NDSU, Stick overwhelm Delaware

Sep 23, 2018, 12:22 am

(STATS) -- Wins over Cal Poly and North Alabama weren't going to do it. But North Dakota State's 38-10 rout of Delaware on Saturday? The rest of the FCS should have gotten a scare out of the defending national champion.

One of their star players seemed to make one big play after another as the top-ranked Bison (3-0) rolled before a sellout 18,883 on Homecoming Day at the Fargodome, led by quarterback Easton Stick's 321 yards of total offense and four touchdowns -- two rushing and two passing -- In the first all-time meeting between the two programs.

The win scored one for the Missouri Valley Football Conference against the other top FCS conference, CAA Football. The Bison, which have won the last seven MVFC titles, will host what is expected to their chief challenger in the conference -- No. 3 South Dakota State -- next Saturday.

Blue Hens coach Danny Rocco sought his 100th career win, but North Dakota State's All-America and all-conference players erased that hope with a 28-point blitz in the first quarter:

- Stick capped the Bison's opening possession with a 2-yard touchdown run;

- Linebacker Jabril Cox intercepted quarterback Pat Kehoe on Delaware's first play and went untouched for a 36-yard touchdown;

- Strong safety Robbie Grimsley picked off Kehoe to end Delaware's second possession and it led to a Stick TD run of 12 yards;

- Darius Shepherd returned a punt 49 yards to set up Stick's 18-yard scoring pass to running back Bruce Anderson;

"I don't wish that on your worst enemy," Rocco said. "We found ourselves in the worst possible position you could be in. A hostile environment. Unable to get a stop on the first drive and then a quick defensive score (Cox's touchdown). It's the formula for disaster. It certainly wasn't our mind-set when we traveled up here to find ourself in that spot."

In the second quarter, NDSU cornerback Jaylaan Wimbush's first career interception led to Stick's 11-yard touchdown pass to Ben Ellefson, which pushed the lead to 35-0. The score remained that way at halftime, but only because Shepherd was ruled down just inches from the Delaware goal line on a 39-yard reception on the final play of the first half.

Stick, who's 37-3 as a starter in his career, completed 17 of 26 passes for 280 yards, with 41 rushing yards, in three quarters of action.

The Bison averaged 7.6 yards per play while amassing a 527-152 advantage in yards, including 368-53 in the first half.