North Dakota State returns to Frisco, Texas for the seventh time this January as the Bison will go for history, attempting to become the first FCS program to win seven national championships. Over the next ten days, we’ll look back at the ten biggest moments NDSU has had in its previous six title game appearances.
2015 FCS Championship Game: The top play in NDSU’s six title games in Frisco is a no-brainer. A third play from the thrilling 2015 title game, where NDSU beat Illinois State, 29-27. The Bison were trailing 27-23 when they got the ball with under two minutes to go, but thanks to Carson Wentz hitting RJ Urzendowski on three separate pass plays, the Bison were at the five yard line with 41 seconds remaining.
Wentz showed off his athleticism on the next play as he bowled over a couple of would be Redbird tacklers and found the endzone, giving NDSU a 29-27 lead. Esley Thorton preserved the lead with an interception, sealing NDSU’s fourth consecutive national championship. Wentz was electric in the game, completing 15 of 22 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown, adding another 87 yards on 16 attempts and a touchdown on the ground. For his efforts, Wentz was named the Most Outstanding Player of the game, the first of back to back MVP awards for the Bismarck kid.
Wentz was well known in the FCS world heading into this game, but after this game, the rest of college football was starting to pay attention. This game led to a big summer for Wentz, who went on to the Nike Passing Academy in Oregon, before a national television appearance to start 2015 at Montana.