2019 North Dakota State Bison football team

2019 North Dakota State Bison football
2019 North Dakota State Bison football
NCAA Division I FCS National Champion; MVFC champion
FCS Championship Game, W 28–20 vs. James Madison
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 1
FCS Coaches	No. 1
Record	16–0 (8–0 MVFC)
Head coach	Matt Entz (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Tyler Roehl (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	David Braun (1st season)
Home stadium	Fargodome; (Capacity: 19,000)
	Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^	8	–	0	16	–	0
No. 5 Northern Iowa ^	6	–	2	10	–	5
No. 7 Illinois State ^	5	–	3	10	–	5
No. 10 South Dakota State ^	5	–	3	8	–	5
Southern Illinois	5	–	3	7	–	5
South Dakota	4	–	4	5	–	7
Indiana State	3	–	5	5	–	7
Youngstown State	2	–	6	6	–	6
Missouri State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Western Illinois	1	–	7	1	–	11

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

The 2019 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Matt Entz. The team played in the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota, for the 27th season as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). They entered the season as defending national champions, having won seven of the prior eight FCS titles. In 2019, the Bison finished the regular season 12–0, the second consecutive undefeated Bison season, and won their ninth consecutive MVFC title. They received an automatic qualifying bid to the FCS playoff tournament and were seeded as the No. 1 team. The Bison then went 4–0 in the FCS playoffs to finish 16–0 as FCS champions, becoming the first team at any level of college football to finish a season 16–0 since Yale in 1894. They also extended their FCS-record winning streak to 37 games.^[1]

Previous season

In 2018, the Bison finished the regular season 11–0, the first undefeated Bison season since the 2013 campaign, and won their 9th consecutive MVFC Title. They received an automatic qualifying bid to the FCS Playoff Tournament and were seeded as the No. 1 Team. The Bison then went 4–0 in the FCS playoffs to finish 15–0 and FCS Champions.

Preseason

MVFC poll

In the MVFC preseason poll released on July 29, 2019, the Bison were predicted to finish in first place.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	North Dakota State	392 (32)
2	South Dakota State	348 (4)
3	Illinois State	289 (3)
4	Indiana State	279 (1)
5	Northern Iowa	266
6	South Dakota	176
7	Youngstown State	153
8	Western Illinois	128
9	Southern Illinois	89
10	Missouri State	80

Preseason All–MVFC team

The Bison had six players selected to the preseason all-MVFC team.^[3]

Offense

Zack Johnson – OL

Dillon Radunz – OL

Defense

Derrek Tuszka – DL

Jabril Cox – LB

James Hendricks – DB

Garret Wegner – P

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	3:00 p.m.	vs. Butler*	No. 1	Target Field Minneapolis, MN	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 57–10	34,544
September 7	2:30 p.m.	North Dakota*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Nickel Trophy)	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 38–7	18,923
September 14	12:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Delaware*	No. 1	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	NBC ND/FloSports	W 47–22	14,489
September 21	2:30 p.m.	No. 4 UC Davis*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 27–16	18,425
October 5	12:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Illinois State	No. 1	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 37–3	13,391
October 12	1:00 p.m.	No. 10 Northern Iowa	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 46–14	18,178
October 19	2:30 p.m.	Missouri State	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 22–0	18,252
October 26	2:00 p.m.	at No. 3 South Dakota State	No. 1	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (Dakota Marker / College GameDay)	NBC ND/ESPN+/Midco	W 23–16	19,371
November 2	5:00 p.m.	at Youngstown State	No. 1	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 56–17	11,102
November 9	2:30 p.m.	Western Illinois	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 57–21	17,411
November 16	2:30 p.m.	South Dakota	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN+/Midco	W 49–14	17,844
November 23	2:00 p.m.	at Southern Illinois	No. 1	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	NBC ND/ESPN+	W 21–7	5,423
December 7	2:00 p.m.	No. 19 Nicholls*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 37–13	15,690
December 14	11:00 a.m.	No. 13 Illinois State*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN	W 9–3	14,132
December 21	1:00 p.m.	No. 5 Montana State*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)	ESPN2	W 42–14	18,077
January 11	11:00 a.m.	vs. No. 2 James Madison	No. 1	Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX (FCS Championship Game)	ABC	W 28–20	17,866
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[4]^[5]

Game summaries

vs. Butler

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	10	0	10
No. 1 Bison	15	21	14	7	57

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	0	7	0	0	7
No. 1 Bison	14	7	10	7	38

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
46–62–3	2015	W, 34–9

at Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Bison	10	17	6	14	47
No. 18 Fightin' Blue Hens	5	0	3	14	22

