2019 North Dakota State Bison football team

2019 North Dakota State Bison football
NCAA Division I champion MVFC champion
NCAA Division I Championship, W 28–20 vs. James Madison
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 1
FCS Coaches	No. 1
2019 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	Conf							Overall
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]

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

North Dakota[]

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

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

UC Davis[]

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

at Illinois State[]

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

Northern Iowa[]

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

Missouri State[]

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

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

at Youngstown State[]

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

Western Illinois[]

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

South Dakota[]

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

at Southern Illinois[]

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

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

Illinois State–Quarterfinals[]

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

Montana State–Semifinals[]

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

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

Ranking movements[]

AP Poll

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ 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	13	14	15	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	NR

FCS polls

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ 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	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[]