Semifinal Recap

Well...now we wait. Jan 5th is the national championship and we get to put a big ol' pause on the season for reasons that bug the shit out of me (gonna do a write up about that this week). As for the game, it has the potential to be interesting. Eastern Washington is no push over...but then again we've said that about James Madison, Illinois St, Sam Houston St (twice), Jacksonville St, and Towson. And year after year when the Bison come calling to the national championship game, they are the ones raising the trophy. As the game comes closer there will be more talk about this but it boils down to Continued Dynasty or Surprising Upset?

As for the games this past weekend? Well, needless to say, they were not very exciting. What was hoped to be two good games versus four sound ballclubs turned into two blowouts of different varieties.  One one side we got the second-half adjustments blowout and on the other, we got the first half blitz. Both sides very deserving of their victories.

Time to look back on them both

No. 1 North Dakota State 44 - No. 5 South Dakota State 21

• I don't think I've seen many QB run with as much power as Easton Stick...maybe Cam Newton and Eric Crouch but that's about it. And come to think of it, Stick reminds me of a better throwing version of Crouch. The way he bulldozed over defenders Friday night was just a sight. You would have thought he was a fullback the way he lowered his shoulder and initiated contact. Stick lead the ground attack for the Bison running for 147 yards and three touchdowns and the odd thing is that he touchdowns showcased more of his agility and speed than his power. Oh he tossed in 169 yards passing to wrap up his last game in the FargoDome with 319 total yards and 4 touchdowns
• The thing that makes the Bison so damn tough to beat is that it is hard to hold them down for 60 minutes. For one half this was a tight game, both teams not fully in top gear. But the Bison got the engine humming late in the second quarter and they ended up running at peak efficiency the rest of the game. The last eight possessions for the Bison went as follows: TD, Half, TD, TD, TD, FG, TD, end of the game...that's 37 points in one efficient swoop. The only bad thing is that they missed a PAT at the end to "sour" an otherwise dominating performance. 608 total yards worth of pure domination, 439 of them on the ground
• Overall this was a disappointing (sad might be better) game for a number of reasons. For the Jackrabbits is was a bitter end to an otherwise good season. But at the same time, you wonder if this is the program's ceiling. There are pieces in place coming back but when you have a giant question mark at the QB position one has to wonder. Reminds me of how Sam Houston St was this time last year or even closer to that of the run of Jacksonville St a few years ago. For the Bison its the end of probably the greatest class in school history. The senior class has gone an incredible 68-6 with one game remaining and not to mention that class includes Chris Klieman, who after the national championship will move to his new role at Kansas St. The home faithful sendoff to Klieman and the senior class is one that is top notch no matter where you look

No. 3 Eastern Washington 50 - No. 7 Maine 19

• While it would be easy to sit here and blame cross-country travel for Maine's troubles but that would sell them and EWU short. Maine was just outplayed. Instead of trying to establish the run, the Eagles just came out and threw the ball, lots of RPOs and routes used to break up the back end while keeping the pass rush guessing. Eric Barriere ended up throwing for 352 yards and seven touchdown passes. Just for the record, that is a pretty damn good day. And just to add to the fun, Barriere added 53 yards on the ground. Part of a 216 yard rushing attack...most after the passing game opened things up
• It was a rough start for the Black Bears as the first three possession ended in a missed FG, an interception, and a fumble with the two turnovers leading to touchdowns for the Eagles. And when it looked like the Black Bears were building up some momentum in the 3rd quarter, a two-play touchdown, followed by another interception ended what little chance there was for any type of comeback
• Back to the travel for a bit. The last two weeks for the Black Bears were insane in terms of travel. All told, for both weeks of round-trip travel was a touch over 10,000 miles. That is a ton of travel for one team in back to back weeks. It makes you wonder if there was a way to go somewhere in the Midwest to practice for a week to keep from all the travel. Maybe some D-II school or FCS around St Louis or something. That had to be rough on the players. But at the end of the day...this is the greatest Black Bear team in school history. My guess it was a long flight but when you have that in the back of your mind the accomplishment is one of a kind