North Dakota State opened the season with a defensive showcase, holding Jax State to just 170 yards of total offense and limiting the Gamecocks to 2.7 yards per carry on the ground. The Bison were not perfect, but their defense looked all too familiar to the dominant FCS units NDSU has built over the years. A big part of that dominance is their ability to run several variations of Cover 2, including regular Cover 2, Tampa 2, Roll 2, and more. Let’s check out some of our favorite uses and executions of Cover 2 from last Saturday’s Bison defense.
Regular Cover 2
The Bison run Cover 2, Cover 3, Cover 4, fire zone Cover 3, and hot pressures, but they executed Cover 2 particularly well.
In this clip, Jax State gets exactly what they want on paper. A linebacker fits the run, a trap corner fits the quarterback, and they flip it outside to a receiver with the safety fifteen yards away. The only problem is that safety covers an impressive amount of ground to make the tackle for a gain of just a few yards. This might not be how you draw up fits against zone read with an RPO in Cover 2, but the Bison executed it at a high level, and that had to leave the Jax State offense a bit frustrated after this play.
Here the Bison walk the corner up against a tight end and wing set. Jax State runs power read and gives it, and again the safety runs the alley perfectly from his modified deep half and delivers a strike on the ball carrier.
Tampa 2
Here is an example of Tampa 2 by the Bison. The big point here is to watch the corner at the top of the screen. He does a heck of a job playing in between the hitch and corner routes on smash, and when the hitch is thrown, he explodes downhill and makes a physical play on the receiver. This is a textbook play on the smash route by a corner in Cover 2.
On this Tampa call the Bison also pair it with a Tex stunt up front. Watch the technique by the end at the bottom. He doesn’t rush it, he works outside for a few steps before working back inside to pick the guard, then gets vertical. The wrapping defensive tackle needs to aim for the deepest leg, but regardless, it’s a nice stunt up front paired with Tampa coverage that forces a scramble for a few yards.
Simulated Pressures with Roll 2
The Bison love to bring the corner on a simulated pressure path, I call it Carr, and roll into a Cover 2 variation. Here’s an example diagram from when they ran it two years ago against South Dakota State.
And last Saturday that pressure came out early in the first quarter against Jax State on third and eleven.
The result? A check down and a tackle short of the sticks after the coverage blankets the four verticals and the quarterback has nowhere to go.
We see Carr again later, but this time Jax State throws a swing screen to the field. With the corner working to the deep half, the Nickel must set the edge as the flat player, and he does a great job driving through the receiver’s block and forcing a premature cutback inside by the running back, right where help is coming from.
Final Thoughts
The Bison looked mostly sharp in their FBS debut. They have plenty to clean up, and I am sure Coach Olson would agree, but one thing is certain: this Bison defense is still very good whether it is playing at the FCS or FBS level.
What stood out most on tape was the variety. NDSU did not just play one version of Cover 2 and hope athletes bailed them out. They rolled through regular Cover 2 with safeties running the alley to the football, Tampa 2 with a Mike dropping to the deep middle, and Roll 2 out of simulated pressure to disguise where the fourth rusher was coming from. Different shells, different disguises, same base coverage principles executed at a high level. That kind of coverage flexibility is what makes an already talented defense even tougher to prepare for on a short week.
The Bison execute at a high level, play extremely physical, and hustle to the ball every down. They are going to be fun to watch in the Mountain West in 2026. Next up for the Bison is Fordham.