THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State football team makes its home debut this week when the No. 2-ranked Bison (0-1) host the Tennessee State Tigers (1-0) from the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association. Game time is 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700).
TICKETS: Tickets may be purchased online at GoBison.com/tickets or by calling the Bison Ticket Office in the south lobby of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex at (701) 231-6378 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Game day ticket sales at the Fargodome begin 5 hours prior to kickoff.
TELEVISION: Saturday’s game will be televised on ABC stations statewide in North Dakota with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Kyle Emanuel (analyst) and Sam Goetzinger (sideline) handling the call. The game will also be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
RADIO: Statewide network coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. on the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network including Bison 1660 and 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Sam Neidermann (play-by-play), Phil Hansen (analyst) and Noah Gindorff (sideline). Streaming is available on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between North Dakota State and Tennessee State. NDSU and TSU are scheduled to play again in Week 2 next season (Sept. 6) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The Bison are 2-0 against Ohio Valley Conference teams with wins over Austin Peay (41-6 in the 2008 season opener) and Jacksonville State (37-10 in the 2015 national championship). This is Tennessee State’s first game against a Missouri Valley Football Conference team.
TREES BOWL: This is the 35th annual Trees Bowl game sponsored by the North Dakota Forest Service. NDSU has a 30-3 record in the Trees Bowl including last year’s 44-7 win over Maine. The Bison have won 15 straight since a 27-22 loss to Western Illinois in 2008. The first Trees Bowl game was played in 1990 against South Dakota State. There was one cancellation in 2001 against Maine.
HOME OPENERS: This is the 127th home opener in 128 seasons of Bison football. (NDSU does not list any home games in the 1899 season.) North Dakota State has a 99-22-5 all-time in its first home game of the season, including a 44-7 win over Maine last year. NDSU has won 25 straight since a 23-21 loss to Emporia State in 1998.
50/50 RAFFLE: The popular Team Makers 50/50 raffle is back for another year on Bison football game days with proceeds benefiting NDSU student-athlete scholarships. The pot for Saturday’s home opener will start at $92,500 after an unclaimed prize last season. Sales begin at 10:30 a.m. in the tailgating lot west of the Fargodome and in the east lobby of the Fargodome.
BOUNCING BACK: North Dakota State is 19-0 after regular-season losses since 2010. NDSU has not lost back-to-back regular season games since a five-game losing streak in the middle of the 2009 season. Last week’s loss at Colorado, coupled with last year’s national semifinal loss at Montana, marked the first consecutive losses for the Bison since 2009.
LAST WEEK: North Dakota State came up four yards short of an FBS victory against Colorado last Thursday night, falling 31-26. Cam Miller went 18-for-22 passing for a career-high 277 yards, including a 49-yard completion to Tyler Terhark short of the goal line on the game’s final play. Miller also led the Bison with 16 rushes for 81 yards and was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week. It was NDSU’s largest football TV audience and ESPN’s best Thursday opener since 2017 with more than 4.8 million viewers tuned in and a peak of 5.6 million viewers.
CAPTAINS NAMED: North Dakota State’s six captains for the 2024 season are WR Braylon Henderson, QB Cam Miller, LB Luke Weerts, DT Eli Mostaert, OT Grey Zabel and DE Dylan Hendricks. Miller, Weerts and Mostaert are all second-year captains.
BISON PICKED SECOND: North Dakota State was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference behind two-time defending national champion South Dakota State. NDSU had 10 players on the MVFC preseason team. First-team picks were FB/LS Hunter Brozio, OT Grey Zabel, DE Dylan Hendricks, DT Eli Mostaert, LB Logan Kopp and S Cole Wisniewski. Second-team honorees were QB Cam Miller, TE Joe Stoffel, OT Mason Miller and K Griffin Crosa.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: NDSU led the country with eight preseason FCS All-Americans selected by Stats Perform. NDSU DT Eli Mostaert, S Cole Wisniewski and LS Hunter Brozio were on the first team, QB Cam Miller, OT Grey Zabel, DE Dylan Hendricks and LB Logan Kopp were second team, and K Griffin Crosa was third team. The Missouri Valley Football Conference had 24 of the 106 preseason honorees, the most of all 13 FCS conferences.
LAST YEAR: North Dakota State was 11-4 last year and advanced to the NCAA Division I FCS semifinals for the 12th time in 13 seasons before falling to national runner-up Montana 31-29 in double overtime. NDSU tied for third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a 5-3 record.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: North Dakota State has made 37 postseason appearances including 14 straight dating back to 2010. NDSU has an 82-18 record in the postseason with 17 national championships including nine FCS titles in 11 years from 2011 to 2021. The Bison won three College Division national championships in 1965, 1968 and 1969 and five Division II titles in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990. NDSU is 77-17 in the NCAA playoff format since 1973. The Bison have a 47-5 mark in the FCS playoffs, including a 35-1 record in the Fargodome.
