Countdown To Cal Poly

[Vet70]

What are the chances of getting a countdown to North Alabama? Not sure what I will do with my spare time once this countdown is over.

This is it for me. I told my wife that if I ever come up with an idea like this again she needs to kick me in the nuts.

[Vet70]

This is one of those days where ideas for my opening monologue isn't exactly rocket science. Well, I guess a lot of things are difficult but are still not rocket science. Day 14 obviously is the time to write about those 14 rings that NDSU football players have earned over the past 53 years.

As I have noted before, that represents one national championship every 3.79 seasons. What follows takes some time to develop and is spread over four days. So, how do the 14 National Championships stack up against other Universities? Everyone knows 14>1, but what about the other programs? As you know it depends on the selector and their methodology. Some sources have determined their results simply based on self-proclamations that "We Are #1". In writing about the 1935 Championship that most observers awarded to Minnesota one author noted that Princeton also claimed it "because Princeton claims everything". That is a practice that has paid off handsomely for them. In 1969 Nixon even declared Texas the National Champions much to the chagrin of undefeated Penn State.

There have also been media polls, coaches polls, and mathematical formulas (and sometimes combinations of the two) that have often provided us with split decisions. At one time polls and computers were used to determine national champions through bowl matchups. Playoff systems can be flawed in deciding who will participate and are open to the possibility of all sorts of machinations. The number of selectors is absolutely staggering. Finally, there is the issue of "highest level." Everyone knows how that claim can be bogus. In spite of these complications, over the next three days, I am going to take a stab at trying to put NDSU's accomplishments into some sort of perspective with those of other programs. In the trade that is what we call a "tease" or "hook" to keep you coming back to the thread.

**Head Coach #14 for the Bison in 1941 and from 1946-1947 was Stan Kostka. His record was 8-17 (.320). Right now I am out of superlatives.
**The Bison beat Western State 14-13 in the 1964 Mineral Water Bowl.
**Three Bison were drafted with the number 14 somewhere in their selections. Bruce Airheart was drafted in 1965 by the Colts as the 14th player in the 13th round (182 overall). In 1966 Ron Hanson was the 14th player taken in the 14th round (214th selection) by the Packers. Last, Chuck Wald went to the Falcons as the 13th pick in the 14th round (351st player taken) in1970.
**In 2007 Central Michigan University from the Mac was FBS victim #2 by a score of 44-14.
**Wofford put up quite a fight but was beaten by the Bison 14-7 in the 2012 quarterfinals.
**The first time Coastal Carolina came to the Dome for a quarterfinals playoff in 2013 they were beaten 48-14. Their loss in 2014 was much closer at 39-32.

Before he switched to #6 Titus Mack (5' 10, 167 pounds; 2009-2010) wore #14 for the Bison. Damn these coaches and their switching of players numbers anyway. He was a transfer from Pasadena Community College. In his two years at NDSU, he played in 23 games and had 23 receptions for 348 yards (15.1 average) and scored 3 touchdowns. In his second year, he had 17 of those catches and 245 yards. The thing that I remember most about Titus is that he was fast. Very fast. Below are two pictures I found of him in his #6 uniform and a video from his Community College as well as NDSU days.
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4242




Today we have #14 worn by a Lakeland, Florida native Josh Hayes (5-11, 187-pound Sophomore). Of course, Josh was #35 last year. Jeeez. In 2017 Josh played in all 15 games as a true Freshman and made his first start in the National Championship game (3 tackles and a forced fumble) because of injuries to Allison and Wimbush. Although he had a few rough spots against a much taller JMU receiver he did pretty well. Overall last year he had 3 pass breakups and 15 tackles (10 unassisted). Below are two pictures of Josh in his #35 uniform and a link to Dom and Jeff's "Breakout Player To Watch In 2018".
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_i...&path=football

https://www.bisonmediazone.com/break...18-josh-hayes/




Occasionally you can feel Fall is in the air and I have noticed and it is darker later in the morning and earlier in the evening. Bison football is 13 days away tomorrow.

[Vet70]

Today there are only 13 days left in The Countdown To Cal Poly and at last Bison football. For anyone who is having a problem wrapping their head around it, that is less than 2 weeks. Incredible.

