Bison Defense Among the Best Ever

NDSU head football coach Craig Bohl is usually vanilla in his press conferences. He won’t say anything drastic or say something that will cause a mumble amongst the reporters. But, after last Saturday’s dominant 54-0 win over South Dakota, Bohl stated that this year’s defense is the best he has seen in his years at NDSU.

Wow, what a statement.

The Bison always have had the reputation of a blue-collar team that will beat you with an efficient offense and a stout defense. NDSU’s defense has been a force to be reckoned with for countless years. Last year’s national championship was won because an unwilling brick wall of a defense turned it up one more notch in the playoffs. They shut down every one of their opponents’ offensive strengths with ease.

The Bison defense last year was straight up ridiculous.

But are they better this year?
Well, the evidence is there on the field, on the stat sheets, and the head coach says so himself.

Let’s look at these eye-popping numbers.

Through seven games, the Bison defense has given up 45 points. That’s six touchdowns, people, in seven games! They are allowing 8.4 points per game. That’s good for number one in the nation.

NDSU is also ranked second in rushing defense and first in passing defense.

The stats are there. This defense is the toughest in the nation to score on.

They most certainly are the best defense NDSU has ever had and possibly the best the FCS has seen in quite some time.

There is no weak spot on the “Code Green” Bison defense. The D-Line is just as good as the linebacking core that is just as good as the stacked secondary. Depth, besides at linebackers, is no issue either.

Every play, at least three players are running onto the field and subbing in. There is never a noticeable decline on the level of play when these subs go into the game. There are plenty of players listed second on the depth chart that any FCS team would love to have.

What might scare teams even more is that this defense has only two senior starters. In fact, there were no senior starters at the beginning of the year. After losing the best tackler on the team, junior Colton Heagle, to an ACL injury, the Bison haven’t missed a beat. Actually, the next strong safety in line, Bryan Shepherd, may also be out for the season. In comes senior Bobby Ollman and the position is still just as solid.

UNI transfer and veteran Andre Martin Jr. took over the starting corner spot from junior Brendin Pierre, but Pierre is still contributing to the deep secondary.

My point is, anywhere you look on this Bison defense you won’t find a weak spot. Not even in the backups.

Bohl wasn’t saying anything too dramatic when he stated this is the best defense he has seen. He was simply stating facts.

The saying “defense wins championships” may be overused, but the Bison are a proof of this. If they are to repeat as national champs, it will be because of this defense.

And if this year’s defense is the best Bohl has seen, just wait until next year when almost everyone returns.

Sit back and enjoy Bison fans.

Good luck, FCS.