Kolpack: Give Bryce Lance the ceremonial violin – InForum

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The predictable theme song, “If You Want to Play in Texas,” broke out not long after North Dakota State passed South Dakota State for the right to travel to Frisco, Texas. There should have been some sort of ceremonial violin for Bryce Lance.

The junior Bison receiver was sweet music to the Bison ears. An all-time game, a 28-21 victory over the Jackrabbits that sends the Bison to the FCS national championship game. An all-time piece.

“In this moment, in a game like this, that’s the best catch I’ve ever seen,” NDSU head coach Tim Polasek said.

As the NDSU marketing folks put together future introductory videos for “Thunderstruck,” they might want to consider adding Lance’s catch. The moment: Third-and-seven from SDSU’s 10-yard line with just four minutes left and the FCS semifinal showdown tied at 21-21.

The catch: Lance grabbed quarterback Cam Miller’s throw with one hand, put one foot inside the end zone and then briefly switched the football with the other hand. It was ruled incomplete on the field.

A few moments later, the officials stopped the game for a review. At this point, all 17,849 fans were waiting for the replay to be shown on the Fargodome video boards.

In slow motion, Lance actually had the ball firmly in his right hand. The fans were crazy. Bison players began celebrating.

Miller said he had to watch the replay, “and I asked him four or five times, did you really get it?” And he said, ‘Yes, I did.’ Unreal feeling.”

Polasek said he would have taken time off if he thought officials would need more time to look into the matter.

“He caught it cleanly, it was a piece of cake,” he said. “I was waiting for someone to respond. Nobody said no catch, nobody said touchdown, so I knew it was going to be close.”

David Samson/The Forum

When asked if Lance completed the possession, SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers said he was not a replay official and said Lance made a great play.

“It was still an incredible catch, it made the game,” Rogers said. “It was the first time I heard about the changeover rule. Part of it came from a play that occurred earlier in the game. They said there was no need to put it on the floor if it was clean and it stayed fairly upright.”

It wasn’t a particularly long review. Landing.

Moments later, Bryce’s older brother and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance posted on social media: “Bryce!!!!”, with even more exclamation points.

“He’s not Trey Lance’s little brother and everyone knew that,” Miller said. “He is a player and a winner. He wants the ball and those are guys I want to play with.”

Lance said Miller gave an audible signal at the line of scrimmage, so he knew it was coming his way, a one-on-one route against an SDSU cornerback.

“Honestly, not much goes through my mind when I know the ball is coming to me,” Lance said. “I’m in this flow state, so to speak, when the ball is in the air. I knew I had caught it, but I didn’t know if my foot was in.”

Polasek compared it to a catch by Zach Vraa a decade ago, when the former Bison receiver went over the back of a defensive back. Ironically, Lance broke Vraa’s record for most touchdown receptions in a season with 15 and finished the game with six receptions for 125 yards and three touchdowns.

It was also similar to RJ Urzendowski’s diving catch on the other side of the north end zone against SDSU in the second round of 2014, a 12-yard grab with less than a minute to play that gave the Bison a 27-24 victory.

“It’s an honor to be mentioned in the same conversation as people like that,” Lance said. “They are legends in this program. The goal is to continue playing for Cam.”

For Bryce, in some ways it was another example of a story going from worst to worst. While Trey was a one-hit wonder in his redshirt freshman season, winning the Walter Payton and Jerry Rice Awards, Bryce had to buy three years of time on special teams.

“I don’t want to talk about last season because now it’s about us,” Polasek said. “Bryce took advantage of every opportunity that came his way. These are two guys (Miller and Lance) jumping in and saying we have to have each other. We’re taking you upstairs and he answered the bell.”

Lance started the season with one career catch. In one season, he developed into one of the FCS’s top receivers and entered the Bison history books on Saturday, both in terms of numbers and moments of magic.

It was a similar grab to that of defensive back Destin Talbert, whose one-handed interception in the end zone defeated James Madison in the 2019 semifinals. A second or two of it made it into the “Thunderstruck” video.

Time to make room for Lance for a second or two.

Jeff would like to dispel the idea that he was there when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is now in his third decade of reporting for Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, the Bismarck Tribune and, since 1990, the Forum, where he has covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough” and “Covid Kids.” He is the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” from April to August.