The 10 most impressive stats from the last 4 years

[Professor Chaos]

So after reading through the Bison Illustrated article that called out the ridiculously low average points allowed by the NDSU defense over the last 4 years I decided to finish off a little project I did last year during the playoff bye week comparing the stats from the team all 4 years. I added up everything to get some overall averages for regular season, playoffs, and combined.

The numbers were nothing short of mind blowing. The whole thing is really busy with a lot of numbers so I won't post it but I shared a screenshot of it here (http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah120/tplesuk111/BisonStats2_zpshbkmngen.jpg) if you want to take a look at it. I pulled out what I thought were the 10 most impressive stats (and there's a ton to choose from) in the last 4 years.


Top 10 Bison stats of the last 4 years

10. In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011 they've scored 2073 points (average of 34.0 ppg) while opponents have only scored 758 (average of 12.4) ppg. During that same time NDSU has outgained opponents by nearly 8000 yards (24513 to 16666) averaging 401.9 yards of offense in that span.

9. In the 15 games of the 2013 season NDSU allowed a total of 13 points in the 4th quarter.

8. In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011 they've held the ball on offense for a total of 394 minutes longer than the opposition has held the ball. That's more than 26 quarters of football.

7. In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011 they've averaged 7.9 yards per pass attempt and 5.2 yards per rush attempt compared to allowing just 5.8 yards per pass attempt and 3.3 yards per rush attempt to the opposition.

6. In the 4 2013 playoff games NDSU was nothing short of dominant. They outscored opponents on average of 43.3 to 10.5, outgained opponents on average of 498.3 to 316.3 yards per game, and outrushed opponents on average of 312.8 yards per game (7.6 ypc average) to 92.8 yards per game (2.8 ypc).

5. In the 16 playoff games since 2011 Bison QBs have combined to throw for 20 TDs and only 5 INTs. Opposing QBs in those games have thrown for 8 TDs and 21 INTs.

4. In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011 they've had 264 red zone opportunities on offense while only allowing 120 red zone opportunities on defense. In those chances NDSU scored a TD 70.1% of the time and put some points on the board 89.4% of the time while opponents in their limited opportunities have scored TDs only 48.3% of the time and scored at all only 75.0% of the time.

3. In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011 they've rushed for 13282 yards (for an average of 217.7 yards per game) while opponents have ran for less than half that at 6566 yards (for an average of 107.6 per game).

2. In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011 they've converted 49.4% (386-782) of 3rd down plays into 1st downs while opponents have converted only 31.2% (255-818) of 3rd downs. To put it another way NDSU would have to fail to convert on it's next 457 3rd downs to fall below the 3rd down conversion % they have allowed from 2011-2014.

1. In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011 they've scored 148 rushing TDs and have allowed only 36.


Post any others that you think I may have missed cuz I'm sure there's plenty.

[Bison_Pyro]

In the 61 games NDSU has played since 2011, they've flat out kicked some ass. :fight:

[bisonaudit]

I like all of these for their own sake but also because they add up 58-3 with a box full of rings.

[ByeSonBusiness]

The 2013 playoffs were just downright silly.

[bisonaudit]

The 2013 playoffs were just downright silly.

Likely, the best team NDSU has ever fielded.

[td577]

Likely, the best team NDSU has ever fielded.

Likely one of the best teams FCS has ever fielded.

[Vet70]

Possibly the craziest statistic.

http://www.resizemypicture.com/pictures//87455c2569b30c1b1438799515.jpg

[NodakBizon]

Likely one of the best teams FCS has ever fielded.

Hands down best FCS team of all time. 96 Marshall was very good, but they weren't gonna put up video game numbers on our D.

[ByeSonBusiness]

Hands down best FCS team of all time. 96 Marshall was very good, but they weren't gonna put up video game numbers on our D.

Randy Moss may have torched NDSU like he did everyone else. Probably would be a fun game.

[runtheoption]

My favorite stat is that I have seen 0 (that's right, ZERO) people arrested on outstanding warrants in the West Lot in 4 years.

[Hammerhead]

I like all of these for their own sake but also because they add up 58-3 with a box full of rings.

And they will be looking for a fistfull of rings this season. Time to start thinking about fisting in Frisco. :p

[bisonmike2]

In the 61 games since 2011, I have used 10,345 less swear words than during the 11 game season of 2009.

