Bemidji State Football Looks to Bounce Back Against SMSU

BSU football fell two points shy of a fourth-quarter comeback in their season opener against Michigan Tech. Of course, one could say there’d be no need for a comeback if you take care of business in the first three quarters, but some early game mistakes put the Beavers in a 17-point hole they could not overcome.

Coach Brent Bolte attributed some of those mistakes to first game jitters and said after they “took a breath,” he thought the team played a much cleaner game. This week, Bemidji State is back at Chet Anderson Stadium as they open NSIC play against Southwest Minnesota State, a team they aren’t overlooking despite not having lost to the Broncos in over a decade.

“I know they’re 1-0 and we’re 0-1,” said Bolte. “The biggest part [for] our guys [is we got to] perform better than we did last week. I’m proud of our effort last week, but obviously [SMSU] found a way to win. They are definitely going to be a tempo-based offensive which will create some challenges. They’re a little bit different defensively; they are 3-4 based and be a little bit more blitz oriented. They’re well-coached and they’re going to come in here and compete and think they can win this game.”

“We can’t take this team lightly,” said senior running back Jayden Washington. “They show a lot of light boxes. So, just running the ball heavy on them and then pass them when we can.

“We’ve just got to clean up a few things,” added sophomore linebacker Koehler Kilty. “Just staying dialed in every play and just execute our jobs, and then just bring that into practice and just do your job all the time.”

SMSU beat Valley City State 10-7 in their season opener, a game where they averaged nearly five yards a play, but they were penalized eight times for 70 yards and were only 2-5 in the red zone. The Beavers, however, were much better inside the 20, going 4-4 and averaging six yards per play. BSU was also better on third down, converting 38% of the time and going 4-4 on fourth down, while the Broncos were converting just 20% of their chances and 2-4 on fourth.

Kick-off will be Saturday, Sept. 5 at 3 p.m.