Bison Game Day November 5 2022

The Bison defense returned to its old form last week and it can very well continue this Saturday against an overmatched WIU team Look for more from backup quarterback Cole

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A M S C H E D U L E S

NDSU embracing the mixture of faith and football

By Jeff Kolpack The Forum

Fargo

This weekend, North Dakota State will board a Delta Airlines charter at Hector International Airport with the customary travel party of players, coaches and support staff. The latter includes Father James Meyer and sports chaplain Jeff Curtis, two team chaplains who represent the modern way in the marriage of faith and football.

NDSU is no stranger to mixing both. After every game, win or lose, most, if not all, of the players gather at midfield for some sort of postgame thought or prayer, which is all student-led. Curtis said different players of different religions give their version of thanks with the central theme being team unity.

“Everyone, no matter the belief, gathers in the center almost as a sense of solidarity,” he said. “Recognizing that this game is a gift and we are honored to endure together.”

There’s more to Meyer and Curtis than just being available for prayer when the team plays at Western Illinois on Saturday. In Fargo, NDSU football is as big as it gets, a nine-time Division I FCS national champion, and along with that can be a high level of pressure to succeed.

Dealing with that stress isn’t always easy. Curtis has seen the biggest, strongest and studliest of players in tears in describing a relationship breakup, a death in the family or academic struggles. He saw those battles as the Bison long snapper from 2005-09.

He started a Bible study within the team in those years, liked it so much that he never got out of the business. He became a pastoral apprentice and later obtained a seminary degree. In 2016, he took a position with the Fargo chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which at the guidance of Pastor Glen Stevens of Salem Evangelical Free Church morphed into helping college athletes.

“Let’s invest more time into it and care for even more guys on the team,” Curtis said.

The FCA at NDSU that started with a small group of track and field athletes and the football Bible study group came together and by the following fall there were about 65 who were meeting at the NDSU indoor track and field facility.

Game day starts early for both Meyer and Curtis. Meyer orchestrates a halfhour Mass service beginning at 9 a.m. at the Fargodome, which is attended by players regardless of their religious affiliation.

“I’m not as longwinded as maybe others are,” he said. “I try to get to the point and give them a message.”

The players then head to the pregame meal and player meetings. Meyer, a 1986 Fargo South graduate, will return to the dome before fans are allowed in the game just to be around the players.

“If anybody needs something to visit about or some guys ask for a blessing,” he said. “They’re just trying to get their mind wrapped around and be ready for anything.”

Meyer first started

doing Mass for the team late in the tenure of former head coach Craig Bohl, who left for Wyoming after the 2013 season. His presence with the team ramped up under former head coach Chris Klieman.

Instead of sitting in the stands, Meyer walked the sidelines.

One year, he went on a couple of Bison road trips, a role that eventually turned into going on every away game.

Curtis’ role also expanded with Klieman as the head coach, with Curtis asking him if he could come by spring practice in 2016 and be around the players more often.

“I knew about 15, 20 guys on the team at that point but I had a heart for the whole team,” Curtis said.

Klieman agreed, with Curtis’ role expanding a few months later into a summer program with NDSU’s incoming freshmen.

“It was like, hey, can we help build character into these young men when they come in?” Curtis said. “He was on board with it. My heartbeat as a chaplain for the football team is to provide faith-based encouragement for those guys who are wanting to grow deeper in the word but really mental health and character training for every single guy on the team.”

When Matt Entz was named the head coach after Klieman departed for Kansas State, the roles of team chaplains grew even more.

Entz goes to chapel every Saturday morning and he said the last three Saturdays they’ve had to bring in extra chairs. Everybody associated with the football program, from training to equipment staff, is invited to chapel or Mass.

“We just want to make sure our kids have a balance in life between football, academics and the social demands of being here in Fargo,” Entz said.

Curtis in the last two years put together a summer weekend retreat at Star Lake near Pelican Rapids, Minn., for the incoming freshmen, with the focus of getting them ready for the grind of the season. He continues to meet with them once a month during the season.

“What I love about NDSU is you bring people from all across the country and, boom, we’re right here in Fargo for the next four, five years,” he said. “And so let’s learn from that.”

Under Entz, Meyer’s role became even more full-time, with Meyer doing all of the Mass services instead of rotating with other priests.

“It’s more stable and it’s better for timing,” Meyer said.

He puts in his time. Meyer has been the priest at Holy Family Catholic Church in Grand Forks for the last 2 1/2 years, meaning he’s gotten to know Interstate 29 quite well.

The number of players who go to Saturday morning services has

grown over the years. At the beginning, Meyer said it was just a few players at Mass and a couple of coaches.

This year between 25 and 35 attend Meyer’s Mass. Upwards of about 30 players attend Curtis’ chapel service.

“Now does everyone go to church? No,” Meyer said. “Does everyone buy into that mentality? No, but I think the majority do and we have a complementary relationship between the FCS and the Catholic

Mass so having that faith component I think is a wonderful gift.”

Meyer tries to keep players grounded, reminding them that the entire world is not on their shoulders. That there are bigger things out there.

“Sometimes we lose that,” he said. “To travel with them, be on the sidelines, I think there’s a better connection and they feel more comfortable. And so it’s been exciting. I think presence is important.”

At Mass two weeks ago, he asked players to be silent, put their feet on the ground, put their hands on their laps and close their eyes.

“Let the world go for a little bit,” Meyer told them. “Just to get your focus and understand this is the discipline you have to have to get rid of everything else in your psyche. There’s a lot of people putting a lot of pressure on you.”

Meyer will be the first to say he’s not a psychologist. But what he can do is listen to the players and give them direction.

“It’s not all about the winning of the games, which is great,” he said. “It’s an experience they’re getting not only in education, but the education is sometimes not in the classroom.”

Last week, Curtis met a player for breakfast who, in Curtis’ words, is facing mental challenges and roadblocks. Like Meyer’s advice, he persuaded the player to not get so wrapped up in performance.

“To get him away from that, thinking his performance is going to determine his identity,” Curtis said.

“That’s the kind of stuff where my heart is just drawn, seeing these guys come into college and they think the most important thing is the transition from high school to college but really we’re getting to focus on the transition from adolescence to adulthood.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at jkolpack@ forumcomm.com. Twitter@ KolpackInForum

Michael Vosburg / The Forum

Father James Meyer talks to North Dakota State football players before the South Dakota State game Oct. 15 in the Fargodome.

David Samson / The Forum

Sports chaplain Jeff Curtis chats with North Dakota State players at the Fargodome on Oct. 29.

Marques Sigle gives Bison physical presence at cornerback

By Eric Peterson and Jeff Kolpack The Forum

Fargo

North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz said cornerback Marques Sigle brings a physical element to that position group, a quality Sigle in part developed in a different sport.

“It helped with wrestling, just being more physical,” said Sigle, who wrestled up until his sophomore year in high school. “I feel that definitely helped.”

The 5-foot-11, 192-pound Sigle has been a regular for the Bison in a deep cornerback rotation that also includes seniors Destin Talbert and Jayden Price and junior Courtney Eubanks. The Bison next play at 1 p.m. Saturday at Western Illinois in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

Sigle is ninth on the team with 20 tackles heading into the game against the Leathernecks.

“The thing that Marques has is he’s a little bit bigger than probably some of the corners we’ve had,” Entz said. “He has some length to him, but he’s put together. A guy that probably as he continues to develop, might be one of those players that can fill more roles than just corner.”

Sigle has a sack, interception, two pass breakups, three passes defended and a forced fumble through eight games.

“He’s very physical,” Entz said. “He gets his hands on you, he can really reroute some players, very disruptive on releases with wide receivers and he’s an

excellent tackler.”

A sophomore from Omaha, Neb., Sigle said he’s gaining more confidence in his third season in the program. He likes the depth the Bison have at CB.

