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This is Jasmine Stefanik, signing off for now. We hope you have enjoyed VAVEL USA'S coverage of this Championship Game. Later we will have live for you NFL playoff coverage, and tomorrow night will be Oregon - Ohio State.

AND NORTH DAKOTA STATE HAS DONE SOMETHING ONLY ONE OTHER SCHOOL HAS DONE IN HISTORY!!!  They have gotten their 4th STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP IN AN EXCITING 29-27 GAME!!!!

NORTH DAKOTA STATE FINDS THEMSELVES :08 AWAY FROM A 4TH CHAMPIONSHIP

:04 4th Quarter: North Dakota State Esley Thorton intercepts Roberson!!  After official review, the call on the field STANDS!!!

:24 4th Quarter: Illegal substitution penalty takes away 5 of the 6 yards they got on the return of the kickoff.

:33 4th Quarter: The Redbirds start at the 27 yard line.

:37 4th Quarter: Carson Wentz runs to get the TOUCHDOWN!!!  Keller's extra point is BLOCKED!!

:50 4th Quarter: Carson Wentz connects to R.J. Urzendowski again to get the ball down inside the 10 to the 5 yard line. 

TIMEOUT BY NORTH DAKOTA STATE AT THE :57 MARK OF THE FOURTH QUARTER

1:10 4th Quarter: Carson Wentz connects to R.J. Urzendowski twice to get the Bison into Redbirds territory. 

1:35 4th Quarter: James O'Shaughnessy is injured on the previous play and coming off the field on his own power with some help from the trainers.

1:38 4th Quarter: Roberson runs on 3rd-and-1 for 58 yards and a TOUCHDOWN!!!! 2 POINT CONVERSION IS NO GOOD!!!!

1:52 4th Quarter: Roberson throws incomplete to James O'Shaughnessy bringing up 3rd-and-1.

To this point, Illinois State is going into the wind. They have used one timeout, and North Dakota State has used none.

2:22 4th Quarter: The Redbirds will start at their own 20 yard line down by two points.

2:30 4th Quarter: Carson Wentz stands up in the pocket for too long, but is sacked bringing up 4th down.

Carson Wentz leads the Bison in yards today with 88 yards total rushing.

5:00 4th Quarter: Head Coach Chris Klieman dials up a run play to get John Crockett to pick up the yard and a new set of downs.

6:10 4th Quarter: Carson Wentz runs for 5 yards.

6:56 4th Quarter: From the 50-yard line on 1st-and-10, John Crockett picks up three yards.

7:15 4th Quarter: Carson Wentz connects to R.J. Urzendowski for a pickup of 14 yards and a Bison first down

8:05 4th Quarter: The Bison will start this fourth quarter drive at the 34 yard line.

8:24 4th Quarter: Roberson connects with James O'Shaughnessy for the 2nd TOUCHDOWN of this game for Illinois State. Point after is good!!!

10:28 4th Quarter: Roberson decides instead of throwing to run for a gain of 48 yards and a Redbirds first down.

11:10 4th Quarter: Roberson connects to Jon-Marc Anderson for 7 yards.

11:15 4th Quarter: Cameron Meredith is down on the field, but jogs off under his own power after a few moments.

THE BISON ARE 11:20 AWAY FROM WINNING FOUR STRAIGHT FCS CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! The last team to do this was at the Division 3 Level in 1983-86 and was Augustana College.

11:56 4th Quarter: On 3rd-and-3, Chase Morelock is tied up in the backfield bringing up fourth down. Adam Keller is on to attempt a 24-yard field goal. Field goal is GOOD!!!

13:32 4th Quarter: Carson Wentz connects to Carey Woods for 10 yards and another first down.

John Crockett has 61 yards rushing today, and they are trying to keep the ball with him right now.

14:53 4th Quarter: John Crockett gains 13 yards on the ground and another Bison first down.

This is the end of the 3rd Quarter. North Dakota State is ONE QUARTER away from a fourth straight FCS Championship.

0:04 3rd Quarter: Carson Wentz throws a wide open pass to Trevor Gebhart for 17 yards and moving the chains.

0:41 3rd Quarter: John Crockett able to pickup 2 yards and a Bison first down.

2:09 3rd Quarter: North Dakota State will start from their own 32 yard line for this possession.