Before getting into some day 13 specifics let me briefly summarize where I left off yesterday in my humble attempt to put some perspective on NDSU's 14 National Championships in the overall landscape of College football. Who has the most national trophies? Figuring it out with precision is a mess. Now that everyone is caught up let me continue. A 2018 article by Fox Sports Southwest puts the tally as follows:
**Princeton: 28 (none since 1950).
**Yale: 27 (none since 1927).
**Alabama: 17 (10 since 1965 and 5 since 2000).
**ND: 11 (that is NOTRE DAME. 3 since 1965 and none since 2000).
**Michigan: 11 (1 since 1965, none since 2000).
**USC: 11 ( 6 since 1965 and 2 since 2000).
https://www.foxsports.com/southwest/...onships-090115
Another recent article by SB Nation points out that before the establishment of the AP Poll in 1931 claimed and unclaimed titles were a free for all, or as they put it,"like the Wild West". I am somewhat sure guns were probably not part of the process, but I wouldn't count out barroom brawls. On second thought, maybe there were some shootouts. In their tallies, they exclude any titles before 1935. Works for me. Besides, I am pretty sure we could beat any of those Princeton and Yale rosters with our scout team, even if any them are still living. You can see from the above data that the Bison and their 14 titles since 1965 and six since 2000 stack up pretty well. I know, but "highest level" for the big guys who play in the FBS. Patience, that is for another day. How is that for a cliffhanger?

**Head coach #13 for the Herd was Casey Finnegan (1928-1940). He won 2 NCC titles and had a mark of 57-49-11 (.534). Hey, it was a winning record.
**Both Chuck Wald (1968 against Northern Illinois) and Chuck West (2001 against Minnesota State Mankato) hold the Bison record for receptions at 13.
**Monte Smith was selected by the Broncos in the 1989 NFL draft as the 13th player in the 9th round (236th player overall).
**In the eight-years from 2010-2017 the Bison are 106-13 (.890). The 2013 Bison were 15-0.
**In the 2012 National Championship game, SHSU was defeated by the Bison for the second year in a row, this time 39-13. The next two playoff meetings would be even worse for SHSU. In the 2014 semifinals they fell 35-3 and in the same round in 2017, it was 55-13. They need to quit while they are ahead. Well, actually they are not ahead, but they need to get in a different bracket whenever they can.
**The Bison beat Northern Iowa in a hard-hitting quarterfinal playoff game 23-13 in 2015.

Eric Perkins (5- 8, 184 pounds) was #13 for the Bison from 2013-2016. He played in 52 games and caught 17 passes for 171 yards (10.1 average) but really made his mark as a punt and kick returner. He had 33 punt returns (#8 all-time, tie) for 333 yards (#12 all-time) in his career (10.1 yards average). In 2015 he had 288 yards (#8 all-time for a season) on 24 returns (#9 tie for a season). He was also very good on kick returns. For his career, he had 30 of them (#8 in the record books) for 750 yards (#7; 25 yards per try). Altogether he had 1,299 all-purpose yards and in 2016 contributed with 7 tackles on special teams.
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_i...&path=football



Desmond Cain (5-11, 187 pounds) currently wears #13 and transferred to NDSU from Illinois; in 2017 and he made 5 catches for 78 yards in the 5 games he played. Desmond needs to step up in his Senior year and provide some leadership and hopefully return to the 2015 form he displayed at Illinois. In 2016 he suffered a hamstring injury and didn't get the playing time that he had in the previous year under a new coach. In that 2015 season, he was one of the better receivers in the Big 10. After a year learning the system at NDSU, it is his last year and 2018 is literally now or never for him to shine. Looking at what he did at Illinois in 2015 there is no doubt he has talent:
**Played in all 12 games, including five starts at wide receiver
**Ranked in the top 100 in FBS and 11th in Big Ten in receptions per game (4.4)
**Second on the team with 53 receptions
**Third on the team with 492 receiving yards (41.0 per game)
**At least one reception in all 12 games
**Career-high 10 receptions and 102 receiving yards against No. 3 Ohio State
**Six receptions, 74 yards and a touchdown at Purdue
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_i...path=football1




That is it for day 13. Tomorrow is day 12 and I need to go think of a player to profile.

