FARGO, N.D. – A season that exceeded even lofty expectations ended here Saturday against the No. 1 team in the nation.
 
North Dakota State scored in every quarter and blanked the eighth-seeded Colgate Raiders 35-0 in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Quarterfinals.
 
And in a season that harkened so many memories of Colgate's 2003 run to the national championship game, Saturday result saw the Raiders suffer their first shutout since that 40-0 title-game loss to Delaware.
 
No. 8 Colgate trailed just 7-0 midway in the second quarter and had fourth-and-2 at the NDSU 35. But Grant Breneman's pass to Nick Diaco didn't quite connect, and the Bison took over from there.
 
North Dakota State scored to make it 14-0 at halftime and then drove for another TD to open the third quarter. Colgate drove into Bison territory later in the third but the march stalled at the NDSU 29, and that was that.
 
The Raiders were the preseason pick to win the Patriot League, and they followed through on that prediction to perfection.
 
But the way in which they mastered the competition in and out of conference play during the regular season was a thing to behold. Colgate tied an FCS record with five shutouts, compiling them over a six-game stretch that drew notice all across the football world.
 
And that level of excellence carried over into the postseason, where the Raiders earned a No. 8 overall seed and then knocked off sixth-ranked James Madison in thrilling fashion.
 
But Saturday was a different Bison animal. North Dakota State is 13-0 and now two wins away from winning the NCAA FCS title for the seventh time in eight seasons.
 
Colgate finishes with just its fourth 10-win campaign in 128 seasons of football. But the Raiders reached the NCAA quarterfinals for the second time in four years, and head coach Dan Hunt is signed to a new five-year extension.
 
Here's hoping this is the new normal.
 
Bottom Line
• North Dakota State 35, Colgate 0

Won-Lost Records
• Colgate caps its season at 10-2.
• North Dakota State improves to 13-0.
 
Stats of the Game
• In addition to Colgate suffering its first shutout of any kind since 2003, North Dakota State's shutout was its first in the playoffs since a 24-0 blanking of Lehigh in 2011.
• T.J. Holl and Alec Wisniewski were the game's leading tacklers, with 16 and 12 respectively.
• Wisniewski's total missed his career high by one. Holl this season had 18 tackles against both Cornell and Army, and 16 Saturday.
• James Holland Jr., rushed for 65 yards on a 5.9-yard average before leaving the game with an injury.
• Colgate's 157 yards of total offense were the fewest since the Raiders were held to 143 at Syracuse to open the 2016 season.
• Nick Wheeler posted his ninth sack of the season, upping his career total to 23½. He goes into next season five sacks shy of the Colgate record.
• Josh Cerra's eight punts were not a career high. He had 10 in that game at Syracuse. Today's average was for 42.6.
 
From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On North Dakota State) "They are different than anyone we've played, with the possible exception of Army. That's just a fact. That's not a Patriot League team we're playing. We knew that and we respected that.
 
"The last three games we've played have been measuring sticks for where we think we can get to. The Army game, we had to one possession in the fourth quarter (without the starting quarterback); we beat James Madison; and then today was a different animal, particularly defensively.
 
"They were a little different than what we played all year, and it showed."
 
(On taking the next step) "North Dakota State has the blueprint for what we want to do. I've said it to anyone who would listen, when we put the film on of these guys, this is the hardest-playing football team we've faced. And that's exactly what we try to do when we play offense and defense.
 
"It's just, can you do it in the Patriot League and the parameters we have academically. We certainly want to try and we certainly believe we can. This is two straight trips to the playoffs that came to an end in the quarters.
 
"Trust me, all we will be working on between now and next year is what we can do to take that next step."
 
• Colgate quarterback Grant Breneman: (On the NDSU defense) "All three levels of their defense were really solid. They really flew to the ball. We saw that on film but they did a good job of keeping us off schedule. They let the D-ends go and that was something we had trouble with all day.
 
"Obviously, I'm disappointed that we couldn't get anything going, but they are a good defense.
 
"They're the best team in the country right now and they're better than anybody we've played. It just comes down to we didn't do enough executing on first and second down to get us in good spots, and when we had the opportunities, we didn't hit them. You can't give up opportunities to a team like this because they just don't come around very often."
 
• Colgate linebacker T.J. Holl: (On second-half adjustments) "The first possession, they came out just like what happened last week and caught us sleeping and they really executed well. But after that possession, our defense was controlling the game. We got to halftime right where we wanted them.
 
"But in the second half, they started to execute better with their gap integrity on the inside runs. And once they got it to second and medium and third and medium, they started throwing the ball really well.
 
"The quarterback is very talented. We saw a bunch of tape and we respected him; we knew he was a great player. But he really puts a lot of zip on the ball and it's really hard to defend. They executed really well in the passing game in the second half."
 
• Colgate defensive back Alec Wisniewski: (On the season) "We are building this program. We are a small liberal arts university in upstate New York, and we've made huge strides. In 2015, that was like your March Madness Cinderella. This year, we really put our mark on the map.
 
"We fell short today, but over these three years we've set the standard. If we continue to do that, hopefully you will see us at this stage again and matching their program."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at the Fargodome was 16,404.
 
Up Next
• Colgate's season is complete.