THIS WEEK: Fifth-ranked North Dakota State (4-0, 1-0 MVFC) hosts 12th-ranked Northern Iowa (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) in the annual homecoming game at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700). The Panthers, who held Iowa State to one touchdown in a 16-10 loss on opening weekend, have won three straight games after their 34-7 homecoming win over Youngstown State last week.
THE SERIES: This is the 55th meeting between North Dakota State and Northern Iowa. NDSU has won seven straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings to take a 28-26 lead in the all-time series dating back to 1938. UNI is 1-6 in the Fargodome. The Panthers won 42-27 in their first visit in 2009.
LAST YEAR: Christian Watson scored on a 100-yard kickoff return to erase a 6-0 deficit and NDSU led the rest of the way in last year’s 23-20 win at Northern Iowa. Jake Reinholz kicked a 42-yard field goal to close the first half with a 10-6 lead, Josh Babicz caught a 36-yard TD from Zeb Noland in the third quarter, and Hunter Luepke’s two-yard TD run capped a 12-play, 71-yard fourth-quarter scoring drive that made it 23-12. Tyler Hoosman’s second TD run of the game and a 2-point conversion brought UNI within three, but NDSU punter Garret Wegner pinned the Panthers at their own 4 with 1:00 left to play and the Bison forced three incompletions before a fourth-down stop to seal the win. James Kaczor made a game-high 13 tackles and Eli Mostaert had seven tackles including two sacks and a third tackle for loss plus a pass breakup as NDSU held the Panthers to 98 rushing yards and 5 of 14 on third down.
HOMECOMING GAMES: North Dakota State has a 57-37-3 record in 97 homecoming games since 1921. The game was not held in 1943, 1944 or 2020. This is Northern Iowa’s fourth appearance at NDSU homecoming. The Panthers lost 42-14 in 1978, 31-28 in 2015 and 46-14 in 2019. The Bison have won nine straight homecoming games since back-to-back losses in 2009 to Illinois State (27-24) and 2010 to Western Illinois (28-16).
KLABO TO BE INDUCTED: Former NDSU offensive lineman Chuck Klabo will be inducted with the 49th class of the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 8, and introduced on-field at halftime of Saturday’s game. Klabo was an All-America left tackle on the 2000 NCAA Division II semifinal team that went 12-2 overall. He was a four-year starter, two-time all-region honoree, and two-time All-North Central Conference pick. Klabo was invited to the Rotary Gridiron Classic all-star game and 2003 NFL Combine before spending two seasons with the Cleveland Browns organization. The other seven honorees are three-time All-America softball pitcher Lindsey (Graham) Gustafson, seven-time All-America middle distance runner Dr. Andrew Moen, seven-time All-America track and field multi-events athlete Andi (Noel) Olsonawski, two-time national champion heavyweight wrestler Nick Severson, 19-time All-America sprinter Jill (Theeler) Schlekeway, women’s soccer all-time leading scorer Nicole (VandenBos) Hurt, and retired men’s track and field/cross country head coach Don Larson.
BISON WIN CONFERENCE OPENER: North Dakota State won its 11th straight conference opener 16-10 and snapped North Dakota’s 12-game home winning streak last week thanks to three field goals by Jake Reinholz and a stout defensive performance highlighted by two fourth-down stops and a pivotal Dawson Weber interception deep in NDSU territory. Reinholz connected from a career-long 45 yards, 34 and 30 yards and tacked on an extra point after Quincy Patterson’s 3-yard TD run with 1:13 left in the game. Patterson had a game-high 19 carries and 92 yards, while fullback Hunter Luepke rushed for 40 of his 51 yards on the final eight-play scoring drive. Michael Tutsie made a game-high eight tackles, Jackson Hankey had seven tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry, and James Kaczor finished with six tackles, including a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.
RED ZONE SUCCESS: North Dakota State leads the FCS in red-zone defense (.250) allowing just one touchdown in four opportunities inside the 20-yard line. The Bison defense has one fumble recovery, one interception, and one turnover on downs in the red zone. Last week’s opponent, North Dakota, did not enter the red zone for the second straight year against the Bison. UND scored on a 30-yard passing play and 46-yard field goal. Towson has the only red-zone points against NDSU this year, a touchdown with 2:20 left in a 35-7 Bison win.
FCS Red Zone Scoring Defense Leaders
.250 – North Dakota State (1-4)
.333 – Princeton (1-3)
.500 – Penn (6-12)
.545 – Yale (6-11)
.556 – South Dakota State (5-9)
TOP-RANKED DEFENSE: In addition to its No. 1-ranked red zone defense, North Dakota State leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference and ranks fourth nationally in total defense (219.8) and second in scoring defense (5.8) and third down conversion defense (.218). Northern Iowa ranks fifth in scoring defense (10.5) and, like NDSU, has allowed just three touchdowns this season. Only Princeton (1) and Dartmouth (2) have allowed fewer TDs.
NO. 1 RUSHING ATTACK: North Dakota State continues to rank No. 1 in the FCS averaging 317.0 rushing yards per game. The Bison are the only team in the FCS over 300 yards per game on the ground and also lead all of Division I with 7.08 yards per carry (ahead of the school-record pace of 6.41 set in 1988 and nearly equaled in 2018 and 2019). Only Air Force (367.4) and Army (318.2) are averaging more rushing yards per game in Division I. NDSU has four running backs averaging over seven yards per carry in TaMerik Williams (9.1), Jalen Bussey (9.0), Hunter Luepke (8.4) and Dominic Gonnella (7.6), plus quarterback Quincy Patterson’s 5.0 average and team-high 41 carries.
*Courtesy Ryan Perreault, NDSU Athletics