[Christopher Moen]

**Both Chuck Wald (1968 against Northern Illinois) and Chuck West (2001 against Minnesota State Mankato) hold the Bison record for receptions at 13.

Talk about Chucking the pigskin!

[Vet70]

Talk about Chucking the pigskin!

[Vet70]

We now have a mere 12 (that is a dozen) days until Christmas on September 1st and the test for Code Green from that Cal Poly triple option.

Now that the initial pleasantries are out of the way, back to my diatribe from the last couple of days about NDSU's place in the college football universe. An article by SB Nation in early 2018 tries to bring some sanity to the "Who Has The Most Titles" debate by developing a formula for "Consensus" National Championships. By using their count you get the following results:
Yale: 17.
Princeton: 15.
Alabama & ND (just to be clear, NOTRE DAME again): 11.
USC: 7.
Princeton must be having a hissy fit. By relying on the notion of a "Consensus" champion one thing that I found was that San Diego State and NDSU were both voted #1 by different polls in 1968, so using that standard we would "lose" one title. I know everyone knows that Georgia Southern and NDSU are tied with 6 FCS titles apiece. GSU's came over a span of 16 years, NDSU's 7. In terms of D2 Championships, the dominant teams have recently been Northwest Missouri State (6 titles since 1998, 4 after 2000) and Grand Valley State (4 championships since 2002). D3 titles? Mount Union with 13 since 1993 (9 after 2000). You can't do much better than that. For NAIA Championships Texas A&I, now Texas A&M Kingsville had 7 between 1959 and 1979. We will tie a bow on this whole thing tomorrow.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...t-ranking-most

**Head coach Ion Cortright (1925-1927) was Head Coach #12 and led the Bison to one NCC title and a 13-8-2 (.609) mark. Two winning records in the countdown in a row. Who would have thought that was possible?
**From 1964-1973 the Bison had a record of 90-12-1 (.887).
**Four NDSU players were drafted with the #12 somewhere in their selection. Bruce Nelson was selected by the Packers as the 12th pick in the 10th round (#246 overall) in the 1969 draft. 1979 saw Jerry Dahl going to the Chargers with their 6th pick in the 12th round and the 292nd selection. The Jets used their 12th selection in the 9th round (#232 overall) to choose Jerry Spratter in 1979. Finally in 1987, Chad Stark went to the Giants as the 329th player selected. It was the 22nd pick in the 12th round.
**In 1985 on their way to National Championship #5 the Bison beat U.C. Davis 31-12. A year later Central State (Ohio) lost in the semifinals 35-12 as NDSU continued on to National Championship #6.
**NDSU has won 34 Conference titles, 22 solo and 12 shared. I don't like sharing anything when it comes to football titles.
**The Bison have played Big-12 teams 4 times and have a record of 3-1.
**The record attendance in the dome of 19,108 set against Missouri State on October 12, 2013. I don't trust attendance records and I don't know why I am bothering to include this item.

After racking my brain for several hours yesterday I finally thought of a #12 to write about. I am amazed at how quick it seems these days that players commit and before you know it they are Seniors. In that regard, Easton has already played 40 games and has firmly established himself as the third really good quarterback that we have had in a row. The day before the Iowa game a poster on the HawkeyeReort.com wrote: "This kid is one heck of a QB. He can sling it and he and the WR's could give Iowa some fits". Yes, he is one heck of a quarterback, and by the way, in addition to slinging the ball, he can run. But, that poster knows that by now don't they. I hope the mojo gets passed on to his replacement next year whoever takes the reins. In the meantime, he has already managed to carve out a number of top #5 game, single-season, and career records.