Most FCS Playoff Wins
47 – North Dakota State
45 – Georgia Southern
38 – Montana
29 – Youngstown State
26 – Northern Iowa
Highest Winning Percentage in FCS Playoffs
.904 – North Dakota State (47-5)
.793 – Marshall (23-6)
.776 – Georgia Southern (45-13)
.763 – Youngstown State (29-9)
CROSA ON RECORD PACE: NDSU’s Griffin Crosa is on pace to break multiple scoring records. Crosa, entering his fourth season as NDSU’s top placekicker and his sixth year overall with the Bison, ranks fourth in field goals made (44), second in PATs made (205) and fifth in total points (337). He is also within reach of the MVFC and NCAA FCS extra-points record of 261 set by NDSU’s Cam Pedersen from 2015 to 2018. His streak of 127 consecutive PAT conversions snapped in 2023 was the third longest in Missouri Valley Football Conference history. Crosa led the MVFC last season with 19 field goals, 70 extra points and 127 total points.
NDSU Career Points Scored
399 – Cam Pedersen, K, 2015-18
386 – Jeff Bentrim, QB, 1983-86
384 – Lamar Gordon, RB, 1998-01
359 – Adam Keller, K, 2011-14
337 – Griffin Crosa, K, 2019-23
NDSU Career PAT Kicks Made
261 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18 (MVFC and FCS record)
205 – Griffin Crosa, 2019-23
191 – Adam Keller, 2011-14
NDSU Career FG Made
56 – Adam Keller, 2011-14
51 – Shawn Bibeau, 2006-09
46 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18
44 – Griffin Crosa, 2019-23
42 – Aaron Pederson, 1998-01
FOURTH-YEAR STARTER: Quarterback Cam Miller has started 39 straight games for NDSU since the middle of the 2021 season. Miller has led NDSU to a 31-10 record as the starting QB, including two NCAA playoff games in the spring 2021 season.
RECORD SEASON: NDSU quarterback Cam Miller completed a school-record 72 percent of his passes last season going 208-for-289 with 19 touchdowns and four interceptions. That was the third best completion percentage in Missouri Valley Football Conference history. Miller set NDSU and MVFC records in 2023 with 23 consecutive completions against Central Arkansas (17) and South Dakota (6).
TOP FIVE PASSER: North Dakota State’s Cam Miller is among the top five passers in NDSU history entering the season ranked fourth in passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns. He also ranks first in career passing completion percentage (67.8%), fifth in pass efficiency (159.1), fifth in yards per passing attempt (8.8), and is tied for eighth in Bison history with 38 career rushing touchdowns.
NDSU Career Pass Attempts
1,124 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
980 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
841 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
765 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
612 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career Pass Completions
703 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
598 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
534 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
519 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
392 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career Passing Yards
8,693 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
8,598 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
7,033 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
6,747 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
5,115 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career Passing TDs
88 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
72 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
60 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
49 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
45 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career TDs Responsible For
129 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
107 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
88 – Jeff Bentrim, 1983-86
87 – Cam Miller, 2020-24
85 – Kevin Feeney, 1995-98
NDSU Career Total Offense Yards
11,216 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
9,838 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
8,474 – Cam Miller, 2020-24
7,230 – Kevin Feeney, 1995-98
7,144 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
AWARD CANDIDATES: North Dakota State has six players on preseason watch lists for national player of the year honors. QB Cam Miller is listed for the Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the FCS Offensive Player of the Year. Miller finished 11th in the voting last year. DT Eli Mostaert, LB Logan Kopp and S Cole Wisniewski are up for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the FCS Defensive Player of the Year. Kopp tied for 22nd in the voting last year. Kaedin Steindorf is on the FCS Punter of the Year watch list, and Griffin Crosa is on the preseason list for the Fred Mitchell Award, presented to the top placekicker among the FCS, Division II, III, NAIA and NJCAA.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: North Dakota State is 81-6 against non-conference opponents since the beginning of its first FCS national championship season in 2011. Two losses were to FBS opponents (31-28 at Arizona in 2021 and 31-26 at Colorado in 2024) and two were in the playoffs to the eventual national champion (27-17 to James Madison in 2016 and 24-20 at Sam Houston State in 2020-21). Montana’s 31-29 double-overtime win in the 2023 FCS semifinals and 38-35 victory in the 2015 FCS Kickoff are NDSU’s only other non-conference loss the past 13 years.
BISON AT HOME: The Bison have a 189-29 record in the Fargodome, 33-6 at home against FCS Top 10 ranked teams, and winners of 82 of the last 84 home games over non-conference opponents. North Dakota State has a 35-1 record in the Fargodome during the NCAA playoffs and has won 17 straight home playoff games since the 2016 semifinal loss to eventual national champion James Madison. NDSU’s 32-game home winning streak September 2017 through April 2021 was fourth longest in FCS history.
BOHL TO BE INDUCTED: NDSU’s all-time winningest head football coach, Craig Bohl, will be inducted in the 2024 class of the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 20. Bohl was a two-time Eddie Robinson Award winner as FCS Coach of the Year and compiled a 104-32 record over 11 seasons from 2003-2013. He guided the Bison through their final season of Division II in 2003 and quickly transitioned the Bison to Division I prominence beating seven FBS opponents and reaching the FCS playoffs four times with three straight national titles in his final three seasons. He retired from coaching following the 2023 season after 10 years at Wyoming and is currently the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. Tickets to the hall of fame luncheon are on sale at GoBison.com/tickets.