NDSU at South Dakota State University – September 29, 2007

On the second road trip of the season, the North Dakota State University Bison prepared to take on the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. The weather conditions and the officiating contributed immensely to the outcome of the game. The wind was blowing at a pace hard enough to move a stopped ball and the referees were questionable at the very best. SDSU used both of these aspects to score in the 6^th minute. After a seemingly blatant foul went uncalled, a Jackrabbit forward took the ball and beat Bison goal keeper Tom Erickson for the first goal of the game. NDSU quickly retaliated. The goal was set up with excellent passing by Rob Choiniere, Fernando Bales, Luanga Njoya, and Garett Johnson and was finished with a shot from Choiniere that floated over the SDSU goal keeper and barely made it under the cross bar. The Bison would play tough the rest of the half, stringing passes together and switching the field. In the process of playing hard, they would pick up their first 2 yellow cards of the game.

The second half started with the Bison playing confident with the wind at their backs. However, NDSU's passing, marking, moving without the ball, and playing the ball on the ground were all left in the first half. This allowed SDSU to walk all over the Bison midfield. The Jackrabbits passed very well against the wind and NDSU failed to play as a unit. About 15 minutes into the second half, the officiating allowed the game to begin to get out of hand. This threw NDSU off balance and they started playing even worse. After an incredibly questionable foul call on the Bison, the Jackrabbits scored after a free kick cross was won in the middle and shot into the back of the net. After SDSU took a 2-1 lead, they started showing some poor sportsmanship and lack of class. After 5 yellow cards for the Bison, the game ended in a 2-1 SDSU win. The loss dropped NDSU to 3-2-2 on the season and SDSU improved to 4-1-1.