Bison Athletic Hall of Fame
1985 Football Team
- Induction:
- 2026
Watch the 2026 Bison Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony
North Dakota State claimed its fifth national championship with a 35-7 victory over North Alabama in the Palm Bowl in McAllen, Texas...Hall of famer Tyrone Braxton set the tone for the day taking the opening kickoff back 73 yards and the Bison scored six plays later...NDSU scored on two of its first three possessions and broke the game open in the third quarter with two touchdowns off of three UNA turnovers...The Bison won two road playoff games to get to the Division II title game...NDSU beat UC Davis 31-12 in the quarterfinals and avenged a regular-season loss at South Dakota in the semifinals, where “the pitch” from Jeff Bentrim to James Molstre led to a 68-yard touchdown that sparked NDSU in the first half of an eventual 16-7 victory...Under first-year head coach Earle Solomonson, NDSU finished 11-2-1 overall with a 10-game unbeaten streak at the end of the year...The Bison won their fifth straight North Central Conference title with a 7-1-1 record...Offensive guard Ted Hall was named NCC Most Valuable Lineman and linebacker Jim Dick was named NCC Most Valuable Back...Free safety Tom Van Voorhis and nose guard Paul Nielsen also made the All-NCC first team...Hall and Dick were Football News first team All-Americans and also earned second team honors from the Associated Press...The 1985 Bison ranked third in Division II rushing offense with 287.9 yards per game and Jeff Bentrim earned his second straight national scoring title averaging 13.8 points per game...The team included 15 future Bison Athletic Hall of Famers: Jeff Bentrim, Tyrone Braxton, Chad Stark, Len Kretchman, Doug Lloyd, Charlie Stock, Mike Favor, Yorrick “Snuffy” Byers, Matt Tracy, Ted Hall, Paul Lenz, Paul Nielsen, head coach Earle Solomonson, defensive coordinator Rocky Hager, and offensive line coach Lew Curry.
North Dakota State claimed its fifth national championship with a 35-7 victory over North Alabama in the Palm Bowl in McAllen, Texas...Hall of famer Tyrone Braxton set the tone for the day taking the opening kickoff back 73 yards and the Bison scored six plays later...NDSU scored on two of its first three possessions and broke the game open in the third quarter with two touchdowns off of three UNA turnovers...The Bison won two road playoff games to get to the Division II title game...NDSU beat UC Davis 31-12 in the quarterfinals and avenged a regular-season loss at South Dakota in the semifinals, where “the pitch” from Jeff Bentrim to James Molstre led to a 68-yard touchdown that sparked NDSU in the first half of an eventual 16-7 victory...Under first-year head coach Earle Solomonson, NDSU finished 11-2-1 overall with a 10-game unbeaten streak at the end of the year...The Bison won their fifth straight North Central Conference title with a 7-1-1 record...Offensive guard Ted Hall was named NCC Most Valuable Lineman and linebacker Jim Dick was named NCC Most Valuable Back...Free safety Tom Van Voorhis and nose guard Paul Nielsen also made the All-NCC first team...Hall and Dick were Football News first team All-Americans and also earned second team honors from the Associated Press...The 1985 Bison ranked third in Division II rushing offense with 287.9 yards per game and Jeff Bentrim earned his second straight national scoring title averaging 13.8 points per game...The team included 15 future Bison Athletic Hall of Famers: Jeff Bentrim, Tyrone Braxton, Chad Stark, Len Kretchman, Doug Lloyd, Charlie Stock, Mike Favor, Yorrick “Snuffy” Byers, Matt Tracy, Ted Hall, Paul Lenz, Paul Nielsen, head coach Earle Solomonson, defensive coordinator Rocky Hager, and offensive line coach Lew Curry.