Frisco, TX – The best defense in the Football Championship Subdivision kept getting better in the playoffs.
It turns out North Dakota State not only had the best defense this season, it had the best team.
The Bison caged Sam Houston State's Wild Bearkat and kept the FCS' top-scoring offense out of the end zone Saturday in winning their first NCAA Division I FCS championship, 17-6 before a sell-out 20,586 at FC Dallas Stadium.
Freshman linebacker Travis Beck, who had seven tackles and a pivotal interception in the fourth quarter, was named the game's most outstanding performer for North Dakota State (14-1).
Top-seeded Sam Houston State (14-1), which entered with a 16-game winning streak dating to last season, was denied in its bid to become the first unbeaten FCS national champion since Marshall finished 15-0 in 1996.
But the Bearkats had not previously run into a defense like North Dakota State's. The second-seeded Bison, whose ninth-year head coach Craig Bohl earned his 75th career win, allowed only three touchdowns in four postseason wins and an FCS-low 12.7 points per game this season.
Appropriately, a huge defensive play stamped North Dakota State's win in the fourth quarter. Beck stepped in front of a Brian Bell pass at the Bison 36- yard line and returned his first career interception 63 yards to set up quarterback Brock Jensen's 1-yard sneak, which extended their lead to 17-6 with 8:48 left.
John Pike picked off another Bell pass late in the game to wrap up the defensive gem. Sam Houston State, which entered the game leading the FCS with 39.1 points per game, and often leaving opponents grasping at air when Richard Sincere ran their Wild Bearkat formations, was held to 210 yards and two Craig Alaniz field goals late in the first half.
Bearkats All-America running back Timothy Flanders, coming off a 287-yard performance against Montana in the national semifinals, rushed for 54 yards in the second quarter, but wasn't a big factor the rest of the game in finishing with 84 yards on 21 carries, with six receptions for a mere 10 yards. Sincere had only 14 yards on nine carries.
North Dakota State wasn't much better offensively - gaining 235 yards on 20 fewer plays than Sam Houston State - but the reason it has climbed to the FCS summit is a defense that features a beefy defensive line, linebacker Chad Willson (11 tackles) and a Marcus Williams-fueled secondary.
The second half belonged to North Dakota State, and it erased a 6-3 halftime deficit with aggressive play-calling on the third quarter's first series.
The Bison faked a punt when senior Matt Voigtlander rushed to his left into open space and gained 27 yards to the Sam Houston State 39.
On the next play, Jensen drew defenders toward him when he rolled right in the backfield, but threw back with a screen pass to D.J. McNorton, who seemed as surprised as anybody about all the running room in the middle of the field while he finished off the 39-yard touchdown reception and 10-7 Bison lead with 12:47 remaining.
Sam Houston State held a 6-3 lead into halftime, but the tone of the first half reflected North Dakota State's defensive style of field position and physical defense.
The Bearkats were kept off the scoreboard longer than at any point this season. They didn't score until Alaniz kicked a 24-yard field goal with 2:21 remaining in the second quarter, which tied the game 3-3.
Alaniz's 31-yard field goal with 40 seconds left then provided the 6-3 halftime advantage.
North Dakota State took a 3-0 lead on Ryan Jastram's 19-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the first quarter, but settled for the short kick after being denied on third down from the Sam Houston 1-yard line, when Will Henry and Robert Shaw stuffed Sam Ojuri for no gain.
North Dakota State previously won five NCAA Division II titles, but, like Sam Houston State, was playing in its first FCS championship game.