2:11 3rd Quarter: Roberson connects to James O'Shaughnessy for the TOUCHDOWN!!  Point after is good.

2:59 3rd Quarter: Roberson is sacked for a loss of one by #96. 

3:44 3rd Quarter: Roberson connects to #85 for 21 yards to bring up 3rd-and-1.

4:41 3rd Quarter: Roberson escaped pressure to pickup the first down, but there is a 15 yard penalty for chopblock called on the offense bringing up 2nd down-and-22. 

6:14 3rd Quarter: Penalty of False Start called on Illinois State which will back them up 5 yards. 

7:21 3rd Quarter: The Illinois State Redbirds will start at the 34 yard line.

7:28 3rd Quarter: John Crockett runs for 7 yards and the TOUCHDOWN!!!  Point after by Adam Keller is good.

8:45 3rd Quarter: North Dakota State finds themselves back in the red zone on a first and 10 at the 12 yard line.

9:22 3rd Quarter: John Crockett picks up a 1st down inside to get the Bison down inside the redzone.

10:58 3rd Quarter: Carson Wentz lines up for a 3rd down-and-3, and will run down to the 35 yard line for a 34 yard pickup.

11:48 3rd Quarter: Jon-Marc Anderson picks up 8 yards but not enough for a first down and CJ Laros will punt again.

12:47 3rd Quarter: Roberson and the Illinois State Redbirds will start at their own 19 yard line.

13:58 3rd Quarter: Carson Wentz is sacked on 3rd-and-11, so Adam Keller will come on to attempt a 41-yard field goal.  FIELD GOAL is GOOD!!!

This play, ladies and gentleman, is going to be one way to potentially swing the balance in the way of North Dakota State as they search for that fourth straight FCS Championship.

15:00 3rd Quarter: Adam Keller is up to kickoff for the Bison, the kick is fairly short but then Jon-Marc Anderson touches the ball first for Illinois State. Then, the Bison recover after Anderson does not catch the ball, and North Dakota State will start at the Illinois State 20-yard line.

In the first half, the Bison had a total of 211 yards of offense, 119 passing and 92 rushing, while the Illinois State side had a total of 139 yards, 28 passing and 111 rushing. North Dakota State has also been winning the battle for time of possession.

We are going to be back underway in the third quarter of the FCS Championship Game momentarily. In the first half, Bison Quarterback Carson Wentz completed 9/12 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown, and he also had 38 rushing yards. On the Illinois State side Tre Roberson was only 2/10 for 28 yards and one touchdown, though he also had 48 rushing yards.

The first half has come to an end. Illinois State will receive the ball to begin the 2nd half. We will be back to continue our coverage of this FCS Championship game momentarily as NDSU stays in the hunt for their fourth straight championship.

1:21 2nd Quarter: C.J. Laros is on to punt from the 30 yard line, and Carson Wentz will start from the North Dakota State 30 yard line.

2:07 2nd Quarter: Coprich gets stopped on his first effort, but pushes the 2nd effort to pick up the first down.

2:54 2nd Quarter: Roberson runs to gain another 7 yards and bring up 2nd down-and-2.

4:06 2nd Quarter: Roberson escapes a sack, and runs to gain 7 yards.

4:46 2nd Quarter: Zach Vraa catches a pass from Carson Wentz for a pickup of 6 and Ben LeCompte is on to punt again.

6:47 2nd Quarter: Chase Morlock runs for a gain of 11 yards and a first down.

7:11 2nd Quarter: Roberson tries to throw long, but the pass is broken up by C.J. Smith and now C.J. Laros comes on to punt. Fair catch is called for by C.J. Smith at the 11 yard line of the Bison.

8:38 2nd Quarter: Marshaun Caprich gains 28 yards on 1st-and-10.

8:47 2nd Quarter: Carson Wentz connects to Luke Albers for a TOUCHDOWN. Point after by Adam Keller is good.

8:47 2nd Quarter: TIMEOUT ILLINOIS STATE (Their first team timeout)

9:58 2nd Quarter: Carson Wentz runs through the offensive line on a Quarterback sneak and picks up the first down.

10:17 2nd Quarter: Call on the field is that John Crockett has picked up the first down, however, the first down call is under review. Upon review, the ball will be placed at the 11 yard line giving the Bison a 4th-and-1.

