MIDDLE MAN
It’s a dirty job, but NDSU’s Division II transfer loving life as backup nose guard
By Jeff Kolpack The ForumFargo
Take a gander on the Theo’s 24 Prime Steak’s Seafood and Wine Bar website and if hunger isn’t the first thing on your mind, it won’t take long. It offers the best steak, seafood and wine selection in Fond du Lac, Wis., a city of 43,000 people located about halfway between Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Ted Beutow, cooperator of the restaurant and a head chef, made it known when the place opened in 2015 that the food won’t reach the table unless it is of the highest standards. The renovated look of an old building that has stately curb appeal looks like it’s a joint Frank Sinatra would have frequented.
In other words, the upscale French cuisine theme is about as opposite as the position Michael Buetow, Ted’s son, plays at North Dakota State.
“I’m probably more of the charcoal-grill steak guy,” said Michael, a transfer from Minnesota State Mankato.
He’s the nose guard. He’s the guy in the middle. Not only that, he’s a backup who usually plays in short-yardage situations where the requirement is to throw all of your might into an offensive lineman. It’s tough, dirty work.
“It’s very physically demanding,” Michael said. “It’s the way it is. It’s a violent, violent game and you have to be a man in there. You can’t be soft. You can’t play here if you’re soft.”
At 6-foot, 284 pounds, Michael looks like he should be playing in the
rain and dirt of a grass field every Saturday, not inside at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. While defensive linemen like Eli Mostaert, Brayden Thomas (also a Mankato transfer) and Will Mostaert lead the team in quarterback sacks, and thus the notoriety that goes with putting the QB on the turf, it’s players like Buetow who are counted on to stuff the run in critical situations.
“You have to be very dominant, very physical,” he said. “You have to play angry; it’s the mindset you have to have.”
The mindset as a high school player for Buetow at St. Mary’s Springs Academy High School in Fond du Lac was to play at the Division I level. He had communication with NDSU defensive line coach Nick Goeser, who recruits in Wisconsin, but the Bison didn’t offer.
It wasn’t for a lack of notoriety. St. Mary’s went
50-2 in his four years on varsity that included two state championships. It wasn’t for a lack of knowledge about NDSU, either. He grew up knowing about former Bison running back Blaine Toshner, from Fond du Lac. The St. Mary’s head coach is Bob Hyland, a former NDSU standout in the 1960s who is in the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame.
“Coach Hyland loves the Bison, he wears it on his sleeve,” Michael said. “A lot of what we did at St. Mary’s Springs is similar to here. It’s a program built on tradition.”
Seeing no Division I looks, Buetow went to Division II Minnesota State Mankato, where he started 27 of 43 games. He was a second team all-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference pick in 2019 as a junior.
Buetow said he enjoyed his time with the Mavericks and still has
plenty of good friends from Mankato. But something inside of him was burning for a Division I shot. So he grabbed his transfer bat so to speak and swung for the fences by contacting Goeser. Buetow still had Goeser’s cell phone number and texted him.
“He said, hey, I just want a chance,” Goeser said. “I just want an opportunity to play at the next level. My dream was always to play at NDSU.”
Taking the plunge wasn’t easy. Buetow moved to Fargo in the summer of 2020, during the height of coronavirus pandemic shutdown issues. He didn’t know anybody. He was ineligible for games that fall because of transfer protocol, although it turned out NDSU played just one game anyway against Central Arkansas.
He showed up hoping to find a role.
“It was very difficult
adjusting,” Buetow said. “But I’m a big believer that you have to earn your right to have anything. You have to earn your right to have friends, earn your right to be in a position to play and earn your right to gain the respect of your peers. That’s how I approached it coming here, earning my right to put myself in a position to succeed.”
Over a year later, he’s a popular player on the team. It’s easy to like any veteran player who takes a no-ego, do-anything attitude.
It’s what Hyland saw in him as a high school player. There were times when Buetow had to be told to tone it down in practice.
“That was hard for him to do that,” Hyland said. “He was one of these kids who was in love with football from a very young age. He couldn’t get enough of the game of football. Every chance he got, he worked on fundamentals and did weight training religiously.”
