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College recruiters had to have the name repeated, sometimes more than once, when Lawrence High School football coach Dirk Wedd would read it to them. Not because it was complicated—the name is spelled exactly how it sounds.
But because it was just so hard for them to believe.
"Kobe, with a K. Buffalomeat. One word."
It's the name his older brother, Anthony, caught flak for. The name people sometimes mistake for a nickname. The name the 18-year-old Kansan has to clarify is indeed his real name every time he meets someone new. The name that every opposing student section for the rest of his senior basketball season won't leave alone.
Kobe Buffalomeat is living through his 15 minutes of fame after signing with Illinois State on Wednesday's national signing day—complete with his own Twitter moment, an interview spot on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and a shout-out from comedian Jordan Peele, from Comedy Central's Key & Peele.
On Wednesday, Buffalomeat signed his name on whiteboards in classrooms and took pictures with classmates he barely knew. For the rest of the week, when he left the training room, he guarded his face as to hide it from fake paparazzi.
"I never thought my name would be so popular," he said. "Growing up, people would just be like, 'Oh, that's unique,' but never make such a big deal about it."
He had two siblings with the same name who came through Lawrence schools before him. His name rarely catches anyone's attention in Lawrence. Wedd, the town's longtime football coach, always called the Buffalomeat kids "Meat," but most of Kobe's teammates call him "Buff."
Buffalomeat is his father's name, and its origins come from the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes in Western Oklahoma. Kobe is also one-fourth Choctaw and one-fourth Cherokee. On the Southeast side of Lawrence, about two miles from Kansas' historic Allen Fieldhouse, sits Haskell Indian Nations University, one of 32 tribal colleges. Many Native Americans in Lawrence have finished two years of college then stayed, just as Buffalomeat's parents did.
At his high school, there's a cross-country runner named Carson Jumping Eagle, and another student named Damian WhiteLightning. Both are of Native American heritage.
That's why the internet storm—the Kobe Buffalomeat infatuation—caught everyone in Lawrence off guard.
Wedd had just left jury selection when he turned his phone on for the first time in hours. Then it buzzed like he had never seen before. The 64-year-old was worried it was broken, so he called his daughter, a teacher in the district, who told him that Kobe Buffalomeat was trending. Wedd has a Twitter account but didn't know exactly what his daughter meant.
Buffalomeat saw the retweets and likes roll in. The tweets mentioning his name haven't stopped coming since Wednesday. Most of his family learned of his popularity through a morning text from his mother, Paula Buffalomeat, telling everyone that Kobe was going to be on ESPN.
"Someone from ESPN said, 'We choose a best name at the end of [national signing day],'" said Wayne Postoak, Buffalomeat's grandfather. "He said, 'It's early, but it's over, it's already over.'"
A year before, Buffalomeat wasn't even sure he would play football. Back issues gave him trouble after his freshman year of football, forcing him to stay out for a year. But when college coaches came to Lawrence last season to see Amani Bledsoe, one of the top defensive ends in the country, they noticed Buffalomeat in gym class. At 6'7", 285 pounds, he was hard to miss. "He's a basketball guy," Wedd told them.
But Buffalomeat aged well, and his back healed, so he decided to play offensive line this past fall. And he found himself enjoying football so much that he shed tears after Lawrence's final game of the season, a rare occurrence for the typically stoic high school senior.
The Kobe Buffalomeat who conducted interview after interview in the days following his signing was laid-back and calm. Light-hearted enough to laugh at his name, sure, but most of those close to him wouldn't describe Buffalomeat as someone outwardly emotional.
Even in the closing seconds of tight games as Lawrence basketball's starting center, while other players showed signs of panic during timeouts, Buffalomeat would lean back in his chair and focus on the coach. It was he who had to calm his mother's and brother's nerves before a four-minute spot in front of Jimmy Kimmel's live audience.
Kobe played golf with his grandpa before going to preschool, so the fondness for sports has always been there, but the football field was the only place where he felt comfortable showing emotion while competing. He liked the feeling of consistently working toward something, even if it meant 7 a.m. workouts four days a week during the summer.
But internet virality is not something that one works slowly to build over time. How is Kobe Buffalomeat handling his recent ascent to the top of the trending list?
"He likes it a lot better than I do," Paula Buffalomeat said. "When it all hit, it kind of made me nervous, more so just because he's 18, and I don't want him to say something that might offend somebody, not realizing that he's even saying anything wrong. But he's done really well."
His cousin Peyton Postoak Ferguson is seven years old and has Down syndrome. Though her mind develops differently than most children, she always remembers the name of her cousin. When he comes in the room, she yells his name and jumps on him. He's her 6'7" jungle gym.
"To her, Kobe is just Kobe, and all the [internet buzz]—I don't think she really has an understanding at all," said Penny Postoak Ferguson, Buffalomeat's aunt and Peyton's mother. "But that's her Kobe."
