By - Joshua A. Swanson

North Alabama is in its first year of Division I football. So far, the going’s been good. The Lions upset defending Big Sky co-champion Southern Utah 34 – 30 in the season opener, and hung on for another win last weekend against rival Alabama A&M, 25 – 20. The Lions are not lacking in confidence in anticipation of their trip to the Fargodome this weekend. For what it’s worth, the Bison are 36.5 point favorites after their bye week.

UNA is led by junior JUCO transfer quarterback Christian Lopez. The 6’1”, 200 pound Lopez is a dual threat QB that exploded in the season opener against the Thunderbirds for 350 yards passing, 3 passing TDs, while adding another 105 yards on the ground to go along with a rushing TD. At his Monday press conference, North Dakota State head coach Chris Klieman noted that SUU had trouble lining up on defense and accounting for Lopez, who was making his first start for the Lions. Taking nothing away from the Lions win, SUU may have been surprised by the up-tempo nature of UNA’s offense having not seen Lopez on film in their system. The Bison can sympathize with SUU in that regard. The Herd faced a similar challenge in the 2015 season opener at Montana where the Grizzlies had a new head coach and offensive scheme, beating the Herd in Missoula. The playoffs, though, were another story. NDSU “adjusted” to the new look Griz and blew their doors off 37 – 6.

Swany’s Notes from Coach Klieman’s presser:

• 1.Christian Watson, the redshirt freshman wide receiver from Tampa, Fla., wearing the No. 1 jersey, will likely make his Bison debut. After sitting out the opener with an injury, Klieman said Watson practiced last week. Watson is 6’3”, 193 pounds, and was on NDSU’s two-deep depth chart this week along with Desmond Cain.
• 2.The Bison spent a lot of time during the bye-week practices following the Cal Poly game working on their passing game, and doing a lot of 7-on-7 drills. It’s not because the Bison are concerned with the passing numbers in the opener. It’s because the Bison didn’t need to pass the ball against the Mustangs as they rushed for 458 yards, notched 7 rushing TDs, and averaged 10.2 yards per carry. Coach noted that whether the Bison go to the passing attack this week will be dictated by the flow of the game, but I expect some shots in the play-action passing game from Easton Stick driving the ball downfield.

• 3.On Lions QB Lopez, Coach described him as a dual threat guy that can beat you with his legs and arm. Lopez extended a lot of plays with his legs against SUU and when pressure came, was “elusive,” and has “moxy,” according to Coach.

• 4.The biggest series of the Cal Poly game was the second half defensive stand by the NDSU reserves after the Herd turned the ball over deep in their own territory. Coach praised the effort of defensive ends Spencer Waege, a redshirt freshman from South Shore, S.D., and Logan McCormick, from Appleton, Wisc. Even with an already deep defensive front, Coach said the Bison need to find a way to get those guys on the field they’re that good. Talk about champagne problems. All kidding aside, NDSU’s depth on the defensive, and offensive, fronts will be a big advantage against the Lions and other opponents during the weekly grind that is the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

• 5.Coach was excited for former Bison linebacker Chris Board, who, as an undrafted free agent, made the Baltimore Ravens 53-man regular season roster. The Ravens special teams coordinator/associate head coach, Jerry Rosburg, is a North Dakota State graduate and was an All-American for the Bison. Board had a tackle in the Ravens opening game win against Buffalo. Coach explained that it was Board’s body of work on special teams during his time with NDSU that helped him make the Ravens after a strong senior season at linebacker. Klieman said Board played his best football during last season’s FCS playoffs, where he made three or four critical plays in the championship game against James Madison that were the difference against the Dukes. Go back and watch JMU’s final offensive drive and NDSU’s defensive stand in the shadow of the end zone. Board knifed through blockers on a first down run to drop the Dukes running back for a loss, and on second down, blew up a swing pass to drop the JMU runner at the line of scrimmage.

Tune in this Saturday morning from 8:00 – 9:00 for Herd it Hear with Swany on 740AM The Fan and 107.3fm to kick-start your Bison Game Day!  You can check out last Saturday's show here ! Follow me on  Twitter @swany8 , and let me know what you think of NDSU’s match-up against UNA.

As always, remember, the Strength of the Herd is the Bison, and the Strength of the Bison, is the Herd!