Hyland said he encouraged Buetow to give NDSU a try. He saw a player who did everything he could for three years at Mankato. He knew Buetow couldn’t wait to see what he could do at the next level.
“He’s loved every minute of it I think, I don’t think he’ll ever regret it,” Hyland said.
Incidentally, Ted Buetow was an all-state defensive lineman in 1974 for Hyland at St. Mary’s Springs.
“A gourmet chef,” Hyland said. “He specializes in sauces. It’s one of the popular places in town.”
After 2 straight injuries, Mathis finding his role
By Jeff Kolpack and Eric PetersonThe Forum Fargo
At 6-foot-6, it’s hard to miss North Dakota State wide receiver Zach Mathis since he’s one of the tallest players on the team. For the longest time, he was most noticeable on the sideline.
Mathis missed the spring season with a meniscus injury to his knee. Then he broke his elbow in the first week of fall practice that caused him to miss the first part of this year. He seems to be making up for lost time.
“It’s a ton of fun to get out there and contribute for this team,” Mathis said. “I just want to expand my role and do everything the team asks from me, whether it’s special teams, or on offense. Just do anything I can to help this team win.”
He has six catches this season but most of those have come in big situations, either for first downs or getting NDSU out of a hole.
Last month at Illinois State, Mathis had a 26-yard reception with 29 seconds left in the first half on thirdand-10 that led to a field goal and a 10-0 Bison lead. Another 26-yarder two weeks later on third-and-8 led to a touchdown against Indiana State.
Mathis had two catches against South Dakota State, including a 14-yarder on second-and-long that led to a field goal.
“Coming back, you’re doing everything you can to be perfect again,” Mathis said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you’re sitting out for months and months, it definitely takes a little to get back into the flow of things.
It’s always tough to be out for so long with injuries and watching from the sideline. Even in practice it kind of eats at you.”
The flow this week is a road game at Youngstown State. NDSU, 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, can clinch a share of the league title with a win.
“We just gotta keep pushing,” Mathis said. “We’ll bounce back from this week for sure. And we have all of our goals ahead of us and were ready to achieve those goals.”
Bison offensive line ‘up and down’
NDSU’s backs have consistently struggled to find gaps and creases in the run game. The team’s yards-percarry average has consistently gone down since a productive September, granted some of that is competition based. Still, NDSU head coach Matt Entz this week called the play of the offensive line of late “up and down.”
“Individually there are some people that have really good games,” Entz said. “Collectively, there are moments when we don’t play very well. I know we get great effort out of that group. Just some of the other issues, penalties and false starts we would like to eliminate.”
It’s possible NDSU could adjust the rotation. The Bison did it last spring before the University of North Dakota game and responded with one of its best rushing games of that season.
NDSU has for the most part started the same five across the front, with the exception of Brandon Westberg filling in for the injured Jalen Sundell for three games at center.
Last week, NDSU used right
tackle Cordell Volson at right guard at various times.
“I’m an advocate of getting different people in at different spots if we think that’s going to help us win football games,” Entz said. “If we’re doing it just to say we did it, then I’m not a big fan of it.”
Phillips wants Youngstown tough Youngstown enters Saturday’s game against NDSU on a three-game losing streak, including a 24-21 loss at North Dakota last weekend.
The Penguins are 2-6 overall with two games remaining on their regular season schedule. However, YSU head coach Doug Phillips said his team has ample motivation, even though it’s no longer in FCS playoff contention.
“There is a lot we’re playing for each and every week and that’s to get this program in the direction that it needs to go,” Phillips said.
The Penguins have a 3-12 record over the past two seasons, including last spring, which was Phillips’ first as head coach.
“I want this team to be tough to resemble our city and our university,” Phillips said. “This community and this university deserves wins. We’re going to constantly work on bringing wins to this program and this community.”
Bison face another top runner
Youngstown State junior running back Jaleel McLaughlin ranks second in the Missouri Valley in rushing, averaging 112.8 yards per game. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound McLaughlin has rushed for 902 yards and nine touchdowns on 139 attempts.