Today, there is a segment of America, this strange overlap between sports, the internet and pop culture, that will not forget the name either. Maybe they'll hear it again in 2022—after Kobe spends five years at Illinois State (he's gray-shirting, or postponing his enrollment until the winter term of his freshman year)—when it's called during the NFL draft.
Christian Hardy is the managing editor for the University Daily Kansan, the student paper at the University of Kansas. He's covered Kansas basketball, football, and Sporting Kansas City and has written for the Kansas City Star. From Derby, Kansas, Christian is a music head and a Dallas Cowboys fan.
Missouri State Bears freshman running back Richard Nelson was shot and killed Saturday, according to Marvin Clemons of KSNV in Las Vegas.
"I feel awful for our guys, because he’s a friend," said Missouri State athletic director Kyle Moats, per Jim Connell of the Springfield News-Leader. "It's tough. There's not a play chart for this one. You have to do the best you can, and we're going to do everything we can to support our guys. Everyone will react differently."
Head coach Dave Steckel provided a statement on Missouri State's official athletics website:
Our Missouri State football family is in shock and mourning at the loss of one of our family members. Richard is like a son and a brother. It is a tragedy that he lost his life defending what is right. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family in Las Vegas, and we know he is in a good place with God. We ask everyone to respect the privacy of our football family at this time as we begin the healing process.
Clemons reported that Las Vegas police responded to a suspected shooting at 7:30 p.m. PT. Officers found Nelson at the scene, and he was transported to a local hospital, where he died.
Authorities are still looking for the shooter, who is alleged to have shot Nelson multiple times after a fight involving members of Nelson's family. The shooter left before police arrived.
Nelson, a native of Las Vegas, redshirted in his first season with the Bears. As a senior at Chaparral High School in 2015, he ran for 558 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Kevin Rader used his opponent as leverage to send Youngstown State to the FCS national championship game.
Heavily guarded in the end zone during the semifinal's closing seconds, the tight end wrapped his arms around Eastern Washington linebacker Ketner Kupp and trapped the ball on his back. He maintained possession, giving the Penguins a 40-38 victory.
The improbable catch sends Youngstown State to Jan. 7's title contest against James Madison, which knocked off the top-seeded North Dakota State Bison on Friday.
Finding a franchise quarterback is one of the most difficult tasks placed on talent evaluators. Not only is it a hard position to project forward into the NFL, but also there just isn’t enough talent to fulfill the demand. Almost half of the NFL starts a quarterback with very little chance to lead his team to the Super Bowl.
That’s a harsh reality that is extremely hard to fix. It takes a certain degree of luck to find even a second-tier quarterback via the draft. As we prepare for the 2016 NFL draft, North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz is a player who could provide that lucky ticket to greatness for a franchise next season.
The big question around Wentz is if he can become the top quarterback prospect in 2016. Right now, the class has several promising, but flawed, prospects at the top. There’s certainly room for a player like Wentz to show in 2015 that he is the guy deserving of that crown.
We’re going to break down Wentz’s positives and negatives as a prospect entering the year. This will help provide a full scope of his talent. Then, we have two comparisons for Wentz, and an early conclusion to our big question about whether he can become the top quarterback prospect.
Positives
It’s best that we start with Wentz’s resume. As a first-year starter in 2014, Wentz helped the Bison win their fourth-consecutive FCS title. The Bison finished the year 15-1, and Wentz won the Most Outstanding Player award for his play in the national title game.
Wentz set school records for passing attempts, completions, yards and total offense per game. He threw for 3,111 yards and 25 touchdowns with just 10 interceptions. There were numerous clutch touchdown passes toward the end of games that helped the Bison continue their winning ways.
At 6’5” and 222 pounds, Wentz has the prototypical frame for an NFL quarterback. There should be no concern about whether he can absorb hits from defenders or see over his offensive line. Those are questions that much smaller quarterbacks face, as their size can create massive issues.
Although size isn’t everything, it helps Wentz’s outlook. What’s also impressive about his size is how well he moves. He shouldn’t be characterized as a running quarterback, but he has the ability to scramble and punish defenses on the ground.
In Wentz’s first season as a starter, he had two 100-yard rushing games. He totaled 642 rushing yards on the season, which is the most among the other top 2016 quarterback prospects. This doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s a strength that can help in the NFL.
Quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers are terrific scramblers while also being great in the pocket. When the quarterback knows when to pull the ball in and when to extend plays, you have a special and effective playmaker at the position.
As seen above, Wentz has at least flashed the ability to extend plays and complete tough passes downfield. He avoided the free pass-rusher by using a small pump fake and then scrambled to the sideline before throwing. We’ll touch more on his ability to handle pressure later, but if Wentz can show more of this skill in 2015, he’ll shoot up draft boards.
One way that the Bison put Wentz into a position to succeed is to keep him on the move. His athleticism at his size is notable, but more important is his passing ability while mobile. Wentz has plus arm strength when working to the far side of the field, and also when throwing across his body.
