North Dakota State — Mountain West
Class rank
#117
class of 2026
2026 schedule
2024 results (0–1)
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (3 in / 7 out)
| Incoming |
|---|
| Kene Anene | IOL | ← Kansas | ★★★ |
| Keith Williams Jr. | LB | ← Cornell | |
| Caleb McGrath | P | ← Minnesota | ★★ |
Origins
Nine FCS national titles in eleven years, a run of dominance no division of the sport has seen, plus a habit of beating FBS teams in September. Moved up in 2026 to find out whether it travels.
Founded 1890 · Land-grant agricultural college of a brand-new state · first football 1894 · defined by Craig Bohl
All-time record
All-time
237–80–1
1903–2025
Win %
74.7%
50 seasons played
Winning seasons
24
48% of seasons
By level: ii/iii 1–2 (1903–1907) · D-II 3–31–1 (1927–1969) · FCS 233–47 (2004–2025)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2019 | 16 | 0 | MVFC |
| 2018 | 15 | 0 | MVFC |
| 2014 | 15 | 1 | MVFC |
| 2021 | 14 | 1 | MVFC |
| 2017 | 14 | 1 | MVFC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1903 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2024 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 30 | 73% |
37% | — | 4.5 | 13% |
| 2nd down | 25 | 48% |
56% | — | 8.8 | 28% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 6 | 67% |
67% | — | 5.3 | 17% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 5 | 20% |
40% | — | 1.8 | 0% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 2 | 50% |
50% | — | 24.5 | 50% |
| 4th down | 1 | 100% |
100% | — | 7.0 | 0% |
9 drives · 56% ended in points · 9.2 plays and 64.8 yards per drive · 2.54 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2024)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 1 | Colorado |
Cam Miller pass complete to Tyler Terhark for 49 yds to the COLO 4 for a 1ST down |
49 | 4.52 |
| 1 | Colorado |
Cam Miller pass complete to TK Marshall for 48 yds to the COLO 24 for a 1ST down |
48 | 3.69 |
| 1 | Colorado |
Cam Miller run for 14 yds to the COLO 38 for a 1ST down Colorado Penalty, Personal Foul (T… |
29 | 3.14 |
| 1 | Colorado |
Cam Miller 20 Yd Run (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed) |
20 | 2.99 |
| 1 | Colorado |
Joe Stoffel 7 Yd pass from Cam Miller (Griffin Crosa Kick) |
7 | 2.88 |
| 1 | Colorado |
Cam Miller pass complete to Braylon Henderson for 19 yds to the NDSU 47 for a 1ST down |
19 | 2.56 |
| 1 | Colorado |
Cam Miller 7 Yd Run (Griffin Crosa Kick) |
7 | 2.46 |
| 1 | Colorado |
Cam Miller pass complete to Joe Stoffel for 8 yds to the COLO 36 for a 1ST down |
8 | 2.05 |