GRAND FORKS, N.D. – UND returns home after two straight on the road for a Homecoming battle with Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. from the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.
 
Fans can watch the action on Midco Sports or ESPN+, as Alex Heinert and Ryan Kasowski call the action or tune into the Home of Economy Radio Network with Jack Michaels, Tom Dosch and Paul Ralston.
 
This will be the third all-time meeting between North Dakota and Western Illinois, with UND claiming both previous matchups. Those games came in Macomb, with the Fighting Sioux rolling to a 28-7 win on Nov. 10, 1979 in the first showdown before winning, 38-21, on March 13, 2021 last season.
 
UND saw a career day through the air from Tommy Schuster, throwing for 328 yards and three scores to earn MVFC Offensive Player of the Week honors last season in Macomb. The rushing attack added 216 yards on the ground and the Hawks held the ball for over 41 minutes to pick up the victory.
 
The last three weeks have not been kind to North Dakota, dropping to 0-3 in league play with losses to North Dakota State, South Dakota and Southern Illinois. This marks the first time under Head Coach Bubba Schweigert that UND has started the conference slate with an 0-3 mark.
 
Prior to 2021, the last time a UND team has started the conference season with an 0-3 mark was 2010, when the Fighting Sioux went 0-4 in the 5-team Great West Conference. Before that? You'd have to go all the way back to 1986, when UND went 2-7 in the NCC.
 
The last time UND suffered three-or-more consecutive conference losses by one score was 2002, when the Sioux fell to St. Cloud State (20-17), Omaha (20-17), Minnesota State (36-35) and Augustana (38-31) in four straight games.
 
FULL GAME NOTES CAN BE FOUND HERE