2020 North Dakota State Bison football team

The 2020 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Matt Entz. The team played in the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota, for the 28th season as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). They entered the season as defending national champions, having won eight of the prior nine FCS titles.

2020 North Dakota State Bison football
ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 6
FCS CoachesNo. 7
2020 record7–3 (5–2 MVFC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTyler Roehl (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorDavid Braun (2nd season)
Home stadiumFargodome
(capacity: 19,000)
2020 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 2 South Dakota State +^  5 –1   8 –2  
No. 12 Missouri State +^  5 –1   5 –5  
No. 7 North Dakota ^  4 –1   5 –2  
No. 6 North Dakota State ^  5 –2   7 –3  
No. 14 Southern Illinois ^  3 –3   6 –4  
Northern Iowa  3 –4   3 –4  
South Dakota  1 –3   1 –3  
Illinois State†  1 –3   1 –3  
Western Illinois†  1 –5   1 –5  
Youngstown State  1 –6   1 –6  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • Note: Indiana State opted out of the spring season.
    † – Illinois State and Western Illinois opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 21 and April 5, 2021, respectively.
Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season
Main article: 2019 North Dakota State Bison football team

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.

Preseason

Preseason All–MVFC team

Schedule

NDSU had games scheduled against Oregon (September 5, rescheduled to 2028), Drake (September 12, rescheduled to 2022), and North Carolina A&T (September 19, rescheduled to 2022) that were postponed before the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2][3][4]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
October 32:30 p.m.Central Arkansas*No. 1
ESPN+W 39–28471
February 212:30 p.m.Youngstown StateNo. 1
  • Fargodome
  • Fargo, ND (Harvest Bowl)
ESPN+W 25–76,578
February 272:30 p.m.at Southern IllinoisNo. 1
ESPN+L 14–382,400
March 62:00 p.m.at Missouri StateNo. 6
ESPN+W 25–03,147
March 132:30 p.m.No. 22 Illinois StateNo. 5
  • Fargodome
  • Fargo, ND
ESPN+W 21–136,145
March 202:30 p.m.No. 2 North DakotaNo. 4
  • Fargodome
  • Fargo, ND
ESPN+W 34–139,121
March 272:00 p.m.at South DakotaNo. 2
ESPN+Canceled
April 104:00 p.m.at No. 24 Northern IowaNo. 2
ESPN+W 23–202,037
April 172:30 p.m.No. 4 South Dakota StateNo. 2
ESPN+L 17–278,762
April 243:30 p.m.No. 9 Eastern WashingtonNo. 6
ESPN3W 42–203,587
May 22:00 p.m.at No. 4 Sam Houston StateNo. 6
ESPNL 20–244,984

[5]

Personnel

Roster
2020 North Dakota State Bison Football

Quarterback

  •  5 Trey Lance - Sophomore (6′3, 224)
  •  7 Jayden Johannsen - Freshman (6′2, 193)
  •  8 Zeb Noland - Senior (6′2, 222)
  • 10 Logan Graetz – Freshman (6′4, 209)
  • 16 Noah Sanders - Junior (6′3, 217)
  • - Cam Miller - Freshman (6′1, 205)

Tailback

  • 18 Adam Cofield - Senior (5′11, 207)
  • 21 Jalen Bussey - Freshman (5′5, 159)
  • 22 Seth Wilson - Junior (5′10, 195)
  • 24 Kobe Johnson - Sophomore (5′9, 183)
  • 30 Saybein Clark – Sophomore (6′1, 206)
  • - TK Marshall - Freshman (5'11, 189)
  • - Dominic Gonnella - Freshman (5′11, 190)
  • - Nathan Goldade - Freshman (5′10, 202)

Fullback

  • 44 Hunter Luepke - Sophomore (6′1, 246)
  • 49 Logan Hofstedt - Freshman (6′1, 246)
  • - Jesse Hastings - Freshman (5′11, 229)

