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Same old story: North Dakota State routs Sam Houston State in title game
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
FRISCO – For North Dakota State, Saturday's NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was much of the same from last year's showdown.
The Bison dominated the second half after entering the locker room in a 10-10 tie and steamrolled Sam Houston State for a 39-13 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 21,411 at FC Dallas Stadium.
"It wasn't their day, it was our day," said Marcus Williams, North Dakota State cornerback.
"I felt coming into the game that Sam Houston was a better team than they were last year," said Craig Bohl, North Dakota State head coach. "They certainly had more weapons."
Quarterback Brock Jensen led the charge for the Bison by scoring three rushing touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the third quarter shortly after a holding penalty wiped out a Sam Houston touchdown. Running back Sam Ojuri added two more scores on the ground in the second half.
"It's got to be the hardest thing to do in sports to repeat a championship," Jensen said. "Go back to back, especially a national championship. It's hard enough to repeat a conference championship."
Sam Houston did show signs of hope in the early going and entered the locker room knotted at10-10 after scoring a game-tying touchdown with 33 seconds left in the second quarter. That early success allowed quarterback Brian Bell to throw for 255 yards against the nation’s top-ranked pass defense.
However, Bell’s turnovers proved costly in the second half and the Bearkats signal caller racked up three of Sam Houston’s four interceptions in the game.
“I thought we had some opportunities,” said Willie Fritz, Sam Houston head coach. “The ball just didn’t bounce our way a couple of times on some big plays.”
Sam Houston running back Tim Flanders, the team’s all-time leading rusher, was held to just 53 yards on 19 carries from a stingy North Dakota State defense that made big play after big play in the final two quarters.
Flanders eventually broke loose early in the third quarter for a 41-yard scamper to the end zone, giving Sam Houston an apparent one-touchdown lead.
However, a holding call negated the play and Bell had a pass intercepted by Francisco Hardacker later in the drive before Jensen capitalized with a 1-yard touchdown run on the other end to instead put North Dakota State up, 17-10.
“We gave up some yards but did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone,” Bohl said.
Jensen finished the game with 115 yards through the air after completing 9-of-16 attempts and added 52 more yards on the ground with the three scores.
The Bison upped their advantage on the team’s ensuing possession when Ojuri found paydirt from 2 yards away for a 25-10 lead. Ojuri tallied a game-high 92 yards for the Bison while finding the end zone twice in the second half.
The fourth quarter was much of the same as North Dakota State outscored Sam Houston, 14-3, to take a 39-13 victory and give the Bearkats a second straight runner-up finish.
“We’ve got to find a way to get over the hump,” Fritz said. “That’s something we’ll be working on in the offseason.”
With more than 10,000 Bison fans decked out in green and gold, a stampede of fans stormed the field after the final seconds ticked off the clock, clinching North Dakota State's second straight title.
“I think we have the best crowd in American,” said Ryan Smith, North Dakota State receiver.
The Bison, who won last year’s title game, 17-6, improved to 10-1 in the FCS playoffs with Saturday’s win over Sam Houston marking their eighth straight postseason victory.
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