[Bison03]

I still think that more national championships than losses in the past 4 years is that stat that trumps all others.

[BisonTru]

And they will be looking for a fistfull of rings this season. Time to start thinking about fisting in Frisco. :p

Sequel to Debbie does Dallas?

Asking for a friend.

[Christopher Moen]

Randy Moss may have torched NDSU like he did everyone else. Probably would be a fun game.

Moss would have been double teamed while Chad Pennington ran for his life trying find Randy.

[ByeSonBusiness]

Moss would have been double teamed while Chad Pennington ran for his life trying find Randy.

29 TD's.... Including 4 in the title game.

The grizzlies were giving up 16 points a game before going against Randy Moss.

Marshall scored almost 44 a game while giving up 15 a game.

Looks like it could be a very fun game to watch.

[Christopher Moen]

29 TD's.... Including 4 in the title game.

The grizzlies were giving up 16 points a game before going against Randy Moss.

Marshall scored almost 44 a game while giving up 15 a game.

Looks like it could be a very fun game to watch.

NDSU's 2013 defense was a lot better than the 1996 Grizzlies' defense. There's a reason why KSU's Waters wasn't able to get the ball to his talented WR corp (Lockett and Thompson) more often. At most, Pennington and Moss would have scored two TD's as a combo against NDSU. I don' think Marshall had enough weapons on offense elsewhere to keep up with the Bison offense. I'm guessing NDSU walks away with a 31-17 win.

[thebootfitter]

Moss would have been double teamed while Chad Pennington ran for his life trying find Randy.

Pennington didn't play on the '96 team. He was redshirted in favor of Eric Kresser. Common misconception, though.


NDSU's 2013 defense was a lot better than the 1996 Grizzlies' defense. There's a reason why KSU's Waters wasn't able to get the ball to his talented WR corp (Lockett and Thompson) more often. At most, Pennington and Moss would have scored two TD's as a combo against NDSU. I don' think Marshall had enough weapons on offense elsewhere to keep up with the Bison offense. I'm guessing NDSU walks away with a 31-17 win.
Again, that would have been Moss and Kresser on the '96 team, but I agree with your assessment, regardless.

[17>1]

Throw in the 33 game winning streak as well.

[cbline]

Most impressive stat for me: my wife, who was a lukewarm football fan at best, has gone to more than half of the games with me over the past two years.

[td577]

NDSU's 2013 defense was a lot better than the 1996 Grizzlies' defense. There's a reason why KSU's Waters wasn't able to get the ball to his talented WR corp (Lockett and Thompson) more often. At most, Pennington and Moss would have scored two TD's as a combo against NDSU. I don' think Marshall had enough weapons on offense elsewhere to keep up with the Bison offense. I'm guessing NDSU walks away with a 31-17 win.

The ’96 Thundering Herd was more than just Moss.

-Eric Kresser QB – Senior leader
-Pennington QB–Freshman year but he wasn’t the starter in 1996.
-Randy Moss WR – 53 TDs in 2 years. Heisman finalist in 1997.
-Larry McCloud MLB – 451 career tackles and second team All-American in 1996.
-John Wade C – Not much about his college career other than 2 year starter but played in NFL and started 110 games.
-Billy Lyon DT – First team All-American in 1996 with 9 sacks.
-Doug Chapman RB – freshman in 1996 but was still a huge part of their offense and was part of two RBs with 1000 yards each, the other Erik Thomas.

In the playoffs that year, their scoring average was 48.25-14.25. They beat UNI by 17, which was considered their worse game of the year in the semis. Their regular season scoring average was 43.9 – 14. Including the playoffs, they beat 8 ranked teams and went wire to wire as the #1 ranked team. They were a great team with a legitimate claim to one of the best FCS/1AA team ever. They had a lot of transfers with the knowledge they were going 1A the next year, but if that team stayed 1AA they would have put together a serious streak of championships. They went on to win 5 straight MAC championships starting in 1997 with 12 losses total in those years and the highest ranking of #11. In 1997, they went 1A and destroyed the MAC with Pennington as QB. They lost to Ole Miss in the Motor City Bowl 34-31.