Wide Receiver

  •  1 Christian Watson – Junior (6′3, 206)
  •  6 Giancarlo Volpentesta - Freshman (6′0, 193)
  • 11 Phoenix Sproles – Junior (5′11, 188)
  • 12 Braylon Henderson – Freshman (5′8, 179)
  • 15 Kaden Kuntz – Freshman (5′8, 176)
  • 17 Phoenix Sproles – Sophomore (6′6, 194)
  • 22 Jake Lippe – Freshman (6′2, 204)
  • 29 Adrian Adams – Freshman (6′0, 172)
  • 32 DJ Stewart – Sophomore (5′11, 190)
  • 80 Andy Voyen – Junior (6′2, 208)
  • 84 Trevor Heit - Senior (5′9, 180)
  • 86 Peter Isais - Junior (5′11, 181)
  • 89 Cole Jacob - Senior (6′1, 201)
  • - RaJa Nelson - Freshman (5′8, 175)
  • - DJ Hart - Freshman (6′0, 180)
  • - Joseph Deyak - Freshman (6′2, 190)
  • - Tyler Terhark - Freshman (6′2, 192)

Tight End

  • 40 Travis Yohnke – Freshman (6′4, 252)
  • 43 Zach Gottwalt – Freshman (6′5, 218)
  • 46 Austin Avery – Junior (6′3, 248)
  • 81 Josh Babicz – Junior (6′6, 252)
  • 85 Jaden Klabo – Freshman (6′4, 211)
  • 87 Noah Gindorff – Junior (6′6, 266)
  • - Joe Stoffel - Freshman (6′3, 234)
  • - Jack Bram - Freshman (6′3, 215)
  • - Andre Carrier - Freshman (6′3, 197)
  

Offensive Lineman

  • 57 Zach Willis - C – Senior (6′3, 300)
  • 58 Josh Howieson - OT - Senior (6′5, 310)
  • 59 Karson Schoening - C - Senior (6′5, 302)
  • 61 Zach Kubas - OG - Senior (6′4, 298)
  • 63 Jake Kubas - OG - Sophomore (6′3, 298)
  • 64 Jake Rock - OT - Freshman (6′6, 294)
  • 66 Nash Jensen - OG – Junior (6′4, 331)
  • 67 Cordell Volson - OT - Senior (6′6, 312)
  • 68 Nick Radunz - OL - Junior (6′4, 288)
  • 69 Quinn Alo - OG - Senior (6′2, 301)
  • 70 Cody Mauch - OT - Junior (6′4, 286)
  • 71 Brandon Westberg - C - Freshman (6′3, 283)
  • 72 Jalen Sundell - OT - Sophomore (6′5, 293)
  • 75 Dillon Radunz - OT - Senior (6′6, 301)
  • 76 Hunter Poncius - OT - Freshman (6′8, 293)
  • 77 Bryan Nohava - OG - Sophomore (6′4, 290)
  • - Mason Miller - OT - Freshman (6′6, 232)
  • - Grey Zabel - OT - Freshman (6′5, 247)
  • - Hayden Johnston - OL - Freshman (6′1, 259)

Defensive Lineman

  • 54 Jake Kava – DE - Sophomore (6′1, 236)
  • 56 Justice Kelly – DE - Senior (6′3, 239)
  • 60 Lane Tucker – DT - Junior (6′4, 278)
  • 62 Dylan Evans – DT - Sophomore (6′4, 287)
  • 64 Reed Ryan – DE - Freshman (6′2, 238)
  • 73 Eli Mostaert – DT - Freshman (6′3, 275)
  • 74 Will Mostaert – DE - Freshman (6′3, 253)
  • 90 Tony Pierce – DE - Sophomore (6′0, 228)
  • 93 Logan McCormick – DE - Junior (6′2, 247)
  • 94 Costner Ching – DT - Junior (6′3, 282)
  • 95 Brendan Cook – DE - Sophomore (6′3, 244)
  • 96 Javier Derritt – DT - Freshman (6′1, 280)
  • 97 Bartholomew Ogbu – DE - Junior (6′2, 246)
  • 98 Matt Biegler - DT - Senior (6′3, 283)
  • 99 Spencer Waege – DE - Junior (6′5, 270)
  • - Seth Anderson - DE - Freshman (6′5, 253)
  • - Nolan Jacobs - DT - Freshman (6′2, 243)
  • - Loshiaka Roques - DE - Freshman (6′3, 215)
  • - Bryce Friday - DT - Freshman (6′4, 240)
  • - Joe Kava - DT - Freshman (5′11, 229)
  • - Trey Steinbach - DE - Freshman (6′3, 220)
  

