2024 North Dakota State Bison football team

2024 North Dakota State Bison football
2024 North Dakota State Bison football
NCAA Division I champion; MVFC co-champion
NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, ; W 35–32 vs. Montana State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 1
FCS Coaches	No. 1
Record	14–2 (7–1 MVFC)
Head coach	Tim Polasek (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Jake Landry (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Co-defensive coordinators	Nick Goeser (1st season); Grant Olson (1st season);
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Fargodome
	Seasons ← 2023 2025 →

The 2024 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bison were led by first-year head coach Tim Polasek. Polasek joined the Bison after being an offensive coordinator at North Dakota State, Iowa, and most recently, Wyoming. Polasek was assisted by first-year offensive coordinator Jake Landry,^[1] who joined the Bison from St. Thomas, as well as co-defensive coordinators Grant Olson and Nick Goeser.^[2] The Bison played their home games at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference

STATSNo. 1

FCS CoachesNo. 1

Record14–2 (7–1 MVFC)

Quick facts North Dakota State Bison football, NCAA Division I championMVFC co-champion ...

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2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State +^	7	–	1	14	–	2
No. 3 South Dakota State +^	7	–	1	12	–	3
No. 4 South Dakota +^	7	–	1	11	–	3
Missouri State *	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 11 Illinois State ^	6	–	2	10	–	4
Youngstown State	3	–	5	4	–	8
Indiana State	3	–	5	4	–	8
North Dakota	2	–	6	5	–	7
Southern Illinois	2	–	6	4	–	8
Northern Iowa	1	–	7	3	–	9
Murray State	0	–	8	1	–	11

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Ineligible for 2024 FCS playoffs due to transition to the FBS Rankings from STATS Poll

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The Bison finished their regular season with a 10–2 record (7–1 in conference), losing to Colorado^[3] and South Dakota.^[4] They were seeded second in the FCS playoffs and received a first round bye; they then defeated Abilene Christian,^[5] Mercer,^[6] and South Dakota State^[7] to reach the championship game. The Bison completed their season by defeating Montana State on January 6 in Frisco, Texas, to capture the program's tenth FCS title in 14 seasons,^[8] and 18th overall title.

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Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	7:00 pm	at Colorado*	No. 2	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	ESPN	L 26–31	49,438
September 7	2:30 pm	Tennessee State*	No. 2	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ABC ND/ESPN+	W 52–3	16,811
September 14	4:30 pm	at East Tennessee State*	No. 2	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ABC ND/ESPN+	W 38–35	11,040
September 21	1:00 pm	Towson*	No. 2	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ABC ND/ESPN+	W 41–24	17,185
September 28	2:00 pm	at No. 18 Illinois State	No. 2	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ABC ND/ESPN+	W 42–10	11,687
October 5	2:30 pm	No. 7 North Dakota	No. 2	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Nickel Trophy)	ABC ND/MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 41–17	18,723
October 12	2:00 pm	at Southern Illinois	No. 2	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	W 24–3	9,610
October 19	7:00 pm	No. 1 South Dakota State	No. 2	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Dakota Marker)	ESPN2	W 13–9	18,807
October 26	1:00 pm	at Murray State	No. 1	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	ABC ND/ESPN+	W 59–6	6,133
November 2	2:30 pm	Northern Iowa	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ABC ND/ESPN+	W 42–19	14,528
November 16	2:30 pm	Missouri State	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ABC ND/ESPN+	W 59–21	14,679
November 23	1:00 pm	at No. 4 South Dakota	No. 1	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ABC ND/MidcoSN/ESPN+	L 28–29	9,062
December 7	2:00 pm	No. 15 Abilene Christian*	No. 3	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 51–31	10,373
December 14	2:30 pm	No. 8 Mercer*	No. 3	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ABC	W 31–7	10,353
December 21	11:00 am	No. 2 South Dakota State*	No. 3	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ABC	W 28–21	17,849
January 6, 2025	6:00 pm	vs. No. 1 Montana State*	No. 3	Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX (NCAA Division I Championship Game)	ESPN	W 35–32	18,005
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Bison	10	10	0	6	26
Buffaloes	14	3	7	7	31

Statistics	North Dakota State	Colorado
First downs	25	22
Plays–yards	69–449	57–504
Rushes–yards	43–157	23–59
Passing yards	292	445
Passing: comp–att–int	20–26–0	26–34–1
Time of possession	36:44	23:16

