Bison conclude spring slate with annual Green and Gold Showcase

A small but enthusiastic crowd ventured out to the Fargodome to watch the Bison conclude their spring ball schedule in a modified scrimmage format that saw the defense claim a 28-23 victory.

"It's funny, some unusual things showed up compared to our first 10 or 12 (spring) workouts," Polasek said. "We weren't as clean as I wanted to be. The first 10 practices, we weren't jumping offsides ... (today) we had too many controllable penalties and you don't want to have six drops.

"So I think we still have cleaner football that we can play, but it was really encouraging to see some young guys sometimes it might not look perfect but they're starting to move with each other and they're starting to play together, so that was really encouraging."

Jaylin Crumby is one of the young players looking to leave his mark on the program. A redshirt freshman, the 5-foot-11 safety out of Tampa, Florida, appeared in just two games last season and hopes to move up the depth chart this year.

"Spring ball was fun throughout the whole process," Crumby said. "There was a lot of learning going on and a lot of new stuff.

"I feel like (new NDSU safeties) coach (Devin) Klieman came in and really did a good job helping us install all of the new coverages and everything. (Today) went pretty well. There's some stuff we left out there and some stuff we can learn from, but it went well."

On the offensive end, Joe Stoffel returns for a fifth season at tight end. The 6-foot-4 senior out of River Falls, Wisconsin, has recorded 25 receptions in each of the last two seasons and a total of eight touchdowns.

"It was a good spring," Stoffel said. "A lot of guys were unsure what was to come with this new coaching staff. But I think they were answered better than we thought they were going to be.

"We saw a lot of guys emerge which was awesome to see. I'd say it's an A-plus for spring ball."

As Stoffel alluded to, there was some uncertainty heading into the spring slate with a brand new coaching staff led by Polasek. The Forum reported Friday that 103 players were rostered for spring ball, and 103 remain.

"We've learned a lot (from the coaching staff)," Stoffel said. "Polasek has been here, so he understands everything. He gets it, which is awesome. For a guy like Polasek to coach (former Bison offensive coordinator) coach (Tyler) Roehl, everything he preached to me, Polasek preaches to us.

"So it's a lot of the same stuff, which is awesome. It couldn't be better."

Polasek said the biggest takeaway from Saturday was how far many players have come throughout the spring schedule.

"A lot of improvement and growth," Polasek said. "(Wide receiver) Bryce Lance and (wide receiver) Mekhi Collins ... I was hoping (Collins) would have a big game (today). Two drops is not a reflection of his 14 days of work. But the lights were on today too, so maybe we can reflect on that a bit.

"(Offensive lineman) Josh Magin, that was a really good decision by (co-defensive coordinator Nick) Goeser and (offensive line coach) Dan Larson to move him to offense. He's got a chance. I really liked the improvement from (tight end) Kaden Zenzen. He's going to play some reps for us."

On defense, Polasek was particularly pleased with his young safeties.

"The (young) safeties, kind of like the O-line, they got better," Polasek said. "There's some coachable, teachable moments out there that we can coach out there. I really like (linebacker) Nathaniel Staehling and I really like (linebacker) Austin Altepeter. I think academically and as an individual, he's growing right in front of us.

"So there's been a lot of improvement and that's core value No. 2. It's the most important thing to me."

The Bison faithful in attendance were treated to free admission, tailgating and a pre-practice autograph session among other activities such as sign-making and giveaways.

Polasek said it was a fairly emotional moment walking out to fans for the first time as head coach.

"It's really cool," Polasek said. "Even just walking out here with the bright lights being on, that was a little bit of a moment.

"It was a good turnout. You'd love it to be 19,000 people, it's just not the way it's going to be. I thought it was outstanding, I thought we put together a really good plan in the marketing department and I thought the administration again ... we got together, we collaborated and we'll find ways to improve it moving forward and continue to sell this thing."

NDSU opens the season at FBS opponent Colorado on Saturday, Aug. 31.