Game: #5, average gain per rush, 15.6; #5, % passes completed, 91.7 (11-12); #4 passing yards per completion, 27.5 ; #5, consecutive passes completed 11; #4 TD passes 4 (tie).
Season:#1, pass efficiency, 169.5 (2017); #2, passing TD's, 28 (2017) and #5, 19 (2016); #2, total TD's responsible for, #2, 40 (2017); #3, total offensive yards, 3,129 (2017) and #4, 3,016 (2016); #4, passing yards, 2,466 (2017) and #5, 2,331 (tie, 2016).
Career (Brace Yourself): #1 total offense per play, 7.72 and total offense per game, 194.7; #2 passing touchdowns, 60 (tie) and offensive yards, 7,787; #3 pass attempts 699, completions, 423, yards, 5,941 and pass efficiency, 154.2; #4, average pass, 8.5, yards per game, 148.5 ,and TD's responsible for, 84.

The only thing that I can think to add is that he has a full year left and if he stays healthy who knows what these marks are going to look like. I am really glad he didn't go to Rutgers. I guess that is two things that crossed my mind.
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_i...&path=football





That is all for day 12. Come back tomorrow for day 11 tomorrow and see what Bison player I might think of to discuss.

[Vet70]

It is 11 days to go in The Countdown To Cal Poly and tomorrow will be the start of the backward counting of the last 10. It hardly seems possible.

We still have business to complete and I'll start today with the last part of my thoughts on the briar patch of National Championships. I am sensing a collective sigh of relief. Okay, where do I think we stand in the College Football Universe? No surprise, pretty damn good. It doesn't matter at all to me that some fans will devalue NDSU's 14 National Championships because of their D2 and FCS labels. The program has shown they are willing to take on teams above their level and win. Ask Montana and 12 FBS teams. We are 9-3 against the FBS and we could have very well won in 2 of the 3 games we lost. Yes, I know K-State and Iowa went right down to the wire. Some journalists have written that FBS teams are using poor judgment if they schedule the Bison and many have heeded that advice. Could we beat ANY FBS team? I highly doubt it. Could we be more competitive than many of the FCS and FBS teams that are being scheduled by the powerhouses? Of that, I am pretty confident. On this subject, let me leave Bison fans and our visitors with one more item. In recent years the Business Insider has published a series of articles on the most dominant college football programs in the past 15 years regardless of division. Does anything in the picture below look familiar (that is called a rhetorical question)?

In 2015 we were ranked #22 and in 2017, obviously, before the last National Championship, we were #15. That is in all of college football. Most people from others schools will undoubtedly chalk this up to the arrogance of a Bison fan. Any way you choose to slice it we have had an incredible run and currently, we have a football dynasty. Who knows how long it will last, but I for one am enjoying the hell out of the ride. On with other business.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coll...ll-tide-2015-9
https://www.businessinsider.com/bama...-teams-2017-11

**The 11th head football coach for NDSU was Joe Cutting in 1922 and the season ended on a 6-2 mark (.750), our third winning season in the countdown in a row. Actually, in looking over the earliest ten coaches again things aren't as ugly as I had remembered. That's what you get for trusting me.
**In 1969 Mike Berdis was drafted by the Dolphins with their 11th pick in the 11th round and he was the 271st player taken that year. In addition, in 1977 Chuck Rodgers went to Tampa Bay as the 280th player in the NFL draft. He was the 1st pick in the 11th round.
**In 2013 during the regular season the Bison were 11-0 and undefeated for the first time since the 10-0 regular season 1990 team who won National Championship #8. The final in that game was 51-11 over IUP. In 2013 the Bison averaged 32.7 points a contest while only giving up 11.3 a game (169 total). I remember before the Furman game visiting their board and when one poster came up with the Knights scoring some ridiculous number of points. I had to let them know that if that was the plan they had better do it early and often because NDSU had given up only 13 points all year in the 4th quarter.
**During the 24 playoff games during the 6 successful FCS title runs the Bison defense have given up 273 points or an average of 11.38 a game. The highest total was 86 in 2014 and the lowest 27 in 2011.

