BSU Football to Play in 1st Ever NCAA Quarterfinal vs. Rival Minnesota State

Bemidji State football has rewritten their postseason history book over the past four years. In 2021, they won their first playoff game. In 2022, they hosted their first playoff game. Last year, they hosted their first ever second-round playoff game.

And this season, they have made it to the national quarterfinal round for the first time in program history.

The road to get there however, was a little bumpy. That’s because a football season can have its highs, and it can have its lows, but Bemidji State football has seen plenty of both in 2024.

“We’re really proud of the guys and really proud of just the program, you know, where we came from this year, we struggled to make the playoffs,” said Head Coach Brent Bolte, “We let a few games probably slip away that we thought we had a chance to win, but here we are finding ways to win in the Elite Eight, so it’s pretty awesome.”

Five weeks ago, the Beavers suffered their third loss of the season. They were 5-3, and the opportunity of making their fourth-straight playoff appearance had all but vanished.

“Yeah, especially after that Winona game,” senior running back Jarret Gronski pointed out. “It’s us as a collective, as a team, to be able to tune that out because that’s all you hear, that’s all the outside noise. ‘Oh, they dropped their third game.’ But we all knew what our potential is and if we if we won out, we were going to give ourselves a shot.”

They did just that, rattling off three wins in a row, including one over conference champion Augustana in the final game of the regular season to clinch a playoff berth. But the win streak didn’t end there. The Beavers kept on rolling right through the first round of the NCAA playoffs by knocking off 3-seed Angelo State on the road, giving themselves a chance to make history. Last season, they had come up short in the second round, falling to Central Washington at home. This year, they did not falter on the road against 2-seed Western Colorado.

“After that Colorado game, I was super emotional along with a lot of other guys because everybody’s worked so hard to get to this point,” said senior wide receiver and team captain Bubba Peters. “And those losses, if anything, those helped us. Honestly, if we went undefeated, I don’t know if we’re at this point right now. It’s that extra boost that it gave us to project us to this point in the season. I think it’s helped a lot.”

Now, the Beavers are in uncharted territory, the NCAA quarterfinals, but it will be against a familiar foe in conference rival Minnesota State.

“It’s a blessing, man. Honestly, everything from here on out is a blessing,” said graduate defensive lineman and team captain Stephen Hoffman. “That’s all we can look at it as, really. Extremely excited to go play [Minnesota State-Mankato].”

The Beavers and the Mavericks met in Mankato back on September 7th for the second game of the regular season and the first week of NSIC play. That night, the Mavericks made a field goal as time expired to win 31-29. It was just another in a string of heartbreaking losses to BSU’s in-state rival, who has won five in a row over the Beavers, with the last four games all separated by three points or less.

“They did a good job. They finished drives, they had some things schemed up against us, and I think we were pretty novice to the scenario,” said Coach Bolte. “At that point, we had a lot of different guys playing, but right now I think we’ve come a long ways on that side of the ball.”

“Our offense really controlled the game, and sadly we just let them down through different series of just letting [Minnesota State] march down and score on us,” added Hoffman. “Throughout the season we built up our defense. We’ve gotten ready and I think we’re ready to just handle it differently.”

On Saturday, Bemidji State will not only have their shot at revenge, but also an opportunity to continue mapping their course through uncharted territory.

“That adds a lot to it. It’s a lot more different these past couple of rounds, but playing Mankato, it’s a new kind of juice,” admits Peters. “When we lost that game, second week, was it week two, I think? A lot of guys had the feeling we’re going to see this team again and the fact that we were able to do that, it’s a lot.”

The game this weekend will be just the third time BSU football has played in December, the other two times being the 2006 and 2016 Mineral Water Bowl. But the December 7th kickoff will be the latest calendar date the Beavers have ever played in program history. The game will be a 2 p.m. at Blakeslee Stadium in Mankato.