THIS WEEK: The No. 1-ranked North Dakota State football team returns home this week when the Bison (8-1, 5-0 MVFC) host the Northern Iowa Panthers (2-6, 0-4 MVFC) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, 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 broadcast will be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
RADIO: Statewide network coverage on all 25 stations across the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network begins at 1:30 p.m. 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.
WEEKLY SHOWS: Fans are invited to join the NDSU head coach Tim Polasek each Thursday night from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for the Bison Football Coaches Show live from Holiday Inn Fargo with host Sam Neidermann and other NDSU coaches and players. The show can be heard on Bison 1660 in Fargo, KSJB-AM 600 in Jamestown, KYCR-AM 1440 in Minneapolis, GoBison.com and the NDSU Athletics mobile app. On television, The Bison Football Show airs statewide each Sunday night at 10:35 p.m. on WDAY (Fargo), WDAZ (Grand Forks), KBMY (Bismarck) and KMCY (Minot).
THE SERIES: This is the 57th meeting between North Dakota State and Northern Iowa dating back to 1938. NDSU has won nine straight to take a 30-26 lead in the series, including last year’s 48-27 victory in Cedar Falls. UNI is unranked in the FCS Top 25 for just the second time in 17 meetings against NDSU as Division I opponents. The Bison have a 12-4 edge in the series since joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008.
LAST YEAR: Quarterback Cam Miller completed his first eight passing attempts and had 115 of his 238 yards in the first quarter as NDSU beat UNI 48-27 last year in Cedar Falls. Miller completed touchdown passes to Eli Green and RaJa Nelson and also ran for a 1-yard touchdown. Griffin Crosa connected on field goals from 34 and 37 yards, Cole Payton scored on runs of 65 and 23 yards, and Cole Wisniewski had a 75-yard interception return for touchdown. Linebacker Oscar Benson had the first two interceptions of his career, and Sam Jung intercepted a pass.
LAST WEEK: North Dakota State scored on all five first-half possessions and rolled to a 59-6 road win over Murray State last week. The Bison scored 24 points off five Murray State turnovers, including linebacker Enock Sibomana returning his first career interception 34 yards for a touchdown. Darius Givance had his second interception in three games, Jaquise Alexander got his first pick, and the Bison recovered two of the Racers’ four fumbles. Bryce Lance caught four passes for a career-high 108 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. CharMar Brown rushed 13 times for 97 yards and three TDs to earn MVFC Newcomer of the Week for the third time this year.
BACK ON TOP: North Dakota State’s 13-9 win over previously No. 1-ranked South Dakota State vaulted the Bison into the top spot in the Stats Perform FCS media poll and AFCA FCS Coaches Poll for the first time since October 10, 2022. South Dakota State slipped to third in both polls behind No. 2 Montana State. NDSU is in the Stats Perform media poll for a record 197th consecutive time, breaking Montana’s record streak of 195 straight from 1998 to 2012. The Bison have been in every FCS media poll since Nov. 1, 2010. This is the 79th week NDSU has carried a No. 1 FCS ranking.
TOP 25 WINS: NDSU has five wins against teams currently ranked in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, including No. 3 South Dakota State, No. 15 North Dakota, No. 21 Illinois State, No. 23 East Tennessee State and No. 25 Tennessee State. Additionally, Colorado has moved up to 23rd in the latest Associated Press FBS Top 25. The Buffaloes held off NDSU 31-26 in the season-opener.
TOP 10 REVEAL: The NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee will release their FCS Top 10 this Wednesday, Oct. 30, during College Football Live starting at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. This will serve as a snapshot as to where the committee has teams ranked heading into the final four weeks of the regular season. The 24-team playoff bracket (10 automatic qualifiers, 14 at-large selections) will be unveiled on the FCS Selection Show at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, on ESPNU.
LATE BYE: This is only the fifth time in 17 seasons NDSU has begun Missouri Valley Football Conference play without an off week. The Nov. 9 bye in NDSU’s conference schedule is Week 11 of the regular-season. It is the latest off week for the Bison since 2008 when the Bison had a Nov. 8 bye in Week 11, which was the second of two open weeks in NDSU’s 2008 conference schedule.
TURNOVERS: NDSU has committed the fewest turnovers in FCS this year (two) with one fumble and one interception. The FCS leader in turnover margin last season at plus-17, NDSU currently leads the FCS at plus-14. The best two seasons in turnover margin for the Bison at the Division I level were plus-19 during the 2017 and 2018 national championship seasons. NDSU scored its first defensive touchdown of the year at Murray State on Enock Sibomana‘s 34-yard interception.
RICE CANDIDATE: North Dakota State’s CharMar Brown was named to the initial watch list for the Jerry Rice Award, presented annually to the top freshman player in the FCS. Brown ranks fourth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 10 rushing touchdowns and third with a team-high 674 rushing yards, the most yards by any Division I freshman this year. Brown is averaging 4.9 yards per carry and has lost only nine yards in 138 attempts. He had three TDs in each of the wins over Towson and Murray State.
Most Rushing Yards, Division I Freshmen
674 – CharMar Brown, North Dakota State
649 – Isaac Brown, Louisville
604 – Ahmad Hardy, Louisiana-Monroe
588 – TJ Thomas, Elon
578 – Fluff Bothwell, South Alabama
LEAGUE LEADER: North Dakota State wide receiver Bryce Lance at Murray State became the first NDSU player since Kole Heckendorf in 2008 to catch three touchdown passes in a single game. That included a career-long 74-yard reception from Cam Miller. Lance is tied for the Missouri Valley Football Conference lead with eight touchdown catches, the most by an NDSU player since Darrius Shepherd‘s nine in 2018.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State has had seven players earn 10 Missouri Valley Football Conference player of the week awards this season.
