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NDSU Game Notes | Montana Game Notes

THIS WEEK:  Two of the winningest programs in Football Championship Subdivision history will be featured on ESPN in the second annual "FCS Kickoff" game when four-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State plays at Montana on Saturday, Aug. 29.  Game time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MDT at Washington Grizzly Stadium (25,217) in Missoula, Mont.
 
TELEVISION:  Live coverage on ESPN will begin at 2:30 p.m. CDT with Brent Musburger calling the play-by-play, Jesse Palmer as color analyst, and Maria Taylor reporting from the sidelines.
 
RADIO:  KFGO-AM 790 and Mix 101.9 FM of Fargo along with the Peterson Farms Seed Bison Radio Network will have live coverage beginning at 2 p.m. CDT.  KFGO's Scott Miller will describe the play-by-play with NDSU and Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Phil Hansen as color analyst and NDSU's Jeremy Jorgenson reporting from the sidelines.  A free audio stream will be available on GoBison.com/allaccess.
 
THE SERIES:  NDSU has won the last four straight over Montana to take a 4-3 lead in the series.  Montana won games in 1914, 1921 and 1941 in Missoula before a pair of NDSU wins in the 1969 and 1970 Camellia Bowl games in Sacramento, Calif.  The teams have not met in Missoula since 2003 when NDSU rallied from a 24-2 halftime deficit to win 25-24 in Missoula.  Tight end Mike Wieser caught a 20-yard pass from running back Rod Malone on a fake field goal with 2:13 left to provide the winning score and the Griz missed a 40-yard field goal as time expired.  NDSU is 5-2 against Big Sky Conference opponents since beginning Division I play in 2004.
 
LAST YEAR IN FARGO:  Adam Keller kicked a school-record five field goals to lift North Dakota State to a 22-10 win last year in Montana's first trip to Fargo.  Keller connected from 41, 22, 32 and a season-long 47 yards in the first half as NDSU scored on four of its first five possessions.  His 30-yarder with 1:43 left in the game capped a 13-play, 46-yard drive that ate up more than 7 minutes of the fourth quarter.  Carson Wentz was 16 of 24 passing for 167 yards and John Crockett rushed 28 times for 144 yards as NDSU outgained Montana 447 to 256 in total offense.  The Bison controlled the clock with a 39:06 to 20:54 advantage in time of possession.
 
BISON PICKED TO WIN; THREE ALL-MVFC:  NDSU was tabbed to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference crown with 32 of 40 first-place votes in a poll of the league's head coaches, media and sports information directors.  The Bison had fullback Andrew Bonnet, left tackle Joe Haeg and punter Ben LeCompte voted to the preseason all-conference team.  Quarterback Carson Wentz, tight end Luke Albers, long snapper James Fisher, offensive linemen Zack Johnson and Jeremy Kelly, and cornerback CJ Smith were honorable mention.
 
Last year's co-champ Illinois State received the other eight first-place tallies and was slated for second in the poll.  Northern Iowa, South Dakota State and Indiana State each won a postseason game last year and were third, fifth and sixth, respectively.  Youngstown State, one of two league schools with a new head coach (Missouri State is the other), was picked fourth in the poll.  The Penguins tied Indiana State for 5th last year.
 
WENTZ UP FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Quarterback Carson Wentz is on the STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year and College Football Performance Awards FCS National Performer of the Year watch lists after a record-setting campaign in his first year as the Bison starter.  Wentz, the NCAA championship game MVP and first team Capital One Academic All-American®, set NDSU single-season records for passing attempts, completions, yards, and total offense per game.  He completed 228 of 358 passes for 3,111 yards with 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and was NDSU's second-leading rusher with 138 carries for 642 yards and six TDs while averaging 4.7 yards per carry.  His rushing total was the most by a Bison QB since the veer-option offense led by Kevin Feeney in 1996.
 
BISON LEAD FCS WITH FIVE STATS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS:  North Dakota State led the nation with five players selected to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America team.  Left tackle Joe Haeg and punter Ben LeCompte made the first team, fullback/tight end Andrew Bonnet and left guard Zack Johnson are on the second team, and long snapper James Fisher is on the third team.  The Missouri Valley Football Conference led the nation with 17 preseason All-Americans.
 
