No. 1/2 North Dakota State Travels to Missouri State For Stern Valley Football Road Test

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No. 1/2-ranked North Dakota State (7-1, 4-1 Valley Football) is scheduled to travel to Missouri State (3-6, 3-3 Valley Football) for a Missouri Valley Football Conference road test at 1:05 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at Plaster Field (FieldTurf / 16,300) in Springfield ... North Dakota State rallied past Southern Illinois 23-17 at Gate City Bank Field on Saturday, while Missouri State defeated Western Illinois 42-3 at Plaster Field ... The Bears have won three straight games ... The Bison and South Dakota State (6-2, 4-1 Valley Football) are a half-game behind conference leader Indiana State (7-2, 5-1 Valley Football).

SERIES RECORD: This is the fifth meeting between North Dakota State and Missouri State in a series that started in 2008 ... The series is tied 2-2 ... North Dakota State defeated the Bears 51-21 in Fargo last season (recap on page 4).

ON THE ROAD: North Dakota State is 9-0 on the road over the last two seasons ... The Bison have won 14 of their last 18 road games ... The Bison are 34-20 on the road since head coach Craig Bohl took over in 2003 ... NDSU is 11-7 in MVFC road games.

TELEVISION: The game will be produced and televised by MediaCom and carried on the North Dakota NBC Sports Network ... Mike McClure will handle the play-by-play, and Don West is the color analyst ... Stations on the North Dakota NBC Sports Network include KVLY-TV (Channel 11, Fargo), KFYR-TV (Channel 5, Bismarck), KMOT-TV (Channel 10, Minot), KQCD-TV (Channel 7, Dickinson) and KUMV-TV (Channel 8, Williston) ... All 11 regular season games in 2012 will be televised for the first time in school history ... The Bison are 107-57-1 (.652) in TV games.

RADIO BROADCASTS: KFGO-AM 790, Fargo ... Veteran sports announcer Scott Miller will handle the play-by-play ... Former NDSU quarterback Steve Walker will handle the color duties, while NDSU director of athletic broadcasting Jeremy Jorgenson is on the sidelines ... Air time is set for 12:30 p.m., kickoff at 1:05 p.m. on Nov. 3 ... Anchored by flagship, The Mighty 790, KFGO-AM, the Bison Radio Network has 20 stations including (Fargo, simulcast on KRWK 101.9 FM); ESPN 710 AM (Bismarck); KHRT 1320 AM (Minot); KSJB 600 AM (Jamestown); KEYZ 660 AM (Williston); KDVL 102.5 FM (Devils Lake); KHND 1470 AM (Harvey); KZZJ 1450 AM (Rugby); KPOK 1340 AM (Bowman); KAUJ – 100.9 FM (Grafton); KLTC 1460 AM (Dickinson); KRCQ 102.3 FM (Detroit Lakes); WLKX 95.9 FM (North) / KBGY 107.5 FM (South) (Minneapolis/St. Paul); KDDG 105.5 FM (Albany); KZCR 103.3 FM (Fergus Falls); KMGK 107.1 FM (Glenwood), and KKCQ 96.7 FM (Fosston) ... The Bison gameday format includes a 30-minute pregame show with comments from Craig Bohl, in-depth analysis and features ... A complete 30-minute postgame show is covered from the press box and locker room areas.

TOUGH GOING: After limiting Southern Illinois to 177 yards on Oct. 27, North Dakota State has held eight of its last nine opponents to under 250 yards of total offense, dating back to the 2011 Division I FCS Championship game victory over Sam Houston State ... The 11 rushing yards by Southern Illinois were the lowest yielded since Angelo State was limited to minus-9 in 2001 ... The 76 yards given up at South Dakota (10-20-12) was the lowest total offense yardage allowed since Minnesota State Moorhead was limited to 66 (43 rushing, 23 passing) in 2000 ... South Dakota’s 59 passing yards were the lowest allowed since Austin Peay’s 35 in 2008 ... USD’s four first downs were fewest since  NDSU allowed three vs. Minnesota State Moorhead in 2000.

DON’T TREAD ON ME: North Dakota State leads the nation in scoring defense (9.5 avg/g), total defense (184.63 avg/g), pass defense (127.88 avg/g), defense 3rd down efficiency (23.33 pct.) and first downs allowed (10.0 avg/g); and is 2nd in rushing defense (56.75 avg/g) ... The Bison defense has allowed only one rushing touchdown (vs. UNI, 9-29-12) and seven overall ... NDSU has not allowed over 100 yards on the ground through the first eight games ... Indiana State had 94 rushing yards on Oct. 13 ... Only one of eight opponents have passed for over 200 yards, UNI had 213 on Sept. 29 ... NDSU has 54 tackles for loss, 24 QB hurries, 20 pass breakups, 18 sacks, nine fumble recoveries and seven interceptions.

DRIVE TIME: North Dakota State leads the nation in time of possession at 35-minutes, 44-seconds ... The Bison played “keep-away” for season-high 40:48 in the 23-17 win over Southern Illinois (10-27-12) ... That included a season-high scoring drive of 10:03 (16 plays, 66-yards) ... On the average, NDSU has held the ball for 18:47 out of 30-minutes in the second half including 9:31 in the third quarter ... The Bison kept the ball for 13:19 out of 15-minutes during the third quarter in the win at Colorado State ... The Bison are averaging 8.7 plays covering 53 yards in 4-minutes, 17-seconds on 48 scoring drives.

NDSU CORNERBACK MARCUS WILLIAMS ON BUCHANAN WATCH LIST: North Dakota State cornerback Marcus Williams was named to The Sports Network’s Buck Buchanan Watch List in July ... The award honors the outstanding defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision ... Former NDSU and current Denver Broncos linebacker Joe Mays was a finalist for the Buchanan Award in 2007 ... A first-team Sports Network/Fathead.com and Associated Press performer in 2011, Williams picked off seven passes and returned two for TDs last season ... In his career, he has scored six times overall including four interceptions, a lateral and a kickoff ... Williams recorded his fourth interception of the season and 15th of his career with 3:37 left in the fourth quarter vs. Southern Illinois (10-27-12) ... He had a 98-yard pick six against Youngstown State (10-6-12) ... Williams is second all-time in interceptions at NDSU trailing only Steve Krumrei (16/1967-69) ... He is currently tied for 5th in NCAA FCS in interceptions.

BISON QUICK-HITTERS: North Dakota State has attracted over 18,000 fans in 12 of its last 13 games at Gate City Bank Field ... The Bison offensive line, known as the “Rams” ranks 4th nationally in tackles for loss allowed (3.50 avg/g) and 23rd in sacks allowed (1.25 avg/g) ... NDSU posted its second shutout of the season and the program’s first in 36 Missouri Valley Football Conference games with the 54-0 win over South Dakota on Oct. 20 ... The Bison shutout Robert Morris 52-0 in the season opener ... The last time NDSU had two shutouts in a season was 2005 vs. Weber State (41-0) and Northern Colorado (44-0) ... Punter Ben LeCompte has punted 22 times for an average of 39.9 yards per attempt with a season-long of 65 yards vs. Southern Illinois (10-27-12) ... LeCompte has placed 10 inside the 20 and had five fair catches ... NDSU has allowed just 103 points in its last 12 contests, dating back to the start of the 2011 Division I FCS Playoffs ... The Bison have allowed just 89 points in their last 10 contests, dating back to a 24-0 shutout victory over Lehigh in the 2011 Division I FCS Quarterfinals ... NDSU has limited its opponent to 10 points or less in 12 of its last 23 games ... Defensive end Cole Jirik had 4 tackles including a safety, two tackles for loss and a sack in North Dakota State’s 22-7 win over Colorado State on Sept. 8 ... His safety with 5:34 left in the first quarter broke a 7-7 tie and gave the Bison the lead for good ... The safety was the first for North Dakota State since Matthew Gratzek’s against Robert Morris in the 2010 FCS playoff game ... North Dakota State’s field goal block by nose guard Ryan Drevlow at Colorado State (9-8-12) was the first since Matt Veldman’s effort against Illinois State (10-1-11) ... North Dakota State committed zero (0) turnovers in eight of 15 games played in 2011 and 11 over its last 23 games ... The Bison committed only 12 turnovers overall in 15 games in 2011  ... With an 82-32 record, NDSU head coach Craig Bohl is No. 2 on the school’s all-time win list behind Rocky Hager (91-25-1, 1987-95) ... Bohl is one of three Bison coaches with 60 wins ... Wide receiver Zach Vraa caught a career and season-high eight passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns vs. Prairie View A&M (9-22-12)... His 69-yard TD reception was the longest for NDSU since Nick Mertens and Gary Williams hooked up on a school record 95-yard score against Illinois State on Oct. 3, 2009 ... His 156 yards receiving were the most for a Bison receiver since Warren Holloway had 184 on seven catches against Western Illinois on Oct. 2, 2010 ... North Dakota State’s 81 offensive plays against Colorado State  (9-8-12) were its most since running 83 against Northern Iowa on Oct. 10, 2009.

JENSEN ON TARGET: North Dