The Bison and Jackrabbits have such a strange history. In all reality they were once partners. Both universities entered the frightening world of Division I athletics together, abandoned by their in-state cowards counterparts UND and USD. They created the Dakota Marker together, to make up for rivalries lost. They were in the Great West together, moved into the Valley and Summit League together, they moved forward together. The problem is, things got serious after that. North Dakota State raced into the NCAA tournament in men's basketball in 2009, then to a victory in 2014. South Dakota State was second to the table in both instances. The same would go for first NCAA playoff appearance, first playoff win, first national championship, first multiple national championships, the list goes on and on. Despite the fact that the SDSU Men's Basketball team, behind NBA talents Nate Wolters and Mike Daum, have likely passed NDSU as the Summit League's top program, despite the fact that the Jacks won four of the first six Dakota Marker games and the last two any notion of South Dakota State being ahead of the Bison is laughable. In 2018 all media is national, therefore all exposure is national. Nationally, people remember NDSU's tournament win over Oklahoma, their six National Championships and their two "College Gamedays" much more than they remember regular season victories by South Dakota State or any of the Jack's brief stays in the NCAAT. "Jealous". That's the word that Cole Jirik, an NDSU defensive end from 2010-13 uses to describe South Dakota State's football program. Cole co-hosted BisonReport Radio this week with me (which you can listen to here) and had quite a bit to say on the topic. NDSU's immediate success when compared to South Dakota State's slower climb to the FCS' elite seems to have taken a toll on South Dakota State's staff and players. From "dirty" injuries dealt to Leevon Perry and Bruce Anderson from Jackrabbit players to social media barbs from member's of John Stigelmeier's staff. Bison fans are happy to participate as well. Stiegelmeier's recent arrest for driving under the influence is a popular source of smack talk from the NDSU faithful. It's gotten downright nasty. Nasty to the point that I can't recall a regular season game that I anticipate being louder or more contentious inside the Fargodome. I agree with Coach Klieman, the crowd is going to be a huge factor. When the Bison have the Ball This is certainly the great unknown. Really since the debut of Jake Wieneke, the narrative of this matchup has always centered around North Dakota State's ability to stop he, and then later on Dallas Goedert. The other side of scrimmage has really been the focus. No one really pays attention to what has to happen when NDSU has the ball becuase outside of Christian Rozeboom, SDSU hasn't had a lot of defenders with high-end all MVFC or certanly All America recognition. There hasn't been a lot of gameplanning for guys on that side of the ball. Frankly, outside of tailbacks there haven't really been guys on the perimeter that the Jacks have had to obsess over, either. The Bison offense vs. Jacks defense is a little bit the stepchild of this rivalry of late. It's difficult to know whether or not South Dakota State is good defensively. They gave up an early TD to Iowa State before that game was cancelled and they didn't really play anyone else in the nonconference of note. On a strictly superficial note, of the defenders that started South Dakota State's loss to James Madison to end their season, only Ss Chris Balster and Nick Farina and NT Kellen Soulek are gone. Granted that loss included the surrendering of 51 points to a team NDSU would to 13 points just two weeks later so I can't tell if that's good or bad. North Dakota State could certainly decide to test the young safeties by utilizing Darrius Shepherd, their backs and tight ends to stress the seams of the Jackrabbit pass defense. Running the football shouldn't be an issue. NDSU is too talented up front and in the backfield to be intimidated about their ability to run the ball. I struggle to see how South Dakota State keeps the Bison out of the 30s. When the Jacks have the Ball How does one stop Taryn Chrstion? Christion has pretty much been either totally electric against the Bison or a complete "dud". The big question that I and everyone else had going into this season was whether he could really be Taryn Christion without Dallas Goedert and Jake Weineke. The numbers would tell you "so far, so good", but those numbers are likely misleading. That's not to say that SDSU won't be potent offensively this season or even in this game but two games against Montana State from the Big Sky (no defense) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff a resume does not make. I'm a little surprised at how effectively the Jacks are running the football. Most of the senior losses from a season ago were offensive linemen and tailback Brady Mengiarelli. Isaac Wallace has really stepped up into a key role in his senior season, helped out certainly by the threat that Christion possesses on the "keep" part of any zone option read. The problem for SDSU is that the Bison are currently a healthy football team up