Bison Football is Back: Turning a New Leaf

It's NDSU's first time since 2011 that they enter the season not the reigning FCS champs

FARGO, N.D. —Have no fear, bison football is finally here. The three month hiatus of the off season  has left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth following the 2016 season.

It’s NDSU’s first time since 2011 that they enter the season not the reigning FCS champs, but the team is turning a new leaf and the expectations for 2017 are higher than ever.

In fact, defensive tackle Nate Tanguay and wide receiver RJ Urzendowski say a loss in the semi-finals to James Madison University back in December may have been exactly what the team needed to reignite that Bison spark.

“I think as a group we haven’t had pressure on us and I mean the last few years I think we’ve felt really a lot of pressure,”said Tanguay. “Everybody always saying like that streak we had and five national titles in a row and honestly it kind of gave us a breath of fresh air. It was the worst thing that ever happened to us and the best thing that ever happened to us.”

“The whole off season we weren’t coming off a national title, which is unique for us. It hasn’t happened since anybody’s played here. None of this team, we’ve only understood coming off a national title, so there’s definitely a fire in the off season that carried into practice today and we had that target on our backs for so long and now we have to go get it back.”