NORTH DAKOTA STATE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2022 SOUTH DAKOTA BISON GAME DAY Presents ► When: 1 p.m., DakotaDome, Vermillion, S.D. ► TV: WDAY (ABC) ► Radio: 1660-AM, 107.9-FM
M E D I A B L I T Z S C H E D U L E
BISON Henderson RUSHING No Yds Avg Long TD Hunter Luepke Kobe Johnson Cole Payton TaMerik Williams 183 89 82 73 7 3 6 8 6 8 9 1 47 23 26 34 4 0 1 0 PASSING Comp Att Yds Int TD Cam Miller 33 331 0 5 PROBABLE STARTERS Coyotes RUSHING No Yds Avg Long TD Travis Theis Shomari Lawrence Carson Camp 55 30 22 234 168 24 4 7 6 7 2 9 37 21 75 2 0 1 PASSING Comp Att Yds Int TD Carson Camp 48 79 613 1 3 BISON OFFENSE Pos No Name Ht Wt Yr WR LT LG C RG RT TE WR FB RB QB 0 70 66 72 63 73 87 11 44 4 7 Zach Mathis Cody Mauch Nash Jensen Jalen Sundell Jake Kubas Mason Miller Noah Gindorff Phoenix Sproles Hunter Luepke Kobe Johnson Cam Miller 6-6 6-6 6-4 6-5 6-4 6-6 6-6 6-0 6-1 5-9 6-1 205 303 329 294 304 296 268 188 236 188 208 Sr Sr Sr Sr Sr Jr Sr Sr Sr Sr Jr BISON DEFENSE Pos No Name Ht Wt Yr DE DT NG DE OLB MLB OLB CB SS 99 91 58 90 26 36 20 6 25 Spencer Waege Will Mostaert Javier Derritt Tony Pierce James Kaczor Nick Kubitz Julian Wlodarczyk Destin Talbert Michael Tutsie 6-5 6-2 6-1 6-1 6-0 6-2 6-3 6-0 5-11 282 260 279 242 215 225 207 187 189 Sr Jr Jr Sr Sr Jr Sr Sr Sr After three games of rarely throwing long the Bison find a couple of deep daggers NDSU s superior offensive line compared to USD is the difference NDSU 31, USD 14 The Bison bounce back with an improved defensive performance to open MVFC play Expect defensive end Spencer Waege to make a splash NDSU 28 USD 14 Tougher than expected game thanks to a weird Arizona trip and tough loss NDSU 34, USD 24 Payton Camp Theis RUNNING BACKS RECEIVERS Bison targeted just one wide receiver downfield a 17-yard completion to Jake Lippe last week at Arizona OFFENSIVE LINE M A T C H U
S P R E D I C T I O N S GAME
BREAKDOWN DEFENSIVE LINE Longest run NDSU gave up against Arizona s top two running backs last week was 14 yards LINEBACKERS USD s Stephen Hillis and Brock Mogensen rank in the top 10 in the Missouri Valley in total tackles SECONDARY It took some exceptional athletic plays by Arizona receivers last week to put a dent into the Bison secondary Kicker remains a clouded issue with the Bison, who have yet to make a field goal in three games SPECIAL TEAMS RECEIVING Rec Yds Avg Long TD JJ Galbreath Wesley Eliodor Travis Theis 10 7 6 150 124 61 15 0 17 7 10 2 31 40 40 0 1 0 25 13 12 8 S T A N D I N G S Sept 10 Sept 17 Sept 24 Oct 1 Oct 8 Oct 15 Oct 29 Nov 5 Nov 12 North Carolina A&T at Arizona at South Dakota Youngstown State at Indiana State South Dakota State Illinois State at Western Illinois at Southern Illinois 43 3 28 31 T E A M S C H E D U L E S NDSU has not lost back-to-back games in 13 years which is by far the most impressive streak of all the stats around NDSU That streak will continue today look for the defense to make an impact after USD racked up 560 yards of offense last week NDSU 27 USD 17 Eric Peterson The Forum Record: 3-0 Logan Campbell WDAY-TV Record: 3-0 23 Dom Izzo WDAY-TV Record: 3-0 RECEIVING Rec Yds Avg Long TD Noah Gindorff Hunter Luepke Braylon Henderson Zach Mathis Jake Lippe 6 5 3 2 2 74 87 19 71 29 12 3 17 4 6 3 35 5 14 5 1 2 0 2 0 24 31 13 40 17
NDSU will
a bang NDSU 35 USD 10 10-11 a m CST: Bison Game Day pregame show with Dom Izzo Kyle Emanuel Logan Campbell and Jeff Kolpack on North Dakota statewide ABC network (WDAY-Fargo WDAZ-Grand Forks KBMY-Bismarck and Dickinson, KMCY-Williston and Minot) 12:45 p m CST: Gate City Bison Social Media Flow on InForum com After game: Gate City Media Blog Postgame Show with Mike McFeely Dom Izzo and Jeff Kolpack on Inforum com Games Saturday North Dakota State at South Dakota 1 p m (ND ABC Network Midco ESPN+) South Dakota State at Missouri State 2 p m (ESPN3) North Dakota at Southern Illinois 2 p m (ESPN+) Northern Iowa at Western Illinois 3 p m (ESPN+)
McFeely The Forum Record: 3-0 USD sophomore Carson Camp healthy after dealing with shoulder issue much of last season Opp Date Opponent USD Sept 3 Sept 10 Sept 17 Sept 24 Oct 8 Oct 15 Oct 22 Oct 29 Nov 5 Nov 12 Nov 19 at Kansas State at Montana Cal Poly North Dakota State at South Dakota State at Illinois State Southern Illinois at Youngstown State Missouri State at North Dakota Northern Iowa 0 34 7 24 38 21 NDSU showed last week at Arizona Stadium why it has the deepest stable of running backs in the FCS MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL CONFERENCE Team Conf Overall N o r t h D a k o t a N o r t h D a k o t a S t a t e M i s s o u r i S t a t e Y o u n g s t o w n S t a t e S o u t h D a k o t a S t a t e I l l i n o i s S t a t e I n d i a n a S t a t e S o u t h e r n I l l i n o i s S o u t h D a k o t a W e s t e r n I l l i n o i s N o r t h e r n I o w a 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 1-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 1-2 1-2 1-2 0-3 0-3 F2 | SPORTS | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2022 | THE FORUM INFORUM.COM BISON GAME DAY NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT SOUTH DAKOTA Start here. Thinking about a new JOB?
P
DAY
use its loss as motivation to start conference play with
Mike
Sundell is their name, athleticism is their game
By Je� Kolpack The Forum Fargo
The big kid at Maryville High School in the northwest corner of Missouri had his sights set on a college scholarship, all right. In bass fishing.
That was Jalen Sundell’s goal and he had the potential to be a five-star recruit for some school. A trip to Canada his freshman year gave him the bug to be good at it. Later, he and a few buddies, with Sundell as the president, started a bass fishing team at Maryville High.
“It’s just a lot of decision making, it’s kind of like playing chess a little bit,” Sundell said. “And there’s a little bit of luck involved, too. You just have to have a lot of experience and like I said, decision making is kind of the name of the game.”
Scholarships for bass fishing are more popular in the southern United States. But as high school wore on, schools in the northern U.S. started to latch on to Sundell as a college prospect as an offensive lineman.
North Dakota State nabbed him; hook, line and sinker.
Now in his fifth year in school and third year
offensive line that is one of the best in the FCS heading into the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener Saturday afternoon at the University of South Dakota.
NDSU will be fishing for its 11th league title in the last 12 years. There’s a comfort factor in that attempt with NDSU’s experienced offensive line. After never playing center until the 2021 spring season, Sundell is now comfortable with it.
