THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State football team is back on the road this week when the sixth-ranked Bison (4-1, 1-1 MVFC) take on the 15th-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks (3-2, 1-1 MVFC) at 1 p.m. at the Alerus Center (13,500) in Grand Forks.
 
TELEVISION: The statewide ABC network of WDAY (Fargo), WDAZ (Grand Forks), KBMY (Bismarck/Dickinson) and KMCY (Minot/Williston) will have live coverage beginning at 12:50 p.m. with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Kyle Emanuel (analyst) and Logan Campbell (sideline). UND's telecast on Midco Sports will be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
 
RADIO: Statewide network coverage begins at 12 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 Andy Rieckhoff (sideline). The network broadcast includes 1-hour pregame and 30-minute postgame shows. Streaming is available on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.
 
THE SERIES: This is the 116th meeting between NDSU and UND dating back to 1894. UND leads the all-time series 62-50-3, but NDSU has won all five meetings at the Division I level. This is the fourth matchup as Missouri Valley Football Conference opponents. NDSU won 42-21 in Fargo last year, and the 16-10 victory in 2021 was NDSU's first in three visits to the Alerus Center.
 
LAST WEEK: Last week's 38-10 win at Missouri State improved North Dakota State to 17-0 after regular-season losses since 2010. NDSU hasn't lost back-to-back games since October 2009. The Bison scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and rolled up 351 yards before halftime in building a 28-7 lead. Cam Miller passed for 256 yards and Zach Mathis caught six passes for a career-high 160 yards and two touchdowns. Julian Wlodarczyk made a team-high 10 tackles and MVFC Defensive Player of the Week Logan Kopp made nine tackles with two pass breakups and one fumble forced and recovered.
 
MOVING UP: North Dakota State moved up one spot in both FCS polls this week thanks to previously unranked Youngstown State's 31-3 victory over Southern Illinois, which dropped from No. 5 to No. 13. NDSU is ranked No. 6 in the Stats Perform media poll and No. 7 in the AFCA coaches poll. YSU moved to 20th in the coaches poll and 23rd in the media poll.
 
BISON LEAD NATION IN TURNOVER MARGIN: North Dakota State leads the FCS with only one turnover lost and the Bison are tied with San Diego and Eastern Illinois atop the FCS with a plus-10 turnover margin. NDSU forced four turnovers at Missouri State with interceptions by Luke Weerts, Jayden Price and Cole Wisniewski, and a fumble forced and recovered by Logan Kopp. It was the second time in five games NDSU has forced four turnovers this season (Maine).
        FCS Turnover Margin Leaders
        +10 - North Dakota State (MVFC)
        +10 - Eastern Illinois (OVC)
        +10 - San Diego (Pioneer)
        +8 - Alcorn State (SWAC)
        +8 - Furman (SoCon)
 
MILLER SETS RECORD: Quarterback Cam Miller leads the FCS and ranks third in all divisions with a 78.5 completion percentage through five games. Miller was 18-for-19 against Central Arkansas and his 94.7 completion rate was an NDSU single-game record for passers with more than 10 attempts. Miller completed his last 17 attempts against UCA and his first six against South Dakota to set a new NDSU record with 23 consecutive completions, breaking Brock Jensen's 2013 record of 21 straight against Kansas State (14) and Ferris State (7).
        NCAA Completion Percentage Leaders
        .804 - Bo Nix, Oregon (FBS)
        .800 - Graham Mertz, Florida (FBS)
        .785 - Cam Miller, North Dakota State
        .776 - Jacob Zeno, UAB (FBS)
        .757 - Nic Visser, Husson (D-III)
        (min. 15 attempts/game and 75% GP)
 
SEASONED VETS: North Dakota State cornerback Jayden Price (61) and linebacker Julian Wlodarczyk (60) are among the NCAA's active career leaders in games played. The NDSU school record is 70 games played by offensive guard Nash Jensen from 2018 to 2022.
        NCAA Active Career Leaders, Games Played
        62 - Jaxon Janke, WR, South Dakota State
        61 - Jayden Price, CB, North Dakota State
        60 - Julian Wlodarczyk, LB, North Dakota State
        60 - Mason McCormick, OL, South Dakota State
        60 - Pearse Migl, TE, Louisiana (FBS)
 
CROSA CONNECTS: Bison kicker Griffin Crosa has made 112 consecutive PATs dating back to 2019, the fifth most in Missouri Valley Football Conference history. Crosa is fourth all-time at NDSU in PATs made and fifth in attempts (156-for-157) and his career PAT percentage of 99.4 is second in school history behind Jake Reinholz, who was 87-for-87 from 2018 to 2021. Crosa is sixth all-time at NDSU with 29 field goals made and ranks first with an 82.9 career field goal percentage (29-for-35).
 