A fully healthy 2013 Bison team against a 1996 Thundering Herd would be really interesting. Something would have to give. I would have put Williams on WR2 and just locked him down and Shepherd on Moss with backside help. Everyone would want Williams on him, but you have to double Moss and the other side is going to be on an island. Williams is used to operating on an island. LBers have to stay in their lanes or Marshall will eat them up with the running game. With 2 1000 yard backs, they could run the ball very well. On offense, the Bison have to eat yards and time with Ojuri and Crockett.

It would be a great matchup and I think it would have come down to a slugfest. Both defenses could stop teams. Both offenses were very efficient. I wonder if a guy like Moss would have been the difference. He also led the country in kick returns, so there was that part of the game to worry about him, as well. Both teams were well coached and other than the KSU and UNI games, both teams destroyed opponents all year long which I would argue KSU was decidedly more difficult than Marshall's first game and maybe any game until the championship, for them. On paper, the two teams up and down the roster were pretty well matched up except for Moss. There is a reason he was "The Freak".

[td577]

In the past 61 games, 30-1 against ranked opponents.

By year
2014 - 4, 12, 22, 18, 19L, 20, 14, 6, 19, 7
2013 - 6, 4, 15, 11, 15, 5
2012 - 14, 3, 16, 11, 19, 9, 5, 5
2011 - 20, 2, 21, 17, 6, 3, 1

That is what I call showing up for big games.

In case you were all wondering, here is where the Bison was ranked for the last four years
2011 - 11, 11, 8, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1L, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4 ended 1
2012 - 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1L, 4, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ended 1
2013 - 1 x 15 games ended 1
2014 - 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1L, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2 ended 1

So like 40 times #1. These are all just TSN polls. The coaches poll I think is even more weeks at #1.

[Bison4peat]

Randy Moss may have torched NDSU like he did everyone else. Probably would be a fun game.The last 61 games have been straight cash homey.

[MNLonghorn10]

did you guys watch that ESPN 30 for 30 on Randy Moss? hes just as awesome then as his now. He would've been a nightmare to try to prepare for, whoever would have to defend him.

I think NDSU would win, because they were about as complete of a team as you can find in 2013 and we all saw it coming in 2011. but holy hell what a mismatch Moss presents. the front 7 would have to have the games of their lives trying to make the play as short as possible.

Offense would probably have been fine. they rolled whoever.

[Christopher Moen]

Pennington didn't play on the '96 team. He was redshirted in favor of Eric Kresser. Common misconception, though.


Again, that would have been Moss and Kresser on the '96 team, but I agree with your assessment, regardless.



The ’96 Thundering Herd was more than just Moss.

-Eric Kresser QB – Senior leader
-Pennington QB–Freshman year but he wasn’t the starter in 1996.
-Randy Moss WR – 53 TDs in 2 years. Heisman finalist in 1997.
-Larry McCloud MLB – 451 career tackles and second team All-American in 1996.
-John Wade C – Not much about his college career other than 2 year starter but played in NFL and started 110 games.
-Billy Lyon DT – First team All-American in 1996 with 9 sacks.
-Doug Chapman RB – freshman in 1996 but was still a huge part of their offense and was part of two RBs with 1000 yards each, the other Erik Thomas.

In the playoffs that year, their scoring average was 48.25-14.25. They beat UNI by 17, which was considered their worse game of the year in the semis. Their regular season scoring average was 43.9 – 14. Including the playoffs, they beat 8 ranked teams and went wire to wire as the #1 ranked team. They were a great team with a legitimate claim to one of the best FCS/1AA team ever. They had a lot of transfers with the knowledge they were going 1A the next year, but if that team stayed 1AA they would have put together a serious streak of championships. They went on to win 5 straight MAC championships starting in 1997 with 12 losses total in those years and the highest ranking of #11. In 1997, they went 1A and destroyed the MAC with Pennington as QB. They lost to Ole Miss in the Motor City Bowl 34-31.

A fully healthy 2013 Bison team against a 1996 Thundering Herd would be really interesting. Something would have to give. I would have put Williams on WR2 and just locked him down and Shepherd on Moss with backside help. Everyone would want Williams on him, but you have to double Moss and the other side is going to be on an island. Williams is used to operating on an island. LBers have to stay in their lanes or Marshall will eat them up with the running game. With 2 1000 yard backs, they could run the ball very well. On offense, the Bison have to eat yards and time with Ojuri and Crockett.

