Everybody contributed to this one as Arizona pulled off a terrific 31-28 victory over a really good North Dakota State team. How good is North Dakota State? Well, they are the current 2021 FCS Champion and they have been good for a very long time. Since 2011 they have over a 90% winning record. They hold the FCS record for 39 consecutive wins between 2017 and 2021. They have won 17 FCS National Championships and 37 Missouri Valley Conference Championships. It wasn’t easy by a long shot but the victory makes Arizona the first FBS school to knock off the Bison since 2009-wow!
It was close all the way and it seemed like the Wildcats were never going to be able to shut their running game down as North Dakota State rushed 45 times for 283 yards and 3 TD’s with Senior FB Hunter Luepke picking up 115 of those and two of the TD’s. Luepke also caught the Bison’s only TD thrown by their Junior QB Cam Miller who didn’t throw a lot, but connected on over 80% of the passes he did throw, without an interception. But as noted in the review by azdesertswarm.com; “Arizona was mistake-free on offense, with no turnovers for the first time this season, and [Wildcat QB Jake] de Laura was nearly flawless after throwing three interceptions the week before [connecting] for 229 yards and a TD on 20-of-28 passing, and after holding off on running in the 39-17 loss to Mississippi State [the week before] he ran for 50 yards and a TD with three of his scrambles producing first downs.
It was a slow start for both teams, especially Arizona as their first possession resulted in a three-and-out which gained minus 2 yards. On the seventh play of the Bison’s first possession, and faced with a 4th and 4, they chose to go for it but Cam Miller’s pass fell incomplete. With the early game miscues behind them, both teams warmed it up starting with an 8 play 59 yard drive by Arizona and a Michael Wiley 6 yard TD run to go up 7-0. The Bison came back with a 9 play 80 yard drive of their own culminating in a Cam Miller to Hunter Luepke 31 yard strike to tie the score at seven a piece. Arizona would go back up on a 10 play 83 yard drive and QB Jayden De Laura 7 yard TD run. But North Dakota State would come right back with a 9 play 75 yard clock eating drive and QB Cam Miller 2 yard TD run to tie the score 14-14 with under a minute left in the half. But on the back of a Jayden De Laura run, 30 yard pass completion, and penalty on North Dakota State for pass interference the Wildcats found themselves down to the Bison 19 yard line with four seconds left for their Place Kicker Tyler Loop to come in and kick a 36 yard field goal to go up 17-14 at the break.
The second half kind of started like the first with neither team able to capitalize on their first drives—both going three-and-out. On the Bison’s 2nd possession and deciding they were just going to wear the Wildcat defense out they ran it down their throats, going 76 yards in six plays—all on the ground, including runs of 10, 19, and 34 yards capped by a 6 yard TD run by their FB Hunter Luepke to go up 21-17. Arizona came right back on a 75 yard drive of their own, highlighted by a 23 yard completion by de Laura on a 3rd and 13 and aided by a personal foul and automatic first down penalty by the Bison, down to the North Dakoata State 2 yard line where Freshman RB Jonah Coleman ran it in to put the Wildcats back on top 24-21. Hunter Luepke would get his 2nd rushing TD and third score of the game on the Bison’s next possesion where he broke multiple tackles and took it 38 yards to the house to put North Dakota State back on top 28-24.
It looked as though Arizona was going to be held to a field goal on their next possession as de Laura was sacked for the first time of the game bringing out Tyler Loop, who was 15-for-15 on the year, but missed from 43 yards out giving the Bison a chance to put the game away. Taking their nice sweet time to eat the clock and move the ball, North Dakota State gained 52 yards on seven plays finding themselves at 4th and 2 on the Arizona 23 yard line. Instead of kicking the field goal to go up by seven they went for it. But just like their first possession of the game they didn’t make it. Only this time it wasn’t because of an incomplete pass it was because a vastly improved Arizona defense from just last year stopped them in their tracks. Four minutes later one of Jeff Fisch’s portal transfers, Junior WR Jacob Cowing from Texas El Paso, would keep their 10 play 78 yard drive alive by catching a 5 yard pass from de Laura in a game-on-the-line 4th and 1 from the North Dakota State 27 yard line. On the very next play de Laura connected again with Cowing—this time a 22 yard TD which, combined with Tyler Loop’s PAT put the Wildcats up by three 31-28 with just under five minutes left in the 4th Qtr—plenty of time actually for the Bison to come back and win the game. But the Wildcat defense would have none of it and Arizona starts the season at 2-1, already winning twice as many games as they did all of last year.