The Bison defense held Iowa and had a chance to score and win the game with 2:00 left on the clock.
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“I can’t say enough about the guys in the locker room”, Klieman said. We belonged in the game.
NDSU had closed within 21-20 on Stick’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Chase Morlock with 3:41 left in the game, and rather than try for the extra point to tie it, the Bison went for the two-point conversion but a pass failed.
North Dakota State quarterback Easton Stick attempted only six passes in the second half, completing four, but the Bison utilized the abilities of six ball carriers over the final two quarters to wear down the Iowa defense.
Pedersen didn’t remember much about the wild scene after the kick went through as the Bison players celebrated on the field.
City, Iowa-For North Dakota State head coach Chris Klieman, the decision to go for a two-point conversion with under four minutes to play in the fourth quarter Saturday, Sept. 17, wasn’t hard. “What a great play on the first run of that last drive”.
“We left a lot of plays out there”, Beathard said. “That momentum carried us through to the end of the drive”.
NO. 17 TEXAS A&M 29, AUBURN 16 – At Auburn, Ala., Trevor Knight passed for 247 yards and Daniel LaCamera kicked five field goals to lead Texas A&M past Auburn.
“This still hasn’t sunk in for me. I didn’t think we’d get 200, but I did think we could push the pile and create some havoc with our backs running really hard and we were pretty good up front”.
Klieman believed the fourth quarter, and thus the game, would go NDSU’s way.
For the Hawkeyes, this is a loss that stings after going through a 12-0 regular season a year ago. They are winners of the last five FCS championships and are an extremely disciplined team. “It’s like baseball. When you walk a guy in the ninth inning, invariably it comes back and gets you”, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.Iowa almost lost to an FCS school in 2009, when it had to block back-to-back field goals to hold off Northern Iowa. I think anybody that was in the stadium today realized that’s a good football team. “They’ve got an excellent football team, and it came as no surprise to us they’re a tremendous team”. (24‐20). The Hawkeyes have started the game on offense in 173‐of‐ 217 games (105‐68).
The Bison can’t let that happen after allowing 275 rushing yards in their first two games.
Daniels returned to post his signature effort last November, with 195 yards against Minnesota and a game-clinching 51-yard touchdown in a 40-35 win. McCarron took advantage of a North Dakota State defender falling and was wide open over the middle the field. Both are sophomores and struggled mightily against the Bison after playing fairly well against Iowa State on September 10.
Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard, battered all day by the Bison defense, had the same glare as Kittle at the penalty flag.
Beathard passed for 235 yards and three touchdowns against the Cyclones last week and has yet to throw an interception this year. But North Dakota State has made a habit of stepping up a weight class and delivering knockout blows, and the biggest testament to the strength of the program is that the 23-21 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes hardly qualifies as a shocker.
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The Iowa Hawkeyes hope for a quick 3-0 start after outscoring their first two opponents by a score of 87-24.