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	18/22, 277 yds, TD
	Rushing	Cam Miller	16 car, 81 yds, TD
	Receiving	Braylon Henderson	5 rec, 72 yds
Colorado	Passing	Shedeur Sanders	26/34, 445 yds, 4 TD, INT
	Rushing	Dallan Hayden	9 car, 20 yds
	Receiving	Jimmy Horn Jr.	7 rec, 198 yds, TD

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	0	0	3	3
No. 2 Bison	14	21	3	14	52

2024 North Dakota State Bison football team

Preseason

MVFC poll

Schedule

Game summaries

Regular season

Colorado (FBS)

Tennessee State

East Tennessee State

Towson

Illinois State

North Dakota

Southern Illinois

South Dakota State

Murray State

Northern Iowa

Missouri State

South Dakota

NCAA Division I playoffs

Abilene Christian (second round)

Mercer (quarterfinal)

South Dakota State (semifinal)

Montana State (national championship)

Roster

2025 NFL draft

Rankings

References

Related Articles

2024 North Dakota State Bison football

NCAA Division I champion MVFC co-champion
NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, W 35–32 vs. Montana State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 1
FCS Coaches	No. 1
Record	14–2 (7–1 MVFC)
Head coach	Tim Polasek (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Jake Landry (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Co-defensive coordinators	Nick Goeser (1st season) Grant Olson (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Fargodome
Seasons ← 2023 2025 →

Statistics	Tennessee State	North Dakota State
First downs	12	21
Plays–yards	55–200	64–436
Rushes–yards	30–72	41–226
Passing yards	128	210
Passing: comp–att–int	17–25–0	17–23–1
Time of possession	29:46	30:14

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Tennessee State	Passing	Draylen Ellis	17/25, 128 yds
	Rushing	Draylen Ellis	11 car, 27 yds
	Receiving	Jalal Dean	3 rec, 51 yds
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	14/18, 181 yds, 3 TD
	Rushing	Nathan Hayes	1 car, 51 yds, TD
	Receiving	Bryce Lance	7 rec, 106 yds, 2 TD

Statistics	North Dakota State	East Tennessee State
First downs	28	20
Plays–yards	78–481	54–383
Rushes–yards	44–231	38–270
Passing yards	250	113
Passing: comp–att–int	21–34–0	6–16–1
Time of possession	36:41	23:19

Statistics	Towson	North Dakota State
First downs	16	26
Plays–yards	51–366	72–407
Rushes–yards	24–204	52–188
Passing yards	161	219
Passing: comp–att–int	16–27–1	17–20–0
Time of possession	20:07	39:53

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Towson	Passing	Carlos Davis	14/24, 135 yds, INT
	Rushing	Tyrell Greene Jr.	5 car, 94 yds, TD
	Receiving	Carter Runyon	6 rec, 59 yds
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	17/19, 219 yds, TD
	Rushing	CharMar Brown	24 car, 126 yds, 3 TD
	Receiving	Bryce Lance	5 rec, 63 yds, TD

Statistics	North Dakota State	Illinois State
First downs	29	12
Plays–yards	71–544	49–206
Rushes–yards	47–307	25–8
Passing yards	237	198
Passing: comp–att–int	21–24–0	17–24–0
Time of possession	38:57	21:03

Statistics	North Dakota	North Dakota State
First downs	14	25
Plays–yards	54–267	69–429
Rushes–yards	31–101	45–208
Passing yards	166	221
Passing: comp–att–int	18–23–0	16–24–0
Time of possession	25:41	34:19

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Dakota	Passing	Simon Romfo	18/23, 166 yds, TD
	Rushing	Gaven Ziebarth	12 car, 65 yds
	Receiving	Bo Belquist	4 rec, 61 yds
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	13/19, 168 yds, 2 TD
	Rushing	CharMar Brown	21 car, 83 yds, TD
	Receiving	Bryce Lance	2 rec, 50 yds, TD

Statistics	North Dakota State	Southern Illinois
First downs	22	14
Plays–yards	67–363	50–187
Rushes–yards	42–163	23–35
Passing yards	200	152
Passing: comp–att–int	19–25–0	15–27–1
Time of possession	35:29	24:31

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"Miller thorws for 2 TDs, runs for another as North Dakota State tops Mercer 31-7 in FCS quarterfinal"

"Lance and Miller team to send North Dakota State to FCS title game with 28-21 win over Jackrabbits"