So, now I'll write a little something about #11 Carson Wentz (6-6, 235, 2011-2015). I have found that Wentz, Jensen, and Stick are the hardest players that I have written about because so much has been said and composed about them in so many different media. We are lucky to have had all three and many other players that have seemed to fly pretty much under the recruiting radar and have turned out to be pretty darn good players. Carson was one of those players that could have transferred to any number of schools but bided their time and waited for their turn to shine as a Bison. In my opinion, one of the most important contributions that he has made to the program has come with the publicity that he has garnered from his much-deserved success in the NFL. In thinking about his place in the NDSU record books it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he had played more as a starter and had not been injured for half of the 2015 season. The data below is from the NDSU record books and you might notice that they are different from his profile page which needs to be updated:

Game: #1 (tie) TD passes, 5 and #4, 4 twice (tie); #3, most yards total offense, 382; #4 (tie) most passes completed, 26; and #5, most passing yards, 335.
Season: #1 pass attempts, 358; completions, 228; passing yards 3,111; total offense, 3,753; and total offense/game, 243.1 (and #2, 234.6); #2 passing yards/game, 206.4; #3 (tie) TD's responsible for,32 and passing TD's, 25.
Career: #3 total offense/play, 7.42 and completion %, 64.1; #4, passing yards, 5,115; attempts, 612; completions, 392; passing TD's, 45; and passing efficiency 153.9.

To wrap it up these are a few things that provide some recognition of his accomplishments while he was at NDSU:
* 2016 Senior Bowl
* 2015, 2016 NCAA Division I Championship Game Most Outstanding Player
* 2014 College Sporting News Fab 50 All-America
* 2014 College Sporting News FCS Playoff MVP
* 2014, 2015 All-MVFC Honorable Mention
* 2015 MVFC Offensive Player of the Week
* 2015 NCAA Elite 90 Award
* 2013, 2014 NCAA Elite 89 Award
* 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year
* 2014, 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team
* 2014, 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-District
* 2014, 2015 MVFC All-Academic First Team
* 2015 MVFC President's Council Academic Award
* 2012, 2013, 2015 MVFC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award
* 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 MVFC Honor Roll
* 2016 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_i...&path=football






Be sure and tune in tomorrow, maybe not the same time, but on the same thread for the day 10 happenings. I still have a few things left before Cal Poly arrives.

[yopaulie]

It is 11 days to go in The Countdown To Cal Poly and tomorrow will be the start of the backward counting of the last 10. It hardly seems possible.

We still have business to complete and I'll start today with the last part of my thoughts on the briar patch of National Championships. I am sensing a collective sigh of relief. Okay, where do I think we stand in the College Football Universe? No surprise, pretty damn good. It doesn't matter at all to me that some fans will devalue NDSU's 14 National Championships because of their D2 and FCS labels. The program has shown they are willing to take on teams above their level and win. Ask Montana and 12 FBS teams. We are 9-3 against the FBS and we could have very well won in 2 of the 3 games we lost. Yes, I know K-State and Iowa went right down to the wire. Some journalists have written that FBS teams are using poor judgment if they schedule the Bison and many have heeded that advice. Could we beat ANY FBS team? I highly doubt it. Could we be more competitive than many of the FCS and FBS teams that are being scheduled by the powerhouses? Of that, I am pretty confident. On this subject, let me leave Bison fans and our visitors with one more item. In recent years the Business Insider has published a series of articles on the most dominant college football programs in the past 15 years regardless of division. Does anything in the picture below look familiar (that is called a rhetorical question)?

In 2015 we were ranked #22 and in 2017, obviously, before the last National Championship, we were #15. That is in all of college football. Most people from others schools will undoubtedly chalk this up to the arrogance of a Bison fan. Any way you choose to slice it we have had an incredible run and currently, we have a football dynasty. Who knows how long it will last, but I for one am enjoying the hell out of the ride. On with other business.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coll...ll-tide-2015-9
https://www.businessinsider.com/bama...-teams-2017-11

**The 11th head football coach for NDSU was Joe Cutting in 1922 and the season ended on a 6-2 mark (.750), our third winning season in the countdown in a row. Actually, in looking over the earliest ten coaches again things aren't as ugly as I had remembered. That's what you get for trusting me.
**In 1969 Mike Berdis was drafted by the Dolphins with their 11th pick in the 11th round and he was the 271st player taken that year. In addition, in 1977 Chuck Rodgers went to Tampa Bay as the 280th player in the NFL draft. He was the 1st pick in the 11th round.
**In 2013 during the regular season the Bison were 11-0 and undefeated for the first time since the 10-0 regular season 1990 team who won National Championship #8. The final in that game was 51-11 over IUP. In 2013 the Bison averaged 32.7 points a contest while only giving up 11.3 a game (169 total). I remember before the Furman game visiting their board and when one poster came up with the Knights scoring some ridiculous number of points. I had to let them know that if that was the plan they had better do it early and often because NDSU had given up only 13 points all year in the 4th quarter.
**During the 24 playoff games during the 6 successful FCS title runs the Bison defense have given up 273 points or an average of 11.38 a game. The highest total was 86 in 2014 and the lowest 27 in 2011.

