Extensive planning done, Bison set for Hawaii

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum By Jeff Kolpack Today at 3:27 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? FARGO — The road to a bowl game is in front of North Dakota State, although it continues this week a half an ocean away. The first conversation of Saturday’s game at the University of Hawaii started last spring and is culminating with a boatload of planning. Make that an ocean liner full of planning. ADVERTISEMENT In another adjustment from the Missouri Valley Football Conference to the Mountain West Conference, the Bison will endure a trip that will last most of four days. NDSU will board a charter plane late Thursday morning, practice Friday at a local Honolulu high school and play the Rainbow Warriors at 10 p.m. (CT) Saturday night. The team is expected to return to Fargo at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. It’s a far cry from flying to a Valley school for an afternoon Central time zone game and returning Saturday night. “We play at night, then we’re going to get back late, or I guess early late whatever it will be,” said Bison offensive guard Griffin Empey. NDSU head coach Tim Polasek has done the Hawaii trip before as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming. He said he was “this close” to calling former Cowboys head coach Craig Bohl and asking why the team didn’t do a quick tour of Pearl Harbor the day before the game. He didn’t because he figured Bohl would tell him it was all about it being a business trip. But Polasek did contact another head coach he worked under in Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and asked if he should take the team to Pearl Harbor for lunch. “He said, ‘Coach, if you don’t go you’re wrong,’” Polasek said. “‘We get to coach football and it’s fun and your guys are mature enough, your program is good enough to handle it and they’ll be ready to go.’ The whole plan is only meant for one thing and that’s to be ready at kickoff and even to finish stronger in the second half.” The Bison are essentially flip-flopping a normal Thursday-Friday routine, with a more extensive, but non-hitting practice on Friday in Honolulu. It’s akin to more of a schedule that the Bison employed when they played in FCS national title games in Frisco, Texas. ADVERTISEMENT “It is kind of like going down to Frisco, sort of a week ordeal,” Empey said. NDSU has some control in potentially reaching the Mountain West title game on Friday, Dec. 4, at the site of the league champion. If the Bison and New Mexico both win the rest of their league games, they would meet in Albuquerque. NDSU has Northern Illinois at home to conclude the MW schedule and plays at league member San Jose State on Nov. 27, a game that will be considered nonconference. The Lobos host UNLV on Saturday, play at Wyoming and host Air Force. There are other scenarios. If Wyoming, for instance, wins at UTEP Saturday and at home against New Mexico the following week, it would host the MW title game. “Our approach and our message has been, there is no rearview mirror, there is no big picture,” said Polasek, in reference to just worrying about the Rainbow Warriors. “We’ve got Hawaii. They’re 3,000 miles away and it’s going to take a great deal of maturity in handling this trip.” NDSU appears somewhat more healthy with the bye week. Empey will return after missing the UTEP game with a broken finger. Left tackle Ryan Babatz, who missed the last two games with an ankle sprain, is back. But starting right tackle Kene Anene is questionable after spraining his ankle against UTEP. Tight end Kaden Zenzen has returned to practice and will play, Polasek said. Linebacker Ray James Jr., who has been battling shoulder issues, is good to go. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags BISON FOOTBALL BISON MEDIA ZONE INFORUM BISMARCK MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE TIM POLASEK By Jeff Kolpack Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough," "Covid Kids" and "They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel." He is also the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August. 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