Kolpack: Bison fans in need of oxygen after wild overtime win over Eastern Washington
By Jeff Kolpack on Sep 10, 2016 at 8:54 p.m.

Upon further review, take a deep breath. Or take a nap. You, the Bison football fan, probably need some mode of decompression following a college football game that turned into another marathon.

Four hours and six minutes, nine official reviews, one overtime and two offensively explosive teams that combined for over 1,000 total yards later, North Dakota State looked almost too tired to celebrate a stirring 50-44 win over Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon, which turned into early Saturday evening.

It can't be confirmed, but there were almost 19,000 fans leaving Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome in need of oxygen.

"I wouldn't blame them," said Bison quarterback Easton Stick.

The bottom line is NDSU is 2-0 against two top 10 teams in the Division I FCS polls heading into the FBS game at the University of Iowa next Saturday. There may be further reviews in future years on playing this kind of a non-conference schedule before heading into the always-physical Missouri Valley Football Conference season.

But this one was just plain wild.

"What was that, about a five-hour affair?" asked Bison head coach Chris Klieman after the game. "What time is it, 10 o'clock?"

He checked his watch. It was a few minutes before 7, long after the 2:30 p.m. kickoff that seemed like noon.

Lance Dunn's 25-yard touchdown run on NDSU's first play in the OT was the game-winner, which came one play after Bison safety Tre Dempsey picked off Eastern Washington quarterback Gage Gubrud in the Eagles' OT possession. Ironically, in a game where Gubrud looked like Brett Favre in his prime, it was a defensive play that changed the course of the outcome.

"They were explosive," said Bison linebacker Nick DeLuca, who in most games would have had the difference maker when he returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown with 9:29 left in the game. That made it 41-31.

But a 10-point lead on these guys was about as safe as driving on bald tires in a North Dakota blizzard. Eastern lost its star when receiver Cooper Kupp injured his shoulder in the second half, but the Eagles kept throwing NFL-looking receivers at the Bison secondary.

"Weapons everywhere," Gubrud said. "Everyone knows about Cooper, but we have dudes everywhere. Guys were going up and making great plays and getting hit. We were in good shape with the guys we got."

You have to wonder about the shape of college football with the video replay. There were so many reviews that it felt like the game was on TV inside the dome rather than in person. Take the second quarter alone, for example: Long pass to RJ Urzendowski. Review. Run by Chase Morlock on next play. Review. Amazingly, the point-after kick by Cam Pedersen was routine and it was 14-7, NDSU.

The flags? My goodness, we heard the head referee talk over the PA system more than the PA announcer. The Bison offensive line had three illegal blocks below the waist in two plays, an infraction that is a new emphasis this year by the NCAA. Two plays later; another holding call. Five plays later, another holding call, and thankfully the halftime buzzer sounded 22 seconds later.

The Bison had eight penalties for 83 yards and the Eagles six for 53 yard in the first two quarters alone. You could have watched an entire high school game in the time it took to play the first half.

By then, the fans were ready for halftime just as much as the teams. NDSU led 21-14.

That was just a spice of what happened all afternoon...

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