THIS WEEK: The No. 2-ranked North Dakota State football team is back on the road this week when the Bison (1-1) travel to Johnson City, Tenn., to play East Tennessee State (1-1) in non-conference action. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CT at William B. Green Stadium (7,694).
 
TELEVISION: Saturday’s game will be televised on ABC stations statewide in North Dakota with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Kyle Emanuel (analyst) and Sam Goetzinger (sideline) handling the call. ETSU’s broadcast will be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app. Former Bison 1660 radio personality Keith Brake will have the call on ESPN+ alongside ETSU hall of fame quarterback Mark Hutsell.
 
RADIO: Statewide network coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. on the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network including Bison 1660 and 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Sam Neidermann (play-by-play), Phil Hansen (analyst) and Noah Gindorff (sideline). Streaming is available on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.
 
THE SERIES: This is the second meeting between North Dakota State and East Tennessee State. NDSU won 27-3 in the quarterfinals of the 2021 FCS playoffs at the Fargodome. The Bison are scheduled to host ETSU again in the 2026 season opener. North Dakota State is 8-0 against Southern Conference teams since 2004. This is ETSU’s second game against a Missouri Valley Football Conference team.
 
BOUNCING BACK: With last week’s 52-3 win over Tennessee State, North Dakota State is now 20-0 after regular-season losses since 2010. NDSU has not lost back-to-back regular season games since a five-game losing streak in the middle of the 2009 season. The season-opening loss at Colorado, coupled with last year’s national semifinal loss at Montana, marked the first consecutive losses for the Bison since 2009.
 
FIRST-TIMERS: North Dakota State scored seven touchdowns last week and five players scored for the first time in their career. Junior wide receiver Bryce Lance had a career-high seven receptions and 106 yards with the first two TD catches of his career, scoring on passes of 14 and 6 yards from Cam Miller, who finished 14 of 18 passing for 181 yards and three TDs while also running for a 24-yard touchdown. CharMar Brown scored his first TD on a 3-yard run, John Gores‘ first career reception was a 12-yard TD pass from Miller, Mekhi Collins got his first TD on a 19-yard pass from Cole Payton, and quarterback Nathan Hayes‘ first career rushing attempt went for a 51-yard TD.
 
OZICK’S BIG KICKS: Redshirt freshman Eli Ozick made a 51-yard field goal on his first career attempt against Tennessee State. It was the longest field goal by a Bison kicker in eight years when Cam Pedersen hit from 52 yards in the 2016 season-opener against Charleston Southern. Ozick also added two extra-point kicks in the victory. He has booted 14 of 15 kickoffs into the end zone with 13 touchbacks helping the Bison limit opponents to just 13 return yards through two contests.
 
AS SEEN ON TV: The season opener at Colorado was North Dakota State’s largest football TV audience and ESPN’s best Thursday opener since 2017 with more than 4.8 million viewers tuned in and a peak of 5.6 million viewers. The Bison will return to national television Oct. 19 hosting South Dakota State in the 21st annual Dakota Marker game. Network and game time will be announced at a later date.
 
CAPTAINS NAMED: North Dakota State’s six captains for the 2024 season are WR Braylon Henderson, QB Cam Miller, LB Luke Weerts, DT Eli Mostaert, OT Grey Zabel and DE Dylan Hendricks. Miller, Weerts and Mostaert are all second-year captains.
 
BISON PICKED SECOND: North Dakota State was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference behind two-time defending national champion South Dakota State. NDSU had 10 players on the MVFC preseason team. First-team picks were FB/LS Hunter Brozio, OT Grey Zabel, DE Dylan Hendricks, DT Eli Mostaert, LB Logan Kopp and S Cole Wisniewski. Second-team honorees were QB Cam Miller, TE Joe Stoffel, OT Mason Miller and K Griffin Crosa.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: NDSU led the country with eight preseason FCS All-Americans selected by Stats Perform. NDSU DT Eli Mostaert, S Cole Wisniewski and LS Hunter Brozio were on the first team, QB Cam Miller, OT Grey Zabel, DE Dylan Hendricks and LB Logan Kopp were second team, and K Griffin Crosa was third team. The Missouri Valley Football Conference had 24 of the 106 preseason honorees, the most of all 13 FCS conferences.
 
LAST YEAR: North Dakota State was 11-4 last year and advanced to the NCAA Division I FCS semifinals for the 12th time in 13 seasons before falling to national runner-up Montana 31-29 in double overtime. NDSU tied for third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a 5-3 record.
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY: North Dakota State has made 37 postseason appearances including 14 straight dating back to 2010. NDSU has an 82-18 record in the postseason with 17 national championships including nine FCS titles in 11 years from 2011 to 2021. The Bison won three College Division national championships in 1965, 1968 and 1969 and five Division II titles in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990. NDSU is 77-17 in the NCAA playoff format since 1973. The Bison have a 47-5 mark in the FCS playoffs, including a 35-1 record in the Fargodome.
        Most FCS Playoff Wins
        47 – North Dakota State
        45 – Georgia Southern
        38 – Montana
        29 – Youngstown State
        26 – Northern Iowa

        Highest Winning Percentage in FCS Playoffs

        .904 – North Dakota State (47-5)

        .793 – Marshall (23-6)

        .776 – Georgia Southern (45-13)

        .763 – Youngstown State (29-9)

 

CROSA ON RECORD PACE: NDSU’s Griffin Crosa is on pace to break multiple scoring records. Crosa, entering his fourth season as NDSU’s top placekicker and his sixth year overall with the Bison, ranks fourth in field goals made (44), second in PATs made (210) and fifth in total points (342). He is also within reach of the MVFC and NCAA FCS extra-points record of 261 set by NDSU’s Cam Pedersen from 2015 to 2018. His streak of 127 consecutive PAT conversions snapped in 2023 was the third longest in Missouri Valley Football Conference history. Crosa led the MVFC last season with 19 field goals, 70 extra points and 127 total points.