The Bison lead the conference in rushing defense, allowing 86.7 yards per game. NDSU faced the league’s top rusher in South Dakota State running back Pierre Strong Jr. last weekend. Strong rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 23 attempts.
“When you look at their defense, they’ve got eight seniors,” Phillips said.
“Eight seniors that probably each have two national championship rings, maybe
three, on their hand. They have played a lot of football for them.”
Phillips is also impressed with NDSU’s physicality.
“They’re going to be big, they’re physical, they’re going to test you,” Phillips said. “They’re going to test your toughness. They don’t mind handing the ball off and getting two yards. What they’re telling you is we’re going to do that for 60-plus minutes, can you withstand that.”
The Bison are coming off their first loss this season so Phillips is expecting a motivated opponent.
“You’ve got a team that is 8-1 coming in here trying to ramp themselves up to get ready to make a playoff run and national championship run,” Phillips said.
Odds and ends
► Phillips called Bison wide receiver Christian Watson the top wide receiver in the Missouri Valley. Although not statistically on top, Watson has 29 receptions average 20.3 yards per catch with six touchdowns.
► The game is the Missouri Valley Game of the Week and is available only on ESPNPlus. Statewide coverage by WDAY-TV in Fargo will return next week against South Dakota.
► Bison kicker Jake Reinholz moved into 10th place on the NDSU all-time list for career field goals made with 17. He’s 11 of 14 this season and is working on a streak of seven straight makes.
► NDSU’s run of conference titles started in 2011 and was the first of nine straight. It was interrupted last spring, but a win against Youngstown would make it 10 in 11 years.
To emphasize the depth of Big Sky teams this season, consider fourtime defending champ Weber State is .500 in conference play and tied for seventh place.
Better yet, look at the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, where five of the top 12 ranked teams are from the Big Sky. Montana State (8-1) led the impressive contingent at No. 3 in the national media poll following a top-five win at Eastern Washington. It marked the Bobcats’ highest ranking since they were No. 3 on Sept. 16, 2013.
Only top-ranked and defending FCS champion Sam Houston (8-0) and James Madison (8-1) were ahead of Montana State in the rankings, which included No. 6 UC Davis, No. 7 Eastern Washington, No. 9 Montana and No. 12 Sacramento State from the Big Sky.
Ten different conferences had a ranked team, including the SWAC with two after Prairie View entered at No. 24 - the Panthers’ first appearance since Sept. 17, 2010. Jackson State was No. 18.
A national media panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a secondplace vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 (Nov. 8)
1. Sam Houston (8-0, 4-0), 1,250 points (50 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 10
2. James Madison (8-1, 5-1
10
Michael Vosburg / The Forum
No. 6 Southeastern Louisiana
18. Jackson State (8-1, 6-0 SWAC), 385
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 10 Result: 41-21 win over Texas Southern
19. South Dakota (6-3, 4-2 Missouri Valley), 338
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 10 Result: 42-21 win at Western Illinois
20. Northern Iowa (5-4, 3-3 Missouri Valley), 257
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 10 Result: 17-10 OT loss at Illinois State
21. VMI (6-3, 4-2 Southern), 173
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 10 Result: 27-20 loss at then-No. 14 ETSU
22.(tie) Chattanooga (6-3, 5-1 Southern), 160
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 10 Result: 35-10 win at Wofford
22.(tie) Dartmouth (7-1, 4-1 Ivy), 160
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 10 Result: 31-7 win over then-No. 20 Princeton 24. Prairie View A&M (7-1, 6-0 SWAC), 109
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 10 Result: 55-52 loss at then-No. 22 UIW
15. Southern Illinois (6-3, 4-2 Missouri Valley), 603
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 10
Result: 38-28 loss to then-No.
17 Missouri State
16. Missouri State (6-3, 5-2 Missouri Valley), 596
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 10
Result: 38-28 win at then-No. 7
Southern Illinois
17. UIW (7-2, 5-1
Southland), 516
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 10 Result: 55-52 win over then-
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 10 Result: 24-20 win over Alabama State 25. William & Mary (6-3, 4-2 CAA), 79
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