North Dakota State, the main program of college football at the FCS level, will not be playing football in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic this fall. NDSU will instead look to play in the spring of 2021, announced it via Twitter on Friday, leaving one of the nation’s top QB prospects with a decision to leave as early as possible in qualifying for the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference, which includes NDSU, announced last week that it would not hold a conference game this fall, but allowed its schools to seek out non-conference games of their own. It took NDSU just a week to choose not to follow this option. The Bison have won three consecutive FCS national championships and eight of the last nine, the last of which was spared by quarterback Trey Lance. Just a redshirt freshman in 2019, Lance (6-foot-3, 224 pounds, per school size) compiled a remarkable touchdown-to-interception ratio of 28-0 in his first season as a starter, leading the Bison to a 16 – 0 record.
Lance commented on the school’s decision via Twitter, but did not address his future plans.
“We did everything we could and treated everything the right way. It’s not fair, but we are incredibly grateful to our coaches, staff and administration for putting us in the position to have a chance this fall. safe to play, “Lance wrote.
NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah recently scouted three Lance bands, and came away impressed. According to Jeremiah, he has the potential to be the best of Bison’s quarterback line that includes Philadelphia Eagles 2016 first-round pick Carson Wentz and 2019 Los Angeles Chargers fifth-round pick Easton Stick. Jeremiah compares Lance to former No. 1 general pick Andrew Luck.
Lance is a third-year sophomore this fall, and will therefore be eligible to apply for early entry of concept. If Lance does not sign with an agent, he can wait until the NFL deadline for underclassmen to explain to the draft (which is usually mid-January) before deciding whether to return to NDSU.