front, and that means the "Bunnies" aren't going to be able to win the game running the football. They're going to have to ask Christion to do it. That's a tall task considering the abilities of Menard, Tuszka and Karcz rushing the passer and Cox's ability to spy. I believe Cox's superhuman performance as a personal Bryan Schor terrorizer in the National Championship game is a perfect harbinger for Saturday. Bottom Line I don't think SDSU's offense can get deep into the 20s (if at all) and I don't see how their defense holds NDSU out of the 30s. In the first true four quarter game for each team, NDSU's overall talent proves to be too much. Bison 34 Jacks 17<doc-sep>In a sea-saw battle, NDSU recaptured the Dakota Marker with a thrilling victory over the Jackrabbits of SDSU 21-17 at the Fargodome on Saturday Sept. 29. SDSU (2-1) dominated throughout the first quarter and had the Bison on its heels after Jackrabbits quarterback Taryn Christion found Cade Johnson in the end zone to take a 7-0 lead. SDSU then threatened to take a 14-0 lead as the quarter ended but NDSU senior CB Jalen Allison intercepted a pass in the end zone to avoid the early hole. NDSU (4-0) then responded with a 17-yd TD pass from QB Easton Stick to TE Ben Ellefson that shifted the momentum of the game as the half came to an end with the Bison up 14-7. A key interception by SDSU at the start of the 3rd quarter rejuvenated the Jackrabbits as they outscored the Herd 10-0 in the quarter leaving NDSU trailing heading into the 4th. But the Bison would respond after Stick lead the team on an 80 yard drive tapped off by a 5-yd rushing TD by Stick. Then Code Green stepped in and finished off the Jackrabbits keeping SDSU away from the end zone forcing a punt with just over 3 minutes to go. NDSU then ran out the clock to regain control of the Dakota Marker. Easton Stick finished the day 9 for 20, 182 yards, 2 TD's, and 1INT, but his legs helped the Bison the most. Stick ran for a game high 63 yards and the eventual game winning TD for the Herd. His favorite target of the day: Darrius Shepherd. The senior wide out caught 5 passes for 118 yards including a 41-yd TD completion in the 2nd quarter. TE Ben Ellefson caught his second TD of the season but only caught one more pass finishing with 28 yards on the day. NDSU had a balanced rushing attack as Lance Dunn finished with 56 yards and Bruce Anderson with 58 yards. Giving up 17 points was definitely the most allowed by this explosive Bison defense but that didn't hurt Code Green when it mattered most. SDSU only mustered 48 total yards in the fourth quarter as the Bison closed in on the win. LB Jabril Cox lead the team with 7 solo tackles and Jalen Allison grabbed his first interception on the season. The game was about as even as it comes. NDSU tallied 389 total yards to the 357 total yards put together by SDSU. The Bison had 67 plays, countering the 56 plays by the Jackrabbits and NDSU only had the ball 7 more minutes. The Herd will look to go 2-0 in conference play and 5-0 overall as they play their first road game of the season against Northern Iowa (2-2) next week Saturday Oct. 6.<doc-sep>
South Dakota State has done something in recent years, that just has not happened to the Bison much. The Jackrabbits have beaten North Dakota State in back-to-back years during the regular season which is why SDSU still holds the Dakota Marker trophy. Guess who the Bison play to open the Valley Conference. It's also a matchup of the #1 & #3 ranked FCS teams in the country. NDSU Head Coach Chris Klieman said: "I think it's just such a back and forth thing. What you do in the first quarter and the things you do in the third quarter may change a little but based on the flow of the game but once again it's tough because both teams know each other so well. There's very few things that you can throw at somebody that they haven't seen. Now it may have been five years since we've seen that but we've probably seen a lot of things they've shown us. It's just a matter of when are they going to pull them out, same with us." Whenever you prepare for the Jackrabbits, you have to start with quarterback Taryn Christian. He has been very good against the Bison in the past and now he's a senior. "I think he's a terrific football player. He's played a ton of football and played against us so much. he can beat you with his arm. he can beat you with his legs. A really experienced guy. I have a lot of respect for him and his game and so we have to do a great job of trying to keep him in the pocket, trying to pressure him, play tight coverage. I mean if you do, then he's going to scramble and run and obviously the dual threat guys are the ones that give you the most problems," said Klieman. On Monday, Dillon Radenz was named the conference offensive lineman of the week. Easton Stick is the league's offensive player of the week following the drubbing of Delaware. Saturday marks the 108th meeting between NDSU and SDSU. It's the 15th-year for the Dakota Marker. We are back to the usual times for TV coverage. The Farmers Union Insurance Bison Football pre-game show is at 1:30 CT. Kickoff at 2:34 CT on the KFYR-KVLY Bison Television Network which is KFYR-TV, KQCD-TV, KUMV-TV, KMOT-TV and KVLY-TV.