The power behind the North Dakota State football program is unmatched at the moment. Earning a 38-24 win over Eastern Washington at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, the Bison not only claimed their seventh FCS championship in eight years, but solidified themselves as one of college football’s greatest dynasties. With the win on Saturday the Bison now lead the Football Championship Subdivision with seven total championships.
NDSU was able to send its coach, Chris Klieman, off in grand fashion before he moves to the FBS level to take over for the legendary Bill Snyder at Kansas State. Klieman proved he’s a winner, tallying a 69-6 record in five seasons with the Bison earning four national titles as well as being named this year’s AFCA Region 4 FCS Coach of the Year. Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach Matt Entz was named as NDSU’s 31st head football coach for the 2019-2020 season on Dec 13th. Four Bison assistant coaches will also be moving on with Klieman including the likes of offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham, tight ends/full backs coach Conor Riley, defensive backs coach Joe Klanderman, and wide receivers coach Jason Ray. Director of Football Operations Hank Jacobs will also be joining the Kansas State staff. Klieman tied Jim Tressel (Youngstown State) for the most FCS titles as a head coach, winning his fourth championship in five seasons.
The play of the game came in the third quarter and no surprise it was by the FCS Offensive Player of the Year and Bison QB Easton Stick. Stick slung out a 78-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Darrius Shepherd. This play put the Bison up two touchdowns with just over 10 minutes left in the third and NDSU would maintain that lead until 2:19 left in the game in which they responded to a minute later with a 46-yard touchdown run by Stick to seal the win.
Stick became the career record holder at NDSU for passing yards surpassing Brock Jensen and finishing with 8,693 yards for his career. He also surpasses Jensen for the all-time FCS wins record by a quarterback, capping his career off with a 49-3 record as a starting quarterback.
NDSU led the entire game from start to finish and dominated the time of possession, 40:05 to 19:55. Both quarterbacks had a pair of interceptions, but only one had a pair of touchdowns and that was NDSU’s Easton Stick. Stick finished the game 13-for-19 passing for 198-yards with two interceptions and 121 rushing yards with 3 rushing touchdowns. Although Stick led in rushing, he had some help from his Bison teammates carrying the ball. Junior running back Ty Brooks tallied in 82-yards on nine carries and senior running back Lance Dunn accumulated 61-yards of his own on nineteen carries. The Most Outstanding Player of the game, senior wide receiver Darrius Shepherd put in work in Saturday’s game as he brought in five catches for 125-yards and two touchdowns.
“Obviously really thrilled and excited about the win today,” said Head Coach Chris Klieman. “I knew it was going to be extremely hard and I knew our guys knew that as well. Eastern Washington had nothing to lose. And they were a really good football team. The game was back and forth. We were able to make a few more plays in the second half. The time of possession was huge. And we were able to control the football and control the clock. Give them credit. They made some plays on us. And we missed some opportunities as well, both sides of the ball.But couldn't be more proud of these 24 seniors. So proud of these guys. They know how much I love them. I was a senior today as well. I got to go out with these guys. Appreciate the heck out of them.”
This was the first loss by Eastern Washington in the FCS Championship game, winning their previous six trips. Statistical leaders for the Eagles begin with senior running back Sam McPherson who tallied 158 rushing yards on eighteen attempts for one touchdown. The Eagles sophomore quarterback Eric Barriere threw for 198-yards going 13-for-25 passing with two interceptions. Senior wide receiver Nsimba Webster caught four passes for 92-yards and junior tight end Jayce Gilder added 3 catches for 37-yards and a touchdown.
The Eastern Washington Eagles set a program record for touchdowns in a season at 86, previous record being 84 touchdowns which was set in 2014.
A big highlight play in the game came from Eastern Washington on a creative trick play on a field goal attempt going into the half. The Eagles displayed as if they were attempting a field goal and as soon as the placeholder caught the ball from the center, it was flipped forward by backup QB Gunner Talkington to Jayce Gilder for a 2-yard quick catch and run in for the touchdown.