No. 11/15 North Dakota vs. No. 10/9 Illinois State
Grand Forks, N.D. (Alerus Center)
Series: North Dakota leads 3-1
Kickoff: 1 p.m. CT
TV: Midco Sports
Stream: Midco Sports Plus & ESPN+
Radio: Fighting Hawks Radio Network
Weekly Presser: Coach Schmidt | Coach Freund | Jerry Kaminski and Lance Rucker
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- After a stretch of six road games over the last eight weeks, the Fighting Hawks will close out the regular season with back-to-back home games, starting with their fourth straight top-10 opponent in Illinois State.
After defeating No. 1 South Dakota State 21-10 at home on Oct. 17, the Fighting Hawks dropped back-to-back road clashes by three points vs. Top 10 opponents. This past Saturday, No. 4/4 Youngstown State scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to rally for a 31-28 victory.
No. 11/15 UND and No. 10/9 Illinois State did not meet a season ago when the Redbirds made a run to the FCS National Championship game before falling to Montana State.
Illinois State did knock off North Dakota for the first time when the squads played in 2024 as the Redbirds won a 35-13 decision on their home field.
UND had won the first three meetings as MVFC foes.
This season, ISU has been one of the top scoring defenses in the country, allowing only 16.0 ppg, which tops all Valley teams and ranks sixth in the FCS. The Redbirds have won three straight after dropping their first two conference games of the season.
GAME NOTES
