THIS WEEK: No. 2-ranked North Dakota State (6-1, 5-1 MVFC) and No. 4-ranked South Dakota State (4-1, 4-1 MVFC) are scheduled to play the 17th annual Dakota Marker game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 17, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. The game was originally scheduled for April 3, but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.
 
TELEVISION: NBC North Dakota will have statewide television coverage with Brian Shawn (play-by-play), Lee Timmerman (analyst) and Ryan Gellner (sideline). Pregame coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. with Beth Hoole, Devin Fry and Kyle Emanuel. ESPN+ will carry the game beginning at 2:30 p.m. ESPN+ is available by subscription on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
 
RADIO: Coverage begins at 2 p.m. on the Peterson Farms Seed Bison Radio Network including 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Jeff Culhane (play-by-play), Phil Hansen (analyst) and Cole Jirik (sideline). Extended coverage locally on Bison 1660 and 92.7 FM includes "Bison Tailgate" from 11:00-12:00, "Bison Game Day" from 12:00-2:00 and the "Bison Hotline" call-in show following the network broadcast.
 
ONLINE: NDSU All Access offers free audio streaming of all NDSU football games as well as live video of Bison home games to subscribers on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app. Links to live streams and live in-game stats are available at GoBison.com/coverage. Follow along with in-game updates on Twitter @NDSUfootball.
 
TICKETS ON SALE: Seating for this week's game is limited to 50 percent capacity up to 9,500 spectators. Tickets remain on sale for this week's game and seating is sold in pods of one, two or four tickets with a limit of eight tickets per account. Tickets are available at GoBison.com/tickets or at the Bison Ticket Office in the south lobby of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
 
PARKING AND STADIUM ENTRANCE: On game day, parking lots will open at noon and stadium doors open at 12:30 p.m. Tailgating will not be allowed while stadium capacity is less than 100 percent. Parking will be $5 per spot and there will be no recreational vehicles, buses or trailers allowed in the parking lots. Those with game tickets in Sections 1-6 or Sections 24-34 should park on the east side of the Fargodome in lots B or C and enter through the north and east entrances. Those with game tickets in Sections 7-23 should park on the west side of the Fargodome in lots E, F or G and enter through the south and west entrances.
 
MASKS REQUIRED: Masks will be required upon entering the Fargodome and must be worn throughout the duration of the game. For those that do not have a mask, one will be provided. Failure to follow the directions of event personnel or failure to wear a mask (when not eating or drinking) could result in ticket revocation and the loss of ticket privileges in the future.
 
NEW DIGITAL PROGRAMS: A new digital game day program will be available to fans free of charge through GoBison.com and the NDSU Athletics mobile app available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play. A free roster card presented by Gate City Bank will be available for pickup on the concourse.
 
THE SERIES: This is the 111th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota State dating back to 1903. NDSU has won three straight and leads the all-time series 63-42-5 including a 38-14-4 mark in Fargo. The teams have played for the Dakota Marker since beginning Division I competition in 2004. NDSU has a 10-6 edge in the trophy games. The Dakota Marker is a 75-pound model replica of the original quartzite monuments that were placed in 1891 and 1892 in half-mile increments along the North Dakota/South Dakota border.
 
LAST YEAR IN BROOKINGS: Adam Cofield's 71-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-inches with 2:32 left in the game lifted No. 1 North Dakota State to a 23-16 victory over third-ranked South Dakota State in the teams' October 2019 meeting in Brookings, S.D. South Dakota native Derrek Tuszka recorded back-to-back sacks on SDSU's last drive to help seal the victory. Michael Tutsie made a fourth-down stop as part of his team-high seven tackles to lead the Bison defense. SDSU led 6-3 at halftime before NDSU went ahead on Ty Brooks' 59-yard touchdown run. Brooks had 97 yards, Cofield 86 and Trey Lance 76 as the Bison had a 332-220 advantage in the rushing game.
 
CONFERENCE TITLE ON THE LINE: North Dakota State needs a win over South Dakota State to finish 6-1 and claim a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and the league's automatic qualifier for the FCS playoffs. Missouri State, which finished its schedule with one conference loss, has already claimed a share of the league title. First-year MVFC member North Dakota also has one loss and can also claim a share of the title with a win at Youngstown State. (Due to the imbalanced schedule this year brought about by cancellations, teams with the same number of conference losses but a different number of conference wins shall be considered tied.)
 
