Saturday’s matchup will be the first meeting between the Bison and Wildcats.
Abilene Christian came into the FCS playoffs reeling off of a 9-4 record, taking home the United Athletic Conference Championship. Last weekend, they opened up their playoffs with a 24-0 shutout victory versus Northern Arizona.
North Dakota State is coming into the playoffs after losing their season finale against the University of South Dakota Coyotes. The loss was the only one recorded in Missouri Valley Football Conference play for NDSU, which was a very impactful loss. Due to coming up short against South Dakota, the Bison were awarded co-champions of the MVFC, sharing the title with the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University.
First year head Coach Tim Polasek is eager to get back on the field since coming up short against USD but noted that NDSU cannot be looking ahead in their schedule. Polasek added that the Bison “need to win this one, in order to get to the next one.” The North Dakota State head coach also emphasized in his Tuesday press conference that he’s looking for his players to be better and finish better when it comes to Abilene Christian. The Bison did receive high honors as well this week while preparing for the Wildcats, as senior quarterback Cam Miller was voted the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year and named to the All-MVFC Team. Miller was also named one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award, an award presented to the FCS offensive player of the year. The award will be announced in Frisco Texas, on January fourth.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Fargodome. Viewers can tune in on ESPN+ with Noah Reed and Craig Haubert.
*This article was written by Flag Family Media intern Cayden Lloyd*
