Bison Rise to No. 9 in the Polls; Take on Northern Iowa in Regular Season Finale

BISON HEAD COACH MATT ENTZ SPEAKS TO THE MEDIA MONDAY AHEAD OF THE BISON REGULAR SEASON FINALE.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — The North Dakota State Bison took care of business last Saturday defeating No. 11 Southern Illinois. Now, the Bison prepare to finish the regular season strong against Northern Iowa.

The Bison dominated the Salukis en route to a 34-10 win to improve to 7 and 3 on the year. The Herd rushed for 217 yards, the most allowed this season by Southern Illinois who entered with the 3rd-best defense in the FCS. Head Coach Matt Entz spoke to the media Monday on what he believes the key to victory was on defense, and says the win is huge for the trajectory of the season, but no different from the other 6 wins.

“I don’t know if the game plan was any easier or simpler than it has been in weeks past, but I felt like our kids went into the game with a great understanding of what the expectations were,” said Entz. “I was excited. I mean, it is no different than if it were week 1…week 2 or week 11. College football games are hard to win and the emphasis is trying to go 1-0 every week and block out all the noise. The last thing we want our players or our coaching staff to do is fuel any of the hype that is out there. We just have to make sure we take care of what is important for us to be successful.”

With the win Saturday, the Bison rise in the media and coaches poll to number 9, respectively. The Bison will close the regular season this Saturday vs Northern Iowa who comes in ranked 22nd in the media poll and unranked in the coaches poll. Entz knows the importance of getting a win for that coveted top 8-seed in the playoffs, but his focus is on the Bison replicating last Saturday’s performance.

“Yes…we can help our playoff status with a win,” said Entz. “I am not going to dive into it with our team. I think they are smart enough to know that wins are good. I don’t think we need to add any extra stress on us during the course of the week. There will be enough going to UNI, traveling and playing a really good football team. We played maybe our closest thing to a complete game this week. I want us to focus on how did that feel and how can we emulate that again.”

No. 9/9 NDSU will finish the regular season on the road vs. No.22/NR Northern Iowa. Kickoff is set for 4 P.M. Saturday at the UNI-Dome.