Southern Illinois players gathered in front of a crowd of students in the southwest corner of Saluki Stadium and sang the school’s music. It was a well-deserved vocal salute to an impressive performance in football.
Meanwhile, for 39 games, North Dakota players and coaches gathered in a locker room after a game and celebrated as they always did. It’s a rah-rah thing that most teams do.
There was not much rah-rah on Saturday at Saluki Stadium.
There wasn’t much going on all afternoon, to tell you the truth. FCS Division I’s consecutive No. 1 football streak exploded to pieces in Southern Illinois’s 38-14 win. It was a humiliating day for the biggest dynasty in FCS history.
North Dakota players leave the field after losing to Southern Illinois on Saturday, February 27, 2021, in Carbondale, Illinois. David Samson / The Forum
“Frustrating day for Bison,” said coach Matt Entz. “Watching the game and watching its progress, we were really frustrated with our inability to start fast. I need to find a better way to practice, we need to make this group go in the right direction ”.
All the aspirations of the Division I series of 47 consecutive, established by Oklahoma in the 1950s, are gone, not that anyone from NDSU has talked about it. They didn’t.
“I’m sure the guys saw it on Twitter … and obviously we wanted to keep winning and reach that record,” said safety Michael Tutsie. “But that was never an argument in the locker room. We just want to win the next game. “
What will be discussed is how they looked like non-Bison. They seemed mentally beside themselves. Three impediments in the first half were evidence. Having to ask for time because only 10 players were on the field for a punt was another piece.
“We had a series of plays in which we were short, with 10 players on the pitch,” said Entz. “We gave them some free downs. It was a frustrating day from the start and I thought we had a better sense of the sense of urgency we would need to beat a good football team. We warned our children all week that it was a cornered football team that would come out and play hard. This is going to be a learning experience for us. “
Southern Illinois ‘Southern Illinois’ running back Romeir Elliott flees the NDSU back lines on Saturday, February 27, 2021, in Carbondale, Illinois. David Samson / The Forum
The racing game seemed inexperienced. The passing game was lacking in action. The defense had trouble leaving the field. Bison took a beating in possession (SIU had the ball for more than 41 minutes in a 60-minute game) and everyone contributed.
“I think the guys thought we could just take the helmets off and beat them,” said Tutsie.
Tutsie said the players watched the film all week as the University of North Dakota dismantled the SIU last week and probably let its guard down. It is commonly called overconfidence.
“I think it gave the guys their eyes, we are green and gold, we are Bison and we won a lot of games,” said Tutsie. “We won them all. Obviously, this showed the complete opposite today. ”
Michael Tutsie, from the state of North Dakota, tries to capture Justin Strong from southern Illinois on Saturday, February 27, 2021, in Carbondale, Illinois. David Samson / The Forum
The 39 will go down in history, surpassing the 33 consecutive NDSU held in 2012-14. Both incredible achievements. James Madison has the third best FCS streak in 26 consecutive years.
Now comes another feat for the program: how to leave that performance behind and fix the ship. It had all the feel and appearance of the 2014 loss in northern Iowa, a 23-3 loss that ended the 33rd straight.
“I was part of a streak that ended in 2014,” said Entz, then defensive coordinator. “Unfortunately I am part of one now, but there will be another day, there will be another game coming and we need to find a way to improve.”
It was the worst loss since a 37-6 loss at Cal Poly in 2005, a defeat where Bison was completely defeated. Saturday looked similar.
The last loss before 39 in a row was a 33-21 setback in 2017 in the state of South Dakota. That was different. It was a beating at all stages.
Javon Williams Jr., of southern Illinois, dives over Dom Jones of the state of North Dakota to score on Saturday, February 27, 2021, in Carbondale, Illinois. David Samson / The Forum
“‘Forgot’ may be the right word,” said Tutsie, referring to perhaps his team feeling invincible. “It’s been so long. I hate to lose. I personally hate it and I know that everyone on the team hates it the same way … We never want to feel that feeling again.”
Southern Illinois went back in time when Jerry Kill was the head coach and the program was a threat to win a national title. From 2003-09, SIU was 70-19 with five conference championships.
The scripts have been inverted. Bison left Carbondale 1-1 at the conference and 2-1 overall and looking very average. And at least the continuing issues will disappear.
“I’m serious when I say this, the only time I talk about the sequence is when I get questions,” said Entz. “The only streak that matters to us is 1-0 during the week. Now, maybe our players talked about it behind closed doors, but we never mentioned it in our meetings. The only thing we talked about was making sure that we are prepared to win every week. “