Unmasking Unreal Expectations

The Bison football team has been on one mission this season: to return to Frisco. With Saturday’s win in Normal, Ill., the team took one step closer in completing their ultimate goal. Locking up their second MVFC title in as many years and securing the number one seed in the FCS playoffs, the Bison have successfully paved the road to Frisco to come through the heart of Fargo.

It was an emotional regular season for the Bison who fended off early controversy spiraling around Fargo. Throughout the season more questions have surfaced exposing more pessimistic views towards the Bison ball club. Specifically, questions about the performance of our quarterback.

History tells us that the play of your quarterback is usually going to gage how well your season will pan out. As cliché as it may sound, it’s the truth. Jensen played well last year and led us to a championship. This year Jensen has been putting us in position to win games, but fans still yearn for more from the second year starter.

It has been an up-and-down season for the junior who had high expectations coming into this season. After a stellar sophomore season leading the Bison to a National Championship, the lack of progression in his play has been disgruntling for impatient Bison fans, including myself.

The frustration fans have towards our quarterback has been well documented this season and has even stirred up a sense of unease from us at the Spectrum. Two weeks ago, Sam wrote a column second-guessing the progression of Jensen and he was right, Jensen hasn’t been making the plays with the frequency we are used to seeing the versatile QB make.

But I feel as fans in general, we have put a spotlight on Jensen this year and have all expected him to be something he is not. The students, the city and the media have put Jensen on the pedestal and have expected unrealistic things from the kid. We want him to make some dramatic leap from good to great without realizing how rare it actually is for a quarterback to play at an elite level. Only a handful of player in the history of the FCS have been able to dominate the way we expect Jensen to. He is what he is and by putting his play under a microscope we have been able to pick apart every aspect of his game unfairly.

This time last year Jensen had thrown for 1,994 yards with a 69 completion percentage. Through eleven games this year Jensen has thrown for 1,935 yards with a 62 completion percentage but has thrown for more TDs. The similarity in the stat column further explains the ceiling Jensen’s game has. The problem people is that last year, with all of the talent around him, he hit the ceiling early leaving the Bison faithful craving more this season. As I explained in a column before the season started, the Bison lost a lot on offense from last season. Looking back, I think we took for granted the play of Matt Veldman and Warren Holloway and their ability to get separation from DB’s, making young Jensen’s job a lot easier. Those open receivers haven’t been there at all for Jensen this season, forcing him to throw into tighter window, ultimately leading to more interception.

With hopes of another deep run in the playoffs this year, the jury is still out on Jensen becoming that great quarterback we all aspire him to be. In the meantime, let the road to Frisco officially begin.