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North Dakota State Won the FCS Championship on a Walk-Off Punt

The punter has never looked so valuable.

Stephen Douglas

North Dakota State punts. Victoriously.
North Dakota State punts. Victoriously. / @CJZer
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The North Dakota State Bison won the FCS Championship on Monday night beating the top-ranked Montana State Bobcats, 35-32. Montana State came into the game undefeated but fell behind early and was never able to catch up.

The Bobcats cut the lead to three with 1:09 remaining, but could not recover the ensuing onside kick. There was just enough time to force a three-and-out punt, which they did, but a failed punt block with 10-seconds remaining on the clock meant that the championship game ended on something incredibly rare.

A walk-off punt.

It's hard to even remember another game that ended with the ball just rolling on the ground. Sure, a punt block returned for a touchdown would have been a more exciting way for the game to be determined, but a walk-off punt? That's the kind of thing memories are made of.

For North Dakota State it was their first National Championship since 2021. The Bison have now won 35 straight conference championships and 10 FCS titles since 2011. Those 10 titles have come under four different coaches which means that must be one beautiful campus.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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