GAME ONE:
No. 19-ranked North Dakota State is scheduled to open the 2006 season against Concordia University, St. Paul at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, at the Fargodome (18,700) ... It is the season opener for both teams ... North Dakota State begins its 110th season of football .
TICKETS: Crowd estimate for the Thursday's opener through Monday morning is between 15,000-15,500 ... For more information, contact the NDSU ticket office at 1-888-231-NDSU (6378) or www.GoBison.com/tickets.
OPENING NIGHT: North Dakota State has won seven straight opening games since 1999 ... Last year the Bison opened with a 59-7 against Arkansas-Monticello ... The last loss came against Emporia (Kan.) State, which defeated NDSU 23-21 in the 1998 opener ... North Dakota State has compiled a 73-29-7 (.702) record in the first game of the season ... The Bison have posted 29 shutouts in 109 openers with the last coming in 2004 against Valparaiso (Ind.) by a 52-0 count ... The Bison have won 13 of the last 15 season openers since 1991 ... Concordia-St. Paul is the 48th different opening day opponent for NDSU.
OPENING ODDS-N-ENDS: North Dakota State has averaged 46.9 points on offense and allowed 12.6 points defensively in opening games since 1999 ... NDSU and Ferris State hooked up in the highest combined scoring opener in school history ... The Bison defeated Ferris State 55-35 in a game that featured 830 yards and back-to-back kickoff returns for TDs.
CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN: North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl announced that senior defensive tackle Justin Frick (Yankton, S.D.), senior strong safety Craig Dahl (Mankato, Minn.), senior running back Kyle Steffes (Dickinson, N.D.) and junior quarterback Steve Walker (Lockport, Ill.) were named captains of the 2006 Bison football team ... Dahl and Walker served as captains last season.
TRUE FRESHMEN: North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl announced three true freshmen should see significant playing this season ... Kicker Shawn Bibeau (White Bear Lake, Minn./), cornerback Derrius Colvin (South Holland, Ill.) and running back Pete Blincoe (Imperial, Calif.) have been impressive during fall camp according to the coaches.
BISON QUICK-HITTERS: A pair of North Dakota State seniors, running back Kyle Steffes and wide receiver Travis White, are ready to attack the school's top five list in their respected disciplines ... Steffes enters the season opener ranked No. 7 in rushing ... He has rushed for 2,702 yards and 30 touchdowns on 563 carries in 29 games ... Steffes is 136 yards from passing No. 6 Chad Stark (1983-86, 406-2837, 30 TDs) ... White has caught a pass in 14 games in a row dating back to South Dakota on Nov. 1, 2003 ... He missed last season due to a knee injury ... White is No. 3 in receptions (119), No. 6 in pass receiving yardage (1,336) and tied for No. 6 in TD receptions (11) ... On the radar is junior quarterback Steve Walker, who is No. 9 in passing yards (2,486) and tied for No. 9 in pass completions (183) ... Senior strong safety Craig Dahl is No. 3 in career solo tackles with 102 ... Dahl trails only Jared Essler (123, 2001-04) and Mike Sheppard (111, 2000-03) ...
THE SERIES: This is the second meeting between the two schools ... North Dakota State defeated Concordia-St. Paul 58-24 in the final game of the 2003 season ... NDSU is 26-5-1 against teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
BISON 2005 REWIND: North Dakota State completed the 2005 season with a 7-4 record under the direction of head coach Craig Bohl, and tied for third place in the Great West Football Conference with a 3-2 record ... The Bison were ranked in the I-AA Top 25 for 10 out of 12 weeks during the season ... Collectively, the Bison defense allowed 13.7 points and 272.4 yards per game and also posted a pair of shutouts ... NDSU was plus-11 in turnover margin, coming away with 15 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries ... The Bison committed only 14 turnovers.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS: Concordia-St. Paul is directed by former NDSU assistant Mark Mauer ... Former NDSU linebacker Wade Kittelson is the Golden Bears strength coach ... Offensive coordinator is Ryan Williams, who was known as Ryan Johnson when he played quarterback at NDSU in 1999-2000 ... Concordia returns five starters on offense including running back Aaron Cawthorn, who rushed for 966 yards and 15 TDs and wide receiver Antwon Williams, who caught 38 passes for 453 yards and 1 TD ... Another wideout, Tyrone Ruffin made 34 receptions for 518 yards and five TDs ... Defensively, six starters return including second team all-America defensive lineman Eric Power, who had 45 tackles including 15.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks ... CSP's top two pass defenders return in cornerback Adrian Mitchell and safety Chuck Miesbauer, who each recorded four picks in 2005 ... Linebacker Brad Scherer made 72 tackles including 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last season.
