Well, hi there! Inga Halvorsen here, writing from my kitchen in south Fargo with a tater tot hotdish in the oven and my green-and-yellow apron on. I've been following the Bison since before some of these boys were born, and I rate every game like a church potluck. Some games are a nice Jell-O salad. Some are a lefse with butter and sugar. And some, like Saturday night, are a big ol' pan of hotdish that somebody brought late and everybody went back for seconds.
This week we'll talk about the 31-17 win over Nevada, honestly, because Mother always said, "Ingeborg, don't fib." Then we'll look at a big one: the Bison's first trip to Albuquerque to play a New Mexico team that leads the whole country in turnover margin.
Part 1: North Dakota State 31, Nevada 17
On Oct. 17 at the Fargodome, Nathan Hayes accounted for three touchdowns, Jackson Williams returned a missed field goal 100 yards for a touchdown, and the Bison beat Nevada 31-17. Uff da, what a night.
Now, I'll be honest. It didn't start nice. Nevada's AJ Bianco ran 15 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, the Wolf Pack ran in the two-point try, and Joe McFadden kicked a 39-yard field goal. Nevada led 11-0, and I set down my coffee.
Then the Bison got going. Hayes ran in from 5 yards. With 21 seconds left in the half, he threw a 21-yard touchdown to Mekhi Collins. And on the last play of the half, Nevada tried a 57-yard field goal, and Jackson Williams caught it in the end zone, broke a couple of tackles and ran along the sideline all 100 yards for a touchdown. Bison 19, Nevada 11 at halftime. Oh, for cute! That's a hotdish delivered piping hot, straight from the oven to the table.
In the third quarter, Nevada scored on a 19-yard pass to pull within two, then tried a trick play on the two-point try, fumbled, and Matthew Stenbroten picked it up and ran it back for two Bison points. That was dessert. Drew Klein kicked a 39-yard field goal, and Hayes threw a 12-yard touchdown to Reis Kessel early in the fourth.
Hayes went 19 of 25 for 153 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, and ran for another score. Williams caught five passes for 58 yards. NDSU ran 45 times for 192 yards, held the ball for 38:09 and didn't turn it over. The defense made two interceptions.
Now the part I won't fib about. The Bison committed 11 penalties for 98 yards. Ninety-eight! That's like burning the bars at a bake sale. And the passing game managed 153 yards. Mother would say, "That's fine, dear, but you can do more," and she'd be right. I'm saying it nicer.
NDSU is 6-1 and 3-1 in its first Mountain West season, after the Bison joined the conference and moved to FBS on July 1. They beat Jacksonville State 33-7 and Fordham 38-0, won 38-32 at Air Force and 31-10 at Sacramento State, beat Wyoming 28-0, lost 13-7 at UNLV and beat Nevada. The UNLV loss still gives me heartburn.
Part 2: North Dakota State at New Mexico
Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern, which is 9 p.m. in Fargo and 8 p.m. in Albuquerque, at University Stadium, on The CW. North Dakota State (6-1, 3-1) at New Mexico (5-1, 2-0).
Our Casserole
The Bison defense is the best dish on the table. It allows 246 yards per game, second in FBS, 133.9 passing yards per game, also second, and 11.3 points per game, second again. Second, second, second. And the Bison turnover margin is plus-7, eighth in FBS.
Hayes has 1,272 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 65 percent. Myles Mitchell leads the run game with 354 yards. Williams leads the receivers with 28 catches for 432 yards.
The honest note: NDSU's passing game ranks 113th at 187.3 yards per game, and the offense ranks 92nd at 362 yards per game.
Their Casserole
I'll be gracious, because I was raised right. New Mexico is good. The Lobos lead FBS with a plus-17 turnover margin. They allow 10.5 points per game, first in FBS. Their red zone defense ranks first. They score 39.7 points per game, 10th, and they run for 214.5 per game, 21st. Scottre Humphrey has 422 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
But here's the recipe card. New Mexico throws for 163.5 yards per game, 127th in FBS. Toa Fa'avae has completed 56.2 percent of his passes, and against Hawai'i last week, he went 5 of 10 for 59 yards with two interceptions. The Lobos committed 16 penalties for 145 yards in that game. Sixteen! Oh, my. And they trailed Hawai'i, a team that's now 1-6, 10-0 at halftime.
Against the second-ranked pass defense in the country, a passing game that ranks 127th is a casserole without the cream of mushroom soup. It just doesn't hold together.
And a big part of that 10.5 points per game came from the schedule: Central Michigan, Mercyhurst, New Mexico State, UTEP and Hawai'i. The Lobos did lose 14-6 at Oklahoma, and I'll give them credit for that fight. But the Bison are a different dish.
The Series
CollegeFootballData.com has no previous meeting on record for these two. First time at the table. Let's bring the good bars.
Town Report: Fargo vs. Albuquerque
Fargo. Fargo is the most populous city in North Dakota, with 125,990 people at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1871 on the Red River of the North, and it has a twin city, Moorhead, right across the river in Minnesota. When the Northern Pacific Railroad arrived, Fargo became known as the "Gateway to the West." The Fargo Theatre is a restored 1926 Art Deco movie house, and I've been going there since I was a girl.
And the Fargodome, which opened in 1992, holds 18,700 for football. Per Wikipedia, the Bison won 10 NCAA FCS national championships from 2011 to 2024. Ten! You don't get those by accident, dear.
Fargo winters are, per Wikipedia, among the coldest in the contiguous United States. That's why we play indoors. We're not soft. We're smart.
Albuquerque. Albuquerque is a lovely, sunny city of 564,559 people, with the Sandia Mountains on the east side and the Rio Grande running right through. Wikipedia says the city averages 278 days of sunshine a year. Well, aren't they lucky.
But here's the thing that made me set down my rolling pin. Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as La Villa de Alburquerque, named in honor of the Duke of Alburquerque. With an extra "r." Somewhere along the way, the city dropped a letter from the name of the man it was named after. In Fargo, we'd never. We'd at least bring the Duke a hotdish and apologize.
And the famous Sandia Mountains? Per Wikipedia, "sandía" is Spanish for "watermelon." Their mountains are named after fruit. Our river is the Red River of the North. One of those sounds like a Viking saga, and one sounds like a picnic.
Last Bite
Here's the plan. Make Fa'avae throw into the second-ranked pass defense. Hold onto the football against a team that lives on takeaways. Clean up those penalties, because 98 yards is too many in any kitchen. And bring a jacket for an 8 p.m. kickoff in the high desert.
Oh, for cute. Go Bison.
My call: New Mexico Lobos 26, North Dakota State Bison 19.