Bison notebook: Turnovers again hurt NDSU against Jackrabbits

The Bison turned over the ball three, compared to zero for SDSU.

The most important was when Bison running back TaMerik Williams fumbled at the NDSU 31-yard line late in the first half, recovered by SDSU's Isaiah Stalbird, leading to a field goal that gave the Jackrabbits a 20-9 halftime lead.

"When you can force turnovers, that just gives the ball back to our offense and they can make plays with is," said SDSU linebacker Adam Bock. "It's huge. Being on the positive side of that, it's definitely detrimental. We preach that every week, just take the ball away, just take the ball away so that hard work in practice pays off."

Quarterback Cam Miller later threw a tipped interception that was caught by linebacker Graham Spalding in the fourth quarter and later had another ball tipped that was intercepted late in the game.

It was SDSU's 10th consecutive takeaway against the Bison, dating to 2019.

From 2020 to this season, the Bison did not force a turnover against the Jackrabbits.

NDSU's most recent takeaway against SDSU came on Oct. 26, 2019, in Brookings. Josh Hayes intercepted a Keaton Heide pass with 4:56 remaining in the fourth quarter and turned into seven points by NDSU when Adam Cofield went 71 yards on fourth-and-1 from the SDSU 29. That broke a 16-16 tie and gave the Bison a 23-16 win.

"You can't give them extra possessions," said NDSU head coach Matt Entz. "We've done a really good job this year of protecting the football. Unfortunately today wasn't very good."

Williams' turnover was important because NDSU was trailing by one score at 17-9, and the Jackrabbits would get the ball to start the second half. Instead the Bison went to halftime trailing by two scores after Griffin Crosa missed a 50-yard field goal as time ran out in the second quarter.

A record crowd saw SDSU's big victory. Announced attendance at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium was 19,431.

It broke the previous record of 19,371 set in 2019 when NDSU played the Jackrabbits on the same day ESPN's "College GameDay" program broadcast from Brookings.

SDSU, coming off its first national championship, will break attendance records this season. Through five home games, the Jackrabbits are averaging 18,722 fans. Their home finale against Missouri State on Nov. 18 has been announced as a sellout.

The only game at Dykhouse that wasn't a sellout this season was its home opener against Division II Western Oregon. That game drew 16,258.

NDSU senior kicker Griffin Crosa had his consecutive PAT streak snapped at 127 straight when Ryan Van Marel blocked his extra-point in the first quarter.

It was the third-best streak in Missouri Valley Football Conference history behind the current streak of 145 by Northern Iowa's Matthew Cook and 129 by Western Illinois' Taylor Rowan from 2005-08.

NDSU took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in 12 plays to go up 6-0. Van Marel, however, came through a seem in the middle to keep it at that score.

"We'll get back at it and see where the issues are," Entz said. "Wrong day to have a bad day for our kicker."

Crosa is fourth on the NDSU all-time list in PATs and coming in his career percentage of 99.4 was second behind Jake Reinholz, who was was 87 of 87 from 2018-21.

SDSU added a field goal block in second half, rejecting a Crosa 37-yard attempt with 9:55 to play in the third quarter. Jarod DePriest got a piece of that kick.

SDSU won the coin toss and deferred. NDSU received the opening kickoff, the third straight game it began the game with the ball. The Bison scored a touchdown on the game's opening possession for the third consecutive game. ... Tight end Joe Stoffel, who injured his shoulder in a win against Western Illinois on Oct. 21 and missed last week's game against Murray State, started against the Jackrabbits. ... Bison linebacker Julian Wlodarczyk missed his third straight game after suffering a concussion against North Dakota on Oct. 7. Oscar Benson again started in his place. ... Redshirt freshman cornerback Jaquise Alexander made his first career start for the Bison in place of Marcus Sheppard, who injured his shoulder last week against Murray State. ... SDSU senior receiver Jaxon Janke had a reception in the second quarter, marking the 42nd straight game in which he had a catch. The streak dates to the spring 2021 season. ... SDSU kicker Hunter Dustman made four field goals against the Bison to set a personal single-game record.