GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Saturday's 51st Annual Potato Bowl USA game pits North Dakota vs. South Dakota in a matchup of former North Central and Great West Conference rivals. In a series that dates all the way back to 1903, UND owns a 60-29-5 advantage.

Kickoff is at 4 p.m. CT at the Alerus Center and this will be the first time the teams clash in a non-conference affair since 1921, which was the year before the North Central Conference was formed.

THE BLITZ
• The teams met 80 times in NCC contests with UND holding a 53-24-3 edge in those meetings and met four times as Division I infants and Great West Conference members.
• The Fighting Hawks took three of four from the Coyotes in those GWC affairs, including a 38-37 thriller in the last matchup in 2011 that earned No. 22 UND a share of the conference title with No. 24 USD. Senior Brent Goska tossed a trio of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to lead the comeback. It was the 12th-straight home win over USD for UND, who has won 21 of the last 25 overall in the series.
• UND head coach Bubba Schweigert and South Dakota head coach Bob Nielson worked at Minnesota-Duluth together from 2004-07. Nielson, who had coached the Bulldogs from 1999-2003 moved into the athletics' director role and hired Schweigert away from UND to lead the program.
• When Schweigert moved onto Southern Illinois and joined Dale Lennon's staff as the defensive coordinator in 2008, Nielson returned to the sidelines at Duluth for the next five season. Nielson, who is in his first season with the Coyotes, spent the last three seasons at Western Illinois and is the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year.
• The Fighting Hawks have won 29 consecutive home openers, including 15 straight at the Alerus Center where the squad is only giving up 7.7 ppg in those contests. The last team to beat UND in a home opener was Texas-A&M Kingsville in 1986 (67-44). UND has only given up 205 points since in 29 home openers (7.1 ppg).

LAST TIME OUT: BOWLING GREEN 27, (25) NORTH DAKOTA 26
After falling behind 14-0 to Bowling Green midway through the first quarter last Saturday, the prospects of North Dakota picking up its second-straight win over a Football Bowl Subdivision team appeared unlikely.

That's why you play 60 minutes though and the Fighting Hawks used every bit of the remaining time on the clock to a stage a rally that fell just short. The visitors pulled within a point following a 3-yard touchdown reception by Stetson Carr with 13 seconds to play. Third-year head coach Bubba Schweigert decided to go for the win, opting to take a chance at a 2-point conversion. Quarterback Keaton Studsrud tried to connect with Carr once again, but this time the duo was off the mark and the Falcons held on for a 27-26 win. Studsrud finished the game with a career-high 21 completions (36 attempts) for 215 yards.

MORE FROM BOWLING GREEN
Junior Deion Harris had two interceptions in the second quarter and returned his second one 61 yards for UND's first touchdown of the game. Harris is the first UND player with two interceptions in a game since 2013 (Chavon Mackey at Idaho State; Oct. 5).

Sophomore John Santiago added a 21-yard touchdown run on a reverse in the third quarter and finished with his 10th 100-yard rushing game of his young career (13 games). He carried 18 times for 119 yards and now has 18 career rushing touchdowns, which is already one shy of cracking UND's career Top 10 list. Santiago had 173 all-purpose yards for the second-straight game and ranks eighth in the FCS in that category (173.0/g).

POTATO BOWL USA HISTORY
• The Potato Bowl USA was created in 1965 by then UND Athletics Director Len Marti, head coach Marv Helling, assistant football coach Jerry Olson and sports information director Lee Bohnet.
• UND blanked Idaho State 41-0 in the first Potato Bowl USA game back in 1966 and owns a 39-11 all-time record in a game that will celebrate its 51st anniversary in 2015.
• The 41-0 blanking of the Bengals was the first of five shutouts that UND has registered during the Potato Bowl and and the home team has outscored its opponents 1,591-731 in the 50 previous games.
• The 35-28 loss to South Dakota State in the 2013 game snapped a 10-game winning streak for UND in the series, but the home team got back in the win column in 2014 with a 16-13 win over Robert Morris. UND has won 19 of the last 22 games dating back to 1994.
• The honorary captain for today's Potato Bowl USA game is Verne Lysford (1979-82), who played placekicker during his time here at UND. The Kennedy, Minn., native has been an avid supporter of the program since his playing days in Grand Forks.

OPPONENT PREVIEW: SOUTH DAKOTA
First-year head coach Bob Nielson took over the South Dakota program after earning Missouri Valley Football Conference Coach of the Year honors at Western Illinois last season. He inherited a USD team that went 5-6, but did knock off No. 2 NDSU 24-21 in Fargo a season ago.

The Coyotes have split their first two games under Neilson's guidance, falling 48-21 at New Mexico in the season opener before rallying for a thrilling 52-49 victory over Weber State. USD trailed by 21 points in both the first and fourth quarters before prevailing with the 3-point win over the Big Sky opponent.

Junior quarterback Chris Streveler is the team's leader in both passing (290) and rushing yards (256) through the first two games. He has thrown for five touchdowns and also leads the team with four rushing scores. Steveler was named the Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Yotes to the comeback win against the Wildcats. The Minnesota transfer accounted for six touchdowns (4 pass, 2 rush) in the victory. This is his first season at USD.

Running back Trevor Bouma has battled an injury-plagued career in Vermillion, finishing as the team's second-leading rusher each of the past two injury-shortened seasons. He had 435 rushing yards in six games last season, including 94 in the upset of NDSU. In seven starts as a sophmore, he rushed for 508 yards and in all 12 games as a redshirt freshman, led the Yotes with 781 yards. So far in 2016, Bouman has netted 189 rushing yards, but yet to crack the end zone. He also leads the team with seven receptions for 80 yards, while wide receivers Shamar Jackson and Brandt Van Roekel each have six catches a piece.

Defensively, the Coyotes are yielding 48.5 ppg and giving up 294.0 yards on the ground in their first two games. Linebacker Jet Moreland leads the team with 20 tackles, while Adam Harris has a pair of interceptions and Colin Mertlik has a pair of sacks to pace the Coyotes in those categories.

NO SURPRISE
Two games into the season, the North Dakota run defense is back at it. After leading the Big Sky each of the past two seasons in that category, the Fighting Hawks have yielded only 152 yards combined on the ground to Stony Brook (62) and Bowling Green (90). Giving up 76.0 yards per game on the ground has them tops among Big Sky teams early in 2016 and 14th in the FCS.

The Fighting Hawks were among the top 10 run-stuffing units in in the FCS the last two seasons, ranking fifth in 2014 (102.5 ypg) and sixth in 2015 (100.3 ypg). The unit's best effort in 2014 was in the season finale against Northern Colorado when it yielded only 18 rushing yards on 20 attempts to the Bears. In 2015, UND's best effort was in the season-opening win at Wyoming. The Cowboys mustered only 29 yards on 19 carries as the Fighting Hawks beat an FBS opponent for the first team.

SACK CITY
Getting after the quarterback has been a staple of UND's 3-4 defense for decades and the 2016 defensive unit is off to a fast start in that category. With seven total sacks through two games, only five teams in the country have more and the Fighting Hawks share the Big Sky lead in that category with Montana. Eight different players have parts of a sack for UND so far with junior Drew Greely leading the way with 1.5 on the season.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Four of UND's last five losses dating back to last season have come by six points or fewer and their two setbacks this season by a combined five points is the lowest point differential among 0-2 teams in the FCS through two weeks. In fact, UND ranks 20th among the 114 FCS programs in scoring defense, yielding only 20.0 ppg through two contests (also tops in the Big Sky). Among 0-2 teams, only Robert Morris has given up fewer points (27, 13.5 ppg) to start the season.

HOT FOURTH QUARTERS
Junior quarterback Keaton Studsrud has overcome slow starts in each of the first two games and put together solid fourth quarters. Studsrud is just 18-for-40 for 188 yards in the first three quarters of those contests, but has rallied to go 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) for 145 yards and a touchdown in the final stanzas at Stony Brook (7-for-8) and Bowling Green (9-for-13). Overall, he is completing 55.7 percent of his passes (34-61) and finished last season's three-game winning streak at an 80 percent clip (36-for-45).

ROOKIE RECEIVERS
True freshman Travis Toivonen and Noah Wanzek earned their way into the wide receiver rotation after both players made positive first impressions during fall camp. It has not taken long for both to make an impact early in the 2016 season. Toivonen leads the team with nine catches and ranks second with 92 yards, while Wanzek made his first three collegiate catches in the one-point setback at Bowling Green last Saturday. Toivonen led the team with six catches for 58 yards against the Falcons.

REYES COLLECTS BIG SKY WEEKLY HONOR
Junior safety Cole Reyes collected the first Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honor of his career on Monday. League officials named the Schaumburg, Ill., native the week one recipient after putting together an eye-popping stat line vs. Stony Brook. Reyes finished with eight tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, a sack, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble to go with a safety that put the Fighting Hawks ahead 9-7 in the third quarter.

