The Forum

BISON GAME DAY

Saturday, November 9, 2013 5

Illinois State at No. 1 North Dakota State

When: 2:37 p.m. (CST) today Where: Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700) TV: North Dakota NBC Network, Fox Sports North (not in North Dakota) Radio: 790-AM, 101.9-FM Online: Check out The Forums live blog during the game at bisonmedia.areavoices.com or at www.inforum.com. Media Blog Pregame with WDAYs Dom Izzo and The Forums Kevin Schnepf and Eric Peterson on the web at about noon. Game conditions: AstroTurf GameDay Grass. Outside, Mostly cloudy, breezy and cool with an expected high of 40 degrees.

PICKOFF ARTIST
Missouri Valley Football Conference career leaders in interceptions

Record 5-4 Points/game 27.2 Points allowed/game 30.3 Rush yds./game 136.1 Pass yds/game 209.3

Record 8-0 Points/game 37.9 Points allowed/game 12.5 Rush yds./game 229.2 Pass yds/game 200.6

NDSUs Marcus Williams ranks third on this list on the list of Missouri Valley Football Conference interceptions. He is the NCAA all-divisions active leader in career interceptions.
1. Adrion Smith, Missouri State, 1990-03, 24 2. Jeff Smith, Illinois State, 1985-88, 21 3. Marcus Williams, NDSU, 2010-present, 20 4. Ty Talton, Northern Iowa, 1995-98, 18 4. Dre Dokes, Northern Iowa, 2003-06, 18 6. Frank Spraggins, Western Illinois, 1994-97, 17 7. Mike McElroy, Southern Illinois, 2007-11, 15 8. R.L. Reynolds, Eastern Illinois, 1986-89, 14 8. Korey Lindsey, Southern Illinois, 2007-10, 14

stat leaders

probable starters
BISON OFFENSE
Pos.No. TE 85 LT 77 LG 66 C 64 RG 71 RT 59 WR 4 WR 82 RB 22 FB 40 QB 16 Name Kevin Vaadeland Billy Turner Zack Johnson Josh Colville Tyler Gimmestad Joe Haeg Ryan Smith Zach Vraa Sam Ojuri Andrew Grothmann Brock Jensen Ht. 6-4 6-6 6-4 6-2 6-2 6-6 5-7 6-2 6-0 6-1 6-3 Wt. 245 314 317 270 304 293 175 203 212 232 225 Yr. Sr. Sr. So. So. Sr. So. Sr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr.

schedules
NDSU (8-0) Aug. 30 at Kansas State Sept. 7 Ferris State (Mich.) Sept. 14 Open date Sept. 21 Delaware State Oct. 28 at South Dakota State Oct. 5 Northern Iowa Oct. 12 Missouri State Oct. 19 at Southern Illinois Oct. 26 at Indiana State Nov. 2 Open date Today Illinois State Nov. 16 at Youngstown State Nov. 23 South Dakota NDSU 24 56 51 20 24 41 31 56 Opp 21 10 0 0 23 26 10 10 ISU (5-4) Aug. 29 Sept. 7 Sept. 14 Sept. 21 Sept. 28 Oct. 5 Oct. 12 Oct. 19 Oct. 26 Nov. 2 Today Nov. 16 Nov. 23 at Ball State Open date at Eastern Illinois Abilene Christian at Missouri State Western Illinois at Youngstown State Indiana State South Dakota Northern Iowa at North Dakota State at Southern Illinois Open date ISU 28 24 31 10 35 21 55 28 13 Opp 51 57 17 37 21 59 14 14 3

Ojuri

Vraa
No. Yds.

Winkler
Avg. Long TD 6.2 5.5 3.7 4.3 3.1 Yds. 66 35 24 72 15 3 7 4 8 6

RUSHING
BISON Sam Ojuri John Crockett Brock Jensen REDBIRDS Marshaun Coprich Collin Keoshian 109 107 58 171 65 Com. BISON Brock Jensen REDBIRDS Blake Winkler Jared Barnett 119 106 27 673 593 212 736 204 Att.

