THIS WEEK: North Dakota State opens the 2024 football season with a nationally televised prime-time game on Thursday, August 29, against the Colorado Buffaloes of the Big 12 Conference. The game kicks off at 6:00 p.m. MT / 7:00 p.m. CT at Folsom Field (50,183) in Boulder, Colorado.

TELEVISION: Thursday’s match will be broadcast on ESPN with Mark Jones (match report), Roddy Jones (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sideline) who will handle the call. The game will also be streamed on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.

RADIO: National network coverage begins at 6pm CT on the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network, including Bison 1660 and 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Sam Neidermann (match report), Phil Hansen (analyst) and Noah Gindorff (sideline). Streaming is available at GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.

THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between North Dakota State and Colorado. NDSU’s last in-state game was a 22-7 win over Colorado State in Fort Collins on September 8, 2012. The Bison are 3-1 against Big 12 Conference opponents with wins over Kansas (6-3 in 2010), Kansas State (24-21 in 2013) and Iowa State (34-14 in 2014).

NEW TRAINER: This is the first game for North Dakota State’s new head coach Tim Polasekwho is back at NDSU for the third time in his coaching career after serving as offensive line coach at Iowa from 2017-2020 and as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wyoming from 2021-2023. He was running backs coach at NDSU from 2006-2012 under Craig Bohl and spent a year at Northern Illinois before returning to NDSU as offensive coordinator from 2014-2016 under Chris Klieman. Polasek takes over for Matt Entzwho accepted a position at Southern California as linebackers coach and assistant head coach for defense. Entz was 60-11 in five seasons as NDSU’s head coach with two national championships and two conference championships in 2019 and 2021.

COACHING DEBUTS: The last four NDSU head coaches have won their first game at the helm of the Bison, including Matt Entz‘s victory over Butler in 2019, Chris Klieman‘s victory at Iowa State in 2014, Craig Bohl‘s victory over Tusculum in 2003, and Bob Babich‘s victory over West Georgia in 1997. First-year NDSU head coaches are 8-3 in their debuts dating back to 1963 Darrell Mudrawho lost its season opener in 1963 after inheriting an 0-10 team, but led the Bison to their first postseason appearance in 1964 before winning NDSU’s first national title in 1965.

SEASON OPENERS: This is the 128th season opener for the Bison. North Dakota State is 90-31-6 in season openers, including last year’s 35-10 win over Eastern Washington at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Bison have won eight straight season openers since a 38-35 loss at Montana in the 2015 FCS Kickoff Game on ESPN.

NAME OF THE CAPTAIN: North Dakota State’s six captains for the 2024 season are WR Braylon HendersonQB Cam MillerLB Lucas WeertsDT Eli MostaertOT Gray Saddle and THE Dylan HendriksMiller, Weerts and Mostaert are all second-year captains.

BISON CHOSEN SECOND: North Dakota State is ranked No. 2 in both FCS preseason polls from Stats Perform and the American Football Coaches Association. The Bison were projected to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference behind two-time reigning national champion South Dakota State. NDSU had 10 players on the MVFC preseason team. First-team picks were FB/LS Hunter BrozioOT Gray SaddleTHE Dylan HendriksDT Eli MostaertLB Logan Kopp and S Cole WisniewskiThe honorary members of the second team were QB Cam MillerAT Joe StoffelOT Mason Miller and K Griffin Crosa.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: NDSU led the nation with eight FCS All-Americans selected by Stats Perform for the preseason. NDSU DT Eli MostaertS Cole Wisniewski and LS Hunter Brozio were in the first team, QB Cam MillerOT Gray SaddleTHE Dylan Hendriks and LB Logan Kopp were second team, and K Griffin Crosa was the third team. The Missouri Valley Football Conference had 24 of the 106 preseason honorees, the most of any of the 13 FCS conferences.

LAST YEAR: North Dakota State went 11-4 last year and reached the NCAA Division I FCS semifinals for the 12th time in 13 seasons before losing 31-29 in double overtime to national runner-up Montana. The Bison finished in a tie for third place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a 5-3 record.