By completing off-balance short to intermediate throws, Wentz creates more open passing lanes than more limited quarterbacks can. Defenses cannot simply sag off their assignments in hopes that Wentz will deliver an inaccurate throw because he’s moving toward his left.
On this next play, Wentz wasn’t flushed from the pocket, but he still shows off his strong arm. Working in the middle of the field, Wentz delivers a strike into the chest of his receiver. If this throw is behind his target even by a foot, this is a pick-six.
Ideally, we’d like to see this throw happen from the far sideline across the field on a deep out-route pattern. Through the three games available on YouTube, Wentz attempted no such throw. That is the best measure of arm strength, and a throw that even good NFL quarterbacks will make via anticipation or pure arm talent.
Hopefully we’ll see Wentz show his talent in this area more in 2015.
An important area where Wentz has shown confidence is throwing into tight windows. This is a massive positive to work with. By understanding leverage and spacing, Wentz is able to thread the needle the way only a dozen or so NFL quarterbacks can.
Below is an example of an NFL-caliber throw into a small area.
As Wentz drops back into the pocket, he reads the linebackers taking away the underneath receiver. This allows his slot man to dip inside of the zone and exploit the small gap between his man and the safety over top.
This throw is dangerous, not only from a turnover aspect but also for his receivers’ health. The receiver ultimately drops the throw, but Wentz showed poise and great accuracy to deliver a catchable pass. His willingness to make these throws is notable; the opposite mindset is what limits average NFL quarterbacks.
Let’s move on to the negatives found in Wentz’s game.
Negatives
The first thing that must be acknowledged is Wentz's competition. The Bison program is the standard in the FCS division, possessing more talent than numerous FBS teams. Their win against Iowa State in 2014 was their only game against an FBS program.
| Games Started | Completions | Attempts | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions | |
| Carson Wentz | 16 | 228 | 358 | 3,111 | 25 | 10 |
| Christian Hackenberg | 13 | 270 | 484 | 2,977 | 12 | 15 |
| Jared Goff | 12 | 316 | 509 | 3,973 | 35 | 7 |
| Trevone Boykin | 13 | 301 | 492 | 3,901 | 33 | 10 |
| Cody Kessler | 13 | 315 | 452 | 3,826 | 39 | 5 |
| Cardale Jones | 3 | 56 | 92 | 860 | 7 | 2 |
It’s hard to get a good feel for Wentz when he’s playing with much better talent than the opposition. Not to mention, Wentz doesn’t have to do much heavy lifting in comparison to other top quarterback prospects. Below are the numbers for Wentz and other quarterback prospects.
Without an FBS foe on the docket for 2015, Wentz must showcase great talent at the Senior Bowl, if he’s invited. That’s where Jimmy Garoppolo of Eastern Illinois solidified his status as a legitimate second-round pick in 2014.
There are several areas of concern in Wentz’s game that could hold him back in the race to be the top quarterback prospect. The first is his ability to handle pressure in the pocket. Below is one example of many where Wentz did not feel the heat and made a poor pass.
The inaccurate throw was a direct result of Wentz’s poor poise. As the rush is crashing in, Wentz slides backward before the throw. The top of his dropback was at the 2-yard line, but he releases the ball close to the goal line.
This shuffling of his feet cost Wentz the ability to deliver through his throwing motion. His arm is strong, but not good enough to overcome bad footwork. This applies to almost every quarterback in the NFL.
Handling pressure with poise is Wentz’s biggest weakness and potential stock killer in the draft. It’s imperative for any prospect to show competence in the pocket. But Wentz’s film has more examples of his not feeling the rush or reacting to it too late.
Remember, the jump from FCS-level pass-rushers to the NFL is going to be even more severe than what an FBS quarterback faces. Poor pocket presence will be magnified tenfold at the next level. The opponent is much faster, longer and more instinctive in the NFL.
Another concern with Wentz is his deep ball. Despite having a strong arm, he is a bad deep passer at this juncture. Even when he had wide-open receivers, Wentz struggled to hit receivers in stride on throws past 15 yards.
Above is one example of his poor deep passing mechanics. Wentz had time to step into a throw and follow through his passing motion. His receiver has steps on the defender, and yet Wentz throws the ball out of bounds.
Where the concern comes is when the ball leaves his hands; it’s as if Wentz is shot-putting the ball. He has little control over where his deep passes are heading. This could be due to small hands.
The small-hands theory may hold water, although there is no official measurement of his hands available online. In the three games evaluated, Wentz consistently had issues with fumbles and deep passing. These are problems that often plague quarterbacks with a small hand radius.
Lastly, an area where Wentz could stand to make a major leap is working off his first read. 2014 was his first season starting, so there were some growing pains and moments where he didn’t show much polish. That’s understandable.
Nevertheless, Wentz must show the ability to read through progressions. When he couldn’t go to his first option in 2014, he would immediately look to scramble or make a panic throw elsewhere. It's paramount that Wentz improves this aspect of his game.
Below we can find an example of Wentz locking onto his first target.
