Sept. 19, 2004

Final Stats

FARGO, N.D. - A balanced offense and stubborn defense led North Dakota State University to a 49-19 victory over Carson-Newman College (Tenn.) in a non-conference game played Saturday, Sept. 18, before a crowd of 11,523 at the Fargodome.

North Dakota State (3-1) will be off this weekend, but returns to action at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, at Nicholls State University.

After spotting the Eagles (2-1) a touchdown on the opening drive of the game, the Bison reeled off 42 unanswered points over three quarters to take control of the contest. North Dakota State passed for 236 yards and rushed for 231 in the game.

The turning point of the contest came near the end of the first quarter, when Carson-Newman failed to take advantage of a NDSU turnover by fumbling themselves at the three-yard line. Jared Essler forced the fumble, while Craig Dahl pounced on the bobble.

Leading 7-6, North Dakota State embarked on an impressive 16-play, 97-yard drive that lasted almost eight minutes and culminated in Cinque Chapman's one-yard TD plunge to put the Bison ahead 14-6 with 9:16.

NDSU scored twice in the final 5:17 of the first half when quarterback Tony Stauss connected on scoring strikes of 25 and seven-yards to Travis White. The TD passes extended the Bison advantage to 28-6 at halftime.

Stauss completed 20 of 26 passes for 236 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He spread the wealth, hitting seven different receivers including White, who hauled in six passes for 71 yards. Tight end A.J. Cooper also caught six for 38 yards.

North Dakota State quickly widened the margin to 42-6 in the first three minutes of the third quarter when Allen Burrell raced 90 yards with the kickoff for a TD, while Chapman scampered 21-yards for a score following a short Carson-Newman punt.

The Bison had two backs over 90 yards. Kyle Steffes rushed 22 times for 96 yards, while Chapman had 15 carries for 90 yards and two TDs. Shamen Washington rushed three times for 45 yards and one touchdown.

Shane Kelley led the Eagles, completing 7 of 15 passes for 141 yards and a 5-yard TD toss to Leonard Weaver. Kelley had 53 yards on 10 carries, while Ray Hightower led C-N with 65 yards. Rayvon Howard and J.J. Chatmon each had rushing TDs of two yards in the first and fourth quarters, respectively.

NDSU senior linebacker Brian Erenberg sparked the defense with 12 tackles. The Bison defense had a pair of streaks ended, quarters without allowing a touchdown (12) and quarters without allowing a rushing TD (14).

Quotes:
Head Coach Craig Bohl:
On the overall team effort
"This was a good team win in all three phases. We felt like going in, we were going to need to have a complete team win on offense, defense and special teams. I feel like we had that tonight."


On stopping Carson-Newman's high-powered offense
"They are a quality football team. They had an open week (heading into the game against NDSU), so we knew we were going to get something new to throw us off base and I thought our coaches did a great job of adjusting to the no backs, the line splits and the speed of the game."

On Carson-Newman's key first-half fumble inside the Bison five-yard line
"Football is a game of momentum. We also knew that their style of offense is a high risk offense as far as turnovers. So we kept on emphasizing to our players to keep hanging in there and sooner or later something good is going to happen. Fortunately, it happened right then."

Carson-Newman Head Coach Ken Sparks:
On the outcome of tonight's game
"It was a ball game where we had a lot of frustration, especially in the first half. They knocked us around pretty good. We got outplayed and outcoached."

Quarterback Tony Stauss:
On Carson-Newman
"They were great athletes across the board and I knew that we were going to have to play a ball controlled type of game."

On completing to seven different receivers including wide-receiver Travis White for two touchdowns
"It's not just Travis; it's everybody on the team. We've got great receivers."

Linebacker Brian Erenberg
On reacting to Carson-Newman's offense
"We just needed to rally together and stay tight and react to what they were giving us. We were flying around making tackles."

Wide-Receiver Travis White
On his diving touchdown grab in the first half
"That's just all my fingers I guess. Coach (Reggie) Moore always tells us we only get a couple of chances every now and then to make a catch. When you get that chance, you want to come down with the catch."

Wide Receiver Allen Burrell
On returning the opening kick of the second half 90 yards for a touchdown
"Coach (Bohl) told us we needed to make a statement coming out at half-time. And I knew the guys were going to give me a chance to break it."

On fellow kick-returner and speedster Shamen Washington
"Coach is always questioning who's faster out of me and Shamen. Me and him, we have something going. If he makes a big play, I have to make a bigger one. That's between me and him and Coach Bohl."