It would be a great matchup and I think it would have come down to a slugfest. Both defenses could stop teams. Both offenses were very efficient. I wonder if a guy like Moss would have been the difference. He also led the country in kick returns, so there was that part of the game to worry about him, as well. Both teams were well coached and other than the KSU and UNI games, both teams destroyed opponents all year long which I would argue KSU was decidedly more difficult than Marshall's first game and maybe any game until the championship, for them. On paper, the two teams up and down the roster were pretty well matched up except for Moss. There is a reason he was "The Freak".

My bad about Pennington; I have always thought he and Moss were played together both years at Marshall. Appreciate the correction - no purple.

Would have loved to see the match-up of these two teams as they both finished very similar in the Sagarin Rating their respective years (1996: http://www.oocities.org/marshallfan99/sag96fteam.html, 2013 http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2013/team/).

In regards to Moss, I also would have loved to see how the 2013 NDSU football team fared against other future NFL greats that went to D I-AA/FCS schools - Walter Payton at Jackson State College (Jackie Slater was also his teammate) and Jerry Rice at Mississippi Valley State.

[thebigund]

So greatest NFL WR ever vs a secondary featuring "second round draft pick" Marcus Williams who is not starting in the NFL in his second year. Sure the rest is possibly a wash but it's Randy Moss we're talking about. He was a man amongst boys in the NFL as a rookie.

[Christopher Moen]

So greatest NFL WR ever vs a secondary featuring "second round draft pick" Marcus Williams who is not starting in the NFL in his second year. Sure the rest is possibly a wash but it's Randy Moss we're talking about. He was a man amongst boys in the NFL as a rookie.

He covered Gronk (a monster among boys) pretty well last season as a rookie. Not many other DB's are capable of doing that in the NFL.

Add in safety coverage from either Heagle or Dudzik, and I think the Bison will do pretty good.

[MNLonghorn10]

He covered Gronk (a monster among boys) pretty well last season as a rookie. Not many other DB's are capable of doing that in the NFL.

Add in safety coverage from either Heagle or Dudzik, and I think the Bison will do pretty good.
One undrafted fa and a run stopping safety would get killed moss. Don't get me wrong, loved them. But moss would kill them

[thebigund]

He covered Gronk (a monster among boys) pretty well last season as a rookie. Not many other DB's are capable of doing that in the NFL.

Add in safety coverage from either Heagle or Dudzik, and I think the Bison will do pretty good.
Gronk couldn't carry, let alone sniff, Moss' jock strap.

[Tony Almeida]

You ladies are clowns...we are not talking about just a good defense, we are talking about the best defense in NDSU history and possibly in FCS history. Moss was amazing and accomplished a lot but so did that defense...

I'll take a great defense over a great offense any day especially if that offense is one guy.

[Christopher Moen]

Gronk couldn't carry, let alone sniff, Moss' jock strap.

Gronk would just spike Moss' jock while everyone else just watches in awe.


Trust me, I know how good Moss was, but his bread and butter was the deep threat. With a two on one coverage on Moss and NDSU's front seven harassing the Marshall QB and run-game, the chance for going deep and being successful doesn't give Marshall a good chance of putting up video game numbers against the Bison.

In the end, Moss mentally breaks before the Bison defense and this game ends up looking like the first Patriots-Giants Super Bowl.

[Christopher Moen]

You ladies are clowns...we are not talking about just a good defense, we are talking about the best defense in NDSU history. Moss was amazing and accomplished a lot but so did that defense...

I'll take a great defense over a great offense any day especially if that offense is one guy.

I concur. A battle between a great offense and a great defense will almost always go the defense's way.

[Christopher Moen]

One undrafted fa and a run stopping safety would get killed moss. Don't get me wrong, loved them. But moss would kill them

Get killed? I highly doubt it. I predicted Moss getting two TD's at most, which is slightly less than his yearly average. Again, I don't see Marshall having enough horses on offense to score much more against the 2013 NDSU defense.

In the end, it comes down to who breaks first, Moss or the defense. My prediction is Moss due to his tendency to do so in the pros.

[Bisonator98]

Kind of fun to talk about and debate but we will never really know what would have happened. I think it would have been a great game and fun to watch. Tough to get Moss the ball if his QB is on his butt.

[td577]

Kind of fun to talk about and debate but we will never really know what would have happened. I think it would have been a great game and fun to watch. Tough to get Moss the ball if his QB is on his butt.

