Bison Sports Update: October 10th

Lots of Bison Sports activity to unpack, lets go!

Football
NDSU Football hosted 16th ranked Northern Iowa for a homecoming showdown in Fargo on Saturday! What a showdown it was, most probably had the popcorn out all game! 
The offense immediately made me eat crap after what I said about the lack of passing attack last week. After punts by both teams to start, on NDSU's second drive Quincy Patterson comes out and launches an 85 yard bomb to Christian Watson for the QB's 4th touchdown of the year and Christian's 2nd of the year! It was a marvel to watch! Not too long after that NDSU kicked a 27 yard field goal from the leg of Jake Reinholz. 
The second quarter featured some UNI magic. They scored a touchdown on their first drive in the second quarter. The Panthers found themselves with the ball after Jake Reinholz missed a 35ish yard field goal. They ended it with a field goal of their own. That pretty much ended the half. 
The second half started off swinging for NDSU as they returned a punt from UNI down to their 30 yard line! From there NDSU was able to punch in a rushing touchdown from Quincy Patterson, his fourth of the year. Later in the 3rd quarter, NDSU took a two score lead on a 3 yard touchdown pass from Patterson to TE Noah Gindorff. Not too long after, UNI scored a rushing touchdown of their own to keep it to a closer two score game. 
The 4th quarter started off with another Quincy Patterson rushing touchdown bringing his total to 5 on the year. Not too much happened after that. UNI kicked a field goal but it was still a two score game. UNI and NDSU traded punts until the Panthers tried to go for it on 4th down in the middle of the 4th quarter and did not get it. Eventually UNI was pinned at their own 15 yard line and NDSU sacked QB Theo Day for the victory! 
It was a great day for Bison Football, getting a confidence boosting win over a quality opponent is always good. It comes even better knowing that elsewhere in Brookings, SD, #2 Ranked SDSU lost to #8 Southern Illinois in overtime! Also, #13 North Dakota lost to unranked South Dakota in Vermillion, and #12 Missouri State lost to unranked Youngstown State out in Indiana. Lots of upsets in the valley on Saturday.

North Dakota State Football is 2-0 in conference play, and 5-0 overall on the year. They will now travel to Normal, Illinois to play the struggling Illinois State Redbirds. Kickoff is on Saturday, October 16th at 2 PM CT on ESPN+.

Volleyball
The NDSU Volleyball team struggled this week in conference play. They hosted Denver on Thursday and Omaha on Saturday and lost to both teams. They only won one set between the two matches. It does seem that a once promising season is now slipping away for the Bison Volleyball team. They do have the chance to turn that around though. Quite a tough stretch coming up though. They will travel this week to play South Dakota State on Tuesday at 7 PM in Brookings. Then they come home to play in-state rival North Dakota on Saturday at 7 PM. 

North Dakota State Volleyball is 2-5 in Summit League play and is 8-11 overall on the year. 

Soccer
NDSU Soccer played in-state rival North Dakota on Sunday over on Dacotah Field. The game went really well for the Bison. They scored early and UND scored after the second half began. However the Bison women had one last trick up their sleeve and won on a last second goal to give NDSU their second win of the year!
They will now go on a 2 game road trip. They will start in Brookings at South Dakota State on Friday at 6 PM and then head to Vermillion for a matchup with South Dakota at 1 PM. 

North Dakota State Women's Soccer is 2-2 in Summit League play and 2-7-1 overall on the year.

Go Bison!!