BSU Football Headed to Texas for 1st Round of NCAA Playoffs

Bemidji State football is headed back to Texas for the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Last year they beat an unfamiliar opponent in UT Permian Basin, but this time around they’ll be playing a semi-familiar opponent in Angelo State.

That’s because the Beavers played the Rams in the second round of the 2022 post-season, falling 33-7, although the Beavs only trailed 13-7 to start the fourth quarter before throwing three interceptions, including a pick six that sealed the game.

Coming into this Saturday’s matchup, the BSU defense ranks 17th in the nation, allowing just under 16 points per game, while ASU’s defense ranks 9th, allowing just over 12 points per game, setting the expectation for a defensive battle.

“We just got to keep getting after the [QB],” said senior captain and defensive lineman Cade Barrett. “Make him uncomfortable and make him force some balls. He hasn’t thrown any picks this year, so hopefully if we can get after him early, start hitting him, and make him start putting some stuff in there he doesn’t necessarily want to.”

“I know we need to stop the pass, cover our guys well,” added senior captain and defensive back Jamel Stone. “They like to do scramble drills, so being able to plaster onto our guys, we practiced that.”

“I don’t think it’s any different from what we’ve been doing all year,” said senior captain and defensive lineman Stephen Hoffman. “Just attacking the pass, stopping the run, focusing on just doing our job up front, letting everybody else do their job in the back end.”

“It’s just the confidence now,” he added. “Knowing that, ‘Hey, we just did that to the NSIC champs and we’re about to go play the Lone Star Champs.’ So if we can do that to the guys who won this conference, why can’t we do it to anybody else?”

The game is Saturday, November 23rd at 1 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on ESPN+. It can also be heard on the Beaver Radio Network at FM 92.1.