Cam Miller threw for 259 yards while the Bison defense held Mercer under 200 total yards, as NDSU advanced to the FCS semifinals with a 31-7 win on Saturday in Fargo. The win sets up a final four matchup with the two-time defending FCS Champion South Dakota State.
Miller, NDSU’s senior quarterback, connected with Bryce Lance for touchdowns of 40 yards and 4 yards on NDSU’s first two possessions to open a 14-0 lead before Mercer (from Macon, GA) responded with a touchdown of its own. But the Bison tacked on a 34-yard Cam Miller run and a 38-yard Griffin Crosa field goal as NDSU built a 24-7 halftime lead.
Both defenses dug in and proved stingy in the second half, with the only scoring coming on a one-yard Barika Kpeenu run with under two minutes to go as NDSU closed out a 31-7 win.
While never really in trouble, NDSU struggled to deliver the knockout punch for most of the second half, but NDSU’s “Code Green” defense made sure the outcome was never in peril.
“I thought the difference was our defense tonight,” said head coach Tim Polasek. “They only gave up 8 first downs and 195 yards of total offense and that’s an impressive outing. I thought we were making the quarterback uncomfortable, even on plays where they were getting some rushing yards.”
Following the game, the players and coaches talked about the goal of starting fast, and all agreed that mission was accomplished with a 17-point halftime lead. There was some disappointment about NDSU’s second half offensive scoring output, with just seven points coming late in the game.
“Offensively we have some room to get better,” said quarterback Cam Miller, who threw two interceptions along with two touchdowns. “I thought as far as myself; I didn’t play very well, and thankfully we earned another week and 4 more practices to get better.”
There were many bright spots, however, for the Bison offense. Mercer came into the game ranked first in FCS, allowing just 66 rushing yards a game. NDSU more than doubled that, finishing with 133, but it was NDSU’s lowest rushing total of the season.
North Dakota State improved to 12-2 overall and will host No. 3 seed South Dakota State in the 11 a.m. national semifinal game Saturday on ABC.
BY THE NUMBERS
Lance finished with five receptions for 73 yards and Mekhi Collins had four catches for a career-high 119 yards including a 70-yard catch and run to set up Lance's second TD.
NDSU cornerback Anthony Chideme-Alfaro made a career-high six tackles and got his first interception as a Bison, picking off Whitt Newbauer to stop Mercer at the NDSU six after a Bison turnover.
Linebacker Nick Kubitz also had six tackles for NDSU.
Mercer NDSU
Total Yards 195 392
Pass Yards 86 259
Rushing Yards 109 133
Penalty Yards 7-56 5-45
1st Downs 8 20
3rd Downs 1-11 9-17
4th Downs 0-2 0-0
TOP 24:22 35:38
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
The Jackrabbits have won 7 straight since losing 13-9 to NDSU in the Fargodome in October. In those 7 games, the Jacks are only allowing 11.6 points per game while scoring 40.8.
The Jackrabbits totaled 476 offensive yards and improved to 12-2 with a 55-14 quarterfinal victory over Incarnate Word on Saturday, a game in which they led 31-0 at halftime. SDSU is the third seed in the FCS Playoffs.
SDSU has won 10 consecutive postseason games.
The last time NDSU and SDSU met in the postseason was the national championship game of the 2022 season in Frisco, Texas. The Jackrabbits won that game 45-21, earning their first FCS Championship.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
NDSU SDSU
Points Per Game 39.1 37.8
Rush Yards Per Game 195.8 243.8
Pass Yards Per Game 229.3 197.5
Total Yards Per Game 425.1 441.3
Rush Yards Allowed Per Game 118.6 89.1
Pass Yards Allowed Per Game 196.5 191.3
Interceptions 11 14
Fumbles Recovered 13 7
Penalty Yards Per Game 48.3 48.1
TICKETS
Tickets are on sale now for the national semifinal game on Saturday in Fargo. There are two levels:
Reserved Sideline $45.00
Reserved End Zone $35.00
THE OTHER SEMIFINAL
The Dakotas are well-represented in the national semifinals. Not only are NDSU and South Dakota State in the final four, but so is the University of South Dakota. The fourth-seeded Coyotes will travel to top-seeded Montana State on Saturday for the back half of the semifinal doubleheader at 2:30 pm Central Time.