Facing Iowa State, Wentz drops back to pass into the end zone. His receiver is running a slant into off coverage. This is a dangerous pass that has little chance of being completed, as the cornerback just has to hit the receiver to jar the ball loose or play the ball for a pass defensed.
The linebacker underneath is also unaccounted for. Wentz never takes his eyes off his first read, and the linebacker and cornerback see the play unfold with ease. The pass is tipped and luckily not turned into an interception.
Again, this is one example of numerous found in just three games. These patterns are potentially crippling for Wentz’s rise to the top of the 2016 draft class.
Conclusion
There’s a lot to like about Carson Wentz entering the 2015 season. He’s one of the top 10 quarterback prospects in the country, without a doubt. He could be the top senior quarterback in the country.
His size, athleticism and arm talent are all above average. He’s not a freakish athlete for the position, but he doesn’t have to be to find success. His running ability is simply another positive to build around.
Wentz has the ability to stick very difficult throws when he has a clean pocket. He shows flash as a creator outside of the pocket, but he needs to show more consistency and take fewer risks in this area.
But Wentz has at least shown the competence to build off this year and beyond.
In terms of a comparison, Wentz’s 2014 tape is reminiscent of Baltimore’s Joe Flacco and Carolina’s Derek Anderson. Each are big, athletic quarterbacks with strong arms. Wentz’s arm strength isn’t quite on par with those two, but that could be due to poor deep passing mechanics.
Like Flacco, Wentz struggles with passes that go 20 yards or more. His arm talent allows him to control the short to intermediate game and hit all of those throws, though. It’s possible to be a very good quarterback without an efficient deep passing game.
Considering how Wentz struggles against the rush, his floor is similar to Derek Anderson. Anderson found brief success as a starter but could not consistently win inside of the pocket when pressured. Now he is a backup with the Panthers.
Whether or not Wentz can become the top quarterback prospect in the 2016 draft class depends on if he becomes more like Flacco or more like Anderson. Although Flacco isn’t an elite playmaker at the position, he is successful with a very good team around him. He was well worth the first-round pick he was taken with.
Wentz’s ceiling is that of a top quarterback prospect. He has some major concerns to address in 2015, though. As always, we can expect the on-field play to help hash out this question, and surely we will revisit this discussion after football starts next month.
All stats used are from Sports-Reference.com.
Ian Wharton is an NFL Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
Bo Pelini was introduced Wednesday as the new head coach at Youngstown State, where he was hired by former Ohio State head coach and current YSU president Jim Tressel.
In his first public appearance since being fired as head coach at Nebraska, Pelini wasted no time taking a shot at his former chancellor, Harvey Perlman, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com:
But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Pelini's public comments might as well have been "I love you" compared with what he said behind closed doors.
When Pelini left Nebraska, he called a players-only meeting to say goodbye to his team. Pictures from the meet-up surfaced quickly, but we didn't know until Wednesday what he said to his players.
On Wednesday, however, Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha World-Herald acquired an audio recording of Pelini's final speech. There was a lot—I mean, a lot—of NSFW language, which has been censored below.
Here is what Pelini said about athletic director Shawn Eichorst:
A guy like (Eichorst) who has no integrity, he doesn’t even understand what a core value is. And he hasn’t understood it from the day he got here. I saw it when I first met with the guy.
To have core values means you have to be about something, you have to represent something, you have to have something that is important to you. He is a [expletive] lawyer who makes policies. That’s all he’s done since he’s been here is hire people and make policies to cover his own [expletive].
…I didn't really have any relationship with the A.D.. The guy, you guys saw him (Sunday), the guy is a total [expletive]. I mean, he is, and he's a total [expletive].
But Pelini did not stop there.
According to Chatelain, he says he saw anger in administrators' faces after Nebraska beat Iowa in the regular season-finale. They didn't want the Huskers to win—the implication being that they knew Pelini was a goner and would have preferred to fire him after a loss.
This is how Pelini described his final exchange with Eichorst:
He goes, I disagree that I haven't supported you. I said, 'Hey bud, you can't support someone under a [expletive] rock.' I said, to do your job at this level, in a place like this, you gotta be a grown-[expletive] [expletive] man...to lead something. I said you can't lead anything under a [expletive] rock. I said you don't spend any time with us. Our players don't even know who you are. That isn't leadership.
And he said, 'Well I appreciate (your) advice.'
I said, 'I suggest you take it, but see you later.' And that's how it went down.
There's a lot more if you're inclined to keep reading. My personal favorite quote concerns Eichorst's "team of people," to which Pelini says: "I’d rather [expletive] work at McDonald’s than work with some of those guys.
"Not that there is anything bad about working at McDonald’s."
Pelini was fired in November after seven seasons with the Huskers, all of which were more or less the same.
An optimist would argue that he never won fewer than nine games. A pessimist would counter that he never lost fewer than four.
Regardless, the move was met with mixed reviews, especially once Nebraska hired former Oregon State head coach Mike Riley. Riley won nine or more games just four times in the past 11 seasons.
