No. 6/8 North Dakota vs. No. 8/6 South Dakota
Vermillion, S.D. (DakotaDome)
Series: North Dakota leads 64-34-5
Kickoff: 1 p.m. CT
TV: Midco Sports
Stream: Midco Sports Plus & ESPN+
Radio: Fighting Hawks Radio Network
Weekly Presser: Coach Schmidt | Coach Freund | Matt Lawson and Tyler Henry

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- There are a lot of similarities between the 2026 North Dakota and South Dakota football programs as those two top-10 squads set to square off Saturday at the DakotaDome.

Sitting with identical 6-2 overall records and 3-1 tallies in Valley play, NoDak is ranked No. 6 in the Stats poll and No. 8 in the AFCA poll, while the Coyotes are ranked No. 8 in the Stats and No. 6 by the coaches.

The Coyotes are the top scoring offense in the MFVC, averaging 39.1 ppg, while the Fighting Hawks are not far behind at 36.6 ppg. Both signal callers rank among the top five in the FCS in total touchdown passes.

South Dakota's Austin Modrzewski has 22, while North Dakota's Jerry Kaminski is one behind with 21. The duo's total passing yards are separated by just eight with Kaminski holding the slight edge there at 1,742-1,734.

Both starting running backs are named Charles and both UND's Langama (514) and USD's Pierre Jr., (585) have rushed for 500-plus yards and six and seven touchdowns, respectively.

One of the bigger differences that stands out between the two operations is turnover margin, UND's overcome a minus-five figure, while the Coyotes are plus-two.

GAME NOTES