FARGO-North Dakota State will pay tribute to former Bison fullback Tyler Jangula on the field during Saturday's home opener against Weber State. His friends and former teammates will be honoring Jangula in Fargo all weekend.
It starts this morning with a golf tournament at Rose Creek Golf Course and a silent auction and goodwill concert tonight at Chub's Pub, Jangula's former employer and the place where this weekend's events were created. All funds will go toward an athletic scholarship in the name of Jangula, who passed away suddenly last February at the age of 28.
Former Bison players Steve Walker and Lee Vandal are handling the golfing side of the event, where about 80 players had already signed up.
"There are just a lot of people willing to give," said Jason Ramstad, the manager at Chub's who worked with Jangula. "A lot of guys he played with are reaching out. Hopefully we can throw in a nice chunk of change and next year do the same thing, keep the money coming in and keep the momentum going in Tyler's memory. He was a great guy, and when he passed away, it was a bad deal."
Included in the silent auction are signed NFL jerseys by former Bison players Kyle Emanuel, Ramon Humber and Craig Dahl. Donations at anytime can be made at Bank of the West under Tyler Jangula Scholarship.
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NDSU safety, Weber QB have plenty in common
NDSU safety Tre Dempsey and Weber State starting quarterback Jadrian Clark are old high school friends who have stayed in touch-even leading into this week.
"He hit me up on Snapchat and texted me trying to figure out what kind of defense we were going to be running," Dempsey said. "I was like, 'No way is this going to happen, Jay.' He already knows, but we're ready to play each other."
Dempsey and Clark are from Lakeland, Fla., with Dempsey a year older as a redshirt junior. Clark took control of the Weber offense last year, starting the last five games. His 1,081 yards of total offense ended up being second-most on the team.
Dempsey said Clark is a player who makes good decisions and has a strong arm. Jay Hill, the Weber head coach, likes his quarterback's toughness. Clark twisted his ankle in the season opener last week at Oregon State, but remained in the game.
"He gets dinged up and still continues to battle and fight," Hill said.
The same happened with Bison quarterback Carson Wentz in the NDSU opener two weeks ago, although Wentz appears to be more of a question mark to play on Saturday than Clark.
"You have tough guys who are leading these teams," Hill said. "In a way, I think these quarterbacks are very similar. Now, the success of these guys has not necessarily been the same throughout their careers, but I think they're similar players."
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Around the Valley
-- Perhaps the biggest FCS game this weekend is in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where No. 14 Northern Iowa will host No. 7 Eastern Washington. Both are 0-1. UNI has perhaps the toughest schedule in the subdivision with successive games at Cal Poly, Illinois State and NDSU after the Eastern game.
-- South Dakota State hosts Southern Utah in a Missouri Valley Football versus Big Sky nonconference game. Both opened eyes against FBS foes last weekend-SDSU beating Kansas 41-38 and SUU losing 12-9 to Utah State in a game that went late into the fourth quarter. The Jacks' victory was the 11th over an FBS program by a Valley team since 2010. "I'm asking our players to move on," said SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier. "The biggest thing is we took the field with a whole different feel, a true confidence and a unified confidence."
SDSU fans will see two-thirds of their renovated Coughlin-Alumni Stadium completed. "We are expecting a really tough battle and glad we have them at home," Stiegelmeier said.
-- The Missouri Valley was 24-0 in nonconference home games last season. Six teams are at home Saturday.
