The UCA Bears football team traveled to Fargo, North Dakota on Saturday, Sept. 16 to take on the North Dakota State Bison.
The Bison have been called one of the “powerhouses” of FCS football, according to Bleacher Report and Sports Illustrated, as they have made back-to-back FCS championship game appearances; with their most recent championship coming in 2022. They were also ranked 2nd in FCS rankings.
Early in the first quarter, the Bears gave up an early touchdown as senior Bison quarterback Cam Miller ran the ball in for six points. It took the Bison four plays on offense to score.
On the Bears’ first offensive drive, junior running back Shunderrick Powell — who ran for two touchdowns in just over 90 seconds against Texas College — ran for seven yards, all the offense the Bears could muster as they were forced to punt.
The Bears returned the favor and forced the Bison to punt, but a tipped ball turned into a pick six which stretched the Bison lead to 14-0 early in the first quarter.
Senior quarterback Will McElvain made up for the interception thrown earlier as he completed a pass to junior running back Kylin James for 32 yards on the next play. Powell followed up the completion with a 43-yard touchdown to cut the lead in half 14-7.
The Bison responded and scored a touchdown to extend their lead 21-7. The first quarter ended with that score and a combined 300 yards were gained between offenses. Penalties from both teams also made the first quarter nearly one hour long.
To start the second quarter, a holding call took away Powell’s touchdown and the Bears had to settle for three points for a 21-10 deficit. The Bison responded to the field goal by scoring another touchdown, 28-10 Bison.
On the Bears’ next offensive drive, Powell ran for a 71-yard touchdown to make the score 28-17. The Bison scored another touchdown to go into halftime with the score 42-17. A total of 582 yards of offense was shown by both teams in the first half.
The Bears’ defense held the Bison to only one touchdown in the third, as Bison’s Miller scored on another rushing touchdown.
The fourth quarter saw the Bears score two touchdowns late as McElvain found sophomore receiver Myles Butler in the end zone for a four-yard score and junior running back Darius Hale scored on a 10-yard touchdown run.
The final whistle sounded as the Bison won 49-31.
McElvain finished the game with 22 completions on 31 attempts for 210 yards and a touchdown. Powell finished with 18 carries for 218 yards. Butler and senior receiver Jarrod Barnes combined for 11 catches for 134 yards.
The Bears fell to 1-2 on the season and will return to the Stripes on Saturday, Sept. 23 to start United Athletic Conference play against Abilene Christian. The game will start at 6 p.m.