FARGO, N.D. (NDSU Athletics)- Cam Miller passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns and Cole Payton rushed for 104 yards and two scores to lead North Dakota State to a 66-3 victory over Drake in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship on Saturday, Nov. 25.
North Dakota State (9-3) advanced to the second round and will face No. 6 seed Montana State (8-3) at 1 p.m. MST next Saturday, Dec. 2, at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. Drake, champion of the Pioneer Football League, had an eight-game winning streak snapped and finished its season 8-4 overall.
Eli Green led nine Bison receivers with three catches for 91 yards including a 34-yard touchdown, and RaJa Nelson had two catches for 51 yards with a 40-yard TD. Miller finished 10 of 11 passing and added 62 yards in the running game as the Bison rolled up 318 yards and averaged 6.2 yards per carry.
Payton scored on runs of 20 and 36 yards, Nelson scored twice in the game including a 5-yard rushing TD, TaMerik Williams scored on a 4-yard run, and Barika Kpeenu added 14-yard and 1-yard TD runs.
The NDSU defense forced five turnovers. Kole Menz forced a fumble, Sam Jung had a forced fumble and interception, Jayden Price intercepted a pass, Loshiaka Roques and Julian Wlodarczyk each recovered fumbles, and Kelton McCaslin had a 5-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Drake had the early momentum after forcing a fumble on the first play from scrimmage. Miller rushed for 15 yards before Jacob Thompson punched out the football and Tyler Radocha recovered to give the Bulldogs the ball at midfield. After runs of 11 and 22 yards, three plays later Drake settled for a 30-yard field goal.
NDSU scored touchdowns on its next five possessions and led 35-3 at halftime. The 66 total points was an NDSU postseason record, surpassing the 55 points scored against Sam Houston State in the 2017 FCS semifinals.
Comments