12:35 2nd Quarter: On 3rd-and-2, Carson Wentz is flushed out of the pocket but connects to Zach Vraa for a first down and 42 yard pickup.

14:13 2nd Quarter: Carson Wentz throws to Trevor Gebhart for a first down and a pickup of 13 yards.

14:13 2nd Quarter: The Bison will start this drive at their own 16-yard line.

Our apologies for getting a little behind actual live television action today. At the 14:43 mark of the 2nd Quarter, the Redbirds will be forced to punt on 4th down.

1:06 1st Quarter: Kickoff is short and the Redbirds will start at the 24-yard line.

2:03 1st Quarter: 3rd-and-14 and Carson Wentz gets tied up and sacked. Ball comes out, but NDSU recovers. Adam Keller's 41-yard field goal is good.

3:00 1st Quarter: 2nd-and-11 at the 15 yard line, Wentz drops the snap but recovers and loses two yards.

4:05 1st Quarter: Carson Wentz goes through his progressions and connects with John Crockett for a pickup of 14 yards.

4:53 1st Quarter: John Crockett runs out of bounds at the 50 yard line, but Tevon Allen gets a penalty for facemask adding 15 yards to the end of Crockett's run and another 1st down.

5:18 1st Quarter: Carson Wentz throws a pass over the middle to Kevin Vaadeland for 15 yards and a Bison first down.

5:22 1st Quarter: Illegal Substitution penalty will back the Bison up 5 yards to the 29 yard line.

5:28 1st Quarter: Eric Perkins returns the kickoff for 27 yards.

5:37 1st Quarter: Tre Roberson steps up and throws and ball is caught by Jon-Marc Anderson for his first TOUCHDOWN. Point after is good.

6:26 1st Quarter: 1st-and-10 and Tre Roberson is tackled for a loss of one yard.

6:56 1st Quarter: Tre Roberson hands off to Coprich again for a pickup of 5 yards and a first down off of a 3rd-and-4.

7:15 1st Quarter: Coprich sees the ball again and rushes this time for a gain of 8 yards before being pulled out of bounds by CJ Smith.

7:45 1st Quarter: Roberson hands off to Marshaun Coprich, but he is wrapped up behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of two yards by Kyle Emanuel.

8:00 1st Quarter: Tre Roberson goes deep to Lechain Neblett in the end zone but pass interference is called on CJ Smith giving the Redbirds a first down.

8:01 1st Quarter: Ben LeCompte on to punt for the Bison and the ball is returned to the 45-yard line of NDSU.

8:10 1st Quarter: Carson Wentz steps up to throw but the pass to Carey Woods is incomplete.

9:02 1st Quarter: John Crockett is only able to pick up about 5 yards on two plays bringing up 3rd and 4.

9:33 1st Quarter: Penalty of false start backing the Bison up to the 2 yard line

9:43 1st Quarter: CJ Laros on to punt for the Redbirds. No one there for to bring it out for the Bison and the ball is downed inside the 5 yard line.

9:48 1st Quarter: Roberson steps up on 3rd-and-10 to throw to Cameron Meredith, but the pass is ruled incomplete.

10:16 1st Quarter: Roberson is faced with a 2nd-and-10 and steps up to throw but the pass is incomplete.

11:05 1st Quarter: 2nd and 4 and Quarterback Tre Roberson finds a hole and runs for a pickup of 30 to the 45-yard line.

12:06 1st Quarter: Carson Wentz avoids a sack, and rushes for 20 yards, but is hit and FUMBLES, and Illinois State recovers.

12:31 1st Quarter: John Crockett's first rush of the day and the Bison have a penalty called on Jeremy Kelly of holding backing the Bison up 10 yards.

13:27 1st Quarter: Carson Wentz 2nd and 2 rushes for a pickup of 20 yards into field goal range. 

14:14 1st Quarter: 1st and 10, Carson Wentz throws to R.J. Urzendowski for 8 yards.

North Dakota State will receive the ball first as Illinois State won the toss and elected to defer.  Penalty of offside on Illinois State and 5 yards will be added to the end of John Crockett's run starting at the 27-yard line.

Welcome to VAVEL USA's coverage of the FCS Championship game, Jasmine Stefanik here with you as we start today's coverage. It will definitely be interesting to see if North Dakota State can come up with their fourth championship only being the second team in NCAA history.

