Kolpack and Izzo Podcast: Memories of Craig Bohl and the Bison-Coyotes meet again in the playoffs
Release Date: 12/08/2023
A dance with the Jacks awaits for a trip to Frisco
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
It's an even numbered year, which means North Dakota State and South Dakota State must play in the playoffs. It's happened in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022 and now this year. You can set your watch to it. NDSU has hosted all but one of those games, which was the national championship game in Frisco. The Jackrabbits have accomplished nearly everything in FCS football, except beating the Bison in Fargo in the postseason. SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski can break the FCS all-time wins record with a victory Saturday, taking the spot of former Bison great Easton Stick. Gronowski tied Stick's record...
info_outline
Matching up with Mercer and a quiet start to the portal opening
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
The FCS quarterfinals kick off tonight and continue tomorrow in Fargo as North Dakota State hosts Southern Conference champion Mercer for a berth in the semifinals. The Bears (11-2) advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time after beating Rhode Island 17-10 last week in the second round. They are led defensively by a team that has racked up 23 interceptions, including two separate players with seven picks. They racked up individual postseason awards for their success; Mike Jacobs in his first season was named SoCon coach of the year, running back Dwayne McGee was named...
info_outline
A newsy week filled with signings, a departure and a football game
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
The first week of December was a busy one for North Dakota State football. It began with the news that Cole Wisniewski was going to enter the transfer portal after rehabbing a foot injury all season long. The former All-American safety has not played a down this season for the Bison. It continued with National Signing Day as NDSU added 32 high school players for its Class of 2025, highlighted by a pair of players that will enroll early and be in Fargo in January. Standout redshirt freshman running back Marty Brown brought home the Jerry Rice Award, which goes to the top freshman in FCS,...
info_outline
A clash with the Coyotes for a Valley title and a top seed
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
North Dakota State returns to Vermillion, South Dakota Saturday with a chance to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference title outright and likely clinch a top playoff seed. The Bison will face fourth ranked South Dakota, the Coyotes are having another great season, coming in with an 8-2 record and 6-1 in the league. USD's two losses came to Wisconsin and South Dakota State, the latter in overtime. USD has never won the Valley in it's decade-plus tenure in the conference, the Coyotes would grab a share of the championship if they're able to beat the Bison and put themselves into the...
info_outline
The seniors say so long as the Bison go for a Valley title
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
North Dakota State returns to the field after its bye week Saturday as they will host surprising Missouri State. The Bears enter on an eight-game winning streak after losing their first two games of the season. MSU is in its final season of FCS football after announcing this spring they are moving up to FBS and Conference USA in 2025. Ryan Beard is in his second year as head coach of the Bears, who has turned the reigns over to former Minnesota transfer Jacob Clark. Clark enters with 25 touchdown passes and over 3,000 passing yards. The Bison offense has been electric this...
info_outline
The plight of the Panthers and a potential All-American return
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
North Dakota State and Northern Iowa will play in a football game inside the Fargodome for the first time in three years Saturday afternoon. The Panthers last trip to Fargo coincided with the last time UNI made the FCS Playoffs, 2021. The Panthers posted a 6-5 regular season record and lost in the first round to Eastern Washington. Since that game in Cheney, Washington, the Panthers have posted a 14-16 record, including six straight losses in 2024 after a 2-0 start. Inconsistent quarterback play and poor defense has plagued UNI in that stretch as they come to Fargo this weekend....
info_outline
Racing to Kentucky for a matchup with Murray State
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
It was an emotional win for North Dakota State last week against South Dakota State and it came at a cost. The Bison lost two more defensive starters to injury in that game, linebacker Oscar Benson and safety Sam Jung. Benson will be back at sometime this year, while Jung's career is over with a torn pectoral muscle. NDSU will press on, playing it's ninth consecutive game this Saturday as they travel to Kentucky to face Murray State, the newest member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Racers are led by first-year head coach Jody Wright, a former South Carolina...
info_outline
Dakota Marker Goes Primetime and all about turnovers
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
North Dakota State and South Dakota State will meet for the Dakota Marker for the 21st time Saturday night at the Fargodome. This will mark the first night regular season game in Fargo since the 2016 season opener, when NDSU beat Charleston Southern in overtime. SDSU comes into this game with a 5-1 record, having won five straight after a season opening loss to Oklahoma State, that snapped a 29-game win streak. The Jackrabbits haven't lost a game to an FCS team since December of 2021, in the FCS semifinals at Montana State. They are trying to win in Fargo for a third straight time,...
info_outline
The Salukis try to save their season hosting the Bison
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
North Dakota State hits the second half of the 2024 season this Saturday as the Bison will head to Southern Illinois to take on a struggling Salukis team. SIU, which has made the playoffs three of the last four seasons, has had a run of injuries that's tough to fathom. Nick Hill will start a true freshman at quarterback this weekend in Jake Curry after his top three quarterbacks all suffered season ending injuries. Curry was inserted into the game last week against Illinois State, throwing two interceptions in the 45-10 loss to the Redbirds. SIU has lost three straight games,...
info_outline
North Dakota Game Preview and is a trophy game on the horizon?
Kolpack and Izzo Podcast
The eyes of North Dakota will be fixed on the Fargodome Saturday afternoon as North Dakota State will host the University of North Dakota in a large Missouri Valley Football Conference game. The Bison come in ranked second, while the Fighting Hawks come in seventh. This is the second time in the last four years the two teams are ranked in the top ten, UND and NDSU were ranked second and fourth in the spring season of 2021. Each team has high-flying offenses so far in 2024, NDSU has the eighth ranked offense in FCS, with UND coming in at tenth. Both teams are averaging 39 points...
info_outlineNearly 38 years to the day of one of the biggest games in Bison football history, North Dakota State and the University of South Dakota are set to face each other again in the playoffs.
December 7, 1985 is a day that will go down in infamy for USD. The Coyotes had the Bison in the Dakota Dome, after beating NDSU 38-14 earlier in the season. The Bison had the last laugh, thanks to one of the most improbable plays, named "The Pitch", as Jeff Bentrim pitched the ball as he falling to James Molstre.
Molstre ran 63-yards down the sidelines for a touchdown and NDSU never looked back. They forced three turnovers in a 16-7 on the way to a second national title in three years.
The two teams would play again in the 1986 Division II title game, a Bison rout. Now, 37 years later, the two schools meet again in the playoffs, this time for a spot in the FCS semifinals.
South Dakota has had a dream year, winning 10 games for the first time in the Division I level. That included a 24-19 win in Fargo back in September. Now the Bison are in their building, with a chance to beat them twice in the same year for the first time.
NDSU (10-3) is playing its best football. The Bison have won four straight games, and have a chance to write a wrong in their minds. NDSU fell behind 21-3 at halftime to the Coyotes in September and could never recover from that slow start.
The Forum's Jeff Kolpack and WDAY's Dom Izzo break down the game and also reminiscence about their memories of covering former Bison head coach Craig Bohl.
Bohl announced on Tuesday that he is retiring from coaching after ten years at Wyoming and the previous ten years at NDSU. They share some of their fondest memories covering Bohl.