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No. 8 Fighting Hawks open season at Idaho State

After a month-long build up to the college football season in the Red River Valley, the University of North Dakota will open its 2021 season Saturday, Sept. 4 at Idaho State. The No. 8-ranked Fighting Hawks and Bengals will kick off at 2:05 p.m. central time.

The matchup will air live on ESPN+ as well as on the Home of Economy Radio Network with the pregame game show starting at 1:30 p.m. Jack Michaels and Tom Dosch will have the call with the assistance of Paul Raulston on the sidelines.

UND begins the season as a consensus top-10 in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) for the first time since 2017, ranking eighth in the Stats Perform and as high as seventh in the FCS Coaches Poll. It is only the third time in North Dakota’s FCS history it has begun the season ranked in the Preseason Polls.

The Bubba Schweigert-led UND program will play on the road to open the season for the first time since 2017, aiming for its first road-opening win since 2015 when North Dakota defeated Wyoming 24-13 for the team’s first FBS win.

While the Fighting Hawks are coming off of a 5-2 campaign that saw them advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs, Idaho State finished 2-4 in the COVID-19 spring season of 2021. However, the Bengals defeated their rival Idaho, which was ranked 24th in the country. The ISU program ranked eighth in the country in passing thanks to the arm of Tyler Vander Waal, the reigning Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year.

 

What’s good?

® North Dakota is the reigning Missouri Valley Football Conference Champion. The Fighting Hawks won the title in their first season as a conference affiliate.

® UND spent two seasons (2018-19) as an FCS Independent prior to joining the MVFC.

® Head coach Bubba Schweigert enters his eighth season in charge of the Fighting Hawks football program and is 4-3 in season-openers, leading North Dakota to victory in the last three.

® The Fighting Hawks were one of the least-penalized teams in spring 2021, finishing fourth in FCS with 3.4 per game.

® North Dakota was one of nine teams to block multiple punts last season and is one of only eight teams to accomplish the feat in three of the last four years in FCS.

® Matt Waletzko and Otis Weah combined for eight preseason All-America honors this summer.

® Weah was also named to Walter Payton Award Watch List as one of 35 players named by Stats Perform.

® The fall 2021 opener is UND’s first season-opener on the road since 2017 when the University of North Dakota met Utah.

® Since making the jump to the FCS in 2008, the Fighting Hawks are 1-5 against FBS programs.

® Saturday’s contest will be the ninth meeting between UND and ISU since the series began in 1965. The Fighting Hawks lead the all-time series, 5-3.

® Since 2008, North Dakota is 8-5 in season-openers.

® The Fighting Hawks finished the 2021 spring slate 10th in the FCS in sacks with 11 players accounting for 24 sacks. UND returns 10 of those players.

® North Dakota’s offense set a record for fewest negative plays in a season (24) and only allowed two sacks to finish third in the NCAA and first in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Next up

The University of North Dakota will have a quick turnaround and head to Logan, Utah to take on FBS foe Utah State Sept. 10. The Fighting Hawks and Aggies will kick off at 8 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

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