FARGO – South Dakota State won a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title with a 27-17 win at North Dakota State on Saturday afternoon.
SDSU (5-1 overall) turned out 454 total yards and snapped NDSU’s 32-game winning streak inside the Fargodome. James Madison was the last team to knock off the Bison at home on December 16, 2016, in the FCS semifinals with a 27-17 win.
“You’re not gonna win when you give up explosive plays and don’t play well in the red zone,” said NDSU head coach Matt Entz.
Jackrabbits quarterback Mark Gronowski went 10-14 for 149 yards and 1 touchdown while rushing 126 yards on 16 attempts.
SDSU outrushed NDSU 305-97. It’s the most rushing yards the Bison gave up since September 20, 2008, when Youngstown State tailed up 340 yards on the ground.
“Unfortunately today we had a lot of issues with execution,” said Bison linebacker Jackson Hankey. “We anticipated the plays they were going to run, we felt like we had a pretty good idea of what they were doing, but we just weren’t able to execute our calls.”
Hankey finished with 8 tackles in the contest.
Cam Miller went 9-16 for 149 yards and 1 interception while adding 38 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on the ground for the Bison.
NDSU finishes the regular season 6-2 overall.
The FCS playoff bracket will be announced on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. on ESPNU.
NOTES
- SDSU won a share of the MVFC title with North Dakota and Missouri State. NDSU had previously won outright or shared a conference title the last 9 years.
- Zeb Noland opened under center and went three-and-out. Miller played at quarterback for the rest of the game.
- NDSU right guard Grey Zable linebacker James Kaczor left the game with an injury. Entz said he’ll know more on both later in the week.
- Jackrabbits were the last team to beat the Bison in the regular season at the Fargdome on October 15, 2016. SDSU won 19-17.
BOX SCORE
SDSU 7 3 7 10 27
NDSU 3 0 10 7 17
SCORING SUMMARY
SDSU 7 NDSU 0 – Mark Gronowski passes a 25-yard touchdown to Blake Kunz with 10:07 left in the first quarter. Cole Frahm with the PAT.
SDSU 7 NDSU 3 – Jake Reinholz makes a 41-yard field goal with 6:18 left in the first quarter.
SDSU 10 NDSU 3 – Frahm makes a 31-yard field goal with 3 seconds left in the seconds quarter.
SDSU 10 NDSU 10 – Cam Miller rushes for a 13-yard touchdown with 11:24 left in the third quarter. Reinholz with the PAT.
SDSU 17 NDSU 10 – Pierre Strong rushes for a 53-yard touchdown with 8:28 left in the third quarter. Frahm with the PAT.
SDSU 17 NDSU 17 – Miller rushes for a 2-yard touchdown with 2:11 left in the third quarter. Reinholz with the PAT.
SDSU 20 NDSU 17 – Frahm makes a 24-yard field goal with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter.
SDSU 27 NDSU 17 – Isaiah Davies rushes for a 5-yard touchdown with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter. Frahm with the PAT.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
SDSU – Gronowski went 10-14 for 149 yards and 1 touchdown.
NDSU – Miller went 9-16 for 149 yards and 1 interception.
Rushing
SDSU – Gronowski rushed for 126 yards and averaged 7.9 yards per rush.
NDSU – Hunter Luepke rushes for 43 yards and averaged 3.1 yards per rush.
Receiving
SDSU – Pierre Strong had 4 receptions for 50 yards.
NDSU – Christian Watson had 2 receptions for 74 yards.
Defense
SDSU – Adam Bock had 13 tackles, 8 were solo.
NDSU – James Kaczor had 10 tackles, 5 were solo.