And then there were two. After a thrilling year of underdogs and upsets, hope and heartbreak, the FCS Championship is set to come to a head January 9th in Frisco, Texas. It promises to be a game for the ages. One side, Jacksonville State, has been the team to beat this year and enters the championship as the #1 overall seed. The other side is North Dakota State, perhaps the most dominant program in all of college football. How dominant, you ask? They’re making their sixth (no, you didn’t misread that, it’s their sixth) consecutive appearance in the FCS Championship next week. For lack of a better term, noon on January 9th is looking like a real clash of titans. 

(1) Jacksonville State vs. (3) North Dakota State (Jan. 9, 12:00PM, ESPN2)

More On The Teams

Jacksonville State’s run through the FCS with ease, only losing one game this year vs. the Auburn Tigers. Auburn aside, opponents have been unable to find any semblance of an answer for JSU’s two-pronged running attack, with QB Eli Jenkins (1,073 yd, 14 TD) and HB Troymaine Pope (1757 yd, 19 TD) shredding through defense after defense. When those two have been unable to crack a defense, second string HB Miles Jones (689 yd, 9 TD) has gotten the job done as well. And while Jenkins’ stats on the ground are definitely something to marvel at, don’t call him a run-first quarterback. In the air, he passed for 2,731 yards and 21 touchdowns while being picked off just six times this season. Much of this is in large part to redshirt Junior Josh Barge whose 1,113 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns led the team. 

Jacksonville State has a high-powered offense, but at times defensive lapses cause opponents to keep things closer than they should be. Four times this year, JSU has given up 30-plus points, a problem they will need to fix if they hope to stay in the game vs. a high-powered North Dakota State offense. While the Gamecocks have out-intercepted opponents 17-7 this season, their zero forced fumbles and 5 conceded fumbles leaves them dead-even in the turnover battle. While there is no standalone ball hawk on JSU, Dawson Wells was able to return 2 of his 3 picks for touchdowns, making him a player to watch on defense.

Jacksonville State will need all hands on deck to beat NDSU. They’ve overcome the loss of star QB Carson Wentz due to the stellar play of backup Easton Stick. While the offense may not possess the raw power of past Bison teams, the best defensive and special teams units in the country more than make up for it. Return man Bruce Anderson and punter Ben LeCompte all but guarantee that NDSU wins the field position battle more often than not. Defensively, a unit ripe with Missouri Valley first-teamers shut down a Richmond Spider offense that had annihilated Goliath after Goliath en route to the semifinal. If any team were to give the Bison trouble on defense, it would have been Richmond. However, it was Richmond who found themselves at the mercy of NDSU by the fourth quarterfinal score: 33-7. 

While some within the FCS community note that the Bison are often given an unfair advantage due to their seeding and home field advantage in the playoffs, it’s worth noting that much like the NFL playoffs, home field advantage is determined by regular season record, something NDSU has earned year in and year out. Secondly, the final is played at a neutral venue: Toyota Stadium, home of MLS team FC Dallas in the spring. NDSU has won all five of their championships at Frisco (quite a ways from North Dakota).  Home turf advantage means a lot, but not everything.  The truth is, the Bison are a talented team no matter where they play. 

Prediction: JSU has dominated 2015. NDSU has dominated the five preceding years. Picking a winner is a true 50/50 call. However, history looks in favor on the Bison, and until they prove otherwise, they are the obvious pick for 2015 FCS Champs. Final Score: Bison 27, Gamecocks 17.