McFeely: Five things to watch in the Bison-Samford game

Samford is an underdog in the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals. North Dakota State is 5-0 against Southern Conference teams in playoffs. Samford's Southern conference team is 0-5 against the Bison. The Bisons lost to James Madison in 2016 in semifinals at the Fargodome. ETSU came to Fargo with an 11-1 record and won 24-point loss. The Bulldogs are unlikely to have that kind of talent or firepower.

Bison-Samford game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday. There are a lot of injuries and key transfer portal departures for Bison.

Samford has to stop NDSU's powerful running game if they want to win the game.

NDSU has the best offensive line in FCS. The Bison rush for an average of 277 yards per game. Samford's defense is 82nd against the run in the FSC. Samfords gave up 181 rushing yards against Mercer and 348 rushing in a playoff game against Southeastern Louisiana.

Samford's starting quarterback, Michael Hiers, is injured and might not play against NDSU. If he can't play, redshirt freshman Quincy Crittendon will start. Critendon is a walk-on who has played well for Samford. He has led the Bulldogs to back-to-back overtime victories over Mercer and Southeastern Louisiana.

Samford is without a starting quarterback. Samford's team is "banged up" and won't know until midweek if some players hurt in the victory over SELA will be available against NDSU. NSDSU has lost three preseason All-Americans, two starting offensive linemen, a defensive end and a tight end to season-ending injuries. The Bison had some big-time players go down in 2016. NDDSU had four contributing players enter the transfer portal during the season. Logan Hofstedt and Luke Weerts injured in last week's playoff victory against Montana.

Eli Mostaert is injured and might not play this week. Most aert was the preseason All-American defensive tackle. The Bison struggle to stop the run. The young defensive linemen forced into action this season because of graduation and injury have improved. Head coach has preached patience with his young line. He hopes they will continue to do so. They have shown improvement recently. Bisons play Samford on Saturday. It's a big game. iReport.com:

The Bison are heavily favored to beat Samford. If they win, they will advance to the semifinals. They could play against Sacramento State or Incarnate Word. The Bisons are seeded higher than the Cardinals. NDSU has been the No. 1 or No 2 seed nine times since 2011. It was unseeded in the shrunken playoff field during the COVID-affected 2021 spring season. This season it is the third seed. In 2015 it was the top seed and Illinois State was second. On the way to Frisco, NSDSU beat the Redbirds in a Friday night quarterfinal and the next day it beat Northern Iowa in an epic game at the Fargodome.