Statistics	South Dakota State	North Dakota State
First downs	17	17
Plays–yards	66–333	59–275
Rushes–yards	36–215	32–112
Passing yards	118	163
Passing: comp–att–int	17–30–1	20–27–0
Time of possession	28:10	31:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota State	Passing	Mark Gronowski	14/21, 92 yds
	Rushing	Chase Mason	5 car, 80 yds, TD
	Receiving	Griffin Wilde	5 rec, 32 yds
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	20/27, 163 yds, 2 TD
	Rushing	Barika Kpeenu	6 car, 35 yds
	Receiving	RaJa Nelson	4 rec, 48 yds, 2 TD

Statistics	North Dakota State	Murray State
First downs	23	19
Plays–yards	61–459	76–308
Rushes–yards	41–190	43–116
Passing yards	269	192
Passing: comp–att–int	14–20–0	18–33–3
Time of possession	29:00	31:00

Statistics	Northern Iowa	North Dakota State
First downs	18	24
Plays–yards	58–344	58–422
Rushes–yards	26–74	37–189
Passing yards	270	233
Passing: comp–att–int	22–32–0	18–21–0
Time of possession	28:46	31:14

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Iowa	Passing	Matthew Schecklman	22/32, 270 yds, 2 TD
	Rushing	Tye Edwards	12 car, 48 yds
	Receiving	Sergio Morancy	4 rec, 102 yds, 2 TD
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	17/20, 216 yds, 2 TD
	Rushing	CharMar Brown	18 car, 124 yds, TD
	Receiving	Bryce Lance	4 rec, 77 yds, TD

Statistics	Missouri State	North Dakota State
First downs	22	27
Plays–yards	67–382	65–575
Rushes–yards	65–86	38–364
Passing yards	296	211
Passing: comp–att–int	20–32–0	19–27–1
Time of possession	31:21	28:39

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Missouri State	Passing	Jacob Clark	18/30, 247 yds, TD
	Rushing	Jacardia Wright	13 car, 68 yds, TD
	Receiving	Hunter Wood	4 rec, 73 yds
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	17/24, 155 yds, 4 TD, INT
	Rushing	Barika Kpeenu	10 car, 169 yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	Chris Harris	3 rec, 48 yds

Statistics	North Dakota State	South Dakota
First downs	19	23
Plays–yards	69–340	60–391
Rushes–yards	47–166	30–119
Passing yards	174	272
Passing: comp–att–int	10–22–0	18–30–0
Time of possession	30:46	29:14

Statistics	Abilene Christian	North Dakota State
First downs	16	19
Plays–yards	61–345	60–375
Rushes–yards	29–192	31–101
Passing yards	153	274
Passing: comp–att–int	20–32–2	20–29–1
Time of possession	29:28	30:32

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Abilene Christian	Passing	Maverick McIvor	20/32, 153 yds, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Sam Hicks	16 car, 153 yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	JJ Henry	7 rec, 70 yds, TD
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	20/29, 274 yds, 3 TD, INT
	Rushing	CharMar Brown	16 car, 58 yds
	Receiving	Bryce Lance	5 rec, 70 yds, TD

Statistics	Mercer	North Dakota State
First downs	8	20
Plays–yards	51–195	67–392
Rushes–yards	31–109	41–133
Passing yards	86	259
Passing: comp–att–int	10–20–1	16–26–2
Time of possession	24:22	35:38

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Mercer	Passing	Whitt Newbauer	8/18, 90 yds, TD, INT
	Rushing	Dwayne McGee	14 car, 59 yds
	Receiving	Kelin Parsons	1 rec, 38 yds, TD
North Dakota State	Passing	Cam Miller	16/25, 259 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	CharMar Brown	11 car, 58 yds
	Receiving	Mekhi Collins	4 rec, 119 yds

Statistics	North Dakota State	Montana State
First downs	18	19
Plays–yards	59–401	61–393
Rushes–yards	36–202	37–198
Passing yards	199	195
Passing: comp–att–int	19–23–0	13–24–0
Time of possession	27:53	31:01

Player	Position	School	Draft round	Round pick	Overall pick	Team
Grey Zabel	OG	North Dakota State	1	18	18	Seattle Seahawks
Cam Miller	QB	North Dakota State	6	39	215	Las Vegas Raiders

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS	2 (3)	2 (11)	2 (6)	2 (5)	2 (5)	2 (10)	2 (14)	2 (8)	1 (40)	1 (43)	1 (43)	1 (42)	1 (41)	3 (2)	1 (56)
Coaches	2	2 (5)	2 (2)	2 (1)	2 (1)	2 (3)	2 (3)	2 (2)	1 (24)	1 (24)	1 (24)	1 (24)	1 (23)	4	1 (16)