So, now I'll write a little something about #11 Carson Wentz (6-6, 235, 2011-2015). I have found that Wentz, Jensen, and Stick are the hardest players that I have written about because so much has been said and composed about them in so many different media. We are lucky to have had all three and many other players that have seemed to fly pretty much under the recruiting radar and have turned out to be pretty darn good players. Carson was one of those players that could have transferred to any number of schools but bided their time and waited for their turn to shine as a Bison. In my opinion, one of the most important contributions that he has made to the program has come with the publicity that he has garnered from his much-deserved success in the NFL. In thinking about his place in the NDSU record books it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he had played more as a starter and had not been injured for half of the 2015 season. The data below is from the NDSU record books and you might notice that they are different from his profile page which needs to be updated:

Game: #1 (tie) TD passes, 5 and #4, 4 twice (tie); #3, most yards total offense, 382; #4 (tie) most passes completed, 26; and #5, most passing yards, 335.
Season: #1 pass attempts, 358; completions, 228; passing yards 3,111; total offense, 3,753; and total offense/game, 243.1 (and #2, 234.6); #2 passing yards/game, 206.4; #3 (tie) TD's responsible for,32 and passing TD's, 25.
Career: #3 total offense/play, 7.42 and completion %, 64.1; #4, passing yards, 5,115; attempts, 612; completions, 392; passing TD's, 45; and passing efficiency 153.9.

To wrap it up these are a few things that provide some recognition of his accomplishments while he was at NDSU:
* 2016 Senior Bowl
* 2015, 2016 NCAA Division I Championship Game Most Outstanding Player
* 2014 College Sporting News Fab 50 All-America
* 2014 College Sporting News FCS Playoff MVP
* 2014, 2015 All-MVFC Honorable Mention
* 2015 MVFC Offensive Player of the Week
* 2015 NCAA Elite 90 Award
* 2013, 2014 NCAA Elite 89 Award
* 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year
* 2014, 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team
* 2014, 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-District
* 2014, 2015 MVFC All-Academic First Team
* 2015 MVFC President's Council Academic Award
* 2012, 2013, 2015 MVFC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award
* 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 MVFC Honor Roll
* 2016 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_i...&path=football






Be sure and tune in tomorrow, maybe not the same time, but on the same thread for the day 10 happenings. I still have a few things left before Cal Poly arrives.

The all mvfc "honorable mention" still floors me.

[SDbison]

The all mvfc "honorable mention" still floors me.

but putting up big numbers........

[Christopher Moen]

It is 11 days to go in The Countdown To Cal Poly and tomorrow will be the start of the backward counting of the last 10. It hardly seems possible.

We still have business to complete and I'll start today with the last part of my thoughts on the briar patch of National Championships. I am sensing a collective sigh of relief. Okay, where do I think we stand in the College Football Universe? No surprise, pretty damn good. It doesn't matter at all to me that some fans will devalue NDSU's 14 National Championships because of their D2 and FCS labels. The program has shown they are willing to take on teams above their level and win. Ask Montana and 12 FBS teams. We are 9-3 against the FBS and we could have very well won in 2 of the 3 games we lost. Yes, I know K-State and Iowa went right down to the wire. Some journalists have written that FBS teams are using poor judgment if they schedule the Bison and many have heeded that advice. Could we beat ANY FBS team? I highly doubt it. Could we be more competitive than many of the FCS and FBS teams that are being scheduled by the powerhouses? Of that, I am pretty confident. On this subject, let me leave Bison fans and our visitors with one more item. In recent years the Business Insider has published a series of articles on the most dominant college football programs in the past 15 years regardless of division. Does anything in the picture below look familiar (that is called a rhetorical question)?

