MACOMB, Ill. -- North Dakota State remains the unbeaten and No. 1-rated team in the country, but just barely. The Bison escaped a sloppy performance to defeat Western Illinois 17-10 in their Missouri Valley Football Conference opener at Hanson Field.
It was the Bison's 29th straight victory. They improved to 5-0 this season. But it wasn't easy. NDSU had three turnovers and struggled offensively for much of the game before two fourth-quarter touchdowns saved them. Trailing 10-3 early in the fourth quarter, the Bison had to run a trick play to tie the game. Running back John Crockett threw a 16-yard halfback pass to quarterback Carson Wentz to tie the game 10-10. Then Crockett ran 7 yards with 3:51 left for a 17-10 NDSU lead.
The Bison's defense stiffened when it needed to in the fourth quarter, but Western Illinois ran the ball almost at will into the third quarter. JC Baker's 34-yard TD run with 11:35 left in the third gave the Leathernecks a 10-3 lead.
Baker finished with 175 yards. The Leathernecks had 253 rushing yards for the game. Wentz finished 19 of 29 for 240 yards. Crockett rushed for 79 yards. Bison receiver R.J. Urzendowski had a career-high seven receptions for 114 yards.
MACOMB, Ill. – Running back John Crockett threw a touchdown pass and ran for another in the fourth quarter as No. 1-ranked North Dakota State survived its Missouri Valley Football Conference opener with a 17-10 victory at Western Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 4, before a homecoming crowd of 5,111 at Hanson Field. Crockett connected with quarterback Carson Wentz on a 16-yard pass to tie the game 10-10 with 11:17 to play, and the Bison (5-0, 1-0 MVFC) got a three-and-out on defense before Crockett scored from seven yards out to cap a 10-play, 67-yard drive with 3:51 left. Western Illinois (2-4, 0-2 MVFC) reached the NDSU 36 before safetyChristian Dudzik's pass breakup on fourth-and-3 stalled the drive, and the Bison kneeled twice to clinch their 29th straight victory, and their 21st straight away from home. NDSU outgained Western Illinois 405 to 321 but the Bison managed only 149 yards rushing and 3.6 yards per carry. Crockett rushed 22 times for 79 yards, Wentz went 19-for-29 passing for 240 yards with one interception, and RJ Urzendowski caught seven passes for a career-high 114 yards. The teams combined for five turnovers but none led to points. Each team had two turnovers in the first half and the game was tied 3-3 at the break. NDSU's Adam Keller kicked a 20-yard field goal and Nathan Knuffman booted one from 30 yards for WIU. Keller missed a 54-yarder late in the first half to snap a streak of 14 straight field goals made. J.C. Baker's 34-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter gave Western Illinois a 10-3 lead. The Bison threatened to tie late in the third before stalling at the WIU 2, then had Keller's 19-yard field goal try blocked at the start of the fourth quarter. Baker finished with 175 yards rushing, the most by an opponent since Eastern Washington's Taiwan Jones rushed for 230 yards in NDSU's 2010 quarterfinal loss. WIU's 253 rushing yards was the most by an NDSU opponent since Georgia Southern's 271 in the 2012 semifinals. Safety Colten Heagle made a career-high 16 tackles and linebacker Carlton Littlejohn had 10 tackles to lead the Bison defense. Linebacker Kevin Kintzel made 16 tackles for Western Illinois. North Dakota State hosts Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, in the annual homecoming game at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. The Salukis were 4-1 heading into Saturday night's home game with South Dakota.