Linebacker

  • 31 Jasir Cox - Junior (6′0, 205)
  • 34 Juanye Tillman – Sophomore (5′11, 238)
  • 43 Beau Pauly - Senior (6′2, 218)
  • 45 Mitchell Kartes - Sophomore (5'11, 208)
  • 47 Luke Weerts - Sophomore (6'1, 217)
  • 48 Mark Stumpf - Sophomore (6'2, 221)
  • 49 Nick Kubitz - Freshman (6'2, 213)
  • 50 Dylan Hendricks - Freshman (6′3, 231)
  • 51 Mason Hofstedt – Junior (6′0, 218)
  • 52 Jackson Hankey – Junior (6′1, 220)
  • 55 Aaron Mercadel - Senior (5′11, 218)
  • - Oscar Benson - Freshman (6′0, 180)
  • - Cole Wisniewski - Freshman (6′3, 189)

Cornerbacks

  • 13 Anthony Coleman - Freshman (5′9, 176)
  • 14 Josh Hayes - Senior (5′11, 186)
  • 33 Destin Talbert - Junior (5′11, 182)
  • 35 Jayden Price - Sophomore (6′0, 187)
  • 39 Jenaro Wathum-Ocama - Freshman (6′0, 188)
  • - Courtney Eubanks - Freshman (5′10, 175)
  • - Marques Sigle - Freshman (5′10, 170)

Safeties

  • 10 Dom Jones - FS - Freshman (6′2, 189)
  • 18 Cam Smith - FS - Freshman (5′11, 182)
  • 20 Julian Wlodarczyk - SS - Sophomore (6′3, 204)
  • 25 Michael Tutsie - SS - Junior (5′10, 197)
  • 26 James Kaczor - SS - Junior (6′0, 207)
  • 27 Dawson Weber - FS - Junior (6′2, 189)
  • 46 Caleb Beebe - SS - Freshman (5′10, 179)
  • - Tyson Gordon - Freshman (6′2, 177)
  • - Ty Satter - Freshman (6′1, 167)
  • - Sam Jung - Freshman (5′10, 175)

Placekicker

  • 15 Will Cardinal - Freshman (6′2, 192) (+P)
  • 36 Griffin Crosa – Sophomore (6′1, 170)
  • 37 Jake Reinholz – Junior (6′2, 217)
  • - Nathan Whiting - Freshman (5′11, 201)

Punter

  • 38 Garret Wegner - Senior (6′0, 196)

Long Snappers

  • 41 Ross Kennelly - Senior (5′11, 223)
  • 85 Hunter Brozio - Freshman (6′0, 232)

Game summaries

Central Arkansas
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 3 3 14 8 28
Bison 0 10 8 21 39
See also: 2020 Central Arkansas Bears football team

Ranking movements
AP Poll
Ranking movements
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP
FCS polls
Ranking movements
Week
PollPre12345678910111213Final
STATS FCS

Players drafted into the NFL
See also: 2021 NFL Draft
Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
13Trey LanceQBSan Francisco 49ers
253Dillon RadunzOTTennessee Titans

References
  1. Peterson, Eric. "Bison football game at Oregon canceled after Pac-12 Conference moves to conference-only play for multiple fall sports". INFORUM. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  2. Bromberg, Nick. "Pac-12 follows Big Ten's lead and won't play non-conference games in 2020". Yahoo News. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  3. "MEAC suspends all fall sports for indefinite period". ESPN.com. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  4. Kelley, Kevin (27 July 2020). "Pioneer Football League to play conference-only football schedule in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  5. "2020 North Dakota State Football Schedule". gobison.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-08. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
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