INSIDER INFO
• Sophomore John Santiago's has put together back-to-back games of 173 all-purpose yards to start the season and his 192.7 average in 13 career games is tops among active FCS players. His 27.1 yard per kickoff return career average is third best among active FCS players
• Santiago had a streak of eight-consecutive 100-yard rushing games come to an end at Stony Brook, but started a new one at Bowling Green with a 119-yard effort. His 125.3 yard per game average is still second-best among active FCS players, trailing only Fordham senior Chase Edmonds (132.5).
• UND came away with three interceptions at Bowling Green, which was the second time in the last four games the defense has done that dating back to last season. The Fighting Hawks also had three picks vs. Northern Colorado (Nov. 14) and that was also the last time they had a pick-six (Brian Labat; 35 yards).
• Sophomore Tyus Carter had his first career interception against the Falcons. He started eight games as a freshman, but only had two pass break-ups to his credit in 2015.
• Senior Dylan Bakker led UND with nine tackles at Bowling Green, marking the second time he has done that in his career (14 at Montana in 2015).
• Junior captain Connor O'Brien was one of four FCS players to force a pair of fumbles in the first week of the season. He also registered a career-high 11 tackles in the loss at Stony Brook.
• Co-captain Cole Reyes was the only FCS player to record a pair of fumble recoveries during week one.
• Seniors Zach Arnell and Taj Rich returned to the field for the first time since having their junior seasons cut short due to injuries. Arnell started at strong safety and record four tackles, while Rich was credited with two tackles, including a solo stop against the Seawolves.

UND DEBUTS
Eleven different players made their UND debuts against Stony Brook last Thursday. Graduate transfer Michael Coe was the only one of that group to earn a start. Coe delivered every snap from center against the Seawolves. Here is the full list of newcomers and their stats from the opener:

Mason Bennett, DE (1.0 sack)
Michael Coe, OL (played every offensive snap)
Austin Dussold, P (Avg. 42.9 ypp on seven attempts)
Evan Holm, CB/KR (kick returner, no attempts)
Torrey Hunt, CB (no stats)
Oscar Nevermann, RB/ST (two special teams tackles)
Donnell Rodgers, ILB (two tackles)
Patric Rooney, OL/ST (special teams contributor)
Travis Toivonen, WR (3 catches for 33 yards)
Noah Wanzek, WR (no stats)
Carter Wilson, DE (no stats)

BACK ON TRACK
After barrelling through the Wyoming defense for 276 rushing yards in the 2015 season opener, UND's offense mustered only 92 total rushing yards in its next three non-conference games. The unit got back on track at Bowling Green where the offense rushed for 169 yards against the Falcons. UND averaged 292.5 yards per game on the ground in Big Sky play last season.

SHIRTLESS IN STONY BROOK
Three true freshmen made their collegiate debuts at Stony Brook. Wide receivers Travis Toivonen and Noah Wanzek along with Evan Holm all saw action for the Fighting Hawks last Thursday. Toivonen was the only one to accumulate stats as he caught three passes for 33 yards in his debut. Wanzek also appeared at wide receiver, but was not targeted, while Holm saw action on special teams as a kick returner, but did not have an attempt.

Last season, head coach Bubba Schweigert played five true freshmen during the team's 7-4 season. That bunch included running backs Iwarri Smith, Brady Oliveira and John Santiago along with offensive tackle Elijah Grady and safety Tanner Palmborg. Smith and Grady are no longer with the program.

GEORGES LOST FOR SEASON
Senior wide receiver Clive Georges was lost for the season on UND's opening possession of the second half at Stony Brook (Sept. 1) when the Arizona transfer injured his left leg on a play where he was fighting to get into the end zone. Georges was gang-tackled at the 2-yard line and ended up fumbling on the play. SBU took over possession, but the Seawolves were stuffed in the end zone on the ensuing play for a safety.

PRESEASON PUB
Besides appearing in a trio of preseason national polls, the North Dakota football team also had some of its players receive preseason accolades from various media outlets. Sophomore running back John Santiago was a unanimous pick for the All-Big Sky preseason team and was joined on that squad by junior safety Cole Reyes. Santiago also earned a spot on the STATS Preseason All-America First Team as an all-purpose player and landed on a pair of a national watch lists (STATS Offensive Player of the Year and College Football Performance Awards Performer of the Year).

For the first time in its DI history, UND opened the season ranked in the STATS FCS Poll (No. 19), the FCS Coaches' Poll (No. 21) and the Hero Sports FCS Media Poll (No. 19).

CAPTAINS
UND has four new captains for the 2016 season after the team voted earlier this summer for the quartet of tight end Luke Mathewson, inside linebacker Connor O'Brien, safety Cole Reyes and quarterback Keaton Studsrud to handle those responsibilities. Mathewson, the lone senior among the foursome, will be joined in his captaincy by three juniors.

TEAMMATES AGAIN
There are three sets of high school teammates on the 2016 North Dakota football roster. Colorado natives Bryce Blair (OL) and Tyus Carter (DB) were prep teammates at Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village before joining the UND program prior to the 2015 season. Blair redshirted a season ago and is now listed as the back-up right tackle entering the 2016 season, while Carter started the final eight games at cornerback and appeared in all eight as a true freshman in 2015.

