In 2019, a gifted former high school basketball star had a breakout season to carry his team to a college football national title. Along the way, he put up stats never seen before and got NFL personnel people buzzing.



Sounds very familiar, right? But this actually isn’t a Joe Burrow story.



It’s about Trey Lance, who as a redshirt freshman led North Dakota State to an FCS national title and produced a 28-to-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He helped the Bison achieve the first 16-0 finish in college football since 1894 and became the first freshman to win both the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award as the division’s top offensive player and the Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the FCS. The 6-3, 225-pounder from Marshall, Minn., led the FCS in passing efficiency and set school single-season records for passing efficiency (180.6) and total offense yards (3,886), lofty achievements considering the Bison quarterbacks who came before him.



As...