Quarterback Trey Lance and the North Dakota State Bison became the first team in modern college football history to go 16-0 when they defeated James Madison 28-20 in the FCS title game in January 2020.

The decisive touchdown was a 44-yard run by Lance; not surprising as he had 30 rushes for 166 yards, and only passed 10 times. Asked to explain the strategy, offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl said a team that has the best player in FCS should keep the football in his hands.

Roehl and head coach Matt Entz did not employ a similar strategy when receiver Bryce Lance, Trey's younger brother, arrived in Fargo as a freshman in 2021. He was redshirted that season, mostly played special teams without catching a pass in 2022, and had one reception for 7 yards in 2023.

Entz took a job in December 2023 as assistant head coach and linebackers coach at Southern California. Last month, Entz was hired as the head coach at Fresno State. Roehl was hired as assistant head coach and running backs coach at Iowa State.

Clearly, Entz and Roehl have landed on their feet after leaving NDSU, while Bryce Lance was landing with one foot momentarily inside the end zone to put the Bison back in Frisco, Texas, for Monday's FCS title game vs. Montana State.

Tim Polasek was hired as Entz's replacement in mid-December. Six weeks later, he brought in Jake Landry from St. Thomas as the offensive coordinator.

"The top two wide receivers from 2023 were gone and we needed some guys to step up," Landry said. "Bryce is 6-foot-3, over 200 pounds and fast. He was long and explosive.

"He had one catch for seven yards here, but he showed in the spring he probably could be a 'guy' for us. We started the season at Colorado; the player who won the Heisman Trophy [Travis Hunter] was in the secondary. Bryce had three catches.

"Then, we played Tennessee State at home, and he had a big game — seven catches, over 100 [106] yards and two touchdowns. His confidence went up from there."

The Bison were 9-for-9 in trips to Frisco to play for the FCS title since 2011. Then, in January 2023, they were buried 45-21 by rival South Dakota State in the title game. When the Jackrabbits showed up in Fargo on Oct. 19, they were two-time defending national champions and had an unthinkable five-game winning streak vs. NDSU.

Bison 13, Jacks 9.

"That first game was a war," Bryce Lance said. "And everyone assumed we would be playing again."

That rematch came in the national semifinals in Fargo on Dec. 21. "Our dome was jammed and it was shaking," Bryce said.

The two exceptional, veteran quarterbacks — SDSU's Mark Gronowski and NDSU's Cam Miller — got the offenses going this time and it was 21-21 in the middle of the fourth quarter after the Jacks' 90-yard TD drive.

The Bison returned fire and reached the SDSU 10. Miller threw toward Lance as he was sprinting in the end zone along the right sideline. The throw was high and outside, where only Lance could get it. He did so with one gloved hand as his outside foot came down inches inside the sideline.

It was declared incomplete on TV and there wasn't much disagreement — until the TV crew, and the Bison sideline, and the crowd, started seeing the replay.

Reply review agreed: Bryce had a firm grasp of the ball in his extended right hand and one foot in-bounds.

Touchdown. Bison 28, Jackrabbits 21. The score holds. NDSU is back in Frisco. Meantime, SDSU coach Jimmy Rogers took the job at Washington State, and he has assisted in the Jackrabbits being ravaged in the transfer portal.

And the catch has made Bryce Lance, previously Trey's kid brother, internet famous.

"It has been crazy," Lance said. "I've made that catch a lot, just maybe not in games."

For sure in the yard at the family home, down in Marshall in southwest Minnesota, taking throws from Trey. Bryce is three years younger.

How did Bryce hang in there at NDSU for three seasons of non-action as a Bison receiver? "I was about 180 pounds when I got here, so I definitely spent a lot of time in the weight room," he said. "Mostly, I had great teammates supporting me."

He also has had the academic part. Carlton Lance, his father, said: "Bryce graduated last month, in 3½ years and with honors. He'll be in a master's program when playing next fall. He's a sharp kid."

As for football, one catch in three years for NDSU has turned into 66 for 946 yards and 16 touchdowns. And the most-recent of those came with a reach all the way to Frisco, Texas.