THIS WEEK: The top two ranked teams in the Football Championship Subdivision meet this week when No. 1-ranked South Dakota State (5-1, 2-0 MVFC) visits Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700) to face second-ranked North Dakota State (6-1, 3-0 MVFC) in the 21st annual Dakota Marker game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19.
TICKETS: Tickets were sold out as of Monday, but some tickets are available through SeatGeek, the official secondary ticket marketplace of NDSU Athletics. Returned team tickets, if available, will go on sale Friday morning at 8 a.m. on GoBison.com/tickets.
TELEVISION: Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN2 with Jay Alter (play-by-play) and Rocky Boiman (analyst) handling the call. This is the first Dakota Marker game to be televised on a national network. NDSU has a 35-7 record on national TV, including 20-2 on ESPN2, as a Division I program since 2004.
RADIO: Statewide network coverage on all 25 stations across the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network begins at 6 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: Entering the 116th meeting this week, the NDSU-SDSU series is the 11th most played rivalry among current FCS programs. North Dakota State leads the all-time series 63-47-5, but South Dakota State has won its last two trips to Fargo and five straight overall including a 33-16 victory in Brookings last season. This is the fourth time NDSU and SDSU will play on October 19th, the same date the series began in 1903 with an 85-0 Bison win in Fargo. The teams tied 0-0 in the 1929 game and the Bison won 31-7 in 1996, both in Fargo.
DAKOTA MARKER: NDSU and SDSU have played for the Dakota Marker in each regular-season meeting since 2004, the first season of Division I play for both programs. SDSU has won the last four to tie the series 10-10. The Dakota Marker is a 75-pound model replica of the original quartzite monuments that were 7 feet long and 10 inches square and placed at half-mile intervals along the state border in the summers of 1891 and 1892. It is inscribed with N.D. and S.D. on opposite sides and 190 M, the number of miles between Fargo and Brookings.
NUMBER ONE: This will be NDSU’s second regular-season matchup against a No. 1-ranked team in the FCS. The Bison are 3-3 against top-ranked teams with four of those games played in Frisco, Texas, for the FCS national championship.
NDSU vs. No. 1-Ranked FCS Opponents
12/11/2010 – at Eastern Washington – L, 31-38 (OT)
1/7/2012 – vs Sam Houston State – W, 17-6
1/9/2016 – vs Jacksonville State – W, 37-10
1/6/2018 – vs James Madison – W, 17-13
1/8/2023 – vs South Dakota State – L, 21-45
11/4/2023 – at South Dakota State – L, 16-33
TOP TWO MATCHUP: This is the ninth No. 1 vs. 2 matchup in FCS history, but only the third time it has happened in the regular season. It’s the fifth straight featuring at least one Missouri Valley Football Conference team. The No. 2-ranked team has a 5-3 edge in the eight prior meetings. This is the 27th time in MVFC history that conference teams have been 1-2 in a national poll.
FCS No. 1 vs. 2 History
*12/19/1981 – #2 Idaho State 34, #1 Eastern Kentucky 23
10/24/1992 – #1 Northern Iowa 27, #2 Idaho 26
*12/21/1996 – #2 Marshall 49, #1 Montana 29
*12/18/2009 – #2 Villanova 23, #1 Montana 21
*1/9/2016 – #2 NDSU 37, #1 Jacksonville State 10
*1/11/2020 – #1 NDSU 28, #2 James Madison 20
10/15/2022 – #2 SDSU 23, #1 NDSU 21
*1/7/2024 – #1 SDSU 23, #2 Montana 3
*denotes FCS title games
POLL STREAK: Ranked second again this week, North Dakota State is in the Stats Perform FCS media poll for the 195th consecutive time, matching Montana’s record streak from 1998 to 2002. The Bison have been in every FCS media poll since Nov. 1, 2010. This week is SDSU’s 167th consecutive appearance in the media poll.
PLAYOFF HISTORY: North Dakota State (9) and South Dakota State (2) have combined to win 11 of the last 13 FCS national championships. NDSU and SDSU have met five times in the FCS playoffs with the Bison winning in the 2012 and 2014 second round, 2016 quarterfinal and 2018 semifinal. The Jackrabbits won in the 2022 championship, their first of back-to-back national titles. SDSU has a 22-11 record in 13 FCS playoff appearances; NDSU is 47-5 in 14 appearances.
FCS TO NFL: At least 15 NFL scouts will be in attendance for Saturday’s game, the most for an NDSU home game since 25 attended the lone fall 2020 game against Central Arkansas. That was the final home game for two 2021 draft picks— first round quarterback Trey Lance and second round offensive tackle Dillon Radunz. The NDSU-SDSU game drew seven scouts in 2022 and eight in 2018. The Bison have 12 former players currently on NFL rosters; the Jackrabbits have six.
NIGHT GAMES: This is the first Saturday night home game for NDSU since the 2016 FCS Kickoff against Charleston Southern on ESPN. The Bison have hosted six Friday night games in the FCS playoffs since then, most recently a 35-32 win over Incarnate Word in the 2022 semifinals. NDSU is 49-13 in night games (6 p.m. or later local starting time) as a Division I program since 2004, including a 16-1 mark at home since 2010.
TURNOVERS: North Dakota State is tied with Cornell, Delaware and Eastern Washington for the FCS lead in fewest turnovers lost with two this season. NDSU leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a plus-8 turnover margin, including plus-4 over the past two weeks. In NDSU’s five-game losing streak to SDSU since the spring of 2021, the Jackrabbits have created 10 turnovers while committing none.
POSITIVE YARDS: North Dakota State’s CharMar Brown ranks third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a team-high seven rushing touchdowns and 544 rushing yards, the most yards by any freshman in Division I this year. Brown is averaging 4.73 yards per carry and has lost only nine yards in 115 attempts.
Most Rushing Yards, Division I Freshmen
544 – CharMar Brown, North Dakota State
508 – Isaac Brown, Louisville
500 – Ahmad Hardy, Louisiana-Monroe
477 – Adam Jones, Montana State
458 – David Avit, Villanova
RUNNING GAME: If there’s a magic number in the Dakota Marker series, it might be 170. That’s the number of rushing yards SDSU has held NDSU under in each of its seven victories since 2016. NDSU has rushed for 170 or more yards in all 10 of its wins since 2012.
WINNING STREAK: South Dakota State enters on a 19-game conference winning streak, which is tied for the most consecutive wins in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. North Dakota State won 19 straight league games from 2017 to 2020-21 and 18 from 2012 to 2014.
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.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State has had five players earn seven Missouri Valley Football Conference player of the week awards this season.
— Cam Miller, Offense (9/2 and 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 and 9/30)…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.
—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.
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.
MR. EFFICIENCY: Quarterback Cam Miller has passed for more than 200 yards in eight of NDSU’s last 13 games and has not thrown an interception in 259 attempts over that span. He leads the FCS in pass efficiency (181.6), ranks second in completion percentage (.766), fourth in points responsible for (110), and is fifth nationally with 9.52 yards per passing attempt.
LONG BALL: NDSU quarterback Cole Payton‘s 73-yard touchdown run at Illinois State is the longest play of the season for NDSU and the longest of Payton’s career, which includes TD runs last year of 61 against Maine, 65 against Northern Iowa and 70 against Eastern Washington. Payton led the Bison last year with 10 touchdowns going 20 or more yards.
BIG KICKS: Prior to his 54-yard field goal at East Tennessee State, Eli Ozick‘s 51-yard field goal on his first career attempt against Tennessee State was the longest field goal by a Bison kicker in eight years when Cam Pedersen hit from 52 yards in the 2016 season-opener against Charleston Southern. Ozick has booted 42 of 49 kickoffs into the end zone with 41 touchbacks helping the Bison limit opponents to just 52 return yards through seven contests.
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 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 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 192-29 record in the Fargodome, 34-6 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, entering 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
386 – Jeff Bentrim, QB, 1983-86
384 – Lamar Gordon, RB, 1998-01
379 – Griffin Crosa, K, 2019-23
359 – Adam Keller, K, 2011-14
NDSU Career PAT Kicks Made
261 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18 (MVFC and FCS record)
232 – 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 45 straight games for NDSU since the middle of the 2021 season. Miller has led NDSU to a 37-10 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 for passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns. He also ranks first in career passing completion percentage (69.0%), third in pass efficiency (162.0), 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
901 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
841 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
612 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career Pass Completions
703 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
622 – 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
7,974 – 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
60 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
60 – Cam Miller, 2020-23
45 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15
NDSU Career TDs Responsible For
129 – Easton Stick, 2015-18
107 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
102 – 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
9,848 – Cam Miller, 2020-24
9,838 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
7,230 – Kevin Feeney, 1995-98
7,144 – Steve Walker, 2004-07