“It’s definitely a different position,” he said. “The footwork and stuff is similar across the board for all five spots and I prepared to know all five spots beforehand. So it was just locking into that position and learning the intricacies. You add a ball, a snap and you’re aiming at a target you can’t see.”
It helps that he’s athletic. It’s the family way. His father Bob played basketball at Northwest Missouri State, but his expertise was track and field. He was a Division II national champion in the high jump with a career-best leap of 7 feet, 5 1/4 inches and competed in the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. His wife Korena played basketball at Missouri-Rolla and later on a team
Johnson that played Division I and Division II programs in exhibition games.
Korena was on the ground floor of what became the WNBA. It wasn’t a lot of money in those days — Bob said around $50 per game for the St. Louis RiverQueens of the Women’s Basketball Association that ran from 1993-95.
“She’s the only professional athlete in the family so far,” Bob said.
The potential is there where she could have company. NDSU has had a run of offensive linemen reach the NFL with the likes of Billy Turner, Joe Haeg, Dillon Radunz and Cordell Volson. Sundell would like to join them.
Daughter Serena Sundell started as a true freshman last year for the Kansas State women’s basketball team and was a unanimous selection to the Big 12 Conference All-Freshman team. Who’s a better bet to be a pro: Jalen or Serena?
“Probably my sister if I had to bet,” Jalen said. “But I mean, I definitely have dreams of playing in the NFL.”
She was Missouri’s 2021 Miss Basketball at Maryville High, following a precedent set by her brother, who was the Class
An offensive lineman garnering that kind of honor is almost unheard of in football.
“There was no super, duper standout as far as quarterback or running back,” Bob said. “My understanding is a lot of coaches in the conference told (Jalen’s high school coach) that you need to nominate this kid for Offensive Player of the Year because he’s that important.”
Through all of the success, academics is part of the equation, too. Bob was an academic All-American in 1989. Jalen has been on the Missouri Valley Football Conference Honor Roll his first four years. Serena regards a “B” as a failure, Bob said.
“It’s like the world is coming to an end,” he said with a chuckle. “They’re both selfdriven.”
Jalen is a self-driven 6-foot-5 and 294 pounds. His agility is above average and his footwork is excellent. The guy can move.
The only question is if Sundell is going to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID19 pandemic.
“I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say I was still recruiting him,” said NDSU head coach Matt Entz. “His leadership
four games last year because of injury. His mentorship of backup
Brandon Westberg kept the Bison offense from missing a beat up front. It also may allow Sundell to play another position, something that could improve his pro stock. He said that could factor into his decision for next year. Volson, who played every position on the offensive line except center, returned for his sixth year of school and turned that into a fourth-round draft pick.
Sundell came to NDSU to play guard or tackle. But seeing a need for a center after Karson Schoenig graduated after the 2019 national title season, the Bison turned to Sundell to take ownership of the position.
Having a center who can move is a luxury at the Division I FCS level. It’s not a set-instone requirement in the NDSU West Coast attack, but Entz prefers a center who can pull
one way or the other after snapping the ball.
“When we can pull the center, I do think it creates some fit challenges for the defense,” he said. “You go back to last year, we had a lot of success in getting him out to the perimeter.”
Sundell redshirted in 2018 and spent the 2019 year as a backup, playing 102 snaps with 12 knockdowns and zero sacks allowed. He made the switch to center in the 2021 spring season, grading out at 91% while not allowing a sack.
“Jalen has always been a kid who understands how to work hard,” Bob said. “He’s a kid playing football, but if he wasn’t playing football he’d probably be 225 pounds or something like that. He’s just been able to put on weight and keep on weight.”
At 225, he still would have been a big bass fisherman in college.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at jkolpack@forumcomm.com. Twitter @KolpackInForum
BISON GAME DAY NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT SOUTH DAKOTA INFORUM.COM THE FORUM | SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2022 | SPORTS | F3
David Samson / The Forum North Dakota State center Jalen Sundell warms up with teammate Finn Diggins at Arizona Stadium in Tucson on Sept. 17.
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