THE COACHES: Craig Bohl's impact on North Dakota State's football program has been impressive ... Bohl begins his fourth season after directing the tradition-rich Bison program to a 7-4 record during the 2005 season ... NDSU was ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches and The Sports Network Top 25 polls for 10-of-12 weeks during the regular season climbing as high as No. 8 in both polls on Sept. 19 ... Charter members of the Great West Football Conference, North Dakota State won its final three league games to finish with a 3-2 record and tie for third place in the standings ... Bohl started his NDSU career with back-to-back 8-3 seasons ... The Bison closed out the 2004 campaign with three straight wins including victories over nationally ranked Northwestern State (La.) and UC Davis ... North Dakota State was ranked No. 23 in the final 2004 ESPN/USA Today and The Sports Network Top 25 polls to highlight their first season at NCAA Division I-AA ... Bohl has compiled a 23-10 record overall including a 15-3 record at the Fargodome. His first season was highlighted by North Dakota State's stunning 25-24 road win over perennial Division I-AA power Montana in just his second game at the helm ... His first full-time coaching position was as the defensive secondary coach for the Bison under Don Morton in 1984 when the NDSU finished second in the nation with a 12-1 record ... Since then, Bohl has coached on the Division I level for 18 seasons including stops at five different universities ... He was the linebackers coach at Tulsa for two seasons (1985-86), the linebackers coach at Wisconsin for two seasons (1987-88), the defensive coordinator at Rice for five seasons (1989-93), the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at Duke for one season (1994), and the linebackers coach at Nebraska for eight years ... The final three seasons at Nebraska also included the defensive coordinator duties ... His seasons at Nebraska included a number of Top 10 defensive national rankings for a team that compiled an 85-18 record including national championships with a Fiesta Bowl win in 1995 and an Orange Bowl win 1997 ... At Duke, he helped mold one of the biggest turnarounds in college football, working with a program that posted an 8-4 record in 1994 after the Blue Devils had gone 3-8 the year before his arrival ... A number of athletes who have played for Bohl while at Nebraska have played or been drafted in the National Football League ... A native of Lincoln, Neb., he was a reserve in the Cornhusker secondary from 1977 through 1979 under Tom Osborne and played on NU's 1979 Orange Bowl and 1980 Cotton Bowl teams. Mark Mauer (Nebraska, 1981) is in his third season as head coach of the Golden Bears ... Has a 16-7 record in two seasons ... Mauer was quarterbacks/receivers coach and offensive coordinator at North Dakota State from 1997-99 ... He is Concordia's ninth head coach, taking over in 2004 ... At Nebraska, he played three years of quarterback for the Cornhuskers, earning Tom Novak Most Valuable Offensive Player Award as a team captain in 1982 ... His coaching resume also includes stops at Ball State (1987-1990), Wisconsin (1991) and New Mexico State (2000-2003) ... Mauer worked for six years as a Minnesota legislative assistant ... In 1997 he was named a city council member in St. Paul ... Aside from serving the city by managing a 350 million budget, he oversaw legislation that negotiated safer streets and schools in the city of St. Paul ... Mauer was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1977 ... In 1997, Mauer was inducted to the St. Paul, Minnesota Hall of Fame.
RADIO BROADCASTS: WDAY-AM 970, Fargo ... Scott Miller will handle the play-by-play. Former NDSU All-American and 11-year NFL great Phil Hansen will handle the color duties, while WDAY-TV sports director Steve Hallstrom will handle the sideline interviews ... Air time is set for 6:15 p.m. ... Bismarck (KLXX, 1270 AM) and Williston (KEYZ, 660 AM) are on the Bison Radio Network.
