Before he left for an assistant coaching position at UCLA, former Bison receivers coach Reggie Moore said look out for Warren Holloway. Well, the junior has arrived.
Lost in the lack of offensive production and the 28-16 loss to Western Illinois were Holloway's seven receptions for a career-high 184 yards.
"Obviously my main focus is to win and I thought I tried to do everything I could to help the team win," Holloway said. "But it's a team game and we have to watch film and get better."
Holloway remained about the only dependable receiver for NDSU, which is struggling to get its other receivers into the mix. Senior Titus Mack and sophomore Justin Howard did not catch a pass with Mack dropping a long pass with 6:53 left that would have put the Bison in scoring position sooner.
"The style of defense they play lends itself to shutting down our running game and lends itself to the big play," said Bison head coach Craig Bohl. "We needed to get a couple over the top and we didn't get it done."
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Quarterback Brock Jensen completed only five passes to other receivers and finished just 12 of 27 passing for 239 yards and no touchdowns.
"Warren is a bigger target and we have a good sense of connection," Jensen said.
Western turns only turnover
into big early momentum swing
In a game where there was just one turnover, that one mistake turned out to be a big play. The Bison took the opening kickoff and a 32-yard pass from Jensen to Holloway reached the Leathernecks' 19-yard line.
But Jensen and running back Mike Sigers misfired on a handoff and the fumble was recovered by Western defensive end Dwight Harris.
"For a few moments, it appeared the Bison were going to go up 7-0 at home," said Leathernecks head coach Mark Hendrickson. "It certainly was an early momentum swing."
Moreover, the Leathernecks turned the turnover into points, going
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72 yards in seven plays. Instead of NDSU taking the lead in front of a sold-out Fargodome, the Leathernecks kept them quiet.
"That's on me," Jensen said. "I have to put the ball in his pocket. He's a smaller guy and I have to put it in his pocket."
Home team comes up
empty again in series
For the fourth straight time, the visiting team won in this series.
"The craziest thing I've ever seen," Bohl said. "They're a good football team."
NDSU won 41-28 in 2007 and 14-7 last year in Macomb, Ill. The Leathernecks won 27-22 in 2008 and again on Saturday.
"I don't know if it's anything," Hendrickson said. "Just most years, you have two excellent football teams and that certainly was the case this afternoon."
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It was also a case of Western having the better rebound year from last season. It went winless in the league and 1-10 overall while NDSU was 3-8 in the conference and posted two league victories.
The Leathernecks improved to 4-1 and should find the FCS top 25 coaches poll this week.
"Our staff stayed mostly intact and our team stayed intact," Hendrickson said. "It's a veteran team that went through some tough times last year but fortunately those days are long forgotten."
Etc. etc. etc.
Bohl said backup defensive back Brock Gion has an apparent ACL tear in his knee. Gion, a valuable member of special teams, was hurt on a kickoff return. Backup cornerback Derrius Colvin suffered a possible concussion and Bohl said defensive tackle Matt Gratzek was pulled from the game late with an undisclosed leg injury. "He's still walking around," Bohl said. ... NDSU replaced Sigers and Ryan Smith as the deep kickoff return men with Marcus Williams and Howard. Williams had a
43-yarder to open the game, but there wasn't much success after that. ... NDSU fullback Lee Vandal's 24-yard catch in the first quarter was a career long for the senior. ... Punter John Prelvitz had a career-long 58-yard punt and his 51.5 average was also a career high for a game.
Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be heard on the
Saturday Morning Sports Show, 9-11 a.m.
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on WDAY-AM (970).
He can be reached at (701) 241-5546.
Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found
