College football: NDSU enters must-win territory

By Jeff Kolpack

October 16, 2008 11:00 PM

The season is at the halfway point, but there is no mistak-ing the stakes for North Dakota State today. Win and you're back in the playoff hunt.

Lose and the road to Division I Football Championship Subdivision postseason is longer than the Great Wall of China.

"This could be a deciding factor if we get into the play-offs or not," said tight end Jerimiah Wurzbacher. "If we beat this team, it puts us back where we need to be."

NDSU is 3-3 overall and ranked 16th in the latest FCS top 25 coaches poll. The oppo-nent today, Northern Iowa, is 4-2 and ranked fourth. The only ranked team left on the Bison's schedule after this week is No. 22 South Dakota State, so today is one of the few chances left for NDSU to gain a quality victory.

For more, see tomorrow's Forum.

By Jeff Kolpack

Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough" and "Covid Kids." He is the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August.

College football: NDSU enters must-win territory

The season is at the halfway point, but there is no mistak-ing the stakes for North Dakota State today. Win and you're back in the playoff hunt. Lose and the road to Division I Football Championship Subdivision postseason is longer than the Great...