The 2023 season certainly wasn’t a bad one for North Dakota State football. Given the recent history of the program, however, the Bison didn’t reach expectations.
This year, new head coach Tim Polasek takes over the NDSU program with the usual expectation of winning a national title in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). That journey will start in Boulder.
This summer, BuffZone will preview each of Colorado’s opponents for the 2024 season and in this first installment, we look at NDSU, which visits Folsom Field on Aug. 29 in the season opener.
A year ago, NDSU went 11-4, lost in overtime of the FCS semifinals and finished No. 3 in the final FCS poll. That’s a great year for most programs, but it was the most losses for the Bison since 2010 and just the third time in the past 13 years that they fell short of the FCS title game.
The Bison are once again a main contender for the national title, however. In a couple of early-season rankings, NDSU sits at either No. 1 or No. 2.
“Moving forward, I think we have everything in place that we need to be very successful, to win every game that is on our schedule,” Polasek said in his introductory press conference in December. “That is difficult, very difficult, but we have everything in place.”
A Division II powerhouse in the 1980s and 1990s, the Bison took a couple of years to gain their footing in FCS after moving up in 2008. They went 3-8 in 2009, but went 9-5 and reached the FCS quarterfinals in 2010.
In 2011, NDSU won its first FCS national title, kick-starting a string of five consecutive championships and nine in 11 years from 2011-21.
Along the way, NDSU also became a dangerous opponent for teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). From 2010-16, the Bison won six consecutive games against FBS opponents, all on the road. That included an upset of No. 11 Iowa in 2016.
Polasek was on the staff for several of those great seasons and big wins, including as offensive coordinator in 2016. It’s not lost on him the opportunity in front of NDSU when it comes to Boulder in August.
“Just fired up,” he said in a recent interview with WDAY-TV. “I can give the coach speak, ‘Ah, it’s just another opponent.’ Nah, it’s one of these potential landmark games or opportunities for us and for our kids to be on national TV. We’ve got to be open to the idea of going to the deep end of the pool this fall camp so we can play very relaxed, very free and very aggressive on that opportunity that we get on that Thursday.
“This is an FBS game. At NDSU, we’ve cherished these moments. They’ve led to a lot of great stories, a lot of unbelievable experiences for our fan base. It wouldn’t matter who we were playing first, but maybe it adds just a little tick (that it’s Colorado). This is going to be cool. I’m looking forward to it. We’ll be prepared as a staff; our players will be prepared so that we can enjoy it.”
NDSU lost some weapons on offense, but returns starting quarterback Cam Miller and two offensive linemen. On defense, the Bison return three first-team all-conference players and one second-team all-conference performer.
North Dakota State Bison
Head coach: Tim Polasek, 1st season
2023 season: 11-4, 5-3 Missouri Valley; reached FCS semifinals
Series with CU: First meeting
The Game
Who: NDSU Bison at Colorado Buffaloes
When: Thursday, Aug. 29, 6 p.m. MT (TV: ESPN)
Where: Folsom Field in Boulder
5 Guys to Watch
DE Dylan Hendricks: Had a breakout season in 2023, earning first-team all-conference honors. He finished second on the team in tackles for loss (10.5) and sacks (6.5). He’s the top returner in both of those categories. He also had 40 tackles and three pass breakups.
LB Logan Kopp: Earned first-team all-conference honors last season. He was second on the team in tackles, with 85. He also had 7.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, three interceptions, four pass breakups, three QB hurries and two forced fumbles.
QB Cam Miller: Back for a fifth season, Miller has started 38 consecutive games for the Bison. He’s coming off the best year of his career, posting personal bests in completions (208), attempts (289), completion percentage (.720), passing yards (2,688), touchdown passes (19) and rushing yards (629). He also ran for 13 touchdowns and threw only four interceptions.
QB Cole Payton: Although he is NDSU’s backup quarterback, he’s also one of the top rushers on the team and sometimes used like New Orleans Saints quarterback/utility player Taysom Hill. Last year, he threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns, while also ranking third on the team with 615 rushing yards and tying Miller for the team lead with 13 rushing touchdowns.
S Cole Wisniewski: Back for a bonus year because of the COVID pandemic, Wisniewski was a consensus FCS first-team All-American last year and first-team all-conference performer. He led all Division I players (FBS and FCS) with eight interceptions and also led the Bison with 92 tackles, while adding five pass breakups and two tackles for loss.
Good to know
• Head coach Tim Polasek was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wyoming the past three seasons. Prior to that, he was the offensive line coach at Iowa for four years (2017-2020). From 2006-16, he was on the NDSU staff for 10 of 11 seasons (all but 2013). He’s coached running backs, tight ends and fullbacks and was the NDSU offensive coordinator from 2014-16.
• Former head coach Matt Entz left NDSU after last season to become the assistant head coach for defense and linebackers coach at USC.
• Jake Landry will be the offensive coordinator. He was the offensive coordinator at St. Thomas the previous two seasons and coached quarterbacks at Temple in 2021.
• Linebackers coach Grant Olson and defensive tackles coach Nick Goeser will share coordinator duties on defense. Olson, an NDSU alum, has coached NDSU linebackers the past five years. Goeser has been on the Bison staff since 2010 as defensive tackles coach (as well as four years as special teams coordinator).
• NDSU is 9-4 all-time against FBS teams, including a six-game winning streak from 2010-16. The Bison have played just one FBS opponent since 2016, however, losing at Arizona, 31-28, on Sept. 17, 2022.
• Fullback Hunter Brozio doesn’t put up a lot of numbers on the stat sheet, but he’s a key part of what NDSU does. He was first-team all-conference as a fullback and long snapper in 2023 and was second team as a long snapper in 2022. He’s carried the ball just once in his career, but caught nine passes for 43 yards and a touchdown last year.
• A star throughout his career, defensive tackle Eli Mostaert was first-team all-conference last year after posting 37 tackles, four tackles for loss and interception and five QB hurries. He missed most of 2022 with a broken leg, but was all-conference honorable mention in 2020 and 2021.
• Kicker Griffin Crosa and punter Kaedin Steindorf are both back for the Bison. Crosa made 19 of 22 field goals last year, with a long of 44 yards. He was also 70-of-71 on extra points. Steindorf averaged 43.7 yards per punt and landed 12 inside the 20-yard line.
Portal movement
It’s been a very quiet transfer portal offseason for North Dakota State, although a couple of key players have left the program. Receiver Eli Green, who led NDSU with 877 receiving yards last year, has transferred to Iowa State. And Javier Derritt, a 15-game starter on the defensive line, is now at Kansas. NDSU also lost backup defensive end Matthew Weerts to the portal. The only transfer addition for the Bison is cornerback Anthony Chideme-Alfaro (from Cornell), who should compete for a starting job.
