1 week Ago By Eric Peterson
FARGO — North Dakota State defensive end Loshiaka Roques has been in the Bison program since 2020, and he hasn't had a chance to hoist a 75-pound rock that Saturday night will be in the Fargodome. “I’ve never touched the Marker in my time at NDSU," said Roques, from Maple Grove, Minnesota. "This game, it does mean a lot to me.
I’m going to do everything I can, I’m going to scratch and claw to win and I’m sure all the guys will do the same.” South Dakota State has won the past four Dakota Marker trophy games to even the Marker games at 10-10 since the teams started to play for the traveling trophy in 2004. The longtime series started in 1903.
The No. 2-ranked Bison host No. 1-ranked SDSU at 7 p.
m. Saturday at Gate City Bank Field in a Missouri Valley Football Conference game that is set to be nationally televised on ESPN2. The 6-foot-3, 236-pound Roques could be in line to play a bigger role for the Bison defense after senior starting defensive end Dylan Hendricks injured his knee last weekend at Southern Illinois.
Hendricks is potentially done for the season. “I’ve just gotta be more of a vocal leader," said Roques, who has started all seven games this season. "I’ve gotta keep bringing other guys up, keep bringing young guys to keep developing and growing.
” The 6-foot-3, 249-pound Hendricks had 14 tackles, including two sacks, in seven games prior to his knee injury. Roques also has 14 tackles with two sacks. “It’s definitely hard," Roques said.
"Honestly, that’s my brother. It definitely hurt a lot. I know he’d want us to keep moving on and keep doing better.
” Bison sophomore Toby Anene is slated to start in place of Hendricks against the Jackrabbits. The 6-foot-4, 252-pound Anene has one sack through seven games. “He needs to step up and he knows that," Roques said.
"He needs to have a bigger role. He’s been playing extremely well, but we need him to play that much better.” Sophomore Kole Menz and junior Hunter Zenzen are also in the defensive end rotation.
Bison head coach Tim Polasek said expects it to take a group effort to replace a veteran like Hendricks. “We’re going to need everybody to be 1 or 2% better," Polasek said. “There is no turning back.
” Bison quarterback Cam Miller has completed 77% of his passes for 1,504 yards and 12 touchdowns with no interceptions heading into the Dakota Marker game. SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers is impressed with the play of the Bison senior. “Cam Miller has much-improved in so many ways, very efficient right now," Rogers said.
Rogers said the Jackrabbits have to find ways to create pressure on Miller. “We’ve gotta get pressure on the quarterback, we’ve got to create it off of a four-man rush and we’ve got to mix up our looks," Rogers said. “He’s got elite processing skills.
” In his previous five games against SDSU, on average, Miller is completing 15 of 24 passes for 204 yards with 1.6 touchdowns and 1.2 interceptions per game.
NDSU has a 63-47-5 mark in the all-time series heading into the 116th meeting between the teams. However, the Jackrabbits have won the previous two games in the Fargodome as part of their five-game winning streak against the Bison. “We have a lot of players that haven’t lost to this team, but they very well could beat us if we don’t come out and play our best football," Rogers said.
"Our team knows that, they know how good they are." ..
. The Bison have previously played against the No. 1-ranked team in FCS six times.
NDSU is 3-3 in those games. SDSU was ranked No. 1 last season when it earned a 33-16 victory against NDSU in Brookings.
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NDSU's last win against the Jackrabbits was a 23-16 road victory at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during the 2019 season. Middle linebacker Luke Weerts and kicker Griffin Crosa are the only two current Bison players who played in that game.
Crosa hit a 22-yard field goal in that game and was 2-for-2 on extra points. ..
. SDSU enters the Dakota Marker game on a 19-game conference winning streak, which is tied with NDSU for the most consecutive wins in MVFC play. NDSU won 19 league games in a row from 2017 to 2020-2021.
The Bison also had 18 conference wins in a row from 2012 to 2014. ..
. This marks the first Saturday night home game for the Bison since the 2016 FCS Kickoff against Charleston Southern on ESPN. .
.. NDSU (9) and SDSU (2) have combined for 11 of the past 13 FCS national championships.
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