THIS WEEK: No. 2-ranked North Dakota State (5-1, 4-1 MVFC) is on the road this week to face Northern Iowa (3-3, 3-3 MVFC) in the Missouri Valley Football Conference Game of the Week. Game time is 4 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
TELEVISION: ESPN+ will have exclusive television coverage of the MVFC TV Game of the Week. Coverage begins at 4 p.m. with
Brad Wells (play-by-play),
Danan Hughes (analyst) and
Kelly Burke (reporter). ESPN+ is available by subscription on
ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
RADIO: Coverage begins at 3:30 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 12:30-1:30, "Bison Game Day" from 1:30-3:30 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.
THE SERIES: This is the 54th meeting between North Dakota State and Northern Iowa dating back to 1938. NDSU has won six straight to take a 27-26 lead in the series. The Bison are 9-4 against UNI since joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008 including a 3-3 mark at the UNI-Dome, where the Bison have won two in a row. The teams have one postseason matchup in their history with NDSU winning 23-13 in 2015 NCAA FCS quarterfinals in Fargo.
LAST YEAR'S MEETING: North Dakota State scored four unanswered touchdowns in the second half of a 46-14 victory over Northern Iowa at the Fargodome in 2019.
Adam Cofield rushed 15 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns while
Trey Lance was 10 of 18 passing for 145 yards and three TDs in the win.
Josh Hayes led the Bison defense with six tackles, three pass breakups and a forced fumble,
Michael Tutsie had six tackles and
James Kaczor made a team-high seven stops. UNI quarterback Will McElvain finished 15 of 29 passing for 233 yards and one TD while Tyler Hoosman rushed 12 times for 54 yards.
FLIPPING THE FIELD: North Dakota State is ranked second in the FCS in net punting and first in punt returns this year. The Bison are averaging 43.6 net yards punting and 26.2 yards per return. Senior punter
Garret Wegner leads the FCS with a 47.2 punting average with 11 of his 31 punts going for more than 50 yards and 14 punts downed inside the 20.
Jayden Price's 85-yard punt return touchdown against Illinois State tied the third longest return in school history.
BISON LEAD IN RUSHING: North Dakota State leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference in rushing with 218.8 yards per game and will go against the No. 2 rushing defense in the conference this week in Northern Iowa, which is allowing 102.2 yards per game. NDSU's
Jalen Bussey is seventh among league rushing leaders with 61.2 yards per game, and the Bison have four active players averaging at least 40 yards per game.
TOP TWO DEFENSES: Northern Iowa and North Dakota State have the top two scoring defenses in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this spring with UNI allowing 14.0 points and NDSU 14.2 points per game. The Panthers have been the stronger team in the red zone allowing only seven TDs and five field goals in 16 opponent trips inside the 20, while NDSU opponents are 8 of 8 with eight TDs in the red zone this spring. UNI leads the MVFC with 16 sacks through six league games, while NDSU has allowed just two sacks in five games.
KACZOR, WAEGE AMONG LEAGUE LEADERS: North Dakota State linebacker
James Kaczor ranks ninth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this spring with 7.4 tackles per game, while defensive end
Spencer Waege is fourth in conference play with 3.5 sacks (0.70 sacks per game). NDSU is fifth in the league with 11 sacks through five conference games.
LIMITING PENALTIES: North Dakota State is second in the FCS this season for fewest penalty yards per game. The Bison are averaging just 24.5 penalty yards per game with the season-high being four penalties for 32 yards in the loss at Southern Illinois and a season-low one penalty for 15 yards in the home win over Youngstown State.
