It didn’t take long after getting into South Dakota State tailgating in Brookings to sense this didn’t have a No. 1 vs. No. 2 heavyweight feel.
The Dakota Marker — some would argue the best rivalry in the FCS, certainly the most impactful — has massive stakes and a ton of pride. But something felt off today, if not all week.
With Chase Mason, starting quarterback for No. 2 SDSU, sidelined with an injury — by the time Pete Thamel’s national report came out this morning that Mason had less than a 50% chance of playing, the local murmuring was already confident he wouldn’t be dressed — the buildup today ahead of facing No. 1 North Dakota State just lacked some oomph, and that was exacerbated shortly after kickoff.
The sold-out crowd was juiced up to start, naturally. But it didn’t take long for the crowd to go mum. That feel in the tailgating lots transferred into the stadium, as SDSU fans seemed to realize it was going to be a long night without an answer.
NDSU absolutely dominated, jumping out to a 21-0 lead early en route to a 38-7 win. The Bison overwhelmed redshirt freshman QB Luke Marble and SDSU’s offense. NDSU moved the ball with relative ease offensively as Cole Payton continued to show why he’s a leading candidate for the Walter Payton Award. Payton threw for 243 yards (18/23) while rushing for 137 yards and four touchdowns.
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It was a buzzkill of a contest on ESPNU, considering it had the obvious hype of being No. 1 vs. No. 2 and a chance to attract viewers to watch peak FCS football. And in a subdivision needing national parity, the dynasty NDSU program walloping the No. 2 team isn’t ideal. A more open field provides some national excitement, drama, and engagement.
Mason’s injury slowly took the air out of the hype balloon to this matchup, and it popped on game day. He’s expected to return at some point this season after being in a walking boot tonight to help heal some injuries in his lower leg/foot.
The Bison deserve their flowers, of course.
NDSU would have won this game even with a 100% healthy Mason. Perhaps even by a couple of scores. The Bison appear to be that good, as the NDSU vs. the field talks began weeks ago, and are likely heading for yet another national championship. The 11th, to be exact. They still need to go to North Dakota, a Top 10 team and a place the Bison haven’t played well in their last two trips. But after tonight? Who’s picking against NDSU the rest of this season besides an “I’ll call an upset for the fun of it, but don’t really believe it” prediction?
In a dominating game like this, there isn’t much of a “what could’ve been?” But with Mason, while the win/loss result would have been the same, SDSU would have at least made it more intriguing. When it’s 222 total yards to -3 yards early in the second quarter, and a Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium record crowd of 19,477 for national TV gets taken out of the game early due to getting dominated while realizing quite quickly it’s going to be a long night without their standout QB, it put a damper on a spotlight moment for the FCS. A No. 1 vs. No. 2 nationally ranked game ending in a blowout of this magnitude, in any league, leaves an unsatisfied feeling for neutral observers. A feeling that started to surface early in the day.
