The #2 North Dakota Bison racked up 28 second half points and 456 yards of total offense on Saturday afternoon, routing the Maine Black Bears 44-7 at the Fargo Dome in Fargo, North Dakota in non-conference football action.
Maine got fortunate to stay in the game in the first half. The Black Bears lost a fumble deep in their own territory by tightend Rohan Jones on the first possession of the contest, and North Dakota State recovered at the 14-yard line. The defense held the Bison to a Griffin Crosa 27 yard field goal. Later in the first quarter, quarterback Derek Robertson was intercepted by NDSU sophomore linebacker Logan Kopp who returned it 35 yards to the Bears 23. The defense once again didn’t break, and Crosa extended their advantage to 6-0 with a kick of 40 yards. On a drive that started in the first and lasted early into the second, the Bison spoiled a chance to stretch the lead when they had first and goal at the Maine 4-yard line. The Black Bears would step up to stop four straight runs to come up with a turnover on downs, including a fourth down at the 1 on a tackle by Shakur Smalls. Crosa hit his third field goal from 31 yards with 4:15 left in the half, and finally the hosts got into the endzone on their next possession on a two yard QB keeper by Cam Miller to make it 16-0. Maine had their best chance to get on the scoreboard in the waining seconds of the second quarter, working it to the Bison 28-yard line helped by a pass interference penalty. A 46 yard field goal though by Cody Williams went wide right as time expired. The guests only mustered 85 yards of offense and four first downs along with two turnovers in the first 30 minutes.
NDSU (2-0) took the second half kickoff and went 75 yards in 12 plays, capped off by a second rushing touchdown by Miller of two yards. With Maine driving with the best momentum of the game for them at that point including a 23 yard pass from Robertson to Tristen Kenan, Robertson would throw his second interception of the day on fourth down and short at the Bison 35-yard line. After the hosts tried a fake punt on fourth down in Black Bears territory and didn’t make it, Cole Wisniewski made it back to back interceptions himself of Robertson. Cole Payton came on to play quarterback and would end up scoring twice, once on a two yard run after the second Robertson interception and then on an explosive 61 yarder early in the fourth quarter as the home standing Bison pulled away. Maine got on the board with just over six minutes left and the game already decided on a John Gay 13 yard touchdown run. With some of the third stringers in, NDSU punched in one final score on a short Owen Johnson run in the final 30 seconds.
Robertson in the loss was 18-29 for 117 yards and three interceptions, and for a second straight week didn’t throw a touchdown pass. Kenan after a big week one was held to 53 yards on 14 rushes, while Gay added in 49 yards on eight carries and the lone Black Bears touchdown. Jamie Lamson led the receiving core with six catches for 42 yards. Kahzir “Buggs” Brown and Darius McKenzie had nine total tackles, and Smalls had eight. Miller was 14-19 passing for 152 yards, and had 15 rush attempts for 68 yards and two touchdowns in the win for North Dakota State. Payton was 3-5 for 40 yards, and added eight runs for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Zach Mathis led all Bison receivers with four receptions for 62 yards. NDSU, a nine-time FCS National Champion, is now 78-4 against non-conference opponents since the beginning of the 2011 season. Maine (0-2) now heads back to Orono as they play at home for the first time taking on Rhode Island in the Coastal Athletic Association opener next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Recap by Chris Lessner
