The 2017 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Chris Klieman. The team played their 25th season in the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison finished the season 14–1, 7–1 in MVFC play to win the MVFC championship for the seventh consecutive year. As a result, the Bison received the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs as the No. 2 seed. In the playoffs, they defeated San Diego, Wofford, and Sam Houston State to advance to the National Championship game. There they defeated James Madison to win the school's sixth National Championship in seven years. The September 30 game against Missouri State was the 700th victory since the team's founding in 1894.

Schedule

Roster

2017 North Dakota State Bison FootballQuarterback  7 Cole Davis – Senior (6′3, 215) 12 Easton Stick – Junior (6′2, 221) 15 Holden Hotchkiss – Freshman (6′3, 191) 16 Noah Sanders – Freshman (6′2, 210)

Tailback  8 Bruce Anderson – Junior (5′11, 216) 10 Lance Dunn – Junior (5′9, 211) 18 Adam Cofield – Freshman (5′11, 205) 24 Demaris Purifoy – Sophomore (6′1, 197) 28 Ty Brooks – Sophomore (5′9, 180) 30 Seth Wilson – Freshman (5′10, 189)

Wide receiver  1 Christian Watson – Freshman (6′3, 186)  2 Cordell Pimienta – Sophomore (6′0, 177)  4 Dimitri Williams – Junior (5′11, 191)  5 Andy Voyen – Freshman (6′2, 196)  7 Peter Isais – Freshman (5′11, 170) 13 Desmond Cain – Junior (5′10, 185) 15 Daniel Polansky – Senior (6′0, 190) 16 RJ Urzendowski – Senior (6′0, 200) 17 Carson Yaggie – Freshman (6′2, 196) 19 Brant Bohmert – Freshman (5′11, 179) 20 Darrius Shepherd – Junior (5′11, 186) 31 Victor Kizewski – Freshman (6′0, 192) 83 Dallas Freeman – Junior (6′1, 197) 84 Trevor Heit – Freshman (5′9, 177) 89 Cole Jacob – Freshman (6′1, 193)

Tight end 33 Austin Avery – Freshman (6′3, 241) (+FB) 40 Costner Ching – Freshman (6′3, 249) (+FB) 44 Cody Mauch – Freshman (6′4, 234) 46 Noah Gindorff – Freshman (6′6, 249) 81 Josh Babicz – Freshman (6′6, 225) 82 Ben Ellefson – Sophomore (6′3, 250) 85 Nate Jenson – Junior (6′6, 246) 86 Jeff Illies – Senior (6′3, 235) 87 Connor Wentz – Senior (6′3, 250) 88 Matt Anderson – Sophomore (6′4, 247) 

Fullback 32 Zak Kuntz – Freshman (6′2, 249) 34 Brock Robbins – Sophomore (6′1, 246) 39 Garrett Malstrom – Sophomore (6′0, 250)

Offensive lineman 54 Dillon Radunz - OT – Freshman (6′6, 287) 57 Zach Willis - C – Freshman (6′4, 305) 58 Josh Howieson - OT – Freshman (6′5, 293) 59 Karson Schoening - C – Freshman (6′5, 297) 61 Zach Kubas - OG – Freshman (6′4, 283) 62 Bryce Messner - OG – Senior (6′3, 291) 64 Colin Conner - OT – Junior (6′5, 309) 65 Jack Albrecht - OG – Sophomore (6′5, 278) 66 Nash Jensen - OG – Freshman (6′4, 349) 67 Cordell Volson - OT – Freshman (6′6, 299) 68 Zack Johnson - OT – Sophomore (6′6, 312) 71 Luke Bacon - OT – Junior (6′5, 299) 72 Erik Olson - OT – Senior (6′5, 277) 73 Zack Ziemer - OG – Senior (6′4, 299) 74 Tanner Volson - C – Junior (6′4, 301) 75 Austin Kuhnert - OG – Senior (6′4, 304) 76 Ben Hecht - OG – Freshman (6′5, 277)

Defensive tackle 53 Cole Karcz – Sophomore (6′4, 262) 60 Lane Tucker – Freshman (6′4, 261) 63 Aaron Steidl – Junior (6′2, 288) 69 Blake Williams – Junior (6′3, 290) 78 Michael Kelly – Freshman (6′1, 302) 90 Grant Morgan – Senior (6′4, 283) 92 Jack Darnell – Sophomore (6′2, 292) 97 Quinn Alo – Freshman (6′2, 296) 98 Matt Biegler – Freshman (6′3, 272) 99 Nate Tanguay – Senior (6′4, 291)

Defensive end 56 Justice Kelly – Freshman (6′3, 193) 56 Tanner Sundt – Freshman (6′4, 232) 70 Spencer Waege – Freshman (6′4, 245) 77 Logan McCormick – Freshman (6′2, 232) 91 Derrek Tuszka – Sophomore (6′5, 245) 93 Jarrod Tuszka – Senior (6′3, 255) 94 Stanley Jones – Junior (6′3, 245) 95 Caleb Butler – Junior (6′3, 244) 96 Greg Menard – Senior (6′2, 241) Linebacker  1 Chris Board – Senior (6′1, 230)  3 Mason Hofstedt – Freshman (6′0, 193) (+TB) 41 Jack Begley – Freshman (6′3, 218) 42 Jabril Cox – Freshman (6′3, 227) 43 Beau Pauly – Freshman (6′2, 216) 44 Matt Plank – Senior (6′0, 219) 45 Levi Jordheim – Junior (6′2, 220) 47 Max Bautch – Freshman (6′0, 219) 48 Dan Marlette – Junior (6′1, 225) 49 Nick DeLuca – Senior (6′3, 245) 50 Ross Kennelly – Freshman (5′11, 212) 52 Jackson Hankey – Freshman (6′1, 217) 55 Aaron Mercadel – Sophomore (5′11, 206)

Cornerbacks  2 Dom Davis – Sophomore (5′11, 182)  9 Marquise Bridges – Sophomore (5′11, 182) 17 Felix Dixon – Freshman (5′11, 166) 21 Jalen Allison – Junior (6′0, 184) 23 Jaylaan Wimbush – Junior (6′0, 192) 27 Ross Godfrey – Freshman (5′9, 166) 33 Bryce Bennot – Junior (5′8, 174) 35 Josh Hayes – Freshman (5′11, 178) 37 Tre Fort – Sophomore (5′8, 185) 46 Ross Effertz – Sophomore (5′11, 200)

Safeties  3 Tre Dempsey - FS – Senior (5′10, 184)  5 Robbie Grimsley - SS – Junior (6′0, 191)  6 James Hendricks - SS – Sophomore (6′1, 205) 25 Michael Tutsie - SS – Freshman (5′10, 188) 26 Keenan Hodenfield - FS – Senior (5′11, 182) 29 Eric Bachmeier - SS – Junior (6′2, 202) 35 Dawson Weber - FS – Freshman (6′2, 193) 38 Jaxon Brown - FS – Sophomore (6′2, 203)

Placekicker 25 Jake Reinholz – Freshman (6′3, 198) 36 Cam Pedersen – Junior (6′2, 199)

Punter 19 Jackson Koonce – Senior (6′1, 197) 22 Garret Wegner – Freshman (6′0, 184) (+K)

Long Snappers 51 James Fisher – Senior (6′2, 225)

Recruiting class

Coaching staff Name Position Year atNorth Dakota State Alma mater (Year) Chris Klieman Head coach 7th Northern Iowa (1990) Matt Entz Defensive coordinatorLinebackers 4th Wayne State (NE) (1995) Courtney Messingham Offensive coordinatorRunning backs 1st Northern Iowa (1990) Atif Austin Special teams coordinatorWide receiver coach 4th Iowa State (2003) Conor Riley Running game coordinatorOffensive line coach 5th Nebraska–Omaha (2002) Nick Goeser Defensive tackles coach 8th Wisconsin–Eau Claire (2003) Randy Hedberg Quarterbacks coach 4th Minot State (1977) Joe Klanderman Defensive backs coach 4th Minnesota State Mankato (2001) Tyler Roehl Tight endsFullbacks 4th North Dakota State (2009) Bryan Shepherd Cornerbacks coach 2nd North Dakota State (2013) LeDominique Williams Defensive ends coach 1st University of Charleston (2009) Jake Otten Video coordinator 4th Cal Poly (2013)

Game summaries Polls are based on the FCS STATS Poll

Mississippi Valley State

Box Score.

At Eastern Washington

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Robert Morris

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Missouri State

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At Indiana State

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At Youngstown State

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Western Illinois

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Northern Iowa

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At South Dakota State

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South Dakota

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At Illinois State

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FCS Playoffs

San Diego–Second Round

Box Score.

Wofford–Quarterfinals

Box Score.

Sam Houston State–Semifinals

Box Score.

James Madison–Championship

Box Score.

Ranking movements

References