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THIS WEEK:  The most played rivalry game in NCAA Division II football history returns for the first time at the Division I level this week when North Dakota State (1-1) hosts North Dakota (2-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700).
 
TELEVISION:  Live statewide coverage in HD begins at 2:30 p.m. on the NBC North Dakota network, ESPN3 and ESPN College Extra with Brian Shawn calling the play-by-play, Lee Timmerman color analyst, and Beth Hoole on the sideline.  Live video will be available to subscribers on GoBison.com/allaccess.
 
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.  KFGO's Scott Miller will describe the play-by-play with NDSU and Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Phil Hansen as color analyst, commentary from KFGO's Jack Michaels, and NDSU's Jeremy Jorgenson reporting from the sideline.  A free audio stream will be available on GoBison.com/allaccess.
 
THE SERIES:  This is the 111th meeting between NDSU and UND, which is the 10th most played rivalry series in the Football Championship Subdivision and was the longest in Division II when the teams last met in 2003.  UND holds a 62-45-3 advantage dating back to 1894 when the Bison won the first two games between the schools.  UND has won three straight and 10 of the last 13 meetings since 1993 after the Bison won 12 straight from 1981-1992.  UND has a 4-1 edge at the Fargodome with NDSU's only dome victory coming in 2000 with the Bison winning 16-13.  UND's longest streak in the series is 12 wins from 1953-1964.
            FCS Most Played Rivalries
            150, Lafayette-Lehigh (1884)
            137, Yale-Princeton (1873)
            131, Yale-Harvard (1875)
            124, William & Mary-Richmond (1898)
            121, Penn-Cornell (1893)
            119, Yale-Brown (1880)
            118, Harvard-Dartmouth (1882)
            114, Harvard-Brown (1893)
            114, Montana-Montana State (1897)
            110, North Dakota-North Dakota State (1894)
            107, Princeton-Harvard (1877)
            107, South Dakota-South Dakota State (1889)
            106, Princeton-Penn (1876)
            102, Cornell-Columbia (1889)
            102, Illinois State-Eastern Illinois (1901)
            102, New Hampshire-Maine (1903)
            102, North Dakota State-South Dakota State (1903)
 
NCC'S MOST DOMINANT:  NDSU and UND were the two most dominant programs in the former North Central Conference at the Division II level.  NDSU won 26 conference crowns (17 outright) and UND won the league 24 times (14 outright).  The teams shared the NCC title five times in 1964, 1966, 1972, 1974 and 1994.
 
MORLOCK HAS CAREER DAY:  North Dakota State running back Chase Morlock accounted for 212 yards and two touchdowns in North Dakota State's 41-14 win over Weber State.  He had a career-high seven receptions and 136 receiving yards and ran eight times for 76 yards.  His TD catches of 55 and 47 yards less than 3 minutes apart early in the second quarter gave NDSU a 21-7 lead en route to its 24th straight home win.
 
DeLUCA LEADS LEAGUE IN SACKS:  Middle linebacker Nick DeLuca is NDSU's leading tackler through two contests with 12 tackles at Montana and eight in last week's win over Weber State.  DeLuca had one sack for 11 yards against Weber State and is currently tied for the Missouri Valley Football Conference lead with two sacks.
 
PEDERSEN FOURTH TRUE FRESHMAN:  Walk-on placekicker Cam Pedersen was perfect in his debut against Weber State going 5 of 5 on PAT kicks and 2 of 2 on field goals.  He connected from 27 yards in the third quarter and 37 in the fourth quarter to extend NDSU's lead to 34-7 en route to a 41-14 victory.  Pedersen is the fourth true freshman to play for North Dakota State.  Safety Robbie Grimsley, running back Bruce Anderson and wide receiver Dimitri Williams all played in the season opener at Montana.
 
FIRST HALF EXPLOSION:  North Dakota State rolled up 407 yards of total offense by halftime in the win over Weber State and went on to outgain the Wildcats by a 586-206 margin.  It was the most total offense by NDSU since a 2013 national quarterfinal win over Coastal Carolina when the Bison had 623 yards.  North Dakota State had nine different players combine to rush for 305 yards and quarterback Carson Wentz was 19 of 29 passing for 281 yards and three touchdowns.
 
VRAA MOVES 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 43 of 45 games in his career and passed Len Kretchman for second on the NDSU list for receiving touchdowns with his 25th career TD against Weber State.  Vraa needs just one TD catch to tie and two to pass Tim Strehlow's record of 26 TD catches from 1996-99.
            NDSU Career Receiving Yards
            1. 2732 - Kole Heckendorf, 2005-08 (43g)
            2. 2544 - TR McDonald, 1990-93 (39g)
            3. 2541 - Zach Vraa, 2011-15 (45g)

            NDSU Career Receiving TDs
            1. 26 - Tim Strehlow, 1996-99
            2. 25 - Zach Vraa, 2011-14
            3. 24 - Len Kretchman, 1985-88

            NDSU Career Receptions
            1. 178 - Kole Heckendorf, 2005-08
            2. 163 - Zach Vraa, 2011-15
                163 - Travis White, 2002-06
 
LeCOMPTE LEADS FCS IN PUNTING:  All-America punter Ben LeCompte leads the Football Championship Subdivision with a 49.2 average on nine punts including a long of 73 in the Weber State game, four of 50-plus yards, and three downed inside the 20.  LeCompte ranks sixth in FCS history and is the MVFC leader in career punting average at 44.33.  He is second in school history behind Mike Dragosavich's 44.46 average from 2004-07.
            NCAA FCS Career Punting Leaders
            45.1 - Jonathan Plisco, Old Dominion (2009-12)
            44.9 - Eric Enderson, Delaware (2013-15)
            44.8 - Mark Gould, Northern Arizona (2000-03)
            44.4 - Pumpy Tudors, Chattanooga (1989-91)
            44.3 - Cory Carter, Texas Southern (2012-15)
            44.3 - Ben LeCompte, NDSU (2012-15)
 
BISON AT HOME:  North Dakota State is 41-3 at home since 2010 and has the longest home winning streak in Division I football at 24 straight games.  The Bison have won 49 of the last 50 home games over non-conference opponents including 39 straight since a 2003 loss to UC Davis.  NDSU is 10-2 at home against Top 10 teams.
            Division I Home Winning Streaks
            24 - North Dakota State (MVFC)
            17 - Alabama (SEC)
            17 - Baylor (Big 12)
            16 - Florida State (ACC)
            15 - Boise State (Mountain West)
            14 - Illinois State (MVFC)
 
HAEG NAMED  MVFC LINEMAN OF THE WEEK:  Left tackle Joe Haeg was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week for the fourth time in his career Monday.  Haeg played 77 of 81 snaps and led the Bison with 12 total knockdowns with nine pancakes and two decleaters. He had NDSU's highest grade with a 99 percent on assignment and 92 percent on technique. Haeg was responsible for zero sacks or quarterback hurries for the second week in a row. NDSU rolled up 316 rushing yards between nine different ball carriers and passed for 281 yards.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.