There are so many clich+â-¬s coaches use, that it would be almost impossible to come up with a complete list. A few examples include a Carl Spakler-like "Cinderella story," the ever-so-classic "We beat ourselves today," and "Our players gave a 110 percent effort today," which isn't even mathematically possible.
One that applies here is "We're not overlooking our opponent." You can say all the right things to fans and reporters, but in the back of some players and coaches' minds, you can't ignore the thought.
You're sitting there thinking, "Aw, shucks, who is this North Dakota State? Some I-AA school that thinks they can come into our mighty stadium and beat us up and down our home field?"
The answer is, surprisingly, yes. Five times this season, a I-AA school has beaten a I-A opponent:
Montana State defeated Colorado.
Portland State beat up on New Mexico.
Richmond downed Duke.
New Hampshire stunned Northwestern.
And last weekend, Southern Illinois defeated Indiana IN BLOOMINGTON, scoring 28 second-half points in the process. If you have short-term memory loss, please note that Ball State lost to Indiana at Scheumann Stadium two weeks ago.
If you want a point of reference between Southern Illinois and NDSU, the Salukis were ranked one spot ahead of North Dakota State in last week's poll before SIU beat Indiana. This week, they are 10th and 14th, respectively.
If you want another example, UC-Davis, which plays in the same conference as North Dakota State (Great West), went to Stanford last year and beat them 20-17.
The Cardinals also have a history of bad games against I-AA teams. In 2000, Western Illinois came into the then-called Ball State Stadium and laid down a 24-14 victory. A year later, Northern Iowa came away with a 42-39 win. The 2002 season's home opener saw Ball State barely beat Indiana State 23-21.
Get the picture yet?
The Bison have a pretty solid running attack. Their top runner is senior tailback Kyle Steffes. In 2004 and 2005 he led the team in rushing with 1,055 and 1,071 yards, respectively.
If I were ESPN's Ron Jaworski, here's how I would describe him:
"I've analyzed the tape and I've seen every single run he's made the past two years. He's a very quick back who hits the hole hard. He's a three yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust style runner who doesn't go down with one tackler. You got to tackle him at the legs because if you go to high on him, he'll run right through you."
Now let's count how many clich+â-¬s were in that last paragraph.
To Ball State's credit, no opposing running back has got on track against them thus far. The front seven did a good job bottling up Indiana's Marcus Thigpen and Purdue's Kory Sheets. Yes, Sheets scored three touchdowns but his overall yardage wasn't all that significant. The Bison's quarterback, Steve Walker, has run for a total of 50 yards in two-plus years, so don't expect him to be much of a running threat.
That being said, expect Saturday night's game to be a close one. This is North Dakota State's first-ever game against a I-A opponent. They will be amped and ready to play. To end with another clich+â-¬, Ball State will have to rise to the occasion.
Phil Friend is a journalism graduate student and writes 'Phil'osophy' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Phil at prfriend@bsu.edu.
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