Bison remain undefeated
Bison defense holds Georgia Southern to 65 rushing yards
Coming into its matchup with NDSU, Georgia Southern had two running backs that averaged more than 100 yards per game.
Against NDSU, the Eagles were unable to rush for 100 yards as a team.
The Bison rode their defense and a three-touchdown performance from Steve Walker to a 34-14 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday at Paulson Stadium.
“ Anybody that follows I-AA football recognizes that this is a premiere program and it’s a great benchmark for our school as we’re striving to get some of the same national recognition that Georgia Southern has,” Bison head coach Craig Bohl said. “To go on the road and beat a six-time national champion is really a good feat for our program.”
Georgia Southern’s record at Paulson Stadium is an astounding 141-18, with two of those losses this season.
The Bison rush defense held the Eagles to just 65 yards rushing. The Eagles had not been held under 100 yards rushing as a team since Dec. 2, 1995.
“ We just put more men in the box to try to make them one dimensional,” linebacker Ramon Humber, who finished with five tackles, said.
The Bison secondary made their presence felt as well, grabbing an interception for the second consecutive week.
This time it was freshman Courtney Mitchell, and he took the interception 35 yards for the game-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“ I saw the ball and jumped as high as I could,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t know I was going to score the touchdown. I thought I was going to fall, but I kept my balance and took it all the way.”
On the offensive side, Steve Walker threw his first interception of the season — the first in his previous 114 passes — but he made up for it with two touchdown passes and a two-yard touchdown run.
Walker’s touchdown run came in the second quarter and tied the game at seven.
The Eagles answered back with a Lamar Lewis five-yard rushing touchdown on the next drive, leaving the Bison just over five minutes on the clock.
As they had done in the previous two games, the Bison marched down the field at the end of the first half and punched the ball into the end zone.
Walker hit senior receiver Travis White on a slant with nine seconds remaining on the clock to tie the game at 14 going into halftime.
“ The score at the end of the half was a huge momentum switch. We knew we were going into a dog fight,” Bohl said.
The Bison offense went down the field and scored with good time management and the team executed well, he said.