NDSU LEADS WITH FOUR ON FAB 50 LIST:  North Dakota State had a nation's best four players named to the College Sporting News Preseason Fab 50 FCS All-America Team and the Missouri Valley Football Conference led all conferences with 12 selections.  Quarterback Carson Wentz, fullback Andrew Bonnet, left tackle Joe Haeg and punter Ben LeCompte were NDSU's four honorees.  Wentz, Haeg and Bonnet all were named to the year-end Fab 50 All-America list last season.
 
RETURNING 12 STARTERS:  North Dakota State returns 12 starters from last year's team that won a fourth straight FCS national championship and went 7-1 to claim a share of its fourth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference title.  NDSU returns eight starters on offense and four on defense.  In addition, all-conference left guard Zack Johnson is back from a knee injury that kept him out in 2014, and All-America punter Ben LeCompte is back after ranking second nationally in punting average last season.
 
RUNNING BACK ROTATION:  North Dakota State will likely use a combination of returners Chase Morlock and King Frazier along with redshirt freshman Lance Dunn at running back to replace John Crockett, who accounted for 2,419 all-purpose yards including a school-record 1,994 rushing yards last year.  It won't be the first time NDSU has relied on multiple backs.  The Bison had dual 1,000-yard rushers in 2011, 2012 and 2013 before Crockett became the featured running back in 2014 and NDSU has had at least one 1,000-yard rusher 12 straight seasons.
            NDSU 1,000-Yard Rushers
            2014 - John Crockett (1994)
            2013 - John Crockett (1277) and Sam Ojuri (1398)
            2012 - John Crockett (1038) and Sam Ojuri (1047)
            2011 - DJ McNorton (1020) and Sam Ojuri (1105)
            2010 - DJ McNorton (1559)
            2009 - Pat Paschall (1397)
            2008 - Tyler Roehl (1053)
            2007 - Tyler Roehl (1431)
            2006 - Kyle Steffes (1250)
            2005 - Kyle Steffes (1071)
            2004 - Kyle Steffes (1055)
            2003 - Rod Malone (1251)
 
VRAA GETS SIXTH SEASON:  All-conference wide receiver Zach Vraa is back for a sixth season after redshirting in 2010 and having his 2011 freshman season cut short with a broken collarbone in his first game.  He started in 11 of 13 games played as a sophomore in 2012 and had a record-setting junior year in 2013 when he finished 10th in the FCS with a school-record 1,191 yards (seventh in MVFC history) and was third nationally with a school-record 15 touchdowns (second in MVFC history).  Wide receiver Nate Moody is also returning for a fifth season after a knee injury early last year.
 
VRAA MOVING UP:  North Dakota State sixth-year wide receiver Zach Vraa is in position to become NDSU's all time leader in pass receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches.  Vraa has caught a pass in 41 of 43 games in his career and ranks fourth in NDSU career receptions (152) and third in receiving yards (2,390) and touchdown catches (23).
            NDSU Career Receiving Yards
            1. 2732 - Kole Heckendorf, 2005-08 (43g)
            2. 2544 - TR McDonald, 1990-93 (39g)
            3. 2447 - Zach Vraa, 2011-15 (43g)

            NDSU Career Receiving TDs
            1. 26 - Tim Strehlow, 1996-99
            2. 24 - Len Kretchman, 1985-88
            3. 23 - Zach Vraa, 2011-14

            NDSU Career Receptions
            1. 178 - Kole Heckendorf, 2005-08
            2. 163 - Travis White, 2002-06
            3. 161 - Warren Holloway, 2008-11
            4. 155 - Zach Vraa, 2011-15
 
NEW-LOOK DEFENSE:  There will be plenty of new faces on the Bison defense as NDSU looks to replace two starting defensive ends, two outside linebackers and two safeties.  And junior middle linebacker Nick DeLuca started only five games down the stretch last year in place of injured Travis Beck.  NDSU does return experience at defensive end, where junior Brad Ambosius and sophomores Greg Menard and Jarrod Tuszka were part of the regular rotation behind starters Mike Hardie and Buck Buchanan Award winner Kyle Emanuel.  At safety, two-time All-American Colten Heagle and 61-game starter Christian Dudzik are gone.  Sophomore Tre Dempsey was a regular part of the Bison nickel defense last year and other front-runners are special-teams standouts Chris Board and Andrew Smith.
 
