Bison pull one out of the hat
FARGO - The game billed as a battle between two of the top Division I Football Championship Subdivision quarterbacks turned into exactly that.
And North Dakota State's Steve Walker capped the show by providing another dose of his last-second magic to top Sam Houston State's Rhett Bomar.
Walker's 27-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kole Heckendorf with 19 seconds left gave fifth-ranked NDSU (2-0) a thrilling 41-38 victory over upset-minded No. 16 Sam Houston State before 18,961fans at the Fargodome.
It was NDSU's third consecutive home sellout.
The quarterbacks combined for 653 yards passing and nine touchdowns. Rhett Bomar, the former Oklahoma Sooner quarterback, was good as advertised, carving up a Bison defense with 358 yards on 36-for-61 passing.
"There were a couple times we stopped them, just not very often," said Bison head coach Craig Bohl.
Rhett Bomar added a game-high 103 yards rushing.
His most impressive work came in scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter.
The last came on a nine-play, 64-yard drive with no timeouts, staking the Bearkats to a 38-34 lead with 26 seconds left.
Receiver Darnell Jones caught a 7-yard touchdown pass to give Sam Houston its third lead of the game.
"(Rhett Bomar) put the ball in spots you couldn't believe he put them in," said Bison linebacker Ramon Humber, who had a team-high 10 tackles.
However, Walker answered with a three-play, 54-yard drive in 19 seconds.
The winning score came with 7.4 seconds remaining on a post route to Kole Heckendorf.
Heckendorf had two 27-yard catches on the drive, including the game-winner.
"It was a 'drew it up in the huddle' kind of deal," Walker said of the winning play.
Walker is no stranger to last-second heroics. He threw a winning touchdown pass with four seconds remaining in a 28-24 win at California-Davis in 2006.
"We spend a great deal of time in the two-minute (drill) in practice," Bohl said. "Steve is a great field general. Those were his calls at the end of the game."
NDSU seemed to pull away late in the third quarter after Walker hit tight end Jerimiah Wurzbacher for a 75-yard touchdown to take a 34-21 lead, which was the game's biggest. Wurzbacher had a game-high 103 yards receiving.
However, theBearkats were able to string together three scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
Rhett Bomar also put together a last-second drive to close the first half.
He threw a 5-yard strike to receiver Justin Wells with 30 seconds left. Rhett Bomar's two-point conversion run pulled SHSU within 17-14 at halftime.
The Bison, who got 238 yards rushing from junior running back Tyler Roehl in a season-opening win last week against Stephen F. Austin, struggled against a stingy Bearkat defense.
NDSU had just 28 yards rushing on 13 carries in the first half. It finished with 119 yards on 32 carries. Eight Bearkat receivers caught passes.
NDSU travels to Central Michigan, a Bowl Championship Subdivsion team, next week.
SHSU 6 8 7 17 - 38
NDSU 3 14 17 7 - 41
First quarter
SHSU - Taylor Wilkins 22 field goal, 10:28.
NDSU - Shawn Bibeau 19 field goal, 6:03.
SHSU - Wilkins 40 field goal, 2:19.
Second quarter
NDSU - Jordan Schultenover 6 pass from Steve Walker (Bibeau kick), 10:26.
NDSU - Kole Heckendorf 13 pass from Walker (Bibeau kick), 5:28.
SHSU - Justin Wells 5 pass from Rhett Bomar (Rhett Bomar run), :30.
Third quarter
NDSU - Bibeau 47 field goal,12:23.
SHSU - Catron Houston 5 pass from Rhett Bomar (Wilkins kick), 8:32.
NDSU - Tyler Jangula 8 pass from Walker (Bibeau kick), 6:56.
NDSU - Jerimiah Wurzbacher 75 pass from Walker (Bibeau kick), :47.
Fourth quarter
SHSU-Wells 55 pass from Rhett Bomar (Wilkins kick), 14:31.
SHSU - Wilkins 32 field goal, 4:50.
SHSU - Darnell Jones 7 pass from Rhett Bomar (Wilkins kick), :26.
NDSU - Kole Heckendorf 27 pass from Walker(Bibeau kick), :07.
Team Statistics
SHSU NDSU
First downs 28 20
Rushes-yards 28-137 32-119
Yards passing 358 295
Passing 36-61-1 18-26-0
Punts-average 4-145 3-154
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties 9-79 9-89
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SHSU - Rhett Bomar 17-103, Chris Poullard 9-30, Darnell Jones 1-3, Isaiah Sneed 1-1. NDSU - Tyler Roehl 16-80, Shamen Washington 3-60, Pete Blincoe 6-12, John Majeski 1-(minus-4), Steve Walker 5-(minus-28).
Passing: SHSU - Rhett Bomar 36-61-1. NDSU - Steve Walker 18-26-0.
Receiving: SHSU - Catron Houston 8-85, Blake Martin 7-67, Justin Wells 5-88, Darnell Jones 5-44, Chris Poullard 5-22, Trey Payne 3-26, Isaiah Sneed 2-17, Chris Lucas 1-9. NDSU - Kole Heckendorf 7-103, Jerimiah Wurzbacher 5-121, Tyler Jangula 2-25, John Majeski 1-21, Alex Belquist 1-19, Jordan Schultenover 1-6, Thor Brown 1-0.
Interceptions: SHSU-none.NDSU-David Earl.
Records: SHSU 2-1, NDSU 2-0.
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