Nebraska released the following statement in response to the comments leaked Wednesday, per Brent Yarina of Big Ten Network:
Pelini is a divisive figure who at one point dared Nebraska to fire him. His playful, charming, cat-loving persona is contrasted with his sometimes-hot temper. He is not afraid to say what's on his mind, which in many cases makes him more endearing.
But it also sometimes lands him in trouble.
One has to wonder, then, if Thursday will play a role in Pelini's coaching future. Nothing he said at the presser is factually untrue—Tressel won a national title with OSU and almost certainly knows more about football than Perlman—but he still probably shouldn't have said it. And he definitely shouldn't have said that stuff to his players.
Youngstown State is a not a destination coaching job, even for a Youngstown, Ohio native such as Pelini. One has to assume he plans on coaching at the FBS level again in the future.
The question is whether any FBS president will ever want to hire him. At this point, his chances look bleak. What school would hire a guy with a reputation for bashing administrators (and a nasty little habit of being recorded)? Why would they risk ending up on the wrong side of one of his diatribes?
The only cure at this point might be winning.
Winning has a way of curing everything.
Follow Brian Leigh on Twitter: @BLeigh35
ESPN's College GameDay will spend Week 3 in Fargo, North Dakota, where it will witness a FCS game between three-time defending national champion North Dakota State and Incarnate Wood.
The show's official Twitter account reported the news:
Heading to Fargo for a game with no bearing on the College Football Playoff or any of the 11 FBS conferences is sure to be met with mixed reviews. For what it's worth, though, the GameDay crew did head to Fargo in September last season, when it saw the Bison beat Delaware State 51-0 to extend its winning streak to 12 games.
Since then, NDSU has extended that winning streak to 26 games, including a season-opening, 34-14 win at Iowa State two weekends ago. Last year, it started the season with a 24-21 win at Kansas State.
"To think (GameDay will come) two years in a row, I don’t know what to say," Bison defensive end Kyle Emanuel told Jeff Kolpack of The Jamestown Sun. "It’s unreal. It’s more than a dream come true."
Despite losing legendary head coach Craig Bohl—who has since moved on to Wyoming and is 2-0 to start his career in the FBS—the Bison remain the biggest draw in the FCS and a team deserving modest recognition. Especially after seeing Iowa State nearly knock off Kansas State in Ames on Saturday, their thorough beatdown of the Cyclones in Week 1 looks all the more impressive.
Besides, where else is GameDay supposed to go? Georgia at South Carolina stuck out as an obvious Week 3 destination during the preseason, but an ESPN-affiliated crew (the folks at the SEC Network) travelled to Williams-Brice Stadium just two weeks ago, and the game it saw between the Gamecocks and Texas A&M was effectively over with 20 minutes left to play.
One can understand why it wouldn't want to go back.
Other bigger games on the Week 3 slate include Tennessee at Oklahoma and...um...Louisville at Virginia? It's not like the GameDay crew had a banner weekend of games to choose from.
Why shouldn't it pack up and head to Fargo?
If the Big 12 is looking for expansion prospects, perhaps the league should look north. North of Kansas. North, toward Fargo, N.D., and North Dakota State.
Last month, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby didn't completely close the door on Big 12 expansion. With the league sitting at 10 teams—and needing 12 to hold a lucrative league title game—the topic came up at Big 12 Media Days.
The Big 12 commissioner said, per freelancer Keith Whitmire for the Deseret News, that expansion was possible only if the school brings "more than pro-rata value."
Between last year and this year, our distribution per school goes up $3.2 million per school. If you do that 12 ways instead of 10 ways, it goes up $2.5 million per school. You've got to have somebody that brings at least pro rata value, and that's a real short list.
| Year | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Ball State | 29-24 |
| 2007 | Central Michigan | 44-14 |
| 2007 | Minnesota | 27-21 |
| 2010 | Kansas | 6-3 |
| 2011 | Minnesota | 37-24 |
| 2012 | Colorado State | 22-7 |
| 2013 | Kansas State | 24-21 |
| 2014 | Iowa State | 34-14 |
I’m not sure about pro-rata value, but North Dakota State has certainly proved its value as a potential Big 12 member on the gridiron.
Saturday’s 34-14 thumping of Iowa State marked the program’s second consecutive win over a Big 12 North foe, and third in the last five years. It was the Bison’s eighth win over an FBS foe in the last nine years, and NDSU extended its win streak to 25 games. Per USA Today's Paul Myerberg, the Bison have the nation's fourth-longest win streak against FBS competition.
North Dakota State has built something truly special in Fargo, with three consecutive FCS national titles. As Bleacher Report's Ben Kercheval noted, the Bison’s program DNA is hard-nosed defense and all-out effort. That hasn’t changed this season, although there was reason to believe NDSU might take a step back this fall.
