Has North Dakota State’s dynasty become bad for the FCS? Are the playoffs getting boring? Will NDSU ever move up to the FBS?
These seem to be the storylines when talking about Bison football. And I admittedly fall into that trap often. But I also have to remind myself that the actual football team — the players and the coaches — still deserve to get talked about.
When we say South Dakota State or the Montana schools have a shot to make it to Frisco because of X, Y, and Z players, and then we say NDSU is the favorite because it’s NDSU and leave it at that … that’s not really fair to the Bison players, right? They deserve some love and some shoutouts rather than just saying “Yep, NDSU is the favorite. They’re dominant and will probably win it all. Enough said.”
So, in this article, we’re going to ignore the off-the-field, big-picture scenario of the NDSU football program. And we’ll just focus on the 2022 team. As the No. 1 squad in the Stats Perform Preseason Top 25 media poll, the Bison look loaded for its 10th FCS national title. Let’s take a look at the team and discuss why.
2022 FCS Preseason Preview Central
Last Season
The Bison finished 14-1 and won its ninth FCS title in 11 years. They went 7-1 in MVFC with the lone loss coming at SDSU. NDSU earned the No. 2 playoff seed, beating SIU 38-7 in the second round, No. 7 seed ETSU 27-3 in the quarterfinals, No. 3 seed JMU 20-14 in the semifinals, and No. 8 seed Montana State 38-10 in the championship.
NDSU ranked No. 14 in FCS scoring offense (34.1 PPG) and No. 1 in scoring defense (11.1 PPG).
2022 Roster
NDSU has had some incredible rushing attacks during its dynasty. This year may be the best.
The Bison return four starters on the o-line, plus their next five guys as part of their rotation. Tackle Cody Mauch and guard Nash Jensen are All-American veterans, and Mauch is arguably the top 2023 NFL Draft prospect in the FCS. The stable of offensive backs remains intact after NDSU ranked No. 2 in FCS rushing offense last year (280.6 YPG), behind only Davidson’s option attack.
Hunter Luepke is a First Team All-American at the fullback position but is just as effective as a RB or pass-catcher. NDSU is selective on when to hand him the load to preserve his health, but the 6-foot-1 and 236-pounder showed how dominant he can be in the final two games last season. Luepke had 19 carries for 110 yards, plus three catches for 89 yards and two scores in the semifinals against James Madison. Then in the national championship game, he was named the Most Outstanding Player after rushing 14 times for 82 yards and three scores against Montana State.
TaMerik Williams really came on as a lead RB last year after transferring from SMU. He had a team-high 772 rushing yards and 12 TDs. Kobe Johnson (671 yards, 6.4 YPC) and Jalen Bussey (356 yards, 7.6 YPC) are big-play threats. And Dominic Gonnella is a good young talent who battled injuries last season. Running QB Quincy Patterson, who began 2021 as the starter before getting replaced by Cam Miller, transferred to Temple. The QB run game is a big part of NDSU’s offense, and six-foot-3, 230-pound redshirt freshman Cole Payton may be the next gem at QB and will likely have Patterson-like packages for him this fall.
Speaking of Miller…
Is he Trey Lance or Carson Wentz? No. But is he a more polished passer than Easton Stick was when Stick was a redshirt freshman and sophomore? Yes. And does Miller deserve more recognition? Yes.
Miller has replaced P5 transfer quarterbacks in back-to-back seasons now. Last season, he had a passing efficiency rating of 174.0, which would have been No. 2 in the FCS, but he didn’t qualify for NCAA metrics — “Must play in 75% of the team’s games | Min. 15 Attempts Per Game.” Miller completed 67.8% of his passes for 1,444 yards, 14 TDs, and three interceptions as he started the final eight games.
