North Dakota State erases 14-point deficit, beats Abilene Christian 51-31 in FCS second round

FARGO, N.D. -- — Cam Miller threw three touchdown passes, ran for another and second-seeded North Dakota State blew past a 14-point deficit to beat 15th-seeded Abilene Christian 51-31 on Saturday in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

The Bison (11-2), in the FCS playoffs for a 15th straight season and winner of nine FCS titles, will host seventh-seeded Mercer in the quarterfinals.

Abilene Christian (9-5) took a 17-3 lead on a 13-yard TD pass from Maverick McIvor to J.J. Henry, a 90-yard run by Sam Hicks and a Ritse Vaes 29-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

The Bison then took over, starting with Jackson Williams' 100-yard kickoff return to start a run of 31 consecutive points, 17 coming in the second quarter for a 20-17 halftime lead.

The scoring streak ended when Nehemiah Martinez’s 53-yard return helped set up Hicks’ 3-yard score to get the Wildcats within 34-24. But the Bison matched that TD on their ensuing drive on Miller’s 36-yard connection with Bryce Lance to cap their 21-point third quarter.

Again, the Wildcats got within 10 early in the fourth quarter on Rovaughn Banks Jr.’s 2-yard TD run. But NDSU’s Marcus Gulley returned an interception 37 yards to the ACU 9 and the Crosa kicked a field goal and Logan Kopp followed with a 31-yard pick-6.

Miller was 20 of 29 for 274 yards passing.

McIvor threw for 153 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Hicks ran for 153 yards on 16 carries.

ACU, champion of the United Athletic Conference, was in its first FCS playoffs since joining the classification in 2013, and beat Northern Arizona in its first-round game.

Crosa has made his 262nd career PAT to pass NDSU's Cam Pederson (2015-18) and set an FCS record.

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