BISON AT HOME:  North Dakota State has won 23 straight home games and 48 of the last 49 home games over non-conference opponents including 38 straight since a 2003 loss to UC Davis.  NDSU is 10-2 at home against Top 10 teams after beating No. 3/4-ranked Montana and No. 6/6 Coastal Carolina.  The Bison are 40-3 at home over the past five seasons and have the longest home winning streak in Division I football.
            Division I Home Winning Streaks
            23 - North Dakota State (MVFC)
            16 - Baylor (Big 12)
            14 - Florida State (ACC)
            14 - Boise State (Mountain West)
            14 - Fordham (Patriot)
 
NDSU THIRD IN FCS ATTENDANCE:  North Dakota State finished third in average home game attendance among the Football Championship Subdivision according to the final numbers released by the NCAA for the 2014 season.  NDSU drew an average of 18,571 over nine dates, down slightly from the school-record 18,622 set in 2013.  The Bison led the FCS in total attendance with 167,136.
 
TICKETS SOLD OUT:  Tickets for all six North Dakota State home games sold out within one hour August 1.  It is the fourth straight year NDSU has sold out the entire football season on the first day of single-game ticket sales.  NDSU had previously sold more than 12,000 season tickets.  Additional reserved and standing-room-only tickets may become available at 8 a.m. Friday of game week on GoBison.com/tickets.  Student tickets will be available online at GoBison.com/students beginning at 8 a.m. Monday of game week.
 
SUCCESS VS. THE FBS:  North Dakota State has an 8-3 record against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents and has won five in a row against FBS foes since 2010 with wins at Kansas (6-3), Minnesota (37-24), Colorado State (22-7), Kansas State (24-21) and Iowa State (34-14).  NDSU is scheduled to play at Iowa next season and Oregon in 2020.
 
FOUR-PEATS:  North Dakota State earned a share of its fourth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship last year tying Illinois State with a 7-1 record in conference play.  NDSU was the second school in Valley Football history to win four straight league titles behind Northern Iowa's run of seven straight from 1990 to 1996.  NDSU was just the second team in NCAA history to win four straight national championships.  Augustana College of Rock Island, Ill., won four NCAA Division III titles from 1983-86.  Carroll College of Helena, Mont., won four straight NAIA championships from 2002-05.
 
KLIEMAN INKED THROUGH 2020 SEASON:  North Dakota State head coach Chris Klieman (Northern Iowa, 1992) accepted a two-year contract extension in the offseason that will keep him with the Bison until January 2021.  Klieman led the Bison to a 15-1 record, a fourth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship with a 7-1 mark, and an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA Division I FCS national title.
 
NDSU didn't skip a beat in Klieman's first year despite losing 23 seniors and welcoming seven new assistant coaches.  The Bison scored 34 unanswered points to beat Big 12 member Iowa State in the season opener as part of an FCS-record 33-game winning streak that extended into November.
 
North Dakota State went 9-1 against Top 25 competition and earned the No. 2 national seed for the FCS playoffs.  NDSU had nine players named All-America, including Buck Buchanan Award-winning defensive end Kyle Emanuel, and four Capital One Academic All-America® selections.  Klieman was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award and was named the Rawlings Football/American Football Monthly FCS Coach of the Year.
 
The head coach at Division III Loras College in 2005, Klieman came to NDSU from Northern Iowa in 2011 as the defensive backs coach and was the defensive coordinator in 2012 and 2013.  He also made coaching stops at Western Illinois (1994-96), Kansas (1997), Missouri State (1999) and Loras (2002-04).  He is a native of Waterloo, Iowa, and was a three-time all-conference defensive back at UNI from 1986-90.