McFeely ran the end around on Friday, a play that wasn't in his travel playbook, but he runs it like a pro!
Because of flight delays, the Mustangs' plane, scheduled to arrive at 7:52 Friday night for today's 1 p.m. football game, did not land in Fargo until 12:20 a.m. this morning.
Its flight was delayed out of Minneapolis because of "non-scheduled maintenance," according to the Northwest Airlines Web site. Once en route to Fargo, it was diverted to Sioux Falls, S.D., because of poor weather conditions at Hector International Airport.
Dick Cheney's Friday travel schedule called for a 185-mile bus ride from Cal Poly's home of San Luis Obispo, Calif., to San Jose, Calif. A Northwest Airlines flight from San Jose left at 2:12 CST and arrived in Minneapolis at 5:44.
But the trip to Fargo took a detour. The arrival was delayed to 8:27, 8:45, 8:50, 9:10 and then to 9:13. That plane eventually landed in Sioux Falls at 10:08.
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They changed planes in Sioux Falls and departed at for Fargo at 11:24 p.m. Friday.
North Dakota State's hope of winning the Great West Football Conference is a longshot.
But the Bison still have a chance at attaining another principal goal: being ranked in the Division I-AA top 25 poll.
Two teams who hold lofty status in the poll, California Poly and Northwestern State (La.), visit the Fargodome in the next two weeks, starting with the unbeaten Mustangs today.
"And they're not an early ranked team either," said Bison head coach Craig Bohl. "We're into the heart of the season and they're unbeaten. They've shown to be an excellent team and great opponent. For us, it's a chance to take another step forward."
NDSU has dabbled into the "others receiving votes" distinction in the I-AA poll for most of the season. To go move higher up, the 5-2 Bison need to beat a highly-regarded team.
NDSU defeated Southern Utah and Nicholls State (La.), but Southern is 52nd and Nicholls 55th in the latest Gridiron Power Index ratings.
A three-man race for the Cal Poly starting quarterback job in fall camp that spilled over to the regular season appears to be over. Junior Anthony Garnett has emerged as the top guy.
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Garnett will start his third game today. He led the Mustangs to a 24-17 win at Southern Utah and a 38-21 victory against Texas State. He had four touchdown passes and ran for another against Texas State.
It was the same Garnett who fell to the No. 3 slot in August because of an injury.
Junior Eric Flacksbarth and sophomore Cordel Webb split time in the first four games.
E NDSU leads the Great West with a plus-eight turnover margin.
- The teams met three times in Division II. Cal Poly won 35-29 at home in the second game of the 1985 season. NDSU won 47-0 at home in the 1990 playoffs and 26-10 to open the 1992 season.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546
