Johnson City, Tennessee.

Say this about North Dakota State: The kickoff coverage was excellent on Saturday. But again, Eli Ozick was shooting everyone in the end zone.

In other words, when it snows in Johnson City, there are enough slopes to create enough slippery slopes, which is what the Bisons find themselves on three weeks into the season. This is not a trail to be on.

Until… the last two minutes.

In a comeback that staved off certain defeat, Cam Miller did what Bison quarterbacks have been doing for years: rip the heart out of an opponent.

His 11-yard run with 50 seconds left gave the Bisons a 38-35 comeback victory over East Tennessee State on an energetic night at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium.

The Buccaneers won 58 minutes of this game, but lost.

“I think we were lucky, we were,” Miller said. “We can’t take games like this for granted, no matter who we play. We played a great opponent and I knew that, but I could tell some guys weren’t handling it that way. I think we should be thankful we won, but we still have a lot of room for improvement.”

David Samson/The Forum

This was Steve Walker vs. Sam Houston, when the Bison QB was coming off a win that seemed certain in 2007. This was Carson Wentz vs. Illinois State in the 2014 Finals. This was Brock Jensen vs. Georgia Southern in the 2012 FCS semifinals.

It’s not over until NDSU’s quarterbacks say so.

“Cam is special,” NDSU defensive tackle Eli Mostaert said. “He’s going to go down as one of the Bison greats after this and what he’s done here.”

David Samson/The Forum

The Bison trailed 35-23 and got the ball with 2:49 left. Fortunately, they got it when punt returner John Gores recovered his own fumble amid four other Bucs players.

Gores wasn’t mad. The Bison were facing fourth-and-10 when Miller found him over the middle for 38 yards to the 3. TK Marshall scored one play later and it was 35-30.

Still, it looked like ETSU fans were still trying to figure out how to storm the field at the final whistle. But Darius Givance recovered an onside kick and NDSU got the ball back with 1:57 left. Suddenly, a game that had seemed lost seemed very winnable.

A 13-yard pass to Mekhi Collins was followed by a 15-yard pass interference penalty. Miller ran 13 yards to the 17. A holding call was a momentary bump. On third-and-4, Miller found space on the left side for an 11-yard touchdown.

“Absolutely heartbreaking,” said ETSU head coach Tre Lamb. “There’s a lot of words to describe it, but I’m hurting. The team is hurting. The No. 2 team in the country got beat. Let’s just call it what it was, they got beat.”

Aside from the win, the Bison still have a few things to figure out. NDSU has built its FCS reputation on several aspects of the football over the years, including solid run defense, but the one that showed up Saturday looked more like Swiss cheese. Quarterback Jaylen King completed two passes in the first half, including a desperation 40-yarder that the Bison secondary couldn’t convert, but the Buccaneers looked nearly unstoppable.

They remained that way until their final possession of the first half, when the Bisons finally put a stop to it. ETSU led 21-17 at halftime.

Nothing changed at the start of the third quarter. Fourth and eight? No problem, King scrambled eight yards up the middle. Bryson Irby’s touchdown was a 10-yard run up the middle with little interference and it was 28-17.

“Obviously we showed a lot of grit and resilience at the end,” said Polasek, who said ETSU’s run game formations scared the living daylights out of NDSU. “Hats off to East Tennessee State. We’re going to enjoy this win, because you have to enjoy all wins. Too precious. But Monday sets the tone for what coming home should look like.”

Homecoming is Saturday at 1:00 pm against Towson University. From what Polasek and Bison players say afterward, there will be some work to be done before then.

“They made us look for answers on the run and that can’t happen,” Polasek said. “We’ve got to be able to stop the run because when we do, that game is a little bit different.”

David Samson/The Forum

Irby, for example, was never stopped for 147 yards. Two crucial plays nearly destroyed NDSU in the fourth quarter. A second-and-14 roughing the passer penalty and Irby’s 33-yard run quickly moved the Bucs to the Bison 19-yard line.

One play later, King found Cameron Lewis with a 19-yard TD pass and the Bison were in big trouble, trailing 35-23 with 8:39 left.

Don’t tell that to Miller. They didn’t tell that to Walker, Jensen or Wentz.

It’s not over until they say so.

Jeff would like to dispel the idea that he was there when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he has been reporting for Forum Communications for three decades. Jeff is the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter. He has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and, since 1990, The Forum, where he has covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough” and “Covid Kids.” He is the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” from April through August.