Bison Make Home Debut vs. Southeast Missouri Saturday in Trees Bowl

THIS WEEK: No. 1-ranked North Dakota State plays its home opener this week when the Bison (2-0) host the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (1-1), reigning champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, in the annual Trees Bowl game sponsored by the North Dakota Forest Service. Game time is 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700).
 
TICKETS: Tickets may be purchased online at GoBison.com/tickets or by calling the Bison Ticket Office in the south lobby of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex at (701) 231-6378 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Game day ticket sales, if available, begin at 9:30 a.m. in the east lobby of the Fargodome.
 
CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION: The first 3,000 fans to Saturday’s game may receive a replica national championship ring commemorating the 2024 season, which was the NDSU football program’s 18th national title and the 10th FCS title in 14 years. The national championship banner will be raised over the south end zone prior to the game at approximately 2:20 p.m.
 
WHITEOUT: Fans in all seating sections are encouraged to wear white to Saturday’s game. North Dakota State, in partnership with its new official team outfitter Under Armour, will wear a new custom white uniform with metallic gold numerals and accents. The ‘Gold Standard’ jersey will be paired with new white pants and the green ‘Harvest Helmet’ that debuted in 2015.
 
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. The broadcast will also be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
 
RADIO: Statewide network coverage on all 25 stations across the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network begins at 1:30 p.m. including Bison 1660 and 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Sam Neidermann (play-by-play) and Phil Hansen (analyst) describing the action. Streaming is available on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.
 
WEEKLY SHOWS: Fans are invited to join NDSU head coach Tim Polasek each Thursday night from 6:30 to 8 p.m. for the Bison Football Coaches Show live from Holiday Inn Fargo with host Sam Neidermann and other NDSU coaches and players. The show can be heard on Bison 1660 in Fargo, KSJB-AM 600 in Jamestown, KYCR-AM 1440 in Minneapolis, GoBison.com and the NDSU Athletics mobile app. On television, The Bison Football Show airs statewide each Sunday night at 10:35 p.m. on WDAY (Fargo), WDAZ (Grand Forks), KBMY (Bismarck) and KMCY (Minot).
 
THE SERIES: This is the first meeting between North Dakota State and Southeast Missouri State. NDSU is 4-0 against Ohio Valley Conference competition after last week’s 59-3 win at Tennessee State. SEMO has played at least one Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent annually since 1991, except for 2006. The Redhawks are 16-41 against the MVFC.
 
TREES BOWL: North Dakota State has a 31-3 record in the annual Trees Bowl game, which was established in 1990. The Bison have won 16 straight including a 52-3 win over Tennessee State in last year’s home opener.
 
HOME OPENERS: North Dakota State has a 100-22-5 record all-time in the first home game of the season, including a 52-3 win over Tennessee State in the 2024 Trees Bowl game. NDSU has won 26 straight home openers since a 23-21 loss to Emporia State in 1998.
 
LAST WEEK: NDSU picked up its second road win of the season last week with a 59-3 rout of Tennessee State at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Barika Kpeenu rushed for three first-half touchdowns and Donovan Woolen had a 34-yard pick-six to help propel the Bison to a 45-0 halftime lead. It was the most first-half points for the Bison since scoring 49 against Robert Morris in 2017.
 
TICKET DEADLINE: This is the final week to reserve tickets for the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame banquet scheduled for Friday, Sept. 26. Tickets are available online at GoBison.com/tickets. Among the eight inductees are wide receiver/return specialist Allen Burrell (2002-2005) and safety Craig Dahl (2003-2006). Burrell, an honorable mention All-North Central Conference receiver in 2003, also starred in track and field as an eight-time conference champion and four-time All-America sprinter. Dahl was a three-time all-conference safety and went on to a nine-year NFL career with the Giants, Rams and 49ers, winning a Super Bowl with the Giants his rookie year.
 
