The North Dakota State Bison came into Saturday's FCS Playoff showdown with Wofford on a mission, and they carried it out in dominating fashion.

NDSU beat up on the overmatched Wofford Terriers, 42-10. The game seemed over before halftime as it was lopsided throughout.

The Terriers opened up the scoring on a 40-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead, but that's the only thing that happened that came remotely close to them making it a close game. The Bison responded on the ensuing possession with a 72-yard drive that took just six plays, capped off by a 48-yard touchdown pass up the right side from Easton Stick to tight end Connor Wentz as he ran it in after catching it around the 30-yard line to make it 7-3.

After a Wofford punt, NDSU struck again after a 44-yard pass from Stick to R.J. Urzendowski set up an 18-yard touchdown pass from Stick to a leaping Seth Wilson to make it a 14-3 game. Wofford would respond on the next possession with a touchdown drive of their own to make it 14-10 before it was complete dominance by the Bison the rest of the way.

Ty Brooks started off the next possession for NDSU with a 33-yard run to Wofford's 24-yard line to put them in position before Bruce Anderson ground out some tough runs from there and eventually would punch it in from a yard out to make it 21-10. On the second play of the Terriers next possession, Caleb Butler forced a fumble and Robert Grimsley returned it 21 yards to the Wofford 3-yard line. Two plays later, Stick hit Jeff Illies from 4-yards out to make it 28-10.

Wofford would fumble the ensuing kickoff and NDSU was in business again. After a couple Stick completions put the Bison in the red zone, it was Anderson once again on the ground taking it in for a 5-yard touchdown making it 35-10 with just under a minute left in the first half.

Stick added a third quarter score on a 7-yard run to finish off the scoring. He finished with 11 of 16 passing for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also added 49 yards on the ground on 8 carries and the touchdown.

The running game was a combined effort from the Bison. The three-headed monster of Wilson, Brooks, and Anderson had 74, 73, and 62 yards on the ground respectively.

The NDSU defense did more than enough on their part, forcing two turnovers and holding the Terriers (10-3) offense to just 177 total yards, including just 43 yards passing.

The Bison (12-1) now advance to the semifinals next weekend where they will host the winner of tonight's game between Sam Houston St. and Kennesaw State. That game will be streamed tonight on ESPN3 at 7:30 p.m.

 

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