This season's journey to the postseason and Frisco, Texas has 12 pre-scheduled stops, with only one break between now & late November. There will be twists, turns & trouble along the route but through it all the Herd will make progress. Following each game this will be the only place to find the thoughts about it. As great as the destination can be, enjoy the weekly pit stops along the way!
Eddie George and Tennessee State made their first (and possibly last) visit to Fargo about as memorable for the Bison as they possibly could. Okay, maybe throwing three pick sixes would have been more impactful for the young men in green but five first-time touchdown scorers is certainly a way leave an impression.
From Bryce Lance through Nathan Hayes it was a parade of points by players that few would have predicted. But the volume and the variety is exactly what they lacked in the opener so perhaps the coaches will look to spread it around in a similar fashion moving forward. I don't want to draw that conclusion based off of this one game but it could bear out that way once we have a larger sample size.
East Tennessee and Towson could be similarly overmatched which would help the guys further down the pecking order get chances to make plays but when it comes to the defining games of the season there won't be six different members of the team credited with possession in the end zone, that much seems certain. But even without that volume the offense can be spread around with similar excellence. Maybe Bryce Lance would get the hat trick instead of hitting the bench for most of the second half - just an example.
How they go about producing offensively like they did tonight when they once again face an equal opponent will be the biggest question for the Bison going forward.
But that is enough crystal ball talk
Have to enjoy this master piece of a football game!
Cam Miller remained in Walter Payton-finalist level form with his surgical 14/18 passing for 181 yards and three scores while only needing to carry the ball five times for 42 and another touchdown. The yardage may prove too light for him to actually win if that is his usual total throughout the season but the rushing and all the touchdowns should keep him in the conversation for best player in the nation! It's lofty through just two games but the jockeying for position has already begun so why ignore it or deny it?
With Raja Nelson on the sideline with an injury we got to see some of the vaunted WR depth that Matt Entz assembled. Beginning with Bryce Lance they came in waves with only Cole Payton and Chris Harris hauling in more than one of the other 10 total completions. So the offensive explosion didn't provide much in the way of clues about who WR2 would be should Nelson remain unavailable but that may play in the teams favor, if they can keep that smokescreen intact up to the big games.
In contrast with that, Charmar Brown and Barika Kpeenu have seemed to seperate themselves as the team's top two backs. They will need to keep leaning on quarterback run to spare the group from being depleted further, an odd statement if I've ever written one, but with what Nathan Hayes showed during his 51-yard touchdown run they may go further into that bag of tricks.
The other option would be to keep mixing-in the baby Bison as circumstances allow but their own preparedness may have as much to do with that as anything. Peder Haugo and Kelly Watson helped get them through today so it's not something to which Polasek is resolutely opposed.
For all that talk of the offense, the defense was equally as in command of the field
Three fumble recoveries
Three sacks
Eight tackles-for-loss
No points given up - the play before the FG was a questionable whistle.
It's amazing what not having to go against future NFL guys will do for that whole 11!
But unlike the offense, it's unclear who the top guys were for them and I think that's even better! If all 22 can come in and wreak havoc then few teams in the country stand a chance of putting up enough points to make it a game into the fourth quarter.
That may not be great for the television optics or concession sales but should be music to the minds of all those who want the team back with the trophy!
Onto the next one!
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