Bison looking to avoid hangover
One in four doctors recommend “Chaser” for hangover prevention. The North Dakota State University Bison (7-0) are saying no such pill will be needed for Saturday’s contest with the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (0-7) in Great West Football Conference play.
So the “Chaser” stat is made up, but the hype still surrounding the victory over the University of Minnesota is not. All week long local media outlets have been recapping the game and what it means to the university. Tyler Roehl has been collecting national award after national award for his record-breaking performance. Fans have been surfing YouTube, watching the highlights from ESPN over and over again.
Fans and media however, have not been talking about Southern Utah, and the situation is set up perfectly for a hangover loss.
Are the players putting the Minnesota game behind them and focusing on this weekend’s conference foe?
“Having the Great West be only five teams, every conference game is huge so we can’t look past anyone,” Bison offensive tackle Nate Safe said. “If you lose one conference game, you’re out as far as winning the championship.”
A conference championship is just one of NDSU’s goals this year. One other important goal is finishing with a No. 1 ranking in all the polls, something virtually impossible if the Bison don’t go undefeated.
“Minnesota was just one of our goals for the year, we’ve still got four more games left and it’s important we finish the season, otherwise what we’ve been doing can be easily forgotten just as quick as it’s been remembered,” Bison defensive end Joe Lardinois said. “We still have goals that have yet to be met.”
The Thunderbirds started the season facing six straight ranked opponents. Despite the tough schedule and winless record, they have been playing almost every team very tough and down to the final seconds. They lost to national power Youngstown State by one point and Montana State by four points.
“They’re a good capable team,” Safe said. “They play just a heck of a schedule against really good teams and it just hasn’t gone their way this year, but we have to be on our toes and ready this week.”
The Bison defensive line is looking to a former player with preparing to take it to SUU. Justin Frick is helping out this week in practice and working with defensive linemen. Frick was in NFL camps this summer with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears.
“When conference play comes around, your schedule is wiped clean,” Lardinois said. “It doesn’t matter who you played before that, conference play is always different. We just have to go into the game and stay confident and have our heads screwed on straight and take it to them.”
Safe, a senior will not be taking these last four games lightly. With only two home games left, Safe will want to finish in style.
“I was just talking about it to (seniors) Steve (Walker) and
Joe Mays, and it was just like holy cow, we only have four games
left,” Safe said. “It’s all we’ve ever done
all our lives is play football, it’ll be fun the last few games,
we’ll really enjoy them.”
Everyone enjoys a day without a hangover.