North Dakota State’s James Hendricks scored on a fake field goal and intercepted a pass at the goal line in the final seconds as the Bison won their eighth FCS national championship in nine years with a 28-20 victory over James Madison on Saturday in Frisco, Texas.
North Dakota State earned its third consecutive title and first under coach Matt Entz. The Bison (16-0) won their 37th consecutive game and beat JMU (14-2) in the championship game for the second time in three seasons.
Bison redshirt freshman quarterback Trey Lance ran for 166 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries.
Remember this name: Trey Lance
NDSU freshman quarterback is one of the most talented young QBs I have scouted. He’s putting on a show right now in the #FCSChampionship
This kid is going to be special. He’s my QB1 for the 2022 draft class #GoBison pic.twitter.com/rFBVUDYFC9
— Dan Shea (@DanSheaNFL) January 11, 2020
The Dukes had first-and-goal from the 3 with eight seconds to go when quarterback Ben DiNucci looked left and threw to the front corner of the end zone. Hendricks, a senior safety, stepped in front of the receiver for the interception, returning it 20 yards before getting down with two seconds to go.
“It’s hard to be national champs, hard to win that many games in a row,” Entz said in a postgame TV interview. “It’s all on the players. They handle it every day like professionals.”
The Bison took a 21-10 lead at halftime after pulling off a fake field goal for a touchdown with 3:37 to go before the break. Lining up to kick on fourth-and-8 from the 20, Hendricks, the holder, handled the snap and took off running through the left side, untouched into the end zone.
Lance’s 44-yard run made it 28-13 on the first play of the fourth quarter before a 5-yard pass from DiNucci to Riley Stapleton made it 28-20 with 6:55 to go.
NDSU turned the ball over on downs at the James Madison 36 with 2:51 left before the Dukes drove to the 3, including a conversion on fourth-and-3 at the Bison 42.
Lance, who on Friday night became the first freshman to win the Walter Payton Award for the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision, completed 6 of 10 passes for 72 yards.
DiNucci, a former quarterback at Pitt, was 22 of 33 for 204 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Stapleton caught 10 passes for 100 yards and two scores.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