They had a good line. Only like 14 sacks taken all year. I can't remember the exact number as I was looking up Marshall stuff.

With what I have learned about Marshall and was told to rank all-time fcs teams, here is my opinion. Keeping in mind I know nothing about the other teams with any claims. If up to 2013, Marshall was considered the best of all time in fcs/1aa it has to be at least 1a and 1b now. They were such similar teams in the way they won a championship in a single season.

Full circle here. The 2013 Bison was one of the best teams in fcs/1aa history.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[ByeSonBusiness]

You ladies are clowns...we are not talking about just a good defense, we are talking about the best defense in NDSU history and possibly in FCS history. Moss was amazing and accomplished a lot but so did that defense...

I'll take a great defense over a great offense any day especially if that offense is one guy.

The fun thing is... It appears the offense wasn't just one guy. I believe someone pointed out they had 2 thousand yard rushers.

Maybe NDSU wins, it's completely possible. But Randy F'ing Moss..... They beat the piss out of Montana who won their semifinal game 70-7.

Would have been a bit closer than Towson
:)

[Bison03]

Thread drift........
Enough talk about Randy Moss. We get it, he was awesome! Let's talk about amazing Bison stats and not just a mythical Marshall/NDSU matchup.

[HerdBot]

Moss would have been double teamed while Chad Pennington ran for his life trying find Randy.

The Tampa 2 was basically the only defense that could stop Randy Moss. The Bucs and Dungy were thr only team to beat the 98 Vikings in the regular season. I think it was Dungy and Lovie Smith. Later everyone employed more of the cover 2 schemes.

[NodakBizon]

The fun thing is... It appears the offense wasn't just one guy. I believe someone pointed out they had 2 thousand yard rushers.

Maybe NDSU wins, it's completely possible. But Randy F'ing Moss..... They beat the piss out of Montana who won their semifinal game 70-7.

Would have been a bit closer than Towson
:)

Lets not forget where they beat the piss out of Montana. If the '13 championship is played in the dome its 50-7 and everyone crowns the Bizon as the best FCS team of all time.

[870XPRS]

Lets not forget where they beat the piss out of Montana. If the '13 championship is played in the dome its 50-7 and everyone crowns the herd as the best FCS team of all time.

Might want to be more specific when claiming the "herd" as the best FCS team of all time.......just sayin.

[Green1]

Might want to be more specific when claiming the "herd" as the best FCS team of all time.......just sayin.


Maybe he used "the herd" on purpose to end the debate? :)

[MNLonghorn10]

Get killed? I highly doubt it. I predicted Moss getting two TD's at most, which is slightly less than his yearly average. Again, I don't see Marshall having enough horses on offense to score much more against the 2013 NDSU defense.

In the end, it comes down to who breaks first, Moss or the defense. My prediction is Moss due to his tendency to do so in the pr.
an undrafted FA safety and a run stopping safety would get killed by the most freakish athlete weve seen at wide out ever. take off your glasses. Can't believe im actually typing this.

[MNLonghorn10]

The Tampa 2 was basically the only defense that could stop Randy Moss. The Bucs and Dungy were thr only team to beat the 98 Vikings in the regular season. I think it was Dungy and Lovie Smith. Later everyone employed more of the cover 2 schemes.

i thought monte kiffin was in tampa forever?

[NodakBizon]

Might want to be more specific when claiming the "herd" as the best FCS team of all time.......just sayin.

Dang, good catch.

[ByeSonBusiness]

Lets not forget where they beat the piss out of Montana. If the '13 championship is played in the dome its 50-7 and everyone crowns the Bizon as the best FCS team of all time.

Would they have won by more? Maybe. Maybe not. Be careful though with assuming. Are you assuming that the Bison would have lost to SDSU and Coastal last year had it been played at a neutral site? How about UNI during the 2013 campaign? Georgia Southern in 2012?

2013 was a dominant team, no doubt. Belongs like td77 said, right up there with Marshall.

[Christopher Moen]

an undrafted FA safety and a run stopping safety would get killed by the most freakish athlete weve seen at wide out ever. take off your glasses. Can't believe im actually typing this.

Moss wasn't unstoppable and had a tendency to break mentally when things didn't go his way. If he was as good as you infer, then why didn't he score more in 1996 against inferior defenses? Dude only averaged 2.5 TD's a game, which is great, but not unworldly great. I doubt the 2013 Bison defense would allow him to better his average.

