American college football season
The 2018 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represents the University of North Dakota during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season . They were led by fifth-year head coach Bubba Schweigert and played their home games at the Alerus Center . The Fighting Hawks competed as an FCS independent. They finished the season 6–5.
North Dakota will leave the Big Sky Conference for all sports except football in 2018 and join the Summit League . Their football program will join the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020. Although being classified as an independent for football in 2018 and 2019, they will continue to play a full Big Sky schedule and their games will count in the conference standings for their opponents but the Fighting Hawks will be ineligible to win the conference championship.[1]
Previous season [ ]
In their final season as a full member of the Big Sky, the Fighting Hawks finished the 2017 season 3–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for 9th place.
Schedule [ ]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance 6:00 p.m. Mississippi Valley State Midco SN W 35–78,884
September 8 4:00 p.m. at No. 9 (FBS ) Washington P12N L 3–4568,093
September 15 6:00 p.m. at No. 5 Sam Houston State ESPN3 W 24–235,373
September 22 4:30 p.m. Idaho State No. 22 Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN L 21–2511,157
September 29 1:00 p.m. at Northern Colorado Pluto TV 241W 38–134,902
October 13 1:00 p.m. No. 22 Montana Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN W 41–1410,497
October 20 8:00 p.m. at Sacramento State Pluto TV 233 W 41–1510,709
October 27 2:00 p.m. No. 4 Weber State No. 22 Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN L 30–358,650
November 3 4:00 p.m. at Idaho Pluto TV 242 L 27–317,899
November 10 2:00 p.m. Portland State Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Midco SN W 17–107,494
November 17 3:30 p.m. at Northern Arizona Pluto TV 239 L 16–314,306
HomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
[2]
Game summaries [ ]
Mississippi Valley State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Delta Devils
0
7
0
0
7
Fighting Hawks
14
7
7
7
35
at Washington [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
0
0
3
0
3
No. 9 (FBS ) Huskies
10
7
7
21
45
at Sam Houston State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
7
10
0
7
24
No. 5 Bearkats
7
3
13
0
23
Idaho State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bengals
6
13
0
6
25
No. 22 Fighting Hawks
14
7
0
0
21
at Northern Colorado [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
3
21
0
14
38
Bears
0
7
0
6
13
Montana [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 22 Grizzlies
7
0
0
7
14
Fighting Hawks
14
13
7
7
41
at Sacramento State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
14
0
20
7
41
Hornets
3
7
5
0
15
Weber State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
No. 4 Wildcats
7
14
7
7
35
No. 22 Fighting Hawks
0
20
3
7
30
at Idaho [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
7
7
6
7
27
Vandals
14
0
0
17
31
Portland State [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Vikings
0
3
7
0
10
Fighting Hawks
7
0
0
10
17
at Northern Arizona [ ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Fighting Hawks
0
Lumberjacks
0
Ranking movements [ ]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Final
STATS FCS
RV
RV
RV
22
RV
RV
RV
RV
22
RV
RV
RV
Coaches
NR
NR
NR
RV
NR
NR
RV
RV
24
25
RV
25
References [ ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold