The East Tennessee State Buccaneers trailed Kennesaw State by two touchdowns with 1:28 left in the fourth quarter in their southeast second-round bout.
It took a frenetic rally featuring a successful onside kick and go-ahead two-point conversion to propel ETSU to the FCS quarterfinals, in which it will attempt to topple second-seeded North Dakota State.
The Bison, after having to hit the road in last season’s tournament, are back to home-cooking for a noon eastern kick on ESPN. NDSU’s margin of victory in the second round was significantly more comfortable, as Matt Entz’s squad sent Southern Illinois packing with a 38-7 final.
ETSU is the weekend’s biggest underdog, but that gives it the chance to make the biggest splash nationally with a win in the vaunted Fargodome, which might be light on a few thousand fans who are presuming a semifinal game to be pending in Fargo and thus are taking Saturday off. Load management for fans, right?
Quarterfinal Previews
Montana vs. JMU
ETSU vs. NDSU
SDSU vs. Villanova
MSU vs. SHSU
North Dakota State’s Offense vs. East Tennessee State’s Defense
NDSU, at full strength, routinely compiles eye-catching stats on the way to Frisco. The Bison are outscoring opponents 87-7 in points off turnovers. They are making foes pay dearly for giveaways while taking care of the ball themselves.
Quarterback Cam Miller is back in charge of an offense moving at 7.1 yards per play. He has wrangled the starting job back from high-profile Virginia Tech transfer Quincy Patterson, though Patterson, in running packages vs. SIU, was NDSU’s second-leading rusher with 84 yards on seven carries, including a 32-yard touchdown dash.
Miller has 2020-21 HERO Sports FCS First Team All-American Christian Watson hauling in passes, but Watson is week-to-week after missing last week’s game due to a hamstring injury.
Watson’s presence makes ETSU’s first game against a Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent all the more daunting. NDSU is unbeaten against Southern Conference opponents Furman (1-0), Georgia Southern (3-0), and Wofford (2-0) all-time.
However, linebacker Donovan Manuel, a 2020 HERO Sports FCS Sophomore All-American, and eighth-year linebacker Jared Folks, who ranks with Manuel inside the FCS top 40 in tackles, will combine to aid the Bucs’ aim of pillaging the Fargodome.
East Tennessee State’s Offense vs. North Dakota State’s Defense
Often, a prerequisite to having a chance at leaving North Dakota State with a ‘W’ is a ball-control offense that can sustain drives, outlasting the dome’s din along the way and keeping NDSU’s latest QB talent sidelined.
Miller is far from being his predecessor in first-round NFL draft selection Trey Lance, but it will still behoove ETSU to lean on top-three Walter Payton Award finalist running back Quay Holmes, who trails only South Dakota State’s Pierre Strong on this fall’s rushing leaderboard, to limit the Bison offense’s time spent on the field.
Holmes’ 151.42 all-purpose yards per game easily ranks tops among remaining players in the playoff field and clocks in at fourth overall in the subdivision. A big day from the Payton riser gives the Bucs a shot at history.
Special Teams
ETSU kicker Tyler Keltner is trusty, entering Saturday’s game 17-for-21 on field-goal attempts, which is good for 24th nationally.
The Buccaneers are No. 10 in the nation in kickoff return average (24.69 yards per attempt). In the confines of the Fargodome, though, touchbacks should be convenient to come by for North Dakota State.
The Last Word
“It means a lot for this program, this area, and this city. We are getting the opportunity to play at the same time [round in the playoffs] that they are playing. So, it is really a testament to what we are building here. They have a good history, but I feel we are starting our own.”
–Jared Folks on the meaning of playing NDSU for East Tennessee State
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