My vision is pretty good, however, yours might be a little too full of Viking pride.

[ByeSonBusiness]

Moss wasn't unstoppable and had a tendency to break mentally when things didn't go his way. If he was as good as you infer, then why didn't he score more in 1996 against inferior defenses? Dude only averaged 2.5 TD's a game, which is great, but not unworldly great. I doubt the 2013 Bison defense would allow him to better his average.

My vision is pretty good, however, yours might be a little too full of Viking pride.

Judging by the scores of their games they were usual over pretty early on.

[EC8CH]

Didn't Marshall have the advantage of being a team transiting into the FBS while also being allowed to participate in the FCS playoffs that year? Seems like that calls for an * in this discussion.

[MNLonghorn10]

Moss wasn't unstoppable and had a tendency to break mentally when things didn't go his way. If he was as good as you infer, then why didn't he score more in 1996 against inferior defenses? Dude only averaged 2.5 TD's a game, which is great, but not unworldly great. I doubt the 2013 Bison defense would allow him to better his average.
o
My vision is pretty good, however, yours might be a little too full of Viking pride.

maybe because one went on to be an all time great at his position at the top level of his sport.

[MNLonghorn10]

Didn't Marshall have the advantage of being a team transiting into the FBS while also being allowed to participate in the FCS playoffs that year? Seems like that calls for an * in this discussion.

i still think NDSU beat marshall...but moss would be borderline impossible to keep in check...which is just 2.5 td's.

[Tatanka]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yZHveWFvqM

[thebootfitter]

Here's an impressive stat:

Bisonvillers are having more discussions about whether the 2013 team was the best ever than whether the 2009 team was the worst ever. That's a positive thing, right?

[SDbison]

i still think NDSU beat marshall...but moss would be borderline impossible to keep in check...which is just 2.5 td's. It takes more than one player to make a great team. I am confident overall talent had a lot more to do with Marshall's success than the skills of Randy Moss. Last I checked football is still a team sport.

[ByeSonBusiness]

Here's an impressive stat:

Bisonvillers are having more discussions about whether the 2013 team was the best ever than whether the 2009 team was the worst ever. That's a positive thing, right?

We don't talk about 2009. Ever.

[Christopher Moen]

Judging by the scores of their games they were usual over pretty early on.

Hard to tell, as I cannot find any box scores for their 1996 season. That season (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Marshall_Thundering_Herd_football_team) for Marshall was pretty similar to NDSU's 2013 season (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_North_Dakota_State_Bison_football_team). Both played in difficult conferences, each played a Division II school and both won most of their games by large margins. With that said, I can only guess NDSU had a bigger hill to climb as they had a P5 team on their schedule.

[Christopher Moen]

maybe because one went on to be an all time great at his position at the top level of his sport.

Yes, he was definitely one of the best WR's in the NFL and might have been the best ever if he could have kept his emotions/attitude in check (his Achilles's heel), however, we're referring to athletes at the college level. NDSU has played against teams with pretty good athletes and have figured out ways to beat them. One example would be Terrance West. His numbers (http://stats.washingtonpost.com/cfb/players.asp?id=203041) in college were pretty comparable to Moss' (http://www.totalfootballstats.com/PlayerWR.asp?id=2870).

[td577]

Moss wasn't unstoppable and had a tendency to break mentally when things didn't go his way. If he was as good as you infer, then why didn't he score more in 1996 against inferior defenses? Dude only averaged 2.5 TD's a game, which is great, but not unworldly great. I doubt the 2013 Bison defense would allow him to better his average.

My vision is pretty good, however, yours might be a little too full of Viking pride.

The dude hardly played in the second half all season long. He had 4 4th QTR TDs all season. 21 of his TDs came in the first half of games. I liked Randy Moss and when he was in his prime, he was a defensive nightmare at both the college and pro levels. There are only a handful of guys in the history of football that completely changed the way the other team played and he was one of them. He was ridiculously great. He only played for two years of college football and nearly broke career marks for college TD receptions. By the way, Randy Moss is still considered FSU's #1 football recruit of all time, ahead of Prime Time, even though he never played a down. Very few college teams have ever matched up against that level of talent. I am not saying he couldn't be stopped, but it would have required a lot of resources to do so. It would have been interesting to see how a great defense would have allocated resources to stop Moss while still stopping a very good running attack. The one thing the Bison have always done better than anyone is making games ugly. Putting QBs on their back, disrupting timing, making teams work for every yard, and taking teams out of their comfort zone. Teams like Marshall were used to getting their way, so having someone make the game ugly on them would have been key. I still go by earlier statement that these two teams are a couple of the best FCS/1AA has ever had and either could make a compelling argument for number 1 all time.