Head coach Craig Bohl, the architect of the recent success, was hired away last December by Mountain West team Wyoming. And 24 seniors at the roster’s core graduated, finishing their eligibility following last season’s FCS national title win over Towson.
Defensive coordinator Chris Klieman was promoted to replace Bohl. And while Iowa State (3-9 in 2013) is nowhere near as impressive a conquest as beating defending Big 12 champion Kansas State with an 18-play, 80-yard, 8:30 touchdown drive, the Bison were solid Saturday regardless.
After spotting Iowa State a 14-0 lead, NDSU scored the game’s final 34 points, with first-time starting quarterback Carson Wentz completing 18 of 28 passes for 204 yards with no interceptions.
It’s unclear if North Dakota State could compete consistently with the likes of Oklahoma, Texas and Baylor, but at the very least, the Bison have proven worthy of inclusion in the Big 12’s middle class, finding success against FBS teams while competing with the FCS-mandated 63 scholarship limit.
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall has campaigned for his team as a Big 12 expansion target. But if the Big 12 wants a passionate program that has proven it can hold its own with current league members, Bowlsby and Co. could certainly do a lot worse than North Dakota State.
Last year, North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl did what Alabama's Nick Saban couldn't: He won his third straight national championship.
The term "dynasty" gets thrown around at the slightest hint of a three-peat these days, and for good reason. Including Bohl, only a handful of coaches at any level of college football have accomplished that feat. Legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne didn't get it done. Bear Bryant never did it, either, as a consensus champion. Saban came close, winning BCS titles with the Crimson Tide in 2010, 2012 and 2013, but the one in between eluded him.
With his 2011-2013 FCS championship trifecta, Bohl, joined the ranks of Jerry Moore (Appalachian State), Bob Reade (Augustana), Lance Leipold (Wisconsin-Whitewater), Larry Kehres (Mount Union) and Mike Van Diest (Carroll), cementing himself among coaches in the modern era with at least three straight national titles. And Bohl went through the FCS playoffs to get it done.
In 11 seasons as the Bison's head coach, Bohl won 104 games, highlighted by those three consecutive national titles.
Since the end of the 2013 regular season, two of the main architects of the Bison dynasty have departed. On Dec. 8, Wyoming named Bohl its new head coach. In June, former athletic director Gene Taylor announced he was taking a deputy AD job at Iowa.
It's been a time of transition for North Dakota State ever since, but that doesn't mean fans are giving up on the "four-peat" just yet.
"The pressure is to go out and find the next Nick Saban," said Taylor.
Little about North Dakota State gives the impression of a stepping-stone job—other than it doesn't compete at the highest level of college football. The program enjoys a passionate fanbase that ranked among the best in Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) attendance in 2013.
It has a stable administration that constantly supports its athletics program through funding and facility improvement. Above all, the Bison have had steady success with 11 national championships.
Under new head coach Chris Klieman, the Bison are looking to maintain their success. From a stunning upset over Kansas State in 2013 to an appearance on ESPN's College GameDay, few football programs at the FCS level have received the kind of exposure in recent years that North Dakota State has.
"When we talk about someone leaving, whether it’s me or Craig, it’s not about the individual," Taylor said. "Do you have a culture for winning and success? Do you have a culture that people want to support?
"That was in place long before I was at North Dakota State."
A Turnaround from Humble Beginnings
North Dakota State wasn't always a powerhouse. It's easy to imagine a small program from Fargo, North Dakota, offering little to college football.
Before the first wave of championships began at the Division II level in the 1960s (1965, '68 and '69), North Dakota State hadn't had a coach with a winning record since before World War II.
But then came head coach Darrell Mudra (went on to coach at Arizona and Florida State) who guided the Bison to their first Division II title. Ron Erhardt, who would later coach the NFL's New England Patriots, succeeded Mudra and won another two. Then came another four in the 1980s (1983, '85, '86 and '88) with Don Morton, Earle Solomonson and Rocky Hager.
The program established itself as one of the consistent powers in Division II. Its next challenge was to conquer Division I.
In 2004, early on in Taylor's tenure as AD, the university moved up to what was then known as Division I-AA. It was a risky move that not every program made successfully. There are more strenuous financial obligations, including more scholarships (36 to 63) to support.
Furthermore, NDSU wasn't sure what conference it would be joining. Keeping boosters, coaches and recruits confident in the future was difficult.
"The NCAA had come up with a new set of rules because a lot of schools were moving up [to Division I], and they weren’t ready. Financially, they were struggling," Taylor said. "So the NCAA said you get a five-year probationary period. You don’t get to compete for championships, share in NCAA money, can’t win a conference championship.
"There was a lot of anxiety during that time."
