Bison, Coyotes Open Conference Play Saturday in NDSU Homecoming Game

THIS WEEK: No. 1-ranked North Dakota State (3-0) opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play internet hosting Seventeenth-ranked South Dakota (2-2) within the annual NDSU homecoming sport scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at Gate City Bank Field on the Fargodome (18,700).
 
TICKETS: Tickets could also be bought on-line at GoBison.com/tickets or by calling the Bison Ticket Office within the south foyer of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex at (701) 231-6378 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Game day ticket gross sales, if accessible, start at 8 a.m. within the east foyer of the Fargodome.
 
TELEVISION: Saturday’s sport will likely be televised on ABC stations statewide in North Dakota with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Kyle Emanuel (analyst) and Sam Goetzinger (sideline) dealing with the decision. The broadcast may even be accessible to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
 
RADIO: Statewide community protection on all 25 stations throughout the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network begins at 12 p.m. together with Bison 1660 and 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Sam Neidermann (play-by-play), Phil Hansen (analyst) and Noah Gindorff (sideline) describing the motion. Streaming is on the market on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics cellular app.
 
WEEKLY SHOWS: Fans are invited to hitch NDSU head coach Tim Polasek every Thursday evening from 6:30 to eight p.m. for the Bison Football Coaches Show reside from Holiday Inn Fargo with host Sam Neidermann and different NDSU coaches and gamers. The present may be heard on Bison 1660 in Fargo, KSJB-AM 600 in Jamestown, KYCR-AM 1440 in Minneapolis, GoBison.com and the NDSU Athletics cellular app. On tv, The Bison Football Show airs statewide every Sunday evening at 10:35 p.m. on WDAY (Fargo), WDAZ (Grand Forks), KBMY (Bismarck) and KMCY (Minot).
 
THE SERIES: This is the ninetieth assembly between North Dakota State and South Dakota in a sequence relationship again to 1903. NDSU holds a 59-28-2 all-time lead together with 11-3 as Division I opponents. USD has gained the final two regular-season conferences, 29-28 in final 12 months’s regular-season finale in Vermillion and 24-19 within the 2023 NDSU homecoming sport.
 
HOMECOMING: North Dakota State has a 60-38-3 document in homecoming video games relationship again to 1921, together with a 26-5 document within the Fargodome. NDSU had an 11-game homecoming successful streak snapped by South Dakota in 2023 however the Bison acquired again within the win column final 12 months with a 41-24 homecoming victory over Towson. USD is 1-4 because the opponent for NDSU homecoming.
 
HALL OF FAME: The 53rd class of the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame will likely be inducted at a luncheon on Friday and also will be acknowledged at halftime of Saturday’s sport. The inductees are five-time All-America observe and area athlete Andrew Aakre, nationwide champion and two-time all-region softball outfielder Nikki (Almquist) Mead, four-time All-America sprinter and soccer broad receiver Allen Burrell, 10-time All-America jumper Crystal Cummins Schneider, nine-year NFL security and Super Bowl champion Craig Dahl, all-region and two-time all-conference volleyball setter Janna (Ruebke) Engel, all-region and two-time all-conference basketball middle Brian Sand, and former college president Joseph A. Chapman.
 
CODE GREEN: Fans in all seating sections are inspired to put on inexperienced for the Code Green theme Saturday vs. South Dakota. NDSU will put on its inexperienced Harvest Helmet with inexperienced jerseys and inexperienced pants. The Bison are 7-0 within the all-green look since 2019 together with two dwelling wins final 12 months over South Dakota State.
 
LAST TIME OUT: North Dakota State is coming off a bye week and enters Missouri Valley Football Conference play with a 3-0 document after beating Southeast Missouri State 41-14 within the dwelling opener two weeks in the past. Cole Payton went 16 of 23 passing for 348 yards with 4 first-half touchdowns in his first Fargodome begin. Payton additionally rushed for 53 yards and one TD. The 348 passing yards and 401 whole offense yards had been each third most in NDSU single-game historical past. He accomplished passes to 9 totally different receivers with Bryce Lance catching 4 for a career-high 159 yards together with a career-long 75-yard TD, and RaJa Nelson scored on two of his 4 receptions.
 
NATIONAL LEADERS: NDSU quarterback Cole Payton leads the FCS in passing yards per completion (18.10) and per try (12.84) and ranks second in passing effectivity (214.7) by his first three begins. Payton can be seventh in whole offense (293.7 ypg) and thirteenth in completion share (.709). RaJa Nelson ranks eighth within the FCS with 4 receiving touchdowns and Barika Kpeenu is tenth within the FCS with 5 speeding TDs.
 
TOP DEFENSE: North Dakota State ranks first in passing protection and whole protection and second in scoring protection within the newest FCS statistics. NDSU is permitting simply 78.7 passing yards, 158.0 whole yards and 5.7 factors per sport by the non-conference schedule. The Bison additionally rank third in tackles for loss (8.3/sport), fourth in sacks (3.3/sport) and fifth in speeding protection (79.3 ypg).
 
GOOD WORKS TEAM: Senior linebacker Logan Kopp was one in all 22 gamers in school soccer named to the 2025 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Kopp is the tenth NDSU participant named to the crew, which acknowledges extraordinary dedication to neighborhood service. Read extra in regards to the crew members at ESPN.com/allstate.
 
BISON PICKED FIRST: Reining nationwide champion North Dakota State was picked first in a preseason ballot of Missouri Valley Football Conference media, coaches and communications administrators. NDSU acquired 39 of 42 first-place votes. South Dakota State was picked second and South Dakota was third.
 
WATCH LISTS: North Dakota State has three gamers into consideration for nationwide participant of the 12 months awards. Wide receiver Bryce Lance is on the preseason watch listing for the Walter Payton Award, offered yearly to the FCS offensive participant of the 12 months. Defensive finish Toby Anene and linebacker Logan Kopp are on the watch listing for the Buck Buchanan Award, offered to the FCS defensive participant of the 12 months. Other preseason All-Americans from NDSU are middle Trent Fraley and kick returner Jackson Williams.
 
18 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: North Dakota State has gained 18 soccer nationwide championships. NDSU claimed three College Division nationwide championships in 1965, 1968 and 1969 by way of the nationwide polls, 5 Division II playoff titles in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990, and was the primary crew in school soccer historical past to win 5 straight nationwide titles with FCS crowns in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 earlier than successful once more in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024. The Bison misplaced to the eventual nationwide champion within the 2010 and 2020 quarterfinals and 2016 semifinals.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: North Dakota State is 90-6 in opposition to non-conference opponents for the reason that starting of its first FCS nationwide championship season in 2011. Two losses had been to FBS opponents (31-28 at Arizona in 2021 and 31-26 at Colorado in 2024) and two had been within the playoffs to the eventual nationwide champion (27-17 to James Madison in 2016 and 24-20 at Sam Houston State in 2020-21). Montana’s 31-29 double-overtime win within the 2023 FCS semifinals and 38-35 victory within the 2015 FCS Kickoff are NDSU’s solely different non-conference losses the previous 13 years.
 
BISON AT HOME: The Bison have a 200-29 all-time document within the Fargodome since 1993, together with 35-5 in opposition to FCS Top 10 ranked groups and 77-1 in opposition to FCS non-conference groups with 33 straight wins over non-MVFC groups since 2017. North Dakota State has a 38-1 document within the Fargodome in the course of the NCAA playoffs and has gained 20 straight dwelling playoff video games for the reason that 2016 semifinal loss to eventual nationwide champion James Madison. NDSU’s 32-game dwelling successful streak September 2017 by April 2021 was fourth longest in FCS historical past.