Nicholls State @ #1 NDSU

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

Here we go. Now we know who is coming to the FD next week.

Nicholls had an impressive showing in their ground game against UND. Now can they do it against the Bison defense?

#55 for Nicholls on defense looks pretty darn good and NDSU will need to contain him. Fourcade had a good day passing against UND 14/16 for 165 and 1 TD....efficient. Nicholls piled up 316 yards rushing but the NDSU defense is significantly better than UND's.

Can Nicholls slow down Trey Lance and the Bison offense? UND could not run the ball.....NDSU will be able to.

Interesting match up.

IMO, NDSU's power down hill running style will wear down Nicholls and NDSU will roll to an easy win.

NDSU has only had 2 teams score in the 20s and some of those scores were in garbage time. Can Nicholls score enough to win? Can Nicholls slow down the Bison offense? Hold them under 20?


Thoughts?

[Hood]

Well there's a reason I call my fantasy football team "The Fargo Woodchippers." Lot of respect for your program (and the movie lol).

Don't worry, we'll supply our own body bags, we still have a surplus from the last hurricane. We might have won today, but there were mistakes you can't make against a Power 5 FBS team, much less NDSU. I know what I wrote.

[Gil Dobie]

Bring your own tent.

[uofmman1122]

Bison by 4 TDs.

Oh wait, I've been told they might be a little down this year.

Bison by 3 TDs and 2 FGs.

[POD Knows]

Nicholls in this one, too many tools on offense, too balanced. 35-27 Nicholls #BOOKIT They won't get jammed up by the officiating crew in Fargo like they did in LA, that should be worth at least two TD's.

[Bison56]

Looking forward to seeing Nicholls in person. Its nice to get some different teams in the playoffs.

[Hood]

Nicholls in this one, too many tools on offense, too balanced. 35-27 Nicholls #BOOKIT They won't get jammed up by the officiating crew in Fargo like they did in LA, that should be worth at least two TD's.

I hear "The Onion" is hiring

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

UND passed for 272 yards on Nicholls. NDSU can run and pass. Going to tough for Nicholls to try and defend everything. Nicholls DC is going to have some sleepless nights this week....

[Professor Chaos]

I think Daejean Dixon will give the Bison problems. They haven't seen a lot of elite WRs this year and they've gotten burned by big-framed WRs earlier in the year like Cal Davis' duo of Harrell and Vaughn and UNI's Weston. Fourcade will also give them some issues with his mobility. The health of NDSU's #2 CB Josh Hayes and All-American WLB Jabril Cox (both have been dinged up towards the end of the regular season) will be key in ensuring the Bison defense can contain those two playmakers. Defensively Sully Laiche is a stud but the NDSU O-line has been on another level this year.

That said I think Nicholl's secondary is very suspect and they'll be loaded up to stop the run so Trey Lance should have plenty of options down the field in the passing game for NDSU. Nicholls' run defense looked good today against UND but they had allowed 144 rush yards per game on 4.17 yards per carry on the year and against NDSU's power run game those numbers can turn south in a hurry.

I obviously expect NDSU to win comfortably but Nicholls presents some unique challenges in the passing game that should test the Bison. Looking forward to the amped up playoff atmosphere in the Fargodome (even if the number of butts in seats is less than in previous years' 2nd round playoff games).

[Outsider1]

I think Nicholls is probably the best matchup for you guys out of the SLC. Still, they will have trouble moving the ball and their defense will wear out. I hope for a good showing.