Consider 3 top games of Week 7:
Alabama at Tennessee
Penn State at Michigan
Oklahoma State at TCU
Undoubtedly, 3 terrific battles of undefeateds. These tilts overshadow a mammoth FCS game: #2 South Dakota State travels to Fargo to take on #1 North Dakota State. Not nearly enough attention is being paid to the 113th edition of the Dakota Marker game. North Dakota State leads the series, 63-44-5.
Both sport a narrow loss on the road. South Dakota State lost to Iowa, 7-3, NDSU looked impressive in a 31-28 loss at Arizona. The SDSU defense and the NDSU offense showed to be at high levels in their FBS losses. Something will have to give at Fargo. The Jackrabbit defense only allows 12.2 points and 57.5 rushing yards per game.
SDSU will be tested by a terrific and experienced North Dakota State rushing attack led by a seasoned offensive line and uber-efficient quarterback, Cam Miller. Uber strengths collide! One other Bison element of their rushing offense makes the Odyssey smile. In Tucson, on the Sunday morning after NDSU’s loss to Arizona, the Odyssey happened to be at the breakfast bar with 2 men wearing NDSU gear. Turns out that these two men turned out to be the father and the brother of NDSU running back, TaMerik Williams. They lamented the fact that Williams only had 4 carries. Clearly, the lack of carries was not correlated to the lack of production as Williams gained 53 yards on those 4 totes.
The family was quite frustrated at their perceived underutilization of Williams. For the Williams’ family, “It’s The Same Old Song.” He had transferred from SMU’s pass-happy offense to get more action. Patience finally paid off. The family must have been absolutely beaming after North Dakota State’ 31-26 win at Indiana State on Saturday. Tamerik’s line: a career-high 145 rushing yards and 3 TD’s. While the Odyssey is appalled at some aspects of the “instaportal,” some players blossom at a new school. Perhaps the most extreme example of 2022 portal ecstasy belongs to Purdue’s Charlie Jones. Perhaps Jones saw Iowa’s pass-challenged offense and said, “I’m outa here, gotta get to a school and a QB who can throw the ball.” Jones has 50 catches in Purdue’s first 6 games place him among the country’s most prolific pass catchers. Jones had 38 grabs in his previous 3 seasons in Iowa City.
North Dakota State lost twice to the Jackrabbits in 2021. If the game was played at Brookings or a neutral site, we would think that SDSU could triumph for the 3rd straight time. However, the game is in Fargo. Regardless, an annual subscription for $69.99 gets you a year’s worth of ESPN+. A bargain! The Odyssey will be tuned in at 2:30 PM, Fargo time!