EDITOR’S
NOTE
Turning the Page
Preseason Football Awards
FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome back to Bison Illustrated! Every new
season brings new opportunity and for us, we
can’t wait to continue giving the people what
they want. The first issue of the season always
ignites our imagination, but I’m sure you already
noticed by looking at the cover.
Joe Kerlin
Editor, Bison Illustrated
CONTACT ME
[email protected]
facebook.com/bisonillustrated
@bisonmag
@j_kerlin
When Mike came to me
with the idea of putting a baby on the cover,
I thought he had officially fallen off the deep
end. I mean, who puts a baby on the cover of
a sports magazine? Laughing at your boss is
generally a poor way to give your opinion in
the workplace, but the more I thought about
it, the clearer the metaphor became. North
Dakota State will be going through dramatic
changes this year. The beginning of a new
chapter has arrived.
The way I see it, NDSU Athletics has just
closed a remarkable 13-year story in a very,
very large Bison book, dating back to the
N.D.A.C. days (see pg. 44).
Starting in 2001, the rags to riches plot was
something reality TV producers drool over.
The Bison were taking a journey into the
unknown by joining Division I with a first
time athletic director who was bold enough
to put his career and the program’s tradition
on the line. At first, it was baby steps. The
reclassification happened, new conferences
were introduced to Bison Nation as fans
adapted to new competition and NDSU
was outmatched. Slowly, notable victories
occurred in and outside of conference
play. The football team won the Great West
Football Conference, a conference originally
founded by a collection of FCS “misfits” that
Offensive MVP Zach Vraa
His deep-threat ability combined with Carson Wentz’s big
arm should make for a busy highlight reel.
Defensive MVP Christian Dudzik
He’s an impactful return man and is one of the best ball
hawks in the FCS from his free safety position.
Field General Carlton Littlejohn
He successfully moved to the inside linebacker position
last season after Grant Olson’s injury. Look for him to get
comfortable flying all over the field this season.
Sleeper CJ Smith
He had a great first season as a starter. We’ll get to see
what he’s really made of this season when he is defending
the opposing team’s No. 1 receiver.
Crowd Pleaser Andrew Bonnet
He can play any position and he will get every fan out of
their seat when hurdling helpless defenders.
Gene Taylor helped form. Then, other sports
followed suit in the Summit League. The
football team eventually found a home in
the Missouri Valley Football Conference and,
well, you know the rest.
Last season is when that chapter in Bison
history ended. Now we’re looking at a new
football coaching staff, new men’s and
women’s basketball coaching staffs and an
entirely new boss working as the athletic
director. The pressure wil l be on the new
coaches to keep the rich tradition going, but
here are three athletes that will make the
transition a lot easier.
The Unknown – The idea that we don’t know
what we have with Carson Wentz is what
makes him intriguing this fall. What makes
him more fascinating is that both his position
coach and offensive coordinator speak
extremely highly of him. Of course they’re
going to speak highly of him. He’s the new
quarterback. Listen, I get it, but when you’re
surrounded by the amount of coach speak
I find myself around on a day-to-day basis,
there’s a sense of giddy excitement when you
get quarterbacks coach Randy Hedberg and
offensive coordinator Tim Polasek talking
about Wentz.
Striker Alert – I caught the World Cup
fever this summer and it transferred over
into my interview with soccer coach Mark
Cook (which you can read on the new
bisonillustrated.com). He spoke about his
team’s defense-first strategy and how Anisha
Kinnarath and Lauren Miller are going to
be leaned on to create most of the scoring
opportunities, like the U.S. leaned on Clint
Dempsey and Jermaine Jones. Magic happens
on the pitch when two strikers build an
unbreakable rapport. I can’t wait to see what
happens in Kinnarath and Miller’s case. I’m
going to predict a lot more goals from this
one-two punch.
Progress – Much like Miller, Emily Miron is
the future of the Bison volleyball team. Only
a sophomore, Miron has already participated
in USA Volleyball’s U.S. Collegiate National
Team and brings size and skill to the middle
blocker position for the Bison. The Bison
volleyball team is on the cusp of arriving
back to its glory days and Miron will be the
one leading the charge.
Enjoy the baby on the cover, enjoy the rest of
the magazine and lastly, enjoy this new chapter
of Bison athletics. A new era is born!
Go Bison,
Joe Kerlin
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