In 2015 we were ranked #22 and in 2017, obviously, before the last National Championship, we were #15. That is in all of college football. Most people from others schools will undoubtedly chalk this up to the arrogance of a Bison fan. Any way you choose to slice it we have had an incredible run and currently, we have a football dynasty. Who knows how long it will last, but I for one am enjoying the hell out of the ride. On with other business.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coll...ll-tide-2015-9
https://www.businessinsider.com/bama...-teams-2017-11

**The 11th head football coach for NDSU was Joe Cutting in 1922 and the season ended on a 6-2 mark (.750), our third winning season in the countdown in a row. Actually, in looking over the earliest ten coaches again things aren't as ugly as I had remembered. That's what you get for trusting me.
**In 1969 Mike Berdis was drafted by the Dolphins with their 11th pick in the 11th round and he was the 271st player taken that year. In addition, in 1977 Chuck Rodgers went to Tampa Bay as the 280th player in the NFL draft. He was the 1st pick in the 11th round.
**In 2013 during the regular season the Bison were 11-0 and undefeated for the first time since the 10-0 regular season 1990 team who won National Championship #8. The final in that game was 51-11 over IUP. In 2013 the Bison averaged 32.7 points a contest while only giving up 11.3 a game (169 total). I remember before the Furman game visiting their board and when one poster came up with the Knights scoring some ridiculous number of points. I had to let them know that if that was the plan they had better do it early and often because NDSU had given up only 13 points all year in the 4th quarter.
**During the 24 playoff games during the 6 successful FCS title runs the Bison defense have given up 273 points or an average of 11.38 a game. The highest total was 86 in 2014 and the lowest 27 in 2011.

So, now I'll write a little something about #11 Carson Wentz (6-6, 235, 2011-2015). I have found that Wentz, Jensen, and Stick are the hardest players that I have written about because so much has been said and composed about them in so many different media. We are lucky to have had all three and many other players that have seemed to fly pretty much under the recruiting radar and have turned out to be pretty darn good players. Carson was one of those players that could have transferred to any number of schools but bided their time and waited for their turn to shine as a Bison. In my opinion, one of the most important contributions that he has made to the program has come with the publicity that he has garnered from his much-deserved success in the NFL. In thinking about his place in the NDSU record books it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he had played more as a starter and had not been injured for half of the 2015 season. The data below is from the NDSU record books and you might notice that they are different from his profile page which needs to be updated:

Game: #1 (tie) TD passes, 5 and #4, 4 twice (tie); #3, most yards total offense, 382; #4 (tie) most passes completed, 26; and #5, most passing yards, 335.
Season: #1 pass attempts, 358; completions, 228; passing yards 3,111; total offense, 3,753; and total offense/game, 243.1 (and #2, 234.6); #2 passing yards/game, 206.4; #3 (tie) TD's responsible for,32 and passing TD's, 25.
Career: #3 total offense/play, 7.42 and completion %, 64.1; #4, passing yards, 5,115; attempts, 612; completions, 392; passing TD's, 45; and passing efficiency 153.9.

To wrap it up these are a few things that provide some recognition of his accomplishments while he was at NDSU:
* 2016 Senior Bowl
* 2015, 2016 NCAA Division I Championship Game Most Outstanding Player
* 2014 College Sporting News Fab 50 All-America
* 2014 College Sporting News FCS Playoff MVP
* 2014, 2015 All-MVFC Honorable Mention
* 2015 MVFC Offensive Player of the Week
* 2015 NCAA Elite 90 Award
* 2013, 2014 NCAA Elite 89 Award
* 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year
* 2014, 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team
* 2014, 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-District
* 2014, 2015 MVFC All-Academic First Team
* 2015 MVFC President's Council Academic Award
* 2012, 2013, 2015 MVFC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award
* 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 MVFC Honor Roll
* 2016 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society
https://gobison.com/roster.aspx?rp_i...&path=football






Be sure and tune in tomorrow, maybe not the same time, but on the same thread for the day 10 happenings. I still have a few things left before Cal Poly arrives.

Although not on the same level as Carson, but still pretty dang good, was another #11 QB: