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Western Illinois University Athletics

J.C. Baker
17
Winner North Dakota State NDSU 5-0 , 1-0
10
Western Illinois WIU 2-4 , 0-2
Winner
North Dakota State NDSU
5-0 , 1-0
17
Final
10
Western Illinois WIU
2-4 , 0-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
NDSU North Dakota State 3 0 0 14 17
WIU Western Illinois 0 3 7 0 10

Game Recap: Football | | WIU Athletic Communications

Western Loses at Home to No. 1 Ranked Bison

J.C. Baker ran for a career-high 175 yards while Kevin Kintzel recorded a career-high 16 tackles.

PHOTO GALLERY

MACOMB, Ill. – J.C. Baker ran for a career-high 175 yards and a touchdown against the nation's third-ranked rushing defense but North Dakota State scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull out a 17-10 Missouri Valley Football Conference win on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 4) at Hanson Field.
 
The top-ranked Bison (5-0, 1-0) had allowed only 291 total rushing yards in the four previous games, and Western nearly matched that total (253 yards) thanks in large part to Baker.
 
Tied at 3-all at halftime, Western (2-4, 0-2) took the opening kick of the second half. Baker rushed for 33 yards on the opening drive and broke through for a 34-yard score. Nathan Knuffman, who kicked a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter to tie the score, converted the extra point for a 10-3 lead.
 
The defense held NDSU on the next drive but a punt pinned Western on the five. After a 3-and-out, Knuffman's punt was fumbled by Christian Dudzik on a hit by David McDaniel and recovered by Gabe Burkhardt. The Leathernecks, however, went 3-and-out and could not capitalize on the opportunity.
 
NDSU drove down to the WIU four-yard line at the end of the third quarter as Kevin Kintzel knocked Carson Wentz out-of-bounds on the two. The senior linebacker was part of a unit that blocked Adam Keller's field goal attempt to start the fourth quarter and keep the score 10-3.
 
"They don't make a lot of mistakes. The one thing we didn't do today was capitalize on the mistakes they made because they made a couple that could have swung the game," said Western head coach Bob Nielson.
 
Western had another 3-and-out on its next drive. This time, the Bison found the endzone. John Crockett, on a halfback pass, found the quarterback Wentz in the corner of the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown to tie the game with 11 minutes remaining.
 
During their next drive, the Leathernecks came up short on third down and were forced to punt. NDSU used a 10-play drive to score the eventual game-winner on Crocket's 7-yard run with 3:51 left.
 
Trenton Norvell drove Western to midfield looking to tie the score. Devon Moore moved the chains on a 4th-and-1 run from the WIU 30 for five yards. Later in the drive, Norvell's third down pass to Joey Borsellino wound up three yards shy, setting up 4th-and-3 from the NDSU 36. On fourth down Dudzik broke up a pass intended for Hi-C Scott and the Bison took a knee to close out the come-from-behind win.
 
"Well that's the way the Missouri Valley Football Conference is going to be every week. That game was a war. I'm really proud of the way our guys played. We played really hard and with a great deal of confidence, and that's the way you're going to have to play to win in the league. Today we were just a little bit short," said Nielson. "I think what they did do, and experienced teams are good at it, they took advantage of short fields better than we did. We had a couple of short field opportunities after a turnover and they finished the game and we didn't.

"I don't think there's any moral victory if you were in our locker room. That was a game where we laid it on the line and we should walk out of here with our heads held high. But our guys are extremely disappointed. The last two weeks we've really felt that those were games that we could win and when you don't it's disappointing," said Nielson.
 
Baker averaged 8.3 yards per carry on his 21 attempts. His touchdown run was the eighth of his career. His yardage marked his third 100-yard rushing game this year and 10th of his two-year career.
 
Of Kintzel's 16 stops, 13 were unassisted and he came up with the first blocked kick of his career. The senior linebacker recorded the most tackles by a Leatherneck since 2010 (17 by Kyle Glazier at Coastal Carolina in the opening round of the NCAA Division I playoffs).
 
Luke Venegoni equaled a season-high of nine tackles, including one for a loss. Jonathon Rollins also added nine tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass.
 
Wentz completed 19-of-29 passes for 240 yards, and rushed for another 39 yards. Crockett netted 79 yards on 22 attempts. Colten Heagle added 16 tackles to lead the Bison.
 
Western travels to No. 12 Youngstown State next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. central.
 
GAME NOTES: Western lost on Homecoming for the third straight year… Senior defensive back Marquette Privott made his first start as a Leatherneck. He recorded five tackles and his first-ever interception… Richard Chungong started for the third time this year. He recorded a career-high six tackles, all solo… Kris Harley recorded his first solo sack of the season, going for a 10-yard loss… Western lost for the first time in seven games when leading after the third quarter under coach Nielson… NDSU held a 405-321 edge in total yards… Western was 8-of-14 on third down while holding NDSU to 4-of-15. The Bison entered the game seventh nationally averaging 53 percent on third down… WIU also won the turnover battle 3-2… Western dropped to 1-6 all-time against the nation's top-ranked team. However, during the last four losses against the nation's number one, the point differential was an average of more than 38 points per loss… In six career meetings with NDSU, the home team has yet to win in the series.
 
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