It’s a dream matchup, with No. 1 seed Montana State considered a slight favorite over No. 2 seed North Dakota State heading into the 2024 FCS championship game. As they build off rousing semifinal-round wins, we preview what to expect when each finalist has the ball.

If it feels like Montana State and North Dakota State are standing in opposite corners staring across at each other, you have it right.

The 2024 FCS championship game is a heavyweight bout between the top two seeds from an original 24-team field that embarked on the Road to Frisco.

Come the night of the Jan. 6 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, Montana State (15-0) will have spent over two months as the FCS’ last unbeaten team. But the No. 1-seeded Bobcats’ last defeat occurred against NDSU – a 35-34 overtime thriller in the 2023 playoff second round.

The No. 2-seeded Bison (13-2) are back where most of their recent seasons have gone. They’ve already captured nine FCS championships prior to their 11th appearance in Frisco since the 2011 season – both all-time highs for the Division I subdivision.

A tale of the tape suggests a lot with this season’s FCS championship game. Maybe Michael Buffer should be brought in for pregame introductions.

When Montana State Has the Ball

Incredibly, the Bobcats have scored in 54 of their 60 quarters this season while averaging an FCS-high 41.3 points per game. They want to pound the run – plain and simple.

Coach Brent Vigen’s squad ranks No. 2 in the FCS in rushing yards per game (301.0), with their devasting attack set up by an offensive line whose five starters are all listed as being at least 6-foot-4, 300 pounds (right tackle Marcus Wehr is a two-time first-team All-American).  

North Dakota State rarely surrenders 85 rushing yards to an opposing quarterback, but that’s what Tommy Mellott needs for the Bobcats to gain a third 1,000-yard rusher along with their standout running backs, the physical Scottre Humphrey (1,360 yards, 15 touchdowns) and the big-play Adam Jones (1,134, 14). Mellott has 15 career games of 100+ rushing yards, including in their last two playoff wins.

Ty McCullouch is by far Montana State’s top pass catcher over his two seasons in the program, but fellow wide receiver Taco Dowler has been the go-to target of Mellott (2,564 yards, 29 TDs to just two interceptions) during the playoffs, catching four touchdowns across the three wins.

The NDSU program has long subscribed to the concept that field goals won’t beat it, and the Bison have done well to defend their red zone, allowing touchdowns on just 57.9% of their opponents’ opportunities.

The defense, anchored by tackle Eli Mostaert, allows 119.3 rushing yards per game. The Bobcats, though, have been over 200 rushing yards in each of their playoff wins.

When North Dakota State Has the Ball

NDSU’s offense is different in coach Tim Polasek’s first season from many recent years.

Oh yes, the Bison still flex their muscle with a ground game that’s paved by a huge starting offensive line (it’s a little bigger than Montana State’s, with tackles Grey Zabel and Mason Miller as anchors).

But Bison quarterback Cam Miller, whose 44 career wins as a starter include against the Bobcats in the 2021 FCS championship game, has set career highs in most passing statistics, including completions (239), completion percentage (72.6), passing yards (3,052) and TD passes (31).

NDSU’s 225.9 overall passing yards per game mark their highest average since 2007 and are nearly 26 more per game than in any other season since then. The breakout season of wide receiver Bryce Lance (66 receptions, 964 yards, NDSU-record 16 TD catches) has contributed significantly to it happening.

Make no mistake, the Bison’s 192.7 rushing yards per game are excellent, ranking 20th out of 129 FCS teams. However, in a program that’s been ground and pound over time, it’s the lowest average since the first FCS title season in 2011.

A recent toe injury has slowed top rusher CharMar Brown (1,104 yards, 14 TDs), but Barika Kpeenu has over 1,200 yards the last two seasons and Miller’s been over 500 rushing yards in three straight seasons.

NDSU’s six turnovers are the fewest in the FCS, but Montana State’s defense is disruptive. Half of the Bobcats’ 36 sacks have come in their last five games – defensive ends Brody Grebe and Kenneth Eiden IV have a combined for 16.5 this season – and 12 different players have at least one takeaway.

And Then There’s the FCS National Awards

Montana State and North Dakota State also will see a lot of each other at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet – two nights before the FCS championship game.

Vigen will receive the Eddie Robinson Award as the FCS coach of the year and Brown will receive the Jerry Rice Award as the FCS freshman player of the year (Jones was second in the voting). Additionally, the Walter Payton Award for FCS offensive player of the year is down to Mellott, Miller and Southern Utah running back Targhee Lambson.

Top Photo: Montana State vs. NDSU in 2023 FCS playoffs. (Garrett Becker/MSU Athletics)

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By Amy Alonzo — As states across the nation grapple with a highly contagious strain of bird flu infecting livestock and commercial poultry facilities, Nevada has thus far remained largely safe from infection, according to state officials.

Bird flu is a highly contagious virus that can lead to illness in livestock and death in poultry.  

There are two strains of the virus — one affecting wild birds and another affecting livestock and domestic birds.

Earlier this month, the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) confirmed the state’s first case of bird flu at a dairy operating in remote Nye County.

In 2022, the NDA confirmed the state’s first case of the virus in a backyard flock of chickens in Carson City. There are no commercial egg producers in the state. 

The strain affecting wild bird populations has been found in geese and ducks in Reno and birds of prey and waterfowl in western Nevada.

The virus can spread multiple ways, including through contact between birds, contact between humans and birds, contact between livestock and through contaminated feed, manure and bird droppings. Occasionally it spreads to humans, leading to mild respiratory symptoms and pink eye, although the risk to people is low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It most often sickens those who work with poultry and livestock.

The rampant spread of the virus has led to increasing commercial egg prices, a declaration of emergency in a neighboring state and extra safety precautions in Nevada.

Near-record high egg prices

The virus has led to near record-high egg prices as commercial producers struggle to meet demand for eggs with decreasing flocks.

The virus can have very high mortality rates in birds — as high as 95 percent in domestic chickens. More than 6 million birds were slaughtered in November because of the bird flu, The Associated Press reported.

At the end of 2022, there were 308 million commercial laying hens, down 4.5 percent from the year prior. Conversely, egg consumption in the nation has increased nearly 5 percent since 2000 and, as commercial producers battle deaths from bird flu, they are also adapting to changing consumer demands and law changes that unintentionally can increase infections. 

In 2021, Nevada became the ninth state to ban the sale of eggs that come from hens in cages, as well as the keeping of egg-laying hens in cages in the state.

The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Howard Watts (D-Las Vegas), requires all eggs sold in the state come from cage-free facilities. Nevada sources its eggs from other states, many of which also have cage-free laws, including California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.The nation’s top 10 egg-producing states, producing two-thirds of the nation’s eggs, are all east of the Rockies.

Hens raised in cage-free facilities can interact in ways they wouldn’t if they were isolated in cages, potentially allowing the virus to spread more easily, the AP reported. And, with more Western states requiring cage-free eggs, demand is limiting supply and raising costs.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of a dozen grade A large eggs in November was $3.65, up from $2.14 a year ago.  Prices have fluctuated throughout the years, reaching record highs of around $5 a dozen in late 2022 and early 2023 as avian flu decimated commercial poultry populations. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than 43 million egg-laying hens died from avian flu during that time, and egg inventories were down nearly a third.

Some states have suspended their cage-free requirements during the outbreak of the virus; Nevada cannot, said J.J. Goicoechea, director of the NDA, because the cage-free requirement is written into state law.

“We are looking at a legislative fix” to see if a variance can be granted to suspend the law during extreme egg shortages, he told The Nevada Independent.

California’s response and Nevada’s precautions

Just days ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the state battles the spread of the virus.  

Since March there have been 61 confirmed cases of bird flu infections in humans across seven states; more than half of those (34) were in California, primarily among poultry and dairy workers in Tulare County, the nation’s largest milk producer. The virus has also shown up in at least 17 of the state’s wastewater systems.

Nevada isn’t likely to see the same effects as California because of its more remote nature, Goicoechea said. The outbreak at the dairy in Nye County was at an isolated facility, he said, and has been contained thus far. 

“We’re very comfortable with our response [that] we will be able to keep it there,” he told The Nevada Independent. The contaminated herd is under quarantine until it tests negative for three weeks.

Pasteurized milk will not transmit the virus to humans, according to the USDA, and selling raw milk is illegal in Nevada. Dairy and meat products remain safe for consumption.  

If the virus does reach Northern Nevada, it could spread more quickly because of the proximity of production facilities, Goicoechea said.

“My goal is to snuff this out and prevent it from getting to Northern Nevada,” he said.

— This story is used with permission of The Nevada Independent. Go here for updates to this and other Nevada Independent stories.

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PORTAL TRACKER

The Cowboys have gained some more transfer talent, this time adding to their rebuilding offensive line.

Louie Canepa, a 6-foout-4, 320-pound interior offensive lineman, is headed to Oklahoma State, according to a report. He spent the last three years at New Mexico State.

New Mexico State o-line transfer Louie Canepa is expected to transfer to Oklahoma State, @mzenitz and I have learned for @247Sports.

Canepa has played over 1,100 snaps the last two seasons with starts at both RT and RG.https://t.co/txsOShkxTz pic.twitter.com/2Z1iSiP0Hv

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— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) December 22, 2024

Canepa came to New Mexico State as the No. 15 OL prospect from his state, originally hailing from Vintage High School in Napa, California. He appeared in one game as a true freshman but by Year 2 he was instrumental in the Aggies turning in a 10-win season.

As a redshirt freshman in 2023, Canepa played in 14 of the Aggies’ 15 games, starting 10. New Mexico State ranked 14th in rushing yards per game, and made it to the Conference USA Championship Game. In 2024, he appeared in all 12 games and started four at right guard.

At New Mexico State, Canepa played under Andrew Mitchell, who was reportedly hired to coach OSU’s offensive line, along with Cooper Bassett.

Capena is the third offensive lineman the Cowboys have grabbed out of the portal thus far, joining Kasen Carpenter (Tulsa) and Lavaka Taukeiaho (Weber State). There’s a lot of rebuilding to be done in that room with 2024 starters Dalton Cooper, Cole Birmingham, Joe Michalski, Preston Wilson, Jake Springfield and Isaia Glass all leaving the program (the first five through eligibility and Glass through the portal).