Bison defense stifles Eastern Washington in season-opening victory – InForum

MINNEAPOLIS — North Dakota State got a rejuvenated secondary and a new defensive coordinator who made his debut Saturday at US Bank Stadium. They made a strong first impression.

The #2 ranked Bison held off Eastern Washington’s offense and cruised to a 35-10 win in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision tournament playing in front of 22,546 fans at home field for the Minnesota Vikings.

“Awesome atmosphere,” said Bisons head coach Matt Entz. “It continues to add experience to my list of things, and to my players’ list of things.”

Converted linebacker Cole Wisniewski lunged for safety, while second linebacker Logan Cobb appeared to be around the football all afternoon. NDSU’s almost all-new secondary has kept the Eagles’ passing game in check for the most part. Jason Petrino — Capital for Southern Illinois last season — was in his first game as the Bison’s defensive coordinator.

“I’m excited,” Entz said. “When people think of Eastern Washington, they think of explosive play, they think of passing game, they think of rhythm. … He challenged us right away early in the season.”

NDSU improved to 90-31-6 in the season opener. The Bison are coming off a 12-3 season in which they lost to rival South Dakota State in the FCS national title game this past January. Saturday’s game between NDSU and the Eagles was the first collegiate football game to be played at US Bank Stadium.

“It was amazing, and it was a lot of fun,” said Cobb. “There’s no better way to open the season than at US Bank Stadium.”

The 6-foot-4, 217-pound Wisniewski finished with 11 tackles and an interception, while Cobb added 10 tackles, including a sack.

“When you change positions, there are a lot of question marks,” Wisniewski said. “It started in practice and the scouts did a great job.”

Eastern Washington finished with 338 yards on 67 plays. Eagles quarterback Kekoa Visperas completed 23 of 39 passes for 266 yards and 1 touchdown with 1 interception.

“I think he was under a lot of pressure at times,” said Aaron Best, the head coach of Eastern Washington. “At times he was trying to get to his second read and before you knew it he had somebody in the face. We didn’t do as well as we (we would like) to attack. They pressured him a little bit more.” “We didn’t give him enough time, enough time to make him very comfortable there, but his performance was brave.”

Kopp said Wisniewski—who began his career at NDSU as a linebacker—was one of the players who helped him develop during Kopp’s first two seasons in the program.

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“It’s absolutely fantastic,” said Cope. “He kind of took me under his wing in my first two years here. … He’s done a really good job of changing positions.
NDSU pushed its lead to three touchdowns late in the third quarter. Bisons quarterback Cam Miller scored on a 14-yard TD run to take a 28-7 lead with 2 minutes and 56 seconds left in the third period. That capped off a 70-yard touchdown run that took nine plays.

Bison tight end Joe Stoffel added a 3-yard catch from Miller for a 35-7 lead with 8:30 to play in the fourth quarter. Stoffel had two touchdown catches.

Eastern Washington kicker Soren McKee kicked a 36-yard field goal to narrow NDSU’s lead to 35-10 with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

“Really proud of those guys up front,” Best said. “It was a physical match. Two years ago, we went to Fargo and there were a lot of people lying on the floor. We were physically superior. This match was definitely different.”

The Bison scored on their first drive, which covered 80 yards. Stoffel caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Miller for a 7-0 lead with 9:23 to play in the first quarter. Earlier in the drive, Miller completed a 26-yard key pass to receiver Eli Green to the Bison 44-yard line on a third-and-12 play.

NDSU pushed its lead to two touchdowns on its second drive. Running back TaMerik Williams broke ground on a 54-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead with 7:02 remaining in the first quarter. That drive covered 72 yards and lasted three plays.

The Eagles responded after receiver Nolan Ulm caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Visperas to cut the Bison’s lead to 14-7 with 4:55 to play in the first quarter. Ulm’s TD catch came on the fourth-and-eight play.

“There was one game where the ball got behind us,” Entz said of his defense.

Bison quarterback Cole Payton answered with a 70-yard touchdown run for a 21-7 lead with 10:10 to play in the second quarter. That capped off a 92-yard drive that took four plays. NDSU held a 14-point lead until halftime after Wisniewski intercepted Visperas on the last play of the second quarter.

The Bison had 290 first half receiving yards in 32 plays, averaging 9.1 yards per game. NDSU finished with 513 yards on 67 plays, including 337 receiving yards on 39 attempts. Payton rushed for 82 yards on three attempts in the first half and finished with a high 104 yards on six carries.

“We’ve been bitten by our quarterbacks a few times,” Best said. “We lost containment on the quarterback’s pulls. But overall it was different. Even if the stats might say very similar, it was a different ball game. It wasn’t easy to get 300 yards, or connect with what you want (ball game). “

Miller completed 18 of 25 passes for 174 yards and two TDs and also rushed for 83 yards and a TD on nine attempts.

“The guys did very well,” Miller said.

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David Samson/Forum

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David Samson/Forum

David Samson/Forum

David Samson/Forum

David Samson/Forum

David Samson/Forum

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David Samson/Forum

Peterson covers college athletics for Forum, including Concordia College and Minnesota-Moorhead State. He also covers the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks independent baseball team and helps cover North Dakota football. Peterson has worked for the newspaper since 1996.