FARGO -- There was no letdown for the North Dakota State football team on Saturday.
A week after an impressive road win against the University of Minnesota, the No. 6 Bison beat Illinois State 20-10 before 18,904 fans at the Fargodome to secure the program's first win in a Missouri Valley Conference opener in four seasons in the league.
"I fully anticipated a competitive football game and we were not disappointed," said NDSU head coach Craig Bohl, whose team beat Big Ten conference competitor Minnesota 37-24 last week. "I thought tonight some guys came into their own."
The NDSU offense didn't fire off a ton of big plays, but quarterback Brock Jensen did enough to make sure the Bison record remained unblemished.
Jensen hit running back D.J. McNorton on a 36-yard screen pass up the middle to give NDSU a 7-0 lead with 8 minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
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The Bison, limited to just 85 rushing yards in the game, held a 7-3 lead at halftime lead.
Illinois State (2-3, 1-2) did a nice job clogging the middle for McNorton and running back Sam Ojuri. When the Bison attempted to bounce things outside, it was taken care of by the Redbirds' quick secondary and linebackers.
The Bison were 2 of 5 on third down in the first half.
Nick Aussieker's 27-yard field goal made the score 7-3 with 2:57 on the clock in the second quarter.
NDSU cornerback Marcus Williams came up with the game-changing, momentum-swinging play of the game early in the third quarter.
With Illinois State driving deep in Bison territory to take the lead, Williams picked off Redbirds quarterback Matt Brown a yard deep in the end zone and ran the ball out 55-yards.
The Bison (4-0, 1-0 MVC) capitalized a few minutes later with a 15 yard touchdown run by McNorton to make the score 14-3.
"That was huge play," Illinois State coach Brock Spack said of Williams' play. "We needed points down there, and we didn't need to under throw a fade route."
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The NDSU defense struck again when junior safety Bobby Ollman returned an interception 82 yards to put the Bison ahead 20-3.
Brown finished 31 of 48 for 270 yards a touchdown and two huge interceptions.
The Redbirds closed the gap to 20-10 on a 43-yard heave by Brown to receiver Milton Colbert late in the fourth quarter.
It was too late for a comeback. NDSU's defense did its job, and the Bison offense did enough to win.
NDSU allowed 397 yards to the Redbirds. However, big plays helped the team overcome any lapses.
The Bison finished with one sack, but the defensive line pressured Brown several times.
Ashton Leggett had 73 yards on 16 carries to lead the Redbirds ground game.
Warren Holloway led Bison receivers with six receptions for 70 yards.
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The Bison are scheduled to travel to Southern Illinois at 2 p.m. next Saturday.
"I think they are better in the secondary if I had to pick a spot," said Spack, whose team defeated the Bison 34-24 last season. "They seemed to be in position to make a lot of plays."
