North Dakota State has won five FCS national titles in a row, and the Bison have won the last six games they’ve played against FBS opponents, too. The latest was a win at Iowa in September, which was in upset in name only.
The Bison aren’t completely invincible, though. They’ve lost a couple of times during their dominant run against the FCS, and on Saturday, rival South Dakota State struck the first blow against NDSU this year, winning on a last-moment touchdown.
Jackrabbits quarterback Taryn Christion found Jake Wieneke on the back shoulder with one second left, taking the Jacks from down 17-13 to a 19-17 win.
So the Bison fall to 5-1 on the year, while the Jacks go to 4-2 and pulled ahead of NDSU on a tiebreaker in the Missouri Valley. That’s a tough break for Chris Klieman and the Bison, whose last loss came almost exactly a year ago, to South Dakota (not South Dakota State) on Oct. 17, 2015.
This is a pretty significant rivalry game in the Dakotas. This was the 13th year the Bison and Jacks have played for the Dakota Marker, as it’s known, and the Jacks were pretty amped to get it back from their northern neighbors.
Dakota Marker is ours!!!!! @GoJacksFB #GoJacks pic.twitter.com/lOHW8ZDXb8
— Andrew Sogn (@AndrewSogn) October 15, 2016
South Dakota. This is for you. #GoJacks pic.twitter.com/y5HrJ7twex
— SDSU Football (@GoJacksFB) October 15, 2016
Take notes, all FBS schools.