North Dakota State head coach Tim Polasek didn’t mince words only days after his team’s first loss of the season to UNLV.
Polasek told reporters on Tuesday that, “I don’t regret it,” when it came to failed fourth down attempts during a 13-7 loss to the Running Rebels on Oct. 10. The Bison twice failed on fourth downs that amounted to a six-point swing, and Polasek took heat for the calls, but firmly stood by his decisions again and explained why during his press conference.
Polasek then bet on the Bison defense in the fourth quarter when the offense attempted a fourth down play inside the team’s own 20-yard line, down 10-7. The Bison escaped with a field goal allowed after the failed fourth down.
Ultimately, NDSU couldn’t move the ball against the Rebels as the Bison failed to crack double digits for the first time this decade.
Tim Polasek: ‘You’d Be Shocked’
Polasek wanted the max opportunity for points after a dismal start for the offense on Oct. 10, and he says the analytics favored going for it instead of kicking a field goal.
“When you drive the ball down to the 10, you’d be shocked at what the book does tell you. We only use the analytics about 10 to 15% of the time,” Polasek said. “They would tell us you guys aren’t aggressive enough.”
“It would tell you fourth-and-3, go for it. If we’re playing great defense, why would we not take the opportunity to punch in six points right there? Once we get inside the 10, I would like to think we can remain being an aggressive outfit, but we’re in the middle of it,” Polasek added. “I’m going to do some self-scout stuff on Thursday and stay longer and be reevaluated.”
Based on experience, NDSU had a proven track record on fourth downs this season with an 8-12 mark, and the Bison excel at the running game. Four Bison players average 4.2 yards or more per carry with 27 or more rushing attempts, and that includes Bison quarterback Nathan Hayes.
Tim Polasek: ‘We Were Bleeding’
When Polasek went for it on fourth down again in the fourth quarter, he couldn’t ignore how long his defense had been on the field.
“The fourth down and one, coming out of our own hole on the 19-yard line, we were bleeding,” Polasek said. “They had the ball for 12 minutes in the third quarter, gentlemen. It is a tight game, all right.”
“And I’ll go as far as saying this: I believe the defense would go out there and do something great, hold them to three, force a turnover,” Polasek added. “We actually did both almost, and I just thought, OK, now we know the deal, but there’s still going to be 11 minutes left on the clock.”
UNLV quarterback Jackson Arnold fumbled but recovered the ball, and that could have been a swing of momentum from the Bison had he not recovered. Polasek also explored what could have played out had his squad punted.
“Let’s say we punt and we hold them right on the 50. Where are we getting the ball back at? After launching that punter again this week, pin us down there,” Polasek said. “We’re right back where we started, and are we going to get that opportunity back again? I really felt like we needed to shift field position, and we really needed to do something.”
“I thought I maybe needed to do something to get the offense kind of going, to be honest with you, and I thought it was going to take the ground game,” he added. “I have to live with that one. No different than I had to live with it at South Dakota [in 2024] on the 20-yard line, and we converted and we went down and scored on a 19-play drive and ended up losing that game. That’s kind of the fun and the responsibility of being the head coach.”
That loss to South Dakota ended up being Polasek’s only FCS loss that year, but his squad went on to win the last two 10 FCS titles that year. Polasek will look to get the Bison regrouped from the UNLV loss to make a similar run this year with Nevada next on Saturday.
NDSU Coach Tim Polasek Sends Strong Message on Fourth Down Calls