2015 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

2015 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football
2015 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	7–4 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Kyle Schweigert (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Paul Rudolph (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Eric Schmidt (2nd season)
Home stadium	Alerus Center; (Capacity: 12,283)
	Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 18 Southern Utah $^	7	–	1	8	–	4
No. 10 Portland State ^	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 14 Montana ^	6	–	2	8	–	5
North Dakota	5	–	3	7	–	4
Northern Arizona	5	–	3	7	–	4
Eastern Washington	5	–	3	6	–	5
Weber State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Northern Colorado	3	–	5	6	–	5
Montana State	3	–	5	5	–	6
Cal Poly	3	–	5	4	–	7
UC Davis	2	–	6	2	–	9
Idaho State	1	–	7	2	–	9
Sacramento State	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2015 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second year head coach Kyle Schweigert and played their home games at the Alerus Center. The Fighting Hawks are a member of the Big Sky Conference.

Although playing most of the season without an official mascot, 2015 was North Dakota's first year with their new nickname as it was announced on November 18 that the university had adopted the Fighting Hawks after a public vote of students, faculty, staff and other members of the University of North Dakota community.

The Fighting Hawks finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in Big Sky play to finish in a four way tie for fourth place.

Previous season

In 2014, North Dakota finished with a record of 5–7, 3–5 in Big Sky play, to finish in a tie for eighth place. They failed to qualify for the FCS Playoffs.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	3:00 PM	at Wyoming*		War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY		W 24–13	23,669
September 12	5:00 PM	Drake*		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	W 21–18	9,865
September 19	2:30 PM	at No. 4 North Dakota State*		Fargodome Fargo, ND (Rivalry)	NBC ND/ESPN3	L 9–34	19,044^[1]
September 26	1:00 PM	UC Davis		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	W 31–24	8,450
October 3	4:00 PM	at No. 16 Portland State		Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro, OR	WBS	W 19–17	4,765
October 10	1:00 PM	Idaho State	No. 23	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	L 31–37	9,188
October 17	7:00 PM	at Weber State		Stewart Stadium Odgen, UT	WBS	L 24–25	5,461
October 24	2:30 PM	at No. 19 Montana		Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTNW	L 16–42	25,014
October 31	1:00 PM	No. 19 Montana State		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	W 44–38	7,090
November 14	1:00 PM	Northern Colorado		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Midco SN	W 45–14	6,996
November 21	8:05 PM	at Cal Poly		Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	WBS	W 45–21	5,746
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[2]

Game summaries

Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	7	7	0	10	24
Cowboys	0	0	0	13	13

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Drake

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	3	15	18
North Dakota	7	14	0	0	21

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2011	UND, 16–0

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	3	0	6	0	9
#4 Bison	3	21	10	0	34

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
62–45–3	2003	UND, 28–21

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	3	7	7	24
North Dakota	14	7	10	0	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–4	2013	UCD, 34–18

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	3	3	10	3	19
#16 Vikings	7	3	7	0	17

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–2	2014	UND, 24–16

Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	6	9	7	15	37
#23 North Dakota	14	7	10	0	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–0	2013	UND, 28–25

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	7	10	0	7	24
Wildcats	3	7	0	15	25

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	2014	WEB, 24–12

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
North Dakota	7	6	0	3	16
#19 Grizzlies	7	14	14	7	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–13–1	2014	MONT, 18–15

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Bobcats	7	17	7	7	38
North Dakota	21	10	7	6	44

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–18–1	2014	MTST, 29–18

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	14	14
North Dakota	7	28	10	0	45

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–12	2014	UND, 33–14

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	7	21	7	10	45
Mustangs	0	0	14	7	21

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2012	CP, 35–17

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	—	RV	RV	—	RV	25	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	RV

References

^ Schnepf, Kevin (September 19, 2015). "For at Least One Day, NDSU-UND Game Was the Biggest Thing in the State Again". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
^ "2015 University of North Dakota schedule". University of North Dakota Department of Athletics. Retrieved September 22, 2015.

[1] Schnepf, Kevin (September 19, 2015). "For at Least One Day, NDSU-UND Game Was the Biggest Thing in the State Again". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Retrieved September 19, 2015.

[2] "2015 University of North Dakota schedule". University of North Dakota Department of Athletics. Retrieved September 22, 2015.

[1]

[2]

v t e North Dakota Fighting Hawks football
Venues	Memorial Stadium (1927–2000) Alerus Center (2001–present)
Bowls & rivalries	North Dakota State: Nickel Trophy South Dakota: Sitting Bull Trophy
Culture & lore	"Fight On Sioux" "It's for You, North Dakota U" Pride of the North Native American mascot controversy
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold