Bison gameday notebook: 2003 season a vast change from last year

By Jeff Kolpack

November 14, 2003 at 11:00 PM

On the eve of its final football game a year ago, North Dakota State was staring at its worst season in 40 years.

There have been more smiles this season.

The Bison are 7-3 heading into today's noon nonconference game against Concordia-St. Paul at the Fargodome. It's been quite a contrast since last year's 2-8 record.

"We're pleased where we're at right now and we've made a lot of headway," said Bison head coach Craig Bohl. "Are we satisfied? No. This team had the makings of winning the NCC and we didn't get there."

The University of North Dakota went unbeaten through the North Central Conference and will take the No. 1 seed into the Midwest Region playoffs. NDSU, ranked fifth in the Midwest, appears to have an outside shot.

The fact the Bison have any shot at all is a reversal from last season.

"We want to get on an accelerated path and I think we've changed the direction of Bison football," Bohl said. "But there's not a feeling that says, 'Yeah, we've arrived.' We won seven games and hopefully we have a chance to win eight. That's great and we should feel great about that."

Program on the rise

Once a little-known NAIA school located off I-94 in St. Paul, Concordia-St. Paul is on a sharp learning curve of success in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

The Bears, in only their third year in the league, will share a conference title this year with either Minnesota-Duluth or Winona State.

"We've been able to get the right players every year," said Bears head coach Shannon Currier.

Concordia-St. Paul is the only private Division II school in Minnesota, something Currier said is a big recruiting pitch. Location also helps, he said.

On the other end, there's a lot of competition in the Twin Cities for the sports dollar.

"It's definitely stretched here," Currier said. "There's a lot of competition but we do have people coming to games."

Etc. etc. etc.

- The Bears have 11 scholarships and two full-time coaches for football. "We're doing our best combining athletic scholarships with academic aid," Currier said.

- The Bears are 15-3 in the NSIC in the last two years. They were 2-8 overall in Currier's first season in 2000.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546

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.

Bison gameday notebook: 2003 season a vast change from last year

On the eve of its final football game a year ago, North Dakota State was staring at its worst season in 40 years. There have been more smiles this season. The Bison are 7-3 heading into today's noon nonconference game against Concordia-St. Paul a...