VERMILLION, S.D. — Aidan Bouman threw two touchdown passes in the final four minutes to rally fourth-ranked University of South Dakota (USD) to a 29-28 win over top-ranked North Dakota State University (NDSU) before a sellout crowd of more than 9,000 at the DakotaDome on Saturday, November 23.

USD (9-2) won a share of its first Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) championship and forced a three-way tie for the title at 7-1 in league play. South Dakota State University (SDSU) (10-2) claimed a share of its third straight crown with a 45-9 road win over Missouri State.

SDSU will be the league’s automatic qualifier for the FCS playoffs based on tiebreaker criteria, which went to the highest Sagarin rating. USD and NDSU were given at-large berths for the 24-team field

NDSU (10-2, 7-1 MVFC) erased its largest deficit of the season after falling behind 14-0 in the first half. The Bison went three-and-out on their first three possessions and punted four times before stringing together four straight touchdown drives.

Quarterback Cam Miller connected with Braylon Henderson on a 23-yard touchdown pass and CharMar Brown scored on a 3-yard run as the Bison executed their two-minute offense to tie the game 14-14 before halftime.

NDSU limited USD to a 37-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half and then went ahead with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Miller converted two third downs on a 44-yard completion to Chris Harris and a 3-yard run before scoring from 2 yards out to make it 21-17.

USD stalled on its next possession and downed a punt inside the NDSU 1-yard line with 3 seconds left in the third quarter, but the Coyotes wouldn’t get the ball back until there was 4:10 left in the game.

NDSU marched 99 yards in 20 plays and ate up 10 minutes, 53 seconds of the clock, converting two fourth-and-1 attempts along the way. Miller picked up 3 yards from the Bison 37 and found the edge on a 16-yard run from the Bison 49.

The Bison reached the USD 12 before settling for a 30-yard field goal attempt, but a USD penalty for leaping over the long snapper gave the Bison another first down to the USD 6 and Brown scored two plays later to make it a two-possession game.

South Dakota faced fourth-and-10 on the next drive when Javion Phelps caught a 31-yard pass from Bouman to reach the NDSU 40, and two plays later Jack Martens caught a 40-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to cut NDSU’s lead to 28-23.

The ensuing kickoff went over a shallow NDSU return unit to the 1-yard line, and the Bison started on their own 2 with 3:20 to play. USD forced a Bison punt seven plays later and took over with 1:16 left at its own 42.

USD caught a break with official replay overturning the call of an incomplete pass, resulting in a 23-yard completion from Bouman to Phelps reaching the Bison 27. After a short completion and sack back to the Bison 25, Bouman connected with Phelps again for the winning score.

Miller finished 10 of 22 passing for 174 yards and became NDSU’s all-time career passing yards leader, finishing the game with 8,810 yards and breaking the record of 8,693 set by Easton Stick from 2015 to 2018.

Miller was also NDSU’s leading rusher with 19 carries for 82 yards and one touchdown, while Brown finished with 19 carries for 54 yards and two TDs.

Playoffs Begin

Tickets are on sale for NDSU’s second round home playoff football game scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, December 7, at the Fargodome.

NDSU (10-2) earned the No. 2 overall seed and will face the winner of this week’s first round game between No. 15 seed Abilene Christian (8-4) and Northern Arizona (8-4).

This is NDSU’s 15th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division I Football Championship. The Bison have advanced to the quarterfinals or beyond all 14 years and have won nine national championships.

NDSU has a 47-5 record in the FCS playoffs including a 35-1 record in the Fargodome.