        NDSU Career Points Scored

        399 – Cam Pedersen, K, 2015-18

        386 – Jeff Bentrim, QB, 1983-86

        384 – Lamar Gordon, RB, 1998-01

        359 – Adam Keller, K, 2011-14

        342 – Griffin Crosa, K, 2019-23

        NDSU Career PAT Kicks Made

        261 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18 (MVFC and FCS record)

        210 – Griffin Crosa, 2019-23

        191 – Adam Keller, 2011-14

        NDSU Career FG Made

        56 – Adam Keller, 2011-14

        51 – Shawn Bibeau, 2006-09

        46 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18

        44 – Griffin Crosa, 2019-23

        42 – Aaron Pederson, 1998-01

 

FOURTH-YEAR STARTER: Quarterback Cam Miller has started 40 straight games for NDSU since the middle of the 2021 season. Miller has led NDSU to a 32-10 record as the starting QB, including two NCAA playoff games in the spring 2021 season.

 

RECORD SEASON: NDSU quarterback Cam Miller completed a school-record 72 percent of his passes last season going 208-for-289 with 19 touchdowns and four interceptions. That was the third best completion percentage in Missouri Valley Football Conference history. Miller set NDSU and MVFC records in 2023 with 23 consecutive completions against Central Arkansas (17) and South Dakota (6).

 

TOP FIVE PASSER: North Dakota State’s Cam Miller is among the top five passers in NDSU history entering the season ranked fourth in passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns. He also ranks first in career passing completion percentage (68.1%), third in pass efficiency (160.5), fifth in yards per passing attempt (8.8), and is eighth in Bison history with 39 career rushing touchdowns, two shy of the Missouri Valley Football Conference record of 41 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback set by NDSU’s Easton Stick from 2015 to 2018.

        NDSU Career Pass Attempts

        1,124 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13

        980 – Easton Stick, 2015-18

        841 – Steve Walker, 2004-07

        783 – Cam Miller, 2020-23

        612 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15

        NDSU Career Pass Completions

        703 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13

        598 – Easton Stick, 2015-18

        534 – Steve Walker, 2004-07

        533 – Cam Miller, 2020-23

        392 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15

        NDSU Career Passing Yards

        8,693 – Easton Stick, 2015-18

        8,598 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13

        7,033 – Steve Walker, 2004-07

        6,928 – Cam Miller, 2020-23

        5,115 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15

        NDSU Career Passing TDs

        88 – Easton Stick, 2015-18

        72 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13

        60 – Steve Walker, 2004-07

        52 – Cam Miller, 2020-23

        45 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15

        NDSU Career TDs Responsible For

        129 – Easton Stick, 2015-18

        107 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13

        91 – Cam Miller, 2020-24

        88 – Jeff Bentrim, 1983-86

        85 – Kevin Feeney, 1995-98

        NDSU Career Total Offense Yards

        11,216 – Easton Stick, 2015-18

        9,838 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13

        8,696 – Cam Miller, 2020-24

        7,230 – Kevin Feeney, 1995-98

        7,144 – Steve Walker, 2004-07

 

AWARD CANDIDATES: North Dakota State has six players on preseason watch lists for national player of the year honors. QB Cam Miller is listed for the Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the FCS Offensive Player of the Year. Miller finished 11th in the voting last year. DT Eli Mostaert, LB Logan Kopp and S Cole Wisniewski are up for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the FCS Defensive Player of the Year. Kopp tied for 22nd in the voting last year. Kaedin Steindorf is on the FCS Punter of the Year watch list, and Griffin Crosa is on the preseason list for the Fred Mitchell Award, presented to the top placekicker among the FCS, Division II, III, NAIA and NJCAA.

 

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: North Dakota State is 82-6 against non-conference opponents since the beginning of its first FCS national championship season in 2011. Two losses were to FBS opponents (31-28 at Arizona in 2021 and 31-26 at Colorado in 2024) and two were in the playoffs to the eventual national 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 in the 2023 FCS semifinals and 38-35 victory in the 2015 FCS Kickoff are NDSU’s only other non-conference loss the past 13 years.

 

BISON AT HOME: The Bison have a 190-29 record in the Fargodome, 33-6 at home against FCS Top 10 ranked teams, and winners of 83 of the last 85 home games over non-conference opponents. North Dakota State has a 35-1 record in the Fargodome during the NCAA playoffs and has won 17 straight home playoff games since the 2016 semifinal loss to eventual national champion James Madison. NDSU’s 32-game home winning streak September 2017 through April 2021 was fourth longest in FCS history.

 

BOHL TO BE INDUCTED: NDSU’s all-time winningest head football coach, Craig Bohl, will be inducted in the 2024 class of the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 20. Bohl was a two-time Eddie Robinson Award winner as FCS Coach of the Year and compiled a 104-32 record over 11 seasons from 2003-2013. He guided the Bison through their final season of Division II in 2003 and quickly transitioned the Bison to Division I prominence beating seven FBS opponents and reaching the FCS playoffs four times with three straight national titles in his final three seasons. He retired from coaching following the 2023 season after 10 years at Wyoming and is currently the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. Tickets to the hall of fame luncheon are on sale at GoBison.com/tickets.