In front of a stadium record 19,477 fans, the Jackrabbits took their first loss of the season, 38-7, to the North Dakota State Bison. The Bison stay undefeated at 8-0 while the Jacks fall to 7-1. 

Luke Marble, who filled in for Chase Mason, had a rough night, completing just seven passes for 86 yards and one touchdown. 

Julius Loughridge couldn’t get anything going on the ground either, running for just 38 yards on 10 carries. 

Lofton O’Groske had 43 yards receiving and one touchdown on two receptions. 

Defensively, linebacker Cullen McShane led the way in tackles for the Jacks with 11 and five of them were solo. 

For the Bison quarterback, Cole Payton was the show, passing for 243 yards with one interception. And on the ground, he racked up 137 yards and four touchdowns. 

Bryce Lance also had a big game receiving with five catches for 103 yards. With multiple of the catches being chain movers on third down.  

Sophomore linebacker Donavan Woolen had a good night defensively for the Bison with nine tackles, with one for loss. 

North Dakota State won the toss and elected to defer to the second half, to SDSU started with the ball to open the game. With no Chase Mason, it was Luke Marble at the helm for the Jacks. And after a solid gain of five for Julius Loughridge on the first play for the Jacks, two Marble incompletions forced a punt for the Jacks. 

NDSU took over from the Jacks’ 16-yard line and after a penalty, the Bison stared down a third and six, where Cole Payton delivered an eight-yard strike to Bryce Lance for a first down. A few plays later, Payton delivered another dart, this time to RaJa Nelson for a gain of 22.

Later in the drive, NDSU faced another key third down. This time, it was third-and-three from the SDSU 25. But the SDSU defense couldn’t get a stop and a D.J. Scott run of five yards moved the chains for the Bison.

After continuing the drive the ball down the field Payton punched in a touchdown on fourth and goal from less than a yard out. The extra point gave NDSU a 7-0 lead. 

SDSU got the ball back and, after gaining one yard on the first two plays of the drive, Marble was sacked for a loss of nine on third down to force the Jackrabbits’ second three-and-out of the game. 

NDSU got the ball back at their own 37 after the Jackrabbit punt, but they wasted no time getting into Jackrabbit territory as on the first play Payton connected with Lance, who broke a tackle and was finally tripped up after a gain of 33. After a penalty and a Kobe Clayborne sack, NDSU faced third and 16.

But once again, it was Bryce Lance giving the Jackrabbit defense fits, this time a back-shoulder catch on the sideline for a gain of 26 to set up first and goal from the 10-yard line. After a pass interference call, NDSU had first and goal from the two-yard line, where Payton ran in his second touchdown of the day to take a 14-0 lead.  

With the Jackrabbits facing a third and five and looking for the first first down of the game, Marble dropped back and looked for Loughridge, who dropped the ball to force another punt. 

Early in the following NDSU drive on second and two, Payton once again dropped back and found Lance deep on the sideline for a gain of 26. In the following play, Payton rolled out left and connected with Jackson Williams for a 14-yard gain down to the two-yard line. NDSU running back Barika Kpeenu then punched in a two-yard touchdown to go up 21-0 over the Jacks. 

The SDSU offense moved the chains for the first time all night on the first play of the drive when Lofton O’Groske took a reverse and gained 12 yards. Two plays later, facing third and 11, Marble completed his first pas of the night. Jake Smith was the recipient, gaining six yards and bringing up a fourth and five.

The offense stayed on the field, but when the ball was snapped, Marble punted it and with no return man back, it was downed at the 10-yard line after a 47-yard punt. 

On the following NDSU possession, Dawson Ripperda came through the Bison line to sack Payton for a loss of five. After a short gain on second, the bison faced third and 13, where Cullen McShane came up and tackled Payton after a two-yard scramble. NDSU would punt it away and SDSU would start from their own 43 after a 34-yard punt. 

After having their best field position of the night, the first play of the drive for SDSU was a reverse to Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, who threw the ball to Lofton O’Groske for a gain of 26. On the next play, Marble followed suit by finding O’Groske in the endzone for a 17-yard touchdown to put SDSU on the board. The Jacks still trailed 21-7. 

After forcing a third and eight, the SDSU defense looked to get off the field but another first down grab by Lance extended the Bison drive. A few plays later, Payton would scramble out of the pocket and run in for a 57-yard touchdown on a controversial no-call on NDSU for holding. This would extend the NDSU lead to 28-7. 

SDSU would get the ball back, trying to stay close, but after one first down during the possession, the offense would once again stall and punt, giving NDSU the ball back with one minute left in the half. 

After the first two plays of the drive gained a total of six yards, Payton and the Bison faced third and four. Payton rolled out of the pocket and found Jackson Williams, who toe-tapped the sideline for a gain of 18. Eventually, NDSU would attempt a 47-yard field goal, which was knocked through by Eli Ozick to give them a 31-7 lead at halftime. 

NDSU started the second half with the ball and after two solid stops on first and second down by the Jacks, Payton completed a pass to Jackson Williams for a gain of 11 to force forth and one. Payton would convert the fourth down with his legs and continue the drive.

Three plays later on another third down, Payton would once again extend the play with his legs and scramble out of the pocket before completing a pass to RaJa Nelson for 17 yards. Two plays later on second down, Payton would throw a pass towards the endzone that would be intercepted by Koby Bretz to give the Jacks the ball for the first time in the second half. 

After gaining a few first downs on the drive, the Jacks would stall once again when Marble would be sacked for a loss of 14 on third and 10. SDSU would once again punt it away to NDSU. 

NDSU, like the Jacks, would gain a first down but stall out and punt the ball away. After a jackrabbit fair catch, they took over from their own 14-yard line to start the fourth quarter. 

The Jacks started their next position by drawing a pass interference to gain 15 yards. But then the Jacks followed it up by a sack and a holding call that backed them up to second and 21. The Jacks eventually cut it down to fourth-and-three, but threw it incomplete, turning it over on downs and giving NDSU the ball at the SDSU 47.  

On the first play of the ensuing NDSU drive, Payton kept it on a read option and ran it in untouched from 47 yards out to get his fourth rushing touchdown of the day and give the Bison a 38-7 lead.  

This would be the last score of the game and NDSU would hand the Jacks their first loss of the season.