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2018	W, 38–10

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Aggies	7	6	3	0	16
No. 1 Bison	7	10	3	7	27

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–2	2007	W, 35–16

at Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Bison	16	7	7	7	37
No. 10 Redbirds	3	0	0	0	3

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–2	2018	W, 28–14

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Panthers	0	14	0	0	14
No. 1 Bison	15	3	7	21	46

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
26–26	2018	W, 56–31

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	0	0
No. 1 Bison	8	7	0	7	22

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–2	2018	W, 48–7

at South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Bison	0	3	13	7	23
No. 3 Jackrabbits	6	0	3	7	16

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
60–40–5	2018 FCS Playoffs	W, 44–21

at Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Bison	21	21	7	7	56
Penguins	0	7	3	7	17

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–4	2018	W, 17–7

Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leathernecks	0	0	7	14	21
No. 1 Bison	13	14	13	17	57

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–2	2018	W, 34–7

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	0	7	0	7	14
No. 1 Bison	14	14	14	7	49

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
53–25–3	2018	W, 59–14

at Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Bison	7	0	7	7	21
Salukis	0	7	0	0	7

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–3	2018	W, 65–17

FCS Playoffs

The Bison entered the postseason tournament as the number one seed, with a first-round bye.^[6]

Nicholls–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Colonels	3	7	3	0	13
No. 1 Bison	7	7	10	13	37

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2005	W, 26–13

Illinois State–Quarterfinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Redbirds	0	0	3	0	3
No. 1 Bison	0	9	0	0	9

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–2	2019	W, 37–3

Montana State–Semifinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Bobcats	0	7	7	0	14
No. 1 Bison	7	22	7	6	42

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–21	2018 FCS Playoffs	W, 52–10

vs. James Madison–Championship

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Dukes	7	3	3	7	20
No. 1 Bison	7	14	0	7	28

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2018 FCS Championship	W, 17–13

Ranking movements

AP Poll

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	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	—

FCS polls

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	1 (142)	1 (148)	1 (149)	1 (150)	1 (153)	1 (152)	1 (155)	1 (155)	1 (156)	1 (154)	1 (155)	1 (153)	1 (156)	1 (152)	1 (153)
Coaches	1 (23)	1 (25)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (25)

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
7	254	Derrek Tuszka	OLB	Denver Broncos

References

^ "North Dakota State beats James Madison, wins eighth FCS title". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 11, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
^ "North Dakota State Picked to Win Missouri Valley Football Crown". www.valleynewslive.com. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
^ "MVFC Announces Preseason All-Conference Team". valley-football.org. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
^ "2019 North Dakota State Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
^ "North Dakota State University Athletics - 2019 Football Schedule". gobison.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
^ "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

[1] "North Dakota State beats James Madison, wins eighth FCS title". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 11, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

[2] "North Dakota State Picked to Win Missouri Valley Football Crown". www.valleynewslive.com. Retrieved August 8, 2019.

[3] "MVFC Announces Preseason All-Conference Team". valley-football.org. Retrieved August 8, 2019.

[4] "2019 North Dakota State Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.

[5] "North Dakota State University Athletics - 2019 Football Schedule". gobison.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.

[6] "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

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v t e North Dakota State Bison football
Venues	Dacotah Field (1910–1992) Fargodome (1993–present)
Bowls & rivalries	North Dakota: Nickel Trophy South Dakota State: Dakota Marker
Culture & lore	Thundar "On Bison" Gold Star Marching Band
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 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e NCAA Division I-AA/FCS football champions
1970s	1978: Florida A&M 1979: Eastern Kentucky
1980s	1980: Boise State 1981: Idaho State 1982: Eastern Kentucky 1983: Southern Illinois 1984: Montana State 1985: Georgia Southern 1986: Georgia Southern 1987: Northeast Louisiana 1988: Furman 1989: Georgia Southern
1990s	1990: Georgia Southern 1991: Youngstown State 1992: Marshall 1993: Youngstown State 1994: Youngstown State 1995: Montana 1996: Marshall 1997: Youngstown State 1998: UMass 1999: Georgia Southern
2000s	2000: Georgia Southern 2001: Montana 2002: Western Kentucky 2003: Delaware 2004: James Madison 2005: Appalachian State 2006: Appalachian State 2007: Appalachian State 2008: Richmond 2009: Villanova
2010s	2010: Eastern Washington 2011: North Dakota State 2012: North Dakota State 2013: North Dakota State 2014: North Dakota State 2015: North Dakota State 2016: James Madison 2017: North Dakota State 2018: North Dakota State 2019: North Dakota State
2020s	2020: Sam Houston State 2021: North Dakota State 2022: South Dakota State 2023: South Dakota State