The March Is On!

There’s no question you’ve heard the buzz going around campus. With the Bison football season opener this Saturday night at the Fargo Dome, everybody’s talking football. Coming off their national championship season, the football team will kick off the 2012 year against the Colonials of Robert Morris. But who is Robert Morris?
Coming out of the Northeast conference, the Colonials were a whopping 2-9 last season. Their defense gave up just under 28 points a game to opposing offenses, while their offense struggled to average just over 19 points a game. With stats like those from last season, you have to wonder what kind of firepower the Colonials are capable of this Saturday, if any.

The Bison however, are a different story. Fresh off a 14-1 record complimented with trophies, rings, smiles and memories, NDSU steps onto the field for the first time in 2012 to defend their National Championship. In 2011, the Bison averaged just over 31 points a game, while giving up under 13 points a game. As you can see, the Bison not only have firepower on offense, but on defense as well. But with offensive weapons like DJ McNorton, Matt Veldman and Warren Holloway all gone, the Bison will have to look elsewhere on offense.

That being said, three big stars from last year also return on offense for their junior seasons with the Bison. Quarterback Brock Jensen, running back Sam Ojuri and wide receiver Ryan Smith all look poised to carry on the success from last season into this season. Sprinkle in some impressive junior offensive lineman like Billy Turner and Tyler Gimmestad, just to name a few, and the Bison offense looks locked, cocked and ready to fire on all cylinders once again.

On the defensive side of the ball the Bison will surely miss the inside linebacker presence of Preston Evans and the contributions of safety John Pike who were both lost to graduation. But there’s no need to dwell Bison fans, as plenty of firepower remains. Junior corner back Marcus Williams is coming off his All-American season and is set to be a part of an impressive defensive backs crew including sophomore Christian Dudzik, junior Colten Heagle and Andre Martin Jr., who is an impressive senior corner back that just transferred from Missouri Valley Conference for UNI. Add returning pieces like Grant Olson, Kyle Emanuel, Leevon Perry, Cole Jirik, Ryan Drevlow and the MVP of the National Championship game Travis Beck to the puzzle, and the Bison look arguably even stronger on defense this year.

As an avid sports fan here at North Dakota State, writing this story gives me goose bumps. I was in Frisco, TX last year to see our Bison take home the trophy and I’m more ready than ever for Bison football to be under way again. This Saturday night at just a couple minutes past the 6 o’clock hour, everybody will be up for the kickoff, because THE MARCH IS ON!