BISON DEFENSE
Pos.No. DE 53 DT 69 NG 60 DE 93 LB 52 LB 34 LB 38 CB 6 FS 35 SS 20 CB 1 Name Kyle Emanuel Leevon Perry Ryan Drevlow Cole Jirik Travis Beck Grant Olson Carlton Littlejohn C.J. Smith Christian Dudzik Colten Heagle Marcus Williams Ht. 6-3 6-4 6-4 6-5 6-0 6-0 6-1 5-11 5-10 5-11 5-11 Wt. 246 282 281 248 214 228 216 183 188 202 192 Yr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Sr. Jr. So. Jr. Jr. Sr.

matchups
Quarterbacks
NDSUs Brock Jensen, a veteran senior, versus Blake Winkler, a redshirt freshman exposed to Fargodome noise for first time.
Advantage

staff predictions

PASSING
Int. TD 4 5 5 17 11 3 178 1448 175 1455 48 415

Running backs
ISUs Marshaun Coprich 736 yards rushing is impressive, but Bison have too much with one-two punch of Ojuri and Crockett.

Advantage

 

Jeff Kolpack (7-1) The Forum That 12-1 NDSU record after a bye week under head coach Craig Bohl is too hard to ignore. NDSU 31, ISU 10

Receivers

Advantage

RECEIVING
No. Yds. BISON Ryan Smith Zach Vraa Trevor Gebhart Carey Woods Eric Perkins Kevin Vaadeland REDBIRDS Phil Dudley Cameron Meredith Chick Chatham Anthony Warrum 36 33 9 8 7 6 33 19 14 12 EPm BISON Adam Keller REDBIRDS Nick Aussieker 38 32 370 624 58 66 79 61 290 348 234 324 Avg. Long TD 10.3 18.9 6.4 8.2 11.3 10.2 8.8 18.3 16.7 27.0 31 56 15 23 33 33 43 73 41 62 FGa 6 8 Lg. 75 63 3 8 1 1 0 3 1 5 1 3 Lg 41 35 I-20 14 24

conference schedule
Missouri Valley Football Conference Team North Dakota State Youngstown State Illinois State Missouri State Southern Illinois South Dakota South Dakota State Western Illinois Northern Iowa Indiana State Conference 5-0 5-0 4-2 4-2 3-2 3-3 2-3 1-5 0-5 0-5 Overall 8-0 8-1 5-4 4-6 5-4 4-5 5-4 3-7 4-5 1-8

The Bison passing game has come to life in recent weeks as Zach Vraa has become the big-play guy.

Offensive line
A healthy Bison line continues to eat up the clock. Bison ranks first nationally in time of possession, 34:37.


Advantage


Advantage

Kevin Schnepf (6-2) The Forum When the Bison have two weeks to prepare, thats not good news for the opponent. Bison avoid looking ahead to Youngstown State. NDSU 35, ISU 7

Defensive line
The Bison line is a big reason the defense ranks first nationally in rushing (78.5) and total yards allowed (245.3).


Advantage

PLACE KICKING
EPa FGm 40 31 No. BISON Ben LeCompte REDBIRDS CJ Laros 31 57 5 7 Avg. 43.5 40.6

PUNTING

Games today Montana at South Dakota, 1 p.m. Indiana State at South Dakota State, 2 p.m. Missouri State at Southern Illinois, 2 p.m. Illinois State at NDSU, 2:30 p.m. Youngstown State at Northern Iowa, 4 p.m.

Linebackers
NDSUs big three Grant Olson, Travis Beck and Carlton Littlejohn have combined for 127 tackles this season.


Advantage

Dom Izzo (7-1) WDAY The Fargodome crowd will be ready to welcome back NDSU after nearly a month away. Redbirds havent won on the road yet this year. NDSU 31, ISU 13

Secondary
With veterans like Williams, Heagle and Dudzik, the Bison rank third nationally in passing efficiency defense.


Advantage

Special teams
The Bison now rank second nationally in punt return average (18.7) and fourth in kickoff return average (26.3).

Eric Peterson (7-1) The Forum The Bison should be healthy and ready to roll coming off a bye week, and the Redbirds are starting a redshirt freshman at quarterback. NDSU 24, ISU 14

S N O I P M A H C N E V O PR

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