“We all rotate,” Sigle said. “We’re trying to figure out

who’s the best out there. In certain situations, they want certain guys. ... It’s definitely good to have that depth so when anybody is out there, you know they’re going to make a play when it’s coming to them.” Sigle said players like Talbert and veteran safeties

Michael Tutsie and Dawson Weber are among the teammates who have helped in his development. “DT, just with confidence,” Sigle said of Talbert. “Owning your role and taking full advantage when you get the opportunity.”

Kobe doesn’t miss a beat in his return to the lineup

Bison running back Kobe Johnson left no doubt last week that when he returned from a sprained ankle, he

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David Samson / The Forum

North Dakota State’s Marques Sigle, right, stops Illinois State’s Daniel Sobkowicz at the Fargodome on Oct. 29.

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was ready to roll. The senior running back, who has a year of eligibility remaining but has yet to declare his intention next season, ran hard and broke a few tackles in the win over Illinois State.

“After Saturday, I can honestly say I’m back in the routine,” Johnson said.

It did, however, take a few snaps to get back into it, he said.

“The game was moving pretty fast for a couple carries,” Johnson said. “So for it to slow down as the game went on was big for me. So I feel like I’m still in that stride pushing on to the next game.”

Johnson was hurt in the Youngstown State game and missed the next two games at Indiana State and at home against South Dakota State. The Bison had a bye week before the Redbirds game, giving him another week of rest.

“It looked like he didn’t miss a beat,” Entz said. “I was really excited for Kobe. You’re always concerned with a high ankle sprain and that it’s going to take time. You feel like guys start running around like they have a peg leg. I didn’t see that at all. Those were some hard yards he was getting.”

Before the injury, Entz had said on a few occasions that Johnson was running as hard as he ever had in his career, which started as a true freshman in 2019 when he was named to the Valley’s All-Newcomer Team. Of note, Entz was impressed how Johnson avoided a tackle for lost yardage against ISU.

“He was able to elude the TFL and gain some positive yards, a big carry for us,” he said. “And being voted a captain, I think that meant

“After Saturday, I can honestly say I’m back in the routine. The game was moving pretty fast for a couple carries. So for it to slow down as the game went on was big for me. So I feel like I’m still in that stride pushing on to the next game.”

NORTH DAKOTA STATE’S KOBE JOHNSON

lit that fire where he said I have to be at the forefront and be the best version of myself every week.”

It’s been struggle for Leathernecks

It’s been a tough year for the 0-8 Leathernecks this season and never was that more evident than last week. Being a young team with a first-year head coach (Myers

but injuries are another. WIU had 52 inactive players out of a roster of 114 players last week against Missouri State, according to Wyatt Wheeler, who covers MSU for the Springfield News-Leader.

The Bears led 42-7 at halftime on way to a 64-14 win. It came one week after a deflating 28-27 WIU loss at home to Youngstown State, one where the Penguins

last 2 minutes, 30 seconds of the game, including a game-winning 41-yard field goal as time expired. The Leathernecks, however, have had a couple of bright spots.

Receiver Naseim Brantley is tied for fifth in the FCS in receiving touchdowns with nine and is 15th in receiving yards averaging 92.8 a game. The Leathernecks are also second in the FCS in fewest penalty yards this season with 249. Etc. etc. etc.

► The Missouri Valley may only have two teams ranked in the FCS coaches poll and three in the Stats Perform top

has nine teams ranked in the top 34 of the Sagarin football ratings, which includes five of the top 18, and four in the top 12. The same nine MVFC schools rank in the Top 37 of the Massey FCS computer rankings.

► NDSU leads the series with Western Illinois 9-2, including the last seven in a row. Both of the Leatherneck wins came at the Fargodome while NDSU is 6-0 at Hanson Field.

► Bison senior Jayden Price remains tied for second on the school’s career record for punt return for touchdowns with three. Richard Lewis has the record of four in his two years at NDSU in 2000-01.

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

North Dakota State’s Kobe Johnson gets a touchdown from 17 yards out against Youngstown State during their football game on Oct. 1 at the Fargodome.