Not to mention a coaching change. The program was trending down under Bob Babich, so Taylor hired Bohl. Because of the NCAA restrictions, the Bison weren't able to compete in the Division I playoff despite winning 10 games in 2006 and 2007.
| Year | Coach |
| 1965 | Darrell Mudra |
| 1968 | Ron Erhardt |
| 1969 | Ron Erhardt |
| 1983 | Don Morton |
| 1985 | Earle Solomonson |
| 1986 | Earle Solomonson |
| 1988 | Rocky Hager |
| 1990 | Rocky Hager |
| 2011 | Craig Bohl |
| 2012 | Craig Bohl |
| 2013 | Craig Bohl |
Every program boasts about the team-oriented players it recruits. However, with no opportunity for a championship, the players who transitioned the Bison to Division I did so knowing they were only there to lay the groundwork.
They would not be able to hang championship banners next to the ones from the '60s and '80s.
"They didn’t get a chance to do that," Taylor lamented, "but they helped build us to where we are today."
That would soon change, however. By 2010, the Bison were competing in the Division I playoffs. The three-peat title run began the following year.
Establishing the Attitude
Defense is a source of pride for North Dakota State, which, dating back to the Hager era, has exclusively hired defensive-minded head coaches.
In 2011, Klieman joined Bohl's coaching staff as a defensive backs coach following a successful stint at another FCS power, Northern Iowa, where he was the defensive coordinator. In 2012, he took over the same responsibilities with the Bison.
"You have to take chances. You have to continue to network. You have to continue to better yourself and challenge yourself as a coach," Klieman said. "It was time for a new challenge."
Klieman is an Iowa native and a Midwestern guy familiar with the Missouri Valley Football Conference, formerly the Gateway Conference. There's an attitude in the region, he says, that favors sound defense and good field position.
Klieman, like so many coaches at North Dakota State before him, is rooted in that mantra. North Dakota State had a stout defense in 2013, allowing just 11.3 points per game.
In each of Klieman's three years in Fargo, the Bison have led the nation in scoring defense.
Minor things change from coach to coach, like blitz or personnel packages. The overall model, however, remains the same. The Bison practice hard and play hard with the goal of wearing down their opponents.
That starts with workouts. Of all the hires Klieman made, none were more important than keeping strength and conditioning coach Jim Kramer.
"He was the No. 1 focal point," Klieman said. "I know Craig was trying to get him at Wyoming, and we were trying to keep him.
"Jim loves it here. He has a great bond with our players. They’re with the strength coach 12 months out of the year."
It was Klieman's biggest recruiting victory. New Washington coach Chris Petersen echoed that sentiment, telling Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated about the importance of hiring good strength coaches:
They're everything. Finally people are starting to figure out how valuable [strength and conditioning coaches] are. They're starting to get paid better. I mean, they probably spend, and I don't even think it's a probably, they do spend more time than myself or the assistants with these kids. That was my first hire, and probably my most important.
Kramer is one of the many people who have molded the program that has defeated a Football Bowl Subdivision team each of the last four years, including last year's stunning upset of Kansas State.
24-21
At 74 years old, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder is still a living box score.
"We had a good offensive line last year," he said at Big 12 media days. "We averaged about four or five yards per rush."
"Against North Dakota State," he continued, "we averaged about 1.8 yards per rush."
Look it up and he's dead on. The Wildcats averaged 4.5 yards per carry in 2013, according to cfbstats.com. In a 24-21 loss to the Bison in the '13 season opener? Sure enough, it was 1.8.
North Dakota State's offense was just as impressive. The Bison had just one drive in the fourth quarter, but they made it count. An 18-play, 80-yard grinder that lasted 8:30 resulted in the go-ahead touchdown with 28 seconds left.
On the very next play, linebacker Grant Olson intercepted Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters, sealing the upset. The Bison had toppled the reigning Big 12 champs.
The Manhattan crowd, which just hours before watched an unveiling of Snyder's statue outside of the stadium named for the legendary coach, was blindsided.
How was it possible?
The Bison's fourth-quarter dominance revealed a universal truth about football, no matter the level: Good teams are excellent in the trenches since everything that happens on both sides of the ball before, during and after the snap begins right there.
"Everyone would say we’re a running team. I would say we’re 50-50 balanced team when games are not in doubt," Klieman said. "Once the game is in hand, then we’re probably 80 percent run/quick passes to try and wear someone down."
Recruiting has to match that philosophy. The Bison coaching staffs have historically tried to recruit the big Midwestern prospects you'd expect to find in places like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Even in-state recruiting is a priority.
"We have to win in the State of North Dakota," Klieman said.
There are other places that Klieman calls auxiliary recruiting grounds: Kansas City, St. Louis, Florida and Arizona. The roster is sprinkled with players from those areas.
Almost all of the players were overlooked elsewhere, usually by Big Ten schools. They're an inch or two short, a hair slow in their 40 time, but they can play. And the coaching staff knows how and where to find them.
"If you have a guy who comes in and says he wants to build his program with a bunch of D-I and JUCO transfers, that changes your culture," Taylor said. "If you quit recruiting your base, that changes your culture."
The Bison have no intention of changing that.
Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
Even through coaching and administrative changes, North Dakota has been able to remain largely the same. That's easier said than done.