Lastly about Moss, while he was one who did get in trouble off the field which led to him being at Marshall in the first place and many storied incidents throughout his career, he wasn't a head case when he put pads on until a few seasons into the NFL. He wasn't known for breaking down mentally in college football games because he didn't. Especially in 1996 when he thought is playing career was over and he had a lot to prove. I get there are a lot of reasons to hate him or dislike him a lot, but on the field between 1996-2009 minus a couple of years with the Raiders, he was as close to unstoppable as any man who played WR.

So back to the last 61 games, there were only a few FCS/1AA schools in history who would of had legitimate shots at breaking up the 4 peat and even less who would have stopped the 2013 Bison. The '96 Thundering Herd were one of them. I honestly still don't know about those great App State, Montana, or YSU teams because I wasn't following FCS/1AA then. I do know that with 1 ever playoff loss in FCS, when teams are put in front of the Bison with the season on the line, they take care of business like no other. They play 60 minutes of football every game. It takes a lot of factors to fall into place perfectly for a team to beat the Bison. Those are marks of a great program and any other program would kill to replicate it.

[td577]

Didn't Marshall have the advantage of being a team transiting into the FBS while also being allowed to participate in the FCS playoffs that year? Seems like that calls for an * in this discussion.

Yeah, they were loaded with a lot of FBS talent because they were going FBS in 1997. A lot of transfers and were starting to build a FBS team in 1995 and 1996. They dominated the MAC for many years, so obviously it worked. They beat some quality P5 schools while in the MAC, so it wasn't like their success was because of the conference. The MAC was better then.

[MNLonghorn10]

The dude hardly played in the second half all season long. He had 4 4th QTR TDs all season. 21 of his TDs came in the first half of games. I liked Randy Moss and when he was in his prime, he was a defensive nightmare at both the college and pro levels. There are only a handful of guys in the history of football that completely changed the way the other team played and he was one of them. He was ridiculously great. He only played for two years of college football and nearly broke career marks for college TD receptions. By the way, Randy Moss is still considered FSU's #1 football recruit of all time, ahead of Prime Time, even though he never played a down. Very few college teams have ever matched up against that level of talent. I am not saying he couldn't be stopped, but it would have required a lot of resources to do so. It would have been interesting to see how a great defense would have allocated resources to stop Moss while still stopping a very good running attack. The one thing the Bison have always done better than anyone is making games ugly. Putting QBs on their back, disrupting timing, making teams work for every yard, and taking teams out of their comfort zone. Teams like Marshall were used to getting their way, so having someone make the game ugly on them would have been key. I still go by earlier statement that these two teams are a couple of the best FCS/1AA has ever had and either could make a compelling argument for number 1 all time.

Lastly about Moss, while he was one who did get in trouble off the field which led to him being at Marshall in the first place and many storied incidents throughout his career, he wasn't a head case when he put pads on until a few seasons into the NFL. He wasn't known for breaking down mentally in college football games because he didn't. Especially in 1996 when he thought is playing career was over and he had a lot to prove. I get there are a lot of reasons to hate him or dislike him a lot, but on the field between 1996-2009 minus a couple of years with the Raiders, he was as close to unstoppable as any man who played WR.

So back to the last 61 games, there were only a few FCS/1AA schools in history who would of had legitimate shots at breaking up the 4 peat and even less who would have stopped the 2013 Bison. The '96 Thundering Herd were one of them. I honestly still don't know about those great App State, Montana, or YSU teams because I wasn't following FCS/1AA then. I do know that with 1 ever playoff loss in FCS, when teams are put in front of the Bison with the season on the line, they take care of business like no other. They play 60 minutes of football every game. It takes a lot of factors to fall into place perfectly for a team to beat the Bison. Those are marks of a great program and any other program would kill to replicate it.
Great post. Wow

[A1pigskin]

We don't talk about 2009. Ever.

You learn from it and don't repeat it.