— Cam Miller, Offense (9/2, 10/7)…Had 358 yards of total offense and three TDs at Colorado including a career-high 277 yards on 18 of 22 passing…Also carried 16 times for 81 yards with a 20-yard TD that pulled NDSU within five points with 2:19 to play…Had 207 total yards and three TDs against North Dakota, leading the Bison to points on six of their first seven drives.
— CharMar Brown, Newcomer (9/23, 9/30, 10/28)…Rushed 24 times for 126 yards and three TDs in the win over Towson, including 41 yards on five straight carries in the fourth quarter as NDSU scored to make it a two-possession game…Ran for 100 yards on 17 carries at Illinois State the following week…Had 97 yards on 13 carries with 3 TDs at Murray State.
—Jackson Williams, Special Teams (9/23)…Game-high 169 all-purpose yards in the win over Towson, including a 67-yard touchdown on his first collegiate punt return…Also averaged 21.3 yards on four kickoff returns.
—Eli Mostaert, Defense (9/30)…Had two of NDSU’s five sacks in the win at Illinois State, helping limit the Redbirds to eight net rushing yards and 4 of 12 on third down.
—Grey Zabel, Offensive Line (10/7)…Graded 94% with zero sacks, hurries or TFLs allowed as the Bison rushed for 208 yards, converted 11 of 16 third downs and held the ball for more than 34 minutes in the win over North Dakota.
—Logan Kopp, Defense (10/21)…Made six tackles and sealed the 13-9 win over South Dakota State with an interception at the NDSU 38 with 1:00 left.
—Kaedin Steindorf, Special Teams (10/21)…Averaged 43.8 yards on five punts with two 47-yarders, one out-of-bounds at the SDSU 4 helping limit the Jacks to zero punt return yards.
NATIONAL TEAM OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State was named Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week after the 41-17 win over North Dakota. The Bison scored on six of their first seven possessions led by MVFC Offensive Player of the Week Cam Miller, who accounted for 207 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. NDSU held UND to a season-low 101 rushing yards with safety Sam Jung making a team-high six tackles and defensive end Dylan Hendricks making three stops including one sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
TWO RECORDS FOR MILLER: NDSU’s Cam Miller had his 15th career 200-yard passing game against Illinois State, surpassing the school record held by Brock Jensen, who passed for 200-plus yards in 14 games from 2010 to 2013. Miller picked up his 42nd career rushing touchdown against North Dakota, breaking the Missouri Valley Football Conference record for quarterbacks set previously by NDSU’s Easton Stick from 2015 to 2018.
PASSING GAME: Quarterback Cam Miller has passed for more than 200 yards in eight of NDSU’s last 15 games and has not thrown an interception in 291 attempts over that span. He leads the FCS in completion percentage (.768), ranks third in pass efficiency (184.0) and fourth in points responsible for (134), and is seventh nationally with 9.45 yards per pass attempt.
NDSU Most Pass Attempts Without Interception
307 – Trey Lance, 2018-2020 (19 games)
291 – Cam Miller, 2023-present (15 games)
152 – Easton Stick, 2016-2017 (9 games)
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.
AWARD CANDIDATES: North Dakota State had 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 84-6 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 193-29 record in the Fargodome, 35-6 at home against FCS Top 10 ranked teams, and winners of 84 of the last 86 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.
CROSA ON RECORD PACE: NDSU’s Griffin Crosa, in his fourth season as NDSU’s top placekicker and his sixth year overall with the Bison, is on pace to break the NDSU scoring record and 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. Crosa’s 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
387 – Griffin Crosa, K, 2019-23
386 – Jeff Bentrim, QB, 1983-86
384 – Lamar Gordon, RB, 1998-01
359 – Adam Keller, K, 2011-14
NDSU Career PAT Kicks Made
261 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18 (MVFC and FCS record)
240 – Griffin Crosa, 2019-23
191 – Adam Keller, 2011-14
NDSU Career FG Made
56 – Adam Keller, 2011-14
51 – Shawn Bibeau, 2006-09
49 – Griffin Crosa, 2019-23
46 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18
42 – Aaron Pederson, 1998-01
FOURTH-YEAR STARTER: Quarterback Cam Miller has started 47 straight games for NDSU since the middle of the 2021 season. Miller has led NDSU to a 39-10 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).
STREAKING AGAIN: Quarterback Cam Miller enters the Northern Iowa game with 13 consecutive completed pass attempts over the past two games against South Dakota State (8) and Murray State (5). Earlier this year, Miller completed 16 straight attempts over two games against East Tennessee State (2) and Towson (14) and followed that with a streak of 14 straight completions against Towson (1) and Illinois State (13).
TOP FIVE PASSER: North Dakota State’s Cam Miller is among the top five passers in NDSU history for passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns. He also ranks first in career passing completion percentage (69.3%), third in pass efficiency (163.2), fifth in yards per passing attempt (8.9), and sixth in Bison history with 42 career rushing touchdowns, breaking the Missouri Valley Football Conference record of 41 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback set by NDSU’s Easton Stick from 2015 to 2018.
NDSU Career Pass Attempts
1,124 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
980 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
933 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
841 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
612 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career Pass Completions
703 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
647 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
598 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
534 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
392 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career Passing Yards
8,693 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
8,598 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
8,265 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
7,033 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
5,115 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career Passing TDs
88 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
72 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
64 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
60 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
45 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career TDs Responsible For
129 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
107 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
106 – Cam Miller, 2020-24
88 – Jeff Bentrim, 1983-86
85 – Kevin Feeney, 1995-98
NDSU Career Total Offense Yards
11,216 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
10,163 – Cam Miller, 2020-24
9,838 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
7,230 – Kevin Feeney, 1995-98
7,144 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
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