While Miller is solid, NDSU does face questions on who will emerge as the top pass-catcher. TE Noah Gindorff is a First Team All-American. But at the WR position, NDSU needs to replace NFL Draft pick Christian Watson. He had 43 catches for 801 yards and seven TDs, a much higher production level than No. 2 WR Phoenix Sproles (20 catches, 284 yards, 2 TDs). Sproles is a veteran and has made explosive plays in the past. He’s the candidate to become the go-to WR while NDSU has some young WRs that have the potential to be really, really good. It’s just a matter of if they’re ready this season or not. We saw last year in the playoffs when Watson missed time due to injury, NDSU’s WRs had a tough time getting open and Luepke was the best receiving threat out of the backfield.
On defense, NDSU has several holes to fill in the front seven. But the Bison have faced this scenario before and remained a top-tier FCS unit.
All four starters across the defensive line are gone. With how NDSU rotates its d-line like a hockey line, plenty of experience is still there. DT Eli Mostaert looks to have an All-American level season (10 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks last year), and DE Spencer Waege is a returning standout who missed most of last season with a knee injury.
The linebackers lose 2-of-3 starters due to graduation and the transfer portal. James Kaczor leads the unit that will have fresh faces needing to make plays.
The secondary is the strength and has ridiculous depth. NDSU goes three deep at safety, featuring All-American Michael Tutsie, Dawson Weber, and talented youngster Dom Jones. At CB, the Bison go four-deep with strong play from Courtney Eubanks, Marques Sigle, Destin Talbert, and Jayden Price. It’s the best secondary depth NDSU has had in its D1 era.
Starting punter Kaedin Steindorf (40.2 average) is back, while NDSU will have a new starting kicker.
2022 Schedule
- vs. Drake
- vs. North Carolina A&T
- @ FBS Arizona
- @ South Dakota
- vs. Youngstown State
- @ Indiana State
- vs. No. 2 South Dakota State
- vs. Illinois State
- @ Western Illinois
- @ No. 9 Southern Illinois
- vs. North Dakota
Franky, this schedule isn’t all that tough. Yes, it’s tougher than many schedules out there by virtue of playing in the MVFC, but it’s not a gauntlet. NDSU won’t exactly have a loaded playoff resume. With its run of national titles, I don’t think the Bison need a ton of ranked wins to prove they deserve a Top 2 seed with a strong record. The Bison will dominate their two non-conference games and face a very beatable, but new-look FBS Arizona team. In conference, they avoid ranked Missouri State and Northern Iowa. They get SDSU and UND at home. Road trips at USD and SIU won’t be easy, but NDSU will be favored in all of its FCS games, probably even its FBS game.
Season Outlook
The 2022 NDSU football team has 2013 and 2018 preseason vibes. Which means it would be a surprise if anyone but the Bison won the national title. Now, this year’s Bison team probably isn’t as good as those two teams. No disrespect, since we’re talking about some all-time great subdivision squads. This 2022 team does have questions: WRs + dynamic edge rusher + LBs + kicker.
But a combo platter of the returning standout talent (Mauch, Luepke, Gindorff may all be draft picks) + the OL/RB strength + the dominant win in Frisco + recent FCS-to-FBS program departures all lead to NDSU being the easy choice for preseason No. 1.
How many teams can challenge NDSU this season for the national championship? One. That’s it. And it’s South Dakota State. Montana and Montana State are getting there, but the gap in the trenches is still too big.
NDSU may drop a regular-season game. Heck, a 9-2 record isn’t out of the question. But there’s just as good of a chance that NDSU goes 11-0. The Bison will likely get a Top 2 seed, win three playoff games in Fargo, and come out on top in Frisco.
Maybe it’s because this level of success is just expected at NDSU, but Matt Entz has done a marvelous job keeping this train not only moving, but getting faster. While a team going from 3-8 to 9-2 is a great story and a great “coaching job,” it’s due time that the national media voting panel votes Entz as Stats Perform’s Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, assuming the Bison accomplish what we all expect them to accomplish.
NEXT: FCS Jersey Countdown
