RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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NDSU dominated in its FBS debut on Saturday. Getty
North Dakota State looked right at home in the FBS with a 33-7 rout of Jacksonville State in the Fargodome on Saturday.
The Bison displayed their typical precision on offense and toughness on defense, and the Herd wore down the Gamecocks in the second half. That’s the formula that worked to a tune of 10 FCS championships, and the CBS Sports Network crew posted a wild stat of how the Bison stacked up with all of Division I college football since 2010.
NDSU owns the best winning percentage, .886, among both the FBS and FCS in that 16-year span. Alabama, which had an FBS dynasty in the 2010s, has an .869 mark. The Bison went 194-25 during that span and won all 10 of their FCS titles and reached another title game in the 2022 season.
Alabama has a 193-29 record since 2010, and the Crimson Tide won five national titles under former head coach Nick Saban. Following the Tide, it’s Ohio State at 183-29 for an .863 mark, Georgia at 173-45 for a .794 mark and Clemson at 173-45 for a .794 mark.
The Bison notably had a 6-2 record against FBS teams in that span, and that still puts the Herd in the upper echelon for FBS competition winning percentages. NDSU made it 7-2 against FBS teams on Saturday and 1-0 for the season in Bison-like fashion, and JSU wasn’t a pushover.
NDSU Kept the Home Dominance Going
JSU had three consecutive nine-win seasons coming into Fargo, and NDSU dismantled the Gamecocks like the previous home opener opponents. NDSU has won 28 consecutive home openers at the dome since 2004, the first year as a Division I program.
Only Charleston Southern gave the Bison a true nail-biter in 2016, when the Herd squeaked out a victory over the Buccaneers in overtime, 24-17. JSU looked poised to give the Bison a dogfight on Saturday when Gamecocks quarterback Caden Creel rushed for a game-tying touchdown, 7-7, in the first quarter.
NDSU pulled ahead 10-7 on a field goal and never gave up that lead after that point. The Gamecocks threatened to tie, but going for a fourth-down play instead of kicking a field goal backfired.
Bison quarterback Nathan Hayes led another touchdown drive for a 17-7 lead, and the Herd kept rolling from there. NDSU’s defense shut down Creel and company, and the Gamecocks struggled with the Fargodome crowd noise, a constant problem for past visiting teams at the peak of the dynasty.
NDSU Fan Base Comeback
Because of NDSU’s long-standing dominance in the FCS, the Bison piled on blowout home wins in the regular season in playoffs that led to dwindling fan interest. Bison fans only packed the dome for former arch rival South Dakota State , late playoff games and nearly annual trip to Frisco, Texas, for the FCS title game.
NDSU athletics hoped to revive the fan base with the FBS and Mountain West Conference move, and it paid off on Saturday as the dome had more than 18,000 fans for a game broadcast nationally. The Bison host five more games this season, and the Herd may get an extra chance afterward if the team can nab the best record in the Mountain West and host the conference championship game in Fargo.
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