoring catch against the Highland Cavaliers in last Saturday’s big win.
ETSU’s leading receiver this season might be its most versatile and athletic option in the passing attack, and that is tight end Cameron Lewis (7 rec, 98 yds, 1 TD, 14.0 YPR). The graduate student is a former quarterback and missed the entire 2023 season with an injury after making the move to tight end. The Bucs can use Lewis in a variety of different ways because of his athleticism and his speed and size, which could even involve splitting him out as a receiver. He is a player that can be used to create matchup problems for opposing defenses.
The Bucs offensive line has a lot of experience, with most of it coming in different places. Preseason All-SoCon selection center Luke Smith is in his second season with the Bucs after playing at App State for three seasons prior to his arrival in Johnson City in 2023.
Three former Gardner-Webb offensive linemen will team alongside Smith up front, with left guard Gabe Thompson, left tackle Jaquan Adams, and right guard Will McCraw having all played together prior to their arrival in Johnson City. Thompson was a two-time All-Big South/OVC all-conference honoree, while Adams garnered second-team All-Big South/OVC honors last season.
Rounding out the starters along the offensive front is right tackle Derrell Bailey Jr., who transferred into ETSU after spending time at both South Florida and Virginia Tech previously in his career. He started his career on the defensive side of the ball and will be seeing action in his 21st-career contest on Saturday evening against the Bison.
Defensively, ETSU was solid last season, and they could again field one of the top units in the SoCon once again this season, despite there being a substantial amount of turnover, including longtime defensive coordinator, who is now the head coach at Tusculum. The Bucs will utilize a 3-4 defensive scheme under the leadership of both co-coordinators Kevin Wolthausen and Josh Reardon.
Though it was an inferior opponent, the Bucs defense certainly did its part last week by getting the shutout and collectively recorded three sacks and recorded a pair of turnovers, including one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Leading the Bucs defensive front is experienced Brendan LeBlanc (5 tackles, 0.5 TFL) at nose tackle, while he is flanked by defensive ends Brandon Wilson (4 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1.0 sack) and Jaylen George (4 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 3 QBHs, 1 FR). Wilson has played in almost 50 games as a college player, having spent time at both Georgia Southern and Gardner-Webb prior to finding his way to the Tri-Cities. George was a third-team preseason all-conference pick according to Phil Steele and has started every game he has been a part of as a college player. He’s slated to make his 14th start Saturday against the Bison.
The second level of the ETSU defense has the veteran leadership of Zach West, who has played in 42-career games for the Bucs, and he will team Ty Anderson (4 tackles), who was the 2022 Big South Defensive Freshman of the Year, as well as William McRainey (8 tackles, 1 QBH), who was a preseason All-America selection by FCS Football Central and STATS Perform FCS, as well as ranking third among FCS players in total tackles, with 341 total tackles. Ray Coney has been the most productive player on the ETSU defense to this point in the 2024 season, posting a team-leading 12 tackles, four tackles-for-loss and a sack.
Teddy Wilson (5 tackles), who is also a candidate to garner postseason recognition, might be the best athlete on either side of the ball for the Bucs. He’s the type of player that causes opposing offensive coordinators must scheme around when he’s in the game.
The strength of this ETSU team might be its secondary, which is highlighted by maybe the best cover corner in the Southern Conference, in Cam Sims (9 tackles, 2 PBUs). Jayvon Henderson (3 tackles, 1 PBU), who was a SoCon All-Freshman pick last season will start at the other corner spot.
Along with West at linebacker, safety Chris Hope is one of the most experienced ETSU defenders, having played in 43-career games for the Bucs. He is also a potential All-America candidate on the back end for the Bucs and entered the season as a First-Team All-SoCon selection. Safety Jaden Woods (3 tackles), who played at Akron and Eastern Kentucky before coming to ETSU rounds out the starters in the secondary for the Bucs.
This is obviously one of the biggest none-conference games for the Southern Conference and given what has transpired in the first two weeks of league play, it's almost a requirement that ETSU at least look good in a loss Saturday, which I think is achievable. If this game is close in the fourth quarter, I look for coach Lamb not to hesitate to potentially go to his bag of tricks and pull out all the stops to get the most signature win of his young career…It would be a huge feather in the cap for the SoCon moving forward. However, unfortunately, I see the Bison being a bit too strong for the upset to happen here, but the atmosphere Saturday night will keep the Bucs in it for the entire night. The Bison clinch the big road win with a TD in the final five minutes with a long drive to wear down the Bucs defense.
Final Score: NDSU 31, ETSU 21
