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Home > Bison Media Zone > Kolpack and Izzo preview Bison spring football for 2022
Podcast: Bison Media Zone
Episode:

Kolpack and Izzo preview Bison spring football for 2022
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2022-03-21 19:09:14
Description: Football season returns to Fargo this week as North Dakota State will open spring practices Wednesday at the Dacotah Field bubble.

This is the first time in three years that the Bison will practice in the spring, as practices were canceled in 2020, while NDSU was playing regular season games at this time last year.



The Forum's Jeff Kolpack and WDAY Sports Director Dom Izzo take a look at the biggest storylines surrounding NDSU for the next month.



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REPS AT QUARTERBACK




NDSU is in a unique and enviable position this spring with returning starter Cam Miller coming off an FCS Championship and backup Quincy Patterson with a defined role. Counting the extra year because of COVID, Miller has three years remaining of eligibility starting in the fall of 2022. That fact is intriguing considering top recruit Cole Payton is waiting in the wings. Payton, who signed with NDSU over an offer from Nebraska, played in three games last year, maintaining his four years of eligibility. Payton found the endzone twice and got a snap in the national championship game. It will be interesting to see how many reps Payton gets this spring knowing those two quarterbacks are still here.



LINEBACKER QUESTIONS



Once a spot that the Bison had few questions about is much different as spring ball opens. With Jasir Cox's decision to head into the transfer portal, that leaves super senior James Kaczor as the only starter left. Add in the fact that likely starter Cole Wisniewski will miss spring ball with a lower leg injury, and Matt Entz has some holes to fill. Junior Luke Weerts is the favorite to take over at middle linebacker after Jackson Hankey's graduation.




Weerts played as a true freshman in 2019 and was a highly touted prospect coming out of high school, turning down an offer from Kansas State to play at NDSU. Weerts missed a majority of 2021 with a back injury. Two youngsters earned playing time last fall, Hillsboro's Oscar Benson and true freshman Logan Kopp, each will get reps this spring. Look at safety as well for a potential replacement for Cox, Julian Wlodarczyk and Ryan Jones are each 6-3 and over 200 pounds, which is the ideal size for an outside linebacker.



SPECIAL TEAMS



NDSU knew they were going to need to find a new kicker as Jake Reinholz graduated, but received an unexpected curveball when true freshman long snapper Mike Florentine went into the transfer portal. Florentine started all 15 games at long snapper. NDSU has signed a new long snapper in Caleb Bowers, who will not be here until this summer. Hunter Brozio came to Fargo as a long snapper, but he's a fullback now. Griffin Crosa is the lone kicker on the roster, he was the full-time kicker in 2019 when Reinholz was hurt, which included making three field goals in an FCS quarterfinal game. We'll see if Crosa takes steps to earn the full-time job in the spring.

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