CONNECTIONS: Even though NDSU and SEMO are first-time opponents on the football field, there are some connections between the two programs. NDSU director of athletic performance Ryan Napoli spent six seasons with the Redhawks as the football strength and conditioning coach in 2017 and 2018 and worked one year at Northern Illinois in 2019 before returning to SEMO as the director of sports performance from 2020 through 2023. First-year NDSU director of football equipment Brett Reynolds is a graduate of SEMO and spent four seasons on the football equipment staff as an undergraduate and graduate student from 2021 to 2024. NDSU quarterback Preston Brown, a true freshman from Hillsboro High School in Missouri, is the younger brother of sophomore running back Payton Brown, SEMO’s leading rusher through two games with 26 carries for 119 yards.
 
#PROBISON: Week 1 of the NFL season opened with eight former NDSU players on active rosters, two on injured reserve, and five on practice squads. Active players are 7th year LB Chris Board (Giants), 5th year QB Trey Lance (Chargers), 3rd year FB Hunter Luepke (Cowboys), 3rd year OG Cody Mauch (Buccaneers), 5th year OT Dillon Radunz (Saints), 2nd year C Jalen Sundell (Seahawks), 10th-year QB Carson Wentz (Vikings) and 1st year OG Grey Zabel (Seahawks). Injured reserve players are 4th year OG Cordell Volson (Bengals) and 4th year WR Christian Watson (Packers). Practice squad players are 6th year QB Easton Stick (Falcons), 2nd year OG Jake Kubas (Giants), 1st year CB Jayden Price (Saints), 1st year QB Cam Miller (Raiders) and 1st year OT Mason Miller (Lions). Additionally, three other former Bison in the NFL include 3rd year CB Josh Hayes (Buccaneers/Kansas State), 1st year safety Marques Sigle (49ers/Kansas State) and 1st year CB Dom Jones (Browns/Colorado State).
 
COACHES TOO: Not only does North Dakota State have 18 former players with NFL clubs, six other former players and three former coaches are now NFL coaches. Gus Bradley is assistant head coach of defense for the 49ers in his 20th NFL season, Todd Wash is defensive line coach for the Panthers in his 19th NFL season, Bobby Babich is defensive coordinator for the Bills in his 14th NFL season, Ben Ellefson is in his 3rd season as an offensive assistant for the Vikings, Scott Fuchs is in his 2nd NFL season as Titans assistant offensive line coach, and Tyler Roehl is in his 1st NFL season as Lions tight ends coach. Additionally, former Bison offensive line coach Conor Riley is in his 1st year as Cowboys offensive line coach, former defensive ends coach Jamar Cain is the defensive line coach in his 3rd season with the Broncos, and former quality control assistant Connor Senger is a pass game specialist in his 4th NFL season with the Cardinals.
 
BISON PICKED FIRST: Reining national champion North Dakota State was picked first in a preseason poll of Missouri Valley Football Conference media, coaches and communications directors. NDSU received 39 of 42 first-place votes. South Dakota State was picked second and South Dakota was third.
 
WATCH LISTS: North Dakota State has three players under consideration for national player of the year awards. Wide receiver Bryce Lance is on the preseason watch list for the Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the FCS offensive player of the year. Defensive end Toby Anene and linebacker Logan Kopp are on the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the FCS defensive player of the year. Other preseason All-Americans from NDSU are center Trent Fraley and kick returner Jackson Williams.
 
18 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: North Dakota State has won 18 football national championships. NDSU claimed three College Division national championships in 1965, 1968 and 1969 via the national polls, five Division II playoff titles in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990, and was the first team in college football history to win five straight national titles with FCS crowns in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 before winning again in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024. The Bison lost to the eventual national champion in the 2010 and 2020 quarterfinals and 2016 semifinals.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: North Dakota State is 89-6 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 losses the past 13 years.
 
BISON AT HOME: The Bison have a 199-29 all-time record in the Fargodome since 1993, including 35-5 against FCS Top 10 ranked teams and 76-1 against FCS non-conference teams with 32 straight wins over non-MVFC teams since 2017. North Dakota State has a 38-1 record in the Fargodome during the NCAA playoffs and has won 20 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.