NINE STRAIGHT TITLES: North Dakota State in 2019 won its ninth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and fifth outright crown including 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018. North Dakota State has won 36 football conference championships including 26 in the North Central Conference (last in 1994) and one in the Great West Football Conference (2006). NDSU's nine titles are second most in Missouri Valley Football Conference history behind Northern Iowa's 16.
        Most Consecutive Conference Titles in Division I Football
        14 - Oklahoma (Big 8, 1946-59)
        12 - Montana (Big Sky, 1998-09)
        10 - BYU (WAC, 1976-85)
        9 - Florida State (ACC, 1992-00)
        9 - North Dakota State (MVFC, 2011-19)
 
NCAA SELECTION SHOW SUNDAY: Participants for the 16-team NCAA Division I Football Championship will be announced on ESPNU beginning at 10:30 a.m. CT on Sunday, April 18. All four rounds of the FCS playoffs will be televised on the networks of ESPN beginning the weekend of April 24 and culminating with the FCS championship scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, May 16, on ABC.
 
TOP TWO RUSHING TEAMS: South Dakota State and North Dakota State are the top two rushing teams in Valley Football this spring with SDSU averaging 218.6 yards per game and NDSU 208.2 yards per game. On the defensive side, NDSU is third allowing 112.7 rushing yards per game while SDSU is fourth allowing 121.8 per game on the ground.
 
JACKS CAN PICK IT: South Dakota State is among the FCS leaders this spring averaging 1.8 interceptions per game. SDSU is 15th nationally in passing defense with 162.8 yards allowed per game and the Jackrabbits are seventh in the FCS with nine interceptions in five games led by junior safety Josh Manchigiah, who has picked off one pass in each of SDSU's last three games.
 
FLIPPING THE FIELD: North Dakota State ranks sixth in the FCS in net punting and first in punt returns this year. The Bison are averaging 42.89 net yards punting and 23.86 yards per return. Senior punter Garret Wegner leads the FCS with a 46.8 punting average with 11 of his 35 punts going for more than 50 yards and 16 punts downed inside the 20. Jayden Price's 85-yard punt return touchdown against Illinois State tied the third longest return in school history.
 
KACZOR, WAEGE AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS: North Dakota State linebacker James Kaczor made a season-high 12 tackles at Northern Iowa and ranks sixth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this spring with 8.3 tackles per game. NDSU defensive end Spencer Waege is fourth in conference play with 3.5 sacks (0.58 sacks per game). NDSU is tied for fourth in the league with 14 sacks through six conference games.
 
LIMITING PENALTIES: North Dakota State is ninth in the FCS this season for fewest penalty yards per game. The Bison are averaging 31.7 penalty yards per game with the season-high being seven penalties for 75 yards in the win at Northern Iowa and a season-low one penalty for 15 yards in the home win over Youngstown State.
 
NOLAND GOING DEEP: Quarterback Zeb Noland leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference and ranks eighth in FCS with 14.18 yards per completion this season. Noland has nine completions of 20-plus yards with four of those going for touchdowns — an 81-yard strike to Braylon Henderson at Missouri State, a 63-yard TD to Christian Watson against North Dakota, a 37-yard TD to Jake Lippe at Southern Illinois, and a 36-yard play to Josh Babicz at Northern Iowa. In addition, Noland's 61-yard connection with Watson at UNI was the third longest passing play of the season for NDSU and set up a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
 
HOME STREAK AT 32 GAMES: North Dakota State is on a school-record 32-game home winning streak, which is fourth longest in FCS history behind Georgia Southern (39, 38) and Eastern Kentucky (34). It is the longest active home winning streak in Division I and a new Missouri Valley Football Conference record, topping NDSU's 26-game home winning streak from 2012-15. The Bison had a 36-game home unbeaten streak 1964-71 including a 1970 season-opening tie with Eastern Michigan. NDSU's last home loss was in the 2016 NCAA semifinals to James Madison. NDSU has won 69 of the last 71 home games over non-conference opponents and the Bison are 28-4 at home all-time against FCS Top 10 teams.