North Dakota State Scores in the Last Minute to Claim 27-24 Playoff Win Over South Dakota State By Eric Peterson, The Forum FARGO – When North Dakota State fell behind late in the game Saturday at Gate City Bank Field, Carson Wentz was filled with resolve. The Bison quarterback seized the moment. Wentz led NDSU on a game-winning drive that ended in the final minute. His 12-yard touchdown pass to true freshman R.J. Urzendowski with 54 seconds remaining lifted the Bison to a dramatic 27-24 victory against South Dakota State in the second round of the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs before 18,113 fans at the Fargodome. “It sounds cheesy, but it’s something you kind of dream of a little bit,” said Wentz, a junior from Bismarck in his first year as a starter for the Bison. The Bison (12-1) advanced to the FCS quarterfinals, keeping their hopes of an unprecedented fourth consecutive national championship alive. No. 2-seeded NDSU, which has made the quarterfinals five years in a row, hosts No. 7-seeded Coastal Carolina next weekend. “What an unbelievable game,” Bison head coach Chris Klieman said. “We’re finding a way, and the Fargodome is pretty special.” The Bison have won their past seven games against SDSU, including six wins in the past four seasons. Two of those victories have been playoff games in the Fargodome. “It’s unbelievably hard,” South Dakota State head coach John Stiegelmeier. “You don’t play in a football game to finish second. You finish second in a football game, you finish last. … I do give a lot of credit to North Dakota State.” Saturday was the first playoff start for Wentz, who took over for Brock Jensen, the winningest quarterback in FCS history. Wentz watched from the sidelines as Jensen guided the Bison to the past three national titles. Wentz showed he could lead the team in a pressure situation against the Jackrabbits. “Carson has unbelievable poise,” Klieman said. That poise was tested after SDSU took the lead with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Senior quarterback Austin Sumner threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Jake Wieneke that gave SDSU a 24-20 lead with 3 minutes, 18 seconds remaining. “I thought we had it,” said SDSU senior running back Zach Zenner, who rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns. “I thought it was a lock to be honest. … I have total confidence in our defense.” The Bison started the ensuing drive at their own 24-yard line and Wentz felt it was time for the Bison offense to make a statement. “A lot of people say we’re average,” said Wentz, who passed for 235 yards and two touchdowns. “It (was) time for us to be great and show the world we’re great.” Wentz completed a 19-yard pass to Carey Woods on a first-and-20 and a 29-yard pass to Urzendowski to key that game-winning march. The 29-yarder to Urzendowksi moved the ball to the SDSU 21. Moments later, Urzendowski made an acrobatic catch in the end zone near the sideline for the game-winner. Wentz made the perfect throw, lofting the ball over an SDSU defender. “It looked to be pretty close, but he (the defender) was in a little bit of a trail position so he never got eyes on it,” said Urzendowski, who had two touchdown catches in his first college playoff game. The Bison iced the comeback after freshman cornerback Tre Dempsey intercepted Sumner with 43 seconds remaining. That was SDSU’s first turnover in 21 quarters. “This team went down swinging,” said Sumner, who passed for 132 yards and a touchdown. “I’ve never been prouder of our football team,” Stiegelmeier added. NDSU took a 14-0 lead after Wentz rushed for a 27-yard touchdown with 13:24 to play in the second quarter. SDSU rallied to score the next 17 points behind Zenner, who had two TD runs during that rally. The Jackrabbits took their first lead after kicker Justin Syrovatka booted a 33-yard field goal. That made it 17-14 SDSU with 6:43 to play in the third quarter. NDSU countered with two Adam Keller field goals, with the second giving the Bison a 20-17 lead with 7:43 to play in the fourth quarter. “It was a 50-50 game and we made a few plays at the end,” Klieman said. “I have so much respect for SDSU.” Zenner finished his season with 2,019 yards becoming the first FCS to have three consecutive 2,000-yard seasons. “It’s really hard right now,” Zenner said as he started to choke up. “The only thing that matters is winning and we didn’t get it done.”

• published: 07 Dec 2014
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