CAREER DAY FOR GREEN: Wide receiver and kick returner Eli Green had a career day with 171 all-purpose yards in the 49-31 win over Central Arkansas. Green averaged 22.7 yards per kick return with 68 yards on the first three returns of his career. His returns of 18, 29 and 21 yards sparked three touchdown drives for NDSU. Green also had a career-high four receptions and 86 yards with all four catches going for first downs including a long of 35 yards.
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State has had four players earn Missouri Valley Football Conference Player of the Week honors in 2023:
        – Cole Wisniewski, Defense (9/4)...Game- and career-high 11 tackles with his first career interception and one pass breakup against Eastern Washington in his first game at strong safety.
        – Kaedin Steindorf, Special Teams (9/4)...Averaged 47.2 yards per punt with three inside the 20 (two inside the 10) and held for five PAT conversions against Eastern Washington.
        – Griffin Crosa, Special Teams (9/11)...Converted field goals from 27, 40 and 31 yards to stake the Bison to a 9-0 lead and added five extra-point kicks in the 44-7 win over Maine.
        – Logan Kopp, Defense (10/9)...Nine tackles, two pass breakups, fumble forced and recovered in the 38-10 win at Missouri State.
 
SUNDELL ON SENIOR BOWL LIST: North Dakota State left tackle Jalen Sundell was named to the preseason watch list for the Reese's Senior Bowl, widely regarded as the top college football all-star game. Sundell the past three seasons has been NDSU's starting center, a position he hadn't played prior to the 2020-21 season. The Bison have had 12 players selected to the Senior Bowl, including left tackle Cody Mauch last year.
 
WATCH LISTS: NDSU has three players on watch lists for national player of the year awards. Running back TaMerik Williams is on the preseason list for the Walter Payton Award, presented to the FCS offensive player of the year. Defensive tackle Eli Mostaert is on the preseason list for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the FCS defensive player of the year. Punter Kaedin Steindorf is on the list for FCS Punter of the Year.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: NDSU defensive tackle Eli Mostaert, long snapper Hunter Brozio, offensive lineman Jalen Sundell and running back TaMerik Williams were named to the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team. Mostaert was also named to the HERO Sports All-FCS preseason team, and Mostaert and Sundell made Phil Steele's FCS Preseason All-America Team.
 
BISON PICKED NO. 2: North Dakota State was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference behind defending national champion South Dakota State. NDSU took 14 spots on the MVFC preseason team, including four first-team picks in FB Hunter Brozio, OL Jalen Sundell, DL Eli Mostaert and RS Jayden Price. Second team picks were RB TaMerik Williams, TE Joe Stoffel, OL Jake Kubas and Brandon Westberg, DL Will Mostaert, LB Cole Wisniewski, CB Jayden Price and K Griffin Crosa. WR Zach Mathis and LB Nick Kubitz were honorable mention.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: North Dakota State is 79-4 against non-conference opponents since the beginning of its first FCS national championship season in 2011. One loss was to a Pac-12 opponent (31-28 at Arizona in 2021) 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 38-35 home win in the 2015 FCS Kickoff is NDSU's only other non-conference loss the past 12 years.
 
BISON AT HOME: The Bison have a 186-29 record in the Fargodome, 33-6 at home against FCS Top 10 ranked teams, and winners of 81 of the last 83 home games over non-conference opponents. North Dakota State has a 34-1 record in the Fargodome during the NCAA playoffs since 2010 with the only loss coming to eventual national champion James Madison in the 2016 semifinals. NDSU's 32-game home winning streak September 2017 through April 2021 was fourth longest in FCS history.