KNDS-LPFM 105.9, Fargo ... Jim Otis will call the play-by-play and Brad Jones will serve as the color commentator on the NDSU student radio station ... Air time is set with a pregame at 6:30 p.m. ... The free webcast is available at www.thunderradio.fm.
CU Webcast, Concordia University, St. Paul ... Casey Lux does the play-by-play ... An audio webcast is available at http://www.csp.edu/athletics/broadcast.html.
GoBISON.COM VIDEO WEBCAST: All Access will offer a video Webcast of the Concordia-St. Paul football game August 31 ... Memberships to All Access can be purchased monthly for $7.95 ... Thursday's Webcast will begin at 6:45 p.m. and will allow Bison fans around the world to see their team perform live from the Fargodome ... The live stream will be provided by NDSU athletic media relations and Fargodome video productions ... In addition to the game, the stream will include pregame footage and special features prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff ... The audio provided will be that actually heard in the stadium.
GoBISON.COM LIVE STATS: Follow the game on the Internet at GoBison.com with live in-game statistics ... Click on the "Live Stats" link at the left side of the page.
PRESEASON POLLS: The Sports Network is scheduled to release its first regular season I-AA Top 25 poll on Sept. 4. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches I-AA Top 25 has not announced its poll schedule for this season.
The Bison were third in both Great West Football Conference coaches and media preseason polls.
Several other media I-AA media outlets and Web sites have also came out with their preseason rankings and the Bison have fared well:
--11th, the Street & Smith College Football Preview
--12th, Any Given Saturday (I-AA.org) Preseason Top 36
--14th, The Sports Network power rankings compiled by Matt Dougherty
--16th, Don Hansen's Football Gazette I-AA Preseason Top 40
--19th, The Sports Network preseason I-AA Preseason Top 25
--23rd, The Sports XChange for USA Today Sports Weekly
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Return specialist Shamen Washington was named to The Sports Network 2006 Division I-AA Preseason All-America second team.
Washington averaged 13.9 yards per return and two TDs on 28 punt returns to lead the GWFC last season. He also returned 16 kickoffs for an average of 22.4 yards per return including a season-long of 55 yards.
The 2006 I-AA.org preseason All-American football team featured punter Mike Dragosavich and Washington on the second team.
Dragosavich set a NDSU single-season record averaging 46.5 yards per punt including a career best 79-yard blast against nationally-ranked Southern Illinois. He had 11 touchbacks and 10 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Seven NDSU players were named to the 2006 Football Gazette I-AA Preseason All-America team. Defensive tackle Justin Frick and Washington represented the Bison on the first team, while halfback Kyle Steffes and Dragosavich were second-team selections, and linebacker Joe Mays was named to the third team. Strong safety Craig Dahl and offensive tackle Nate Safe were honorable mention.
FRICK WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION: Despite popular opinion, there is an entire galaxy of stars shining brightly outside the SEC. And outside the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac 10, too. In fact, on the outskirts of the familiar confines of Division I-A athletics, some really good football gets played every autumn in places like Itta Bena, West Long Branch and Thibodaux?towns that may be far from your consciousness, but not nearly as far from civilization as you might imagine.
Defensive tackle Justin Frick was No. 25 on the College Football News.com list of Division I-AA Players Worth the Price of a I-A Admission (The D-IAA players who'd star at the big level).
Richard Cirminiello, author of the list, wrote, "25. DT Justin Frick, North Dakota State ? No. 82 in green and gold is why the frick NFL scouts will be trekking up to Fargo later this year. He doesn't possess lights out athletic ability, but he gives you exactly what you'd expect from a lineman that calls Yankton, S.D., home. He's big, nasty to deal with in the trenches and never about to quit on a play. If he can build on last year's breakout junior year, Frick will be the most heralded I-AA defensive tackle in 2006. Location: Fargo, N.D. (225 miles northwest of Minneapolis)."
Frick recorded 54 tackles including 10.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, three sacks, a fumble recovery for a TD and a blocked kick last season. His fumble recovery for a touchdown came against Southern Utah.