Edina High School in Minnesota boasts a trio of new Fighting Hawks as Bennett Helgren (OL), Evan Holm (DB) and Devan Hunt (OL) will remain teammates at the collegiate level. Holm and Hunt also played rugby together in high school and Holm played for the U.S.A. High School All-America Rugby Team in France and Belgium this past spring. Rounding out the sets of high school teammates are true freshmen Jordan Canady (DB) and Jake Rastas (ILB), who played prep football together at Eisenhower High School in New Berlin, Wis.

NEW ROLES
There were 37 players remaining on the 2016 roster that were part of UND's 13-3 win over Stony Brook in 2014. That was head coach Bubba Schweigert's first season as the head coach. Two of the key contributors on offense that day will be working at new positions in 2016. Senior Joe Mollberg started the 2014 game at quarterback and one of his two completions in the victory was a 68-yarder to Dev Ferguson. Mollberg suited up at tight end against the Seawolves (Sept. 1) after making the position change during the spring. Junior Kyle Norberg began the 2014 season at inside linebacker, but after injuries depleted the running back corps, he made his first career start against Stony Brook. He finished with 27 carries for 69 yards. Norberg had one catch for five yards this time against Stony Brook as the team's starting fullback.

IMMEDIATE COE-TRIBUTOR
One of the big questions entering the 2016 season was where would UND turn to replace the three All-Big Sky performers that graduated from the offensive line. At guard, the answer was the lockerroom where Dan Bell and Demon Taylor both made their first career starts against Stony Brook at right and left guard, respectively. As for center, the trek was a little further for offensive line coach Luke Knauf, who returned to the Land of Enchantment to find his starter. The former Western New Mexico offensive coordiantor plucked graduate transfer Michael Coe from his former team to man the middle of UND's line this season.

Coe, who graduated after four years at WNM with a degree in criminal justice, will pursue his master's in higher edcuation at UND while playing his final collegiate season for his former line coach. The 6-3, 300-pounder started 32 consecutive games for the Mustangs from 2012-14 before redshirting last season. As a junior in 2014, Coe earned All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team honors. He was a second team All-RMAC selection as a sophomore and third team selection as a freshman.
Both tackles Knauf used against the Seawolves had starting experience coming into the opener. Junior A.J. Stockwell made his 12th-consecutive start at left tackle, while classmate Mat Cox made his fourth career start at right tackle.

DROP DOWNS
The 2016 roster will have a trio of players on it that have played at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. The newest member of that threesome is wide receiver De'mun Mercer, who played his first two collegiate seasons at Texas State where he caught 28 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns during his career for the Bobcats. Running back Oscar Nevermann and wide receiver Clive Georges (out for the season) are both going through their second seasons with the program. Nevermann joined the program in the spring of 2015, but had to sit out last season after Wyoming did not grant his release. The Stockholm, Sweden native played linebacker for the Cowboys, but will have two seasons at running back. He appeared on special teams for the Fighting Hawks in the season opener and made two tackles during his UND debut.

REARVIEW MIRROR
• UND wrapped up the 2015 season with an impressive 45-21 win at Cal Poly to finish with a 7-4 overall record and a 5-3 mark in the Big Sky. The seven wins were a two-game improvement from head coach Bubba Schweigert's first season and the Fighting Hawks capped the season with the first three-game winning streak of his tenure.
• With those 45 points against the Mustangs, UND averaged 44.7 ppg during its season-closing, three-game win streak. In the previous five Big Sky games, the Fighting Hawks averaged just 24.2 ppg. The defense also limited the league's second-highest scoring offense to just 21 points, which was 20 points below Cal Poly's season average.
• UND placed 11 players on the 2015 All-Big Sky teams with the trio of running back John Santiago, linebacker Will Ratelle and offensive guard Sean Meehan all landing on the first team. Santiago was one of three unanimous choices in the league and was named the Co-Big Sky Freshman of the Year. The individual honor is the first for UND in four years as a Big Sky member.
• Six more UND players were named to the second team, while defensive end Brandon Dranka collected third-team honors and defensive end Noah Johnson was an honorable-mention selection. The six Fighting Hawks dotting the second team were senior offensive linemen Brandon Anderson and Colton Boas, senior fullback Zach Adler, outside linebacker Brian Labat, safety Cole Reyes and now-departed punter Mitch Meindel.
• Also for the first time at the DI level, UND had multiple players earn All-America honors as Meehan was named to the American Football Coaches Association first team and Santiago collected Associated Press and STATS second team accolades.
• Quarterback Keaton Studsrud led UND to a 7-2 record last season in games he played the majority of the snaps. He started eight of those contests and the Fighting Hawks were 4-1 when he went down with an injury in the third quarter of the Idaho State game (Oct. 10). The loss to the Bengals started a season-long, three-game slide that was snapped when Studsrud returned for the 44-38 victory over No. 19 Montana State.

-- UND --