Consider that Pitt once had three different head coaches in the span of a year: Dave Wannstedt, Mike Haywood and Todd Graham in 2010-11.
Bohl declined to be interviewed, but Wyoming released a statement to Bleacher Report. "Craig had a great time while he was the head coach of the Bison and has so many great friends still there," it read. "But he feels it is best for NDSU that he let them move forward and build their program without him commenting on the program now that he has left."
Sure, playbooks will be modified, as they are every year. But, most importantly, the players who were a part of three national championships remained the same.
"I told our guys, 'We’ve changed a lot of coaches, but we haven’t changed you players,'" Klieman said. "It's still your football team."
Retention rate is of the utmost importance. No matter how good North Dakota State has been, scholarship limitations mean less depth. Some players never receive full scholarships like they would in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
There simply isn't as large a margin for error when it comes to attrition as there is at the highest division of college football.
It takes leadership to keep the retention rate high. "We have great seniors. There just aren't as many," Klieman said. "But they were freshmen when we won our first national championship. They weren't the stars, but they've seen how a successful season goes."
Taylor and Klieman preached, almost verbatim, that buying into a culture is what breeds success. North Dakota State's culture has been about finding regional high school players who have a chip on their shoulder. "You have to understand who you are," Taylor said.
It's paid dividends. The Bison have been picked to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference this season despite the coaching change. A season opener against Iowa State is another winnable game against an FBS opponent. A victory against the Cyclones would only boost recruiting for Klieman and his staff.
As if North Dakota State needed more help. Summer camps are nearing 1,000 prospects per session. The brand of Bison football is as good as its ever been. The future is undeniably bright.
Still, it's hard not to look back at what has been an unthinkable journey. Klieman let out a chuckle as though he was still in a state of disbelief.
"Last year was a special year."
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football at Bleacher Report. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
The North Dakota State Bison came into this year's FCS college football season as two-time defending national champions. They now finish the season as three-time defending national champions, thanks to a 35-7 blowout of Towson in the FCS National Championship Game in Frisco, Texas.
The Bison kicked off the scoring with a five-play, 54-yard drive on their second possession of the game, which culminated in a two-yard touchdown run by John Crockett with a little more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Tigers responded with a 12-play, 77-yard drive that took up the remainder of the first quarter and was punctuated by a three-yard Terrance West touchdown run as the quarter ended.
For most of the second quarter, the game stayed deadlocked at 7-7, and it appeared that Towson may be able to hang with the powerhouse Bison.
That all changed with about five minutes remaining in the half, when Bison safety Colten Heagle blocked a 41-yard field-goal attempt and teammate Kyle Emanuel picked up the block and ran it back to the Towson 5-yard line.
On the very next play, a sweep handoff to wide receiver Ryan Smith resulted in a five-yard touchdown run to put the Bison on top once again.
NDSU wouldn't relinquish that lead, as Towson's next possession ended when quarterback Peter Athens got picked off by cornerback CJ Smith, who had an impressive winding return that netted NDSU 32 yards and gave them the ball in Towson territory.
The Bison needed only five plays to find the end zone, with QB Brock Jensen hitting star WR Zach Vraa for a 12-yard touchdown pass to send NDSU into halftime up 21-7.
The third quarter was all Bison, as Towson gained only 33 yards total, while NDSU racked up 161 and got on the scoreboard again, courtesy of a nine-yard touchdown run by Jensen.
The fourth quarter opened on another positive note for NDSU, as Sam Ojuri broke into the end zone on a one-yard run to give the Bison a 35-7 lead.
Towson's players had two long drives left in them but couldn't find the end zone, giving the Bison the 35-7 win and their third consecutive national championship.
The Tigers actually outgained the Bison, 373 yards to 345, but most of that came on the two meaningless drives near the end of the game. On the ground, NDSU outrushed the Tigers, 210 yards to 106. The Bison defense kept vaunted Towson running back Terrance West mostly in check, as he failed to eclipse 100 yards on the ground and was held to only an average of 4.5 yards per carry, which is well below his season average of 6.3.
One factor that affected both teams was the terrible field condition, as the grassy turf was left in chunks all over the field, and footing was an obvious issue for both the Bison and the Tigers. Large groups of workers and volunteers came on during each stop in play to try to patch the field back together.
The dominating win put NDSU in elite company, making them only the second team to ever win three straight FCS titles in football. NDSU joins Appalachian State, which did it from 2005 to 2007.
There is no doubt that this NDSU squad is to be considered a dynasty. During their three-year run, the Bison have gone 43-2, which included a perfect 15-0 record this season. That makes them the first FCS team to go undefeated since Harvard in 2004, which didn't participate in the playoffs.
Bison QB Brock Jensen finishes his career as the winningest quarterback in FCS history, going out with a final record of 48-5 as a starter.
The Bison will lose most of their starters and coaching staff after this season, so it remains to be seen whether they will be able to extend their dynasty next season.
For the time being though, the North Dakota State Bison are the most dominant football program in the country.