And we have a final in the basketball game on ESPN2 before our game...62-56 University of Connecticut over Cincinatti.

We have just been made aware that the kickoff of the Bison - Redbirds game will be delayed about 5 minutes to 1:05pm EST.

We are currently waiting for the finish of the basketball game before our game is set to start. There is 12.5 seconds left on the clock, so we will join the FCS Championship Game as soon as possible.

45 minutes before kickoff: The game on ESPN2 right now before our game starts is an NCAA Basketball matchup between Cincinnati and the University of Conneticut.

50 minutes before kickoff: Jasmine Stefanik here with you for our coverage of the FCS Championship Game between two Missouri Valley Football Conference teams, the North Dakota State Bison and the Illinois State Redbirds.

North Dakota State and Illinois State managed to tie for the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference without playing each other in the regular season this year. So, it will be interesting to see how these two top teams play against each other in this game that will decide which one of them is truly the best in the Missouri Valley Conference.

In fact, Head Coach Chris Klieman believes that Beck is such a "team" guy, that Beck will be listed on the dress list for the Championship game. Klieman also said that it broke his heart when Travis injured his Achilles, because he knew how much Travis had wanted to play in the championship game. He also said because of that, there was no debate and he knew that Beck had to be on the team plane.

One injury that will cause the Defensive Line to potentially have a soft spot for Illinois State to attack is the injury to NDSU Linebacker Travis Beck. Beck injured his Achilles and watched the Bison take the road back to the championship from the sidelines. Beck is a senior this year and made his impression into the 2011 Championship Game by having his best play be a 63-yard interception return which set up the winning touchdown and secured the 17-6 win over Sam Houston State.

NDSU Running Back John Crockett has been and will continue to be an intrical and important player in NDSU's offensive game plan. During the regular season, he had rushed for 1920 yards and 20 touchdowns as well as having 384 yards and 1 touchdown receiving. 

Klieman and Illinois State Head Coach Brock Spack have both stated in interviews that they are excited to be playing another Missouri Valley opponent and that to be the best you have to play the best. Klieman and the Bison come into this game with new coaches and players, and was quoted in one interview as saying “For us to win the Valley was our first goal,” Klieman said, “but for us to get back to Frisco with a bunch of new players and a bunch of new coaches I think is really remarkable because it’s so hard to gel so quickly with players and staff.”

In his time at NDSU, Jensen played in a total of 54 games for a total of 9838 yards between 2010 and 2013. In 2012 and 2013, Wentz was the backup to Brock Jensen and did not see a full season of playing time. In Wentz’s first season as the starting Quarterback for NDSU, he kept up the precedent set in the past by Jensen playing 15 games with a total of 3429 yards for the 2014 season. In his other two seasons in which he played for NDSU he had a total of 19 games between two seasons for a total of 445 yards.

The Bison have played so well in the past few years leading to the championship that they hold a total of 5 FCS records. These records include a streak of 33 wins stretching from 2012 to 2014, which is the 3rd longest in past 50 years of Division I NCAA Football. This streak ended when NDSU lost to Northern Iowa for their only loss of the season. This year’s starting Quarterback Carson Wentz has played with Brock Jensen in past years and will have his first chance to make his mark on the championship game this year. Brock Jensen was the starter for the championship game in all three previous times that NDSU made it to that game.

For more of a preview of this game, check out our preview, also done by Jasmine Stefanik: Here

Things have changed though, since the last time the Bison made this trip to Frisco. This year they will be entering the game with a new Head Coach in Chris Klieman. However, new Head Coach Klieman was the Defensive Coordinator under Bohl so he does know what the Bison have done to be successful in the last three years to get them the Championship. In addition to Klieman being new to the coaching staff at NDSU, there are also 8 other coaches under Klieman who are in their first season with the Bison.

Good evening and welcome to VAVEL USA's LIVE coverage of the FCS Championship Game in Frisco, TX. This is an exciting matchup between the defending champion North Dakota State Bison and their Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent Illinois State Redbirds. These two teams finished the regular season tied for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference. North Dakota State has made it to this game and won every year starting in 2011, and can become the first school in FCS history and just the second team in NCAA history to win four championships with a win against Illinois State. The only other team who was able to repeat for four seasons as champions was Augustana College from 1983-86 when they were Division III Champions.

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