GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Dominic Gonnella ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns and Jalen Bussey ran for 143 yards and North Dakota State rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to smash Eastern Washington University 42-20 in an opening-round game of the FCS playoffs.
The Bison advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 2-seed Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas on May 1.
Eastern Washington scored three touchdowns in its first three possessions and built a 20-7 lead.
The Bison then put an end to EWU’s upset bid establishing its running game and containing EWU’s offense. Drives of 68 and 64 yards resulted in a 1-yard scoring run by Hunter Luepke and a 4-yard pass from Cam Miller to Noah Gindorff respectively gave the Bison a 21-20 halftime advantage.