Collectively, the Bison defense allowed 13.7 points and 272.4 yards per game and also posted a pair of shutouts. NDSU was plus-11 in turnover margin, coming away with 15 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries. The Bison had 14 turnovers.
BISON ON THE RADAR: Several North Dakota State players have been mentioned in I-AA stories and articles:
Quarterback Steve Walker was listed at No. 17 on the top returning I-AA quarterback list. The Sports Network's Matt Dougherty wrote. "Walker, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior, made his first big splash as a freshman, when he came on late in the season to lead North Dakota State by tossing 10 touchdown passes with no interceptions. He built on that success for a solid campaign in 2005, throwing for 1,781 yards with 14 touchdown passes and seven interceptions."
Halfback Kyle Steffes is listed at No. 14 on TSN's top returning running back list. Dougherty wrote, "Between playing in the tough Great West Conference and taking on a tougher non-conference slate each season, North Dakota State has a grind of a schedule. And the Bison have a grinding runner in Steffes to help them through it. Steffes notched his second 1,000-yard season in a row with 1,071 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2005. He had a strong early stretch with 100-yard efforts against good defenses from Weber State, Montana State and Nicholls State, and finished in fine fashion with 141 yards and three scores in a win against rival South Dakota State. Steffes tallied 1,055 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2004, and already has more than 2,700 yards and 30 touchdowns in his career."
Offensive lineman Justin Buckwalter is listed at No. 8 on The Sports Network's top returning offensive guard list, while 5-6, 151-pound junior Shamen Washington is listed at No. 2 on TSN's return specialist. Dougherty wrote, "Buckwalter has aided the potent Bison running game by starting the last 27 games at right guard," and "Washington notched nearly 22.5 yards per kick return, and scored twice while tallying nearly 14 yards per punt return." Washington is lost for the season with a knee injury.
GREAT WEST FOOTBALL CONFERENCE: North Dakota State will begin its third season at the Division I-AA level in the Great West Football Conference. The GWFC is comprised of five schools located in four states and three time zones. League membership includes NDSU, South Dakota State, Cal Poly, Southern Utah and UC Davis.
The Bison open conference play at Southern Utah at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City. NDSU was 3-2 in league play last season.
North Dakota State had offensive tackle Nate Safe, halfback Kyle Steffes, fullback Tyler Roehl, defensive tackle Justin Frick, linebacker Joe Mays, strong safety Craig Dahl, punter Mike Dragosavich and return specialist Shamen Washington named to a preseason All-GWFC preseason team.
CRAIG BOHL FOOTBALL SHOW: The Craig Bohl Football Show airs every Sunday throughout the season at 10:30 p.m. on WDAY-TV in Fargo and 11 p.m. in Grand Forks on WDAZ-TV, and on KBMY-TV in Bismarck and KMCY-TV in Minot on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Former NDSU and Buffalo Bills star Phil Hansen, in his third year as a radio commentator for Bison broadcasts on WDAY-AM, will host the show.
"Bison Feedback" on WDAY 970 AM-Radio is scheduled to premier Tuesday, Sept. 12 or Sept. 19 from 6:45 p.m.-7:30 p.m. ... This is the weekly call-in show (in-studio) with Coach Bohl hosted by Scott Miller ... The program will continue to air Tuesday evenings throughout the football season.
SUCCESS OF THE BISON PROGRAM: The success of North Dakota State football over the past few years has been nothing short of phenomenal. Here is what the Bison have accomplished since the early 1980s:
-Won 164 of the last 212 conference games (164-46-2, .778)
-Won 226 of the last 292 games (226-64-2, .778)
-Won 200 of the last 255 regular-season games (200-53-2, .788) played including a streak of 22 straight wins before losing to Nebraska- Omaha in October 1983.
-Won 207 of the last 228 home games (207-19-2, .912) at home since a 1980 season-opening 10-0 loss to Northern Michigan.
-Appeared in six straight NCAA playoffs from 1981 to 1986 and 15 in the last 23 years including finishing second nationally in 1981 and 1984, making the semifinals in 1982 and 2000, and winning the NCAA title in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990.