POST-SEASON HISTORY: North Dakota State has appeared in the postseason 37 times, including 14 straight since 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 have won three national championships in the College Division 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 record in the FCS playoffs, including a 35-1 record at the Fargodome.
Most FCS Playoff Wins

47 – North Dakota State
45 – South Georgia
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 South (45-13)
.763 – Youngstown State (29-9)

CROSA AT RECORD PACE: from the NDSU Griffin Crosa is on pace to break multiple scoring records. Crosa, who is entering his fourth season as NDSU’s leading placekicker and his sixth year with the Bison, is fourth in field goals made (42), second in PATs made (203) and fifth in total points (329). He is also on track to break the MVFC extra-point record. 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, 1983-1986
384 – Lamar Gordon, RB, 1998-01
359 – Adam Keller, K, 2011-14
329 – Griffin CrosaK, 2019-23

NDSU Career PAT Kicks Made
261 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18
203 – Griffin Crosa2019-23
191 – Adam Keller, 2011-14

NDSU Career FG Created
56 – Adam Keller, 2011-14
51 – Shawn Bibeau, 2006-09
46 – Cam Pedersen, 2015-18
42 – Griffin Crosa2019-23
42 – Aaron Pederson, 1998-01



FOURTH YEAR STARTER: Quarterback Cam Miller has started 38 consecutive games for NDSU since the middle of the 2021 season. Miller has led NDSU to a 31-9 record as a starting QB, including two NCAA playoff appearances in the spring of 2021.



RECORD SEASON: Quarterback Cam Miller completed a school-record 72 percent of his passes last season, completing 208 of 289 passes 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 PASSERS: The state of North Dakota Cam Miller is among the top five passers in NDSU history entering the season, ranking fourth in passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns. He also ranks first in career passing completion percentage (67.4%).

NDSU Career Pass Attempts
1124 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
980 – Easton-Stick, 2015-18
841 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
743 – Cam Miller2020-23
612 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15

NDSU Career Pass Completions
703 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
598 – Easton-Stick, 2015-18
534 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
501 – Cam Miller2020-23
392 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15

NDSU Career Passing Yards
8693 – Easton-Stick, 2015-18
8598 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
7033 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
6470 – Cam Miller2020-23
5115 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15

NDSU Career Passing TD’s
88 – Easton-Stick, 2015-18
72 – Brock Jensen, 2010-13
60 – Steve Walker, 2004-07
48 – Cam Miller2020-23
45 – Carson Wentz, 2012-15



CANDIDATES FOR THE PRIZE: North Dakota State has six players on the preseason watch list for national player of the year honors. Cam Miller is on the ballot for the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the FCS Offensive Player of the Year. Miller finished 11th in voting last year. DT Eli MostaertLB Logan Kopp and S Cole Wisniewski have been nominated for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the FCS Defensive Player of the Year. Kopp was a finalist last year and finished tied for 22nd in voting. Kaedin Steindorf is on the FCS Punter of the Year watchlist, and Griffin Crosa is on the preseason list for the Fred Mitchell Award, which is given to the top placekicker in the FCS, Division II, III, NAIA and NJCAA.



AGAINST THE FBS: North Dakota State is 9-4 against FBS opponents, while Colorado is the first to do so since 2022, when the Bison lost 31-28 at Arizona. Before that, the Bison won six straight FBS games against Kansas (6-3 in 2010), Minnesota (37-24 in 2011), Colorado State (22-7 in 2012), Kansas State (24-21 in 2013), Iowa State (34-14 in 2014) and 11th-ranked Iowa (23-21 in 2016). NDSU’s other three FBS victories came against Ball State (29-24 in 2006), Central Michigan (44-14 in 2007) and Minnesota (27-21 in 2007). The Bison are scheduled to open the 2028 season at Oregon.



NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: North Dakota State is 81-5 against non-conference opponents since entering its first FCS national championship season in 2011. One loss came to a Pac-12 opponent (31-28 at Arizona in 2021) and two came in the playoffs against 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 losses in the past 13 years.



BISON AT HOME: The Bison hold a 189-29 record in the Fargodome, are 33-6 at home against FCS Top 10 ranked teams, and have won 82 of their last 84 home games against non-conference opponents. North Dakota State holds a 35-1 record in the Fargodome during the NCAA playoffs and has won 17 consecutive home playoff games since a 2016 semifinal loss to eventual national champion James Madison. NDSU’s 32-game home winning streak from September 2017 through April 2021 was the fourth-longest in FCS history.



BOHL IS ADDED: NDSU’s most successful head coach in football, Craig Bohlwill be inducted into 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 led the Bison through their final Division II season in 2003 and quickly propelled the Bison to Division I prominence by sweeping seven FBS opponents and reaching the FCS playoffs four times with three straight national titles in his final three seasons. He retired as coach following the 2023 season after 10 years at Wyoming and currently serves as the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. Tickets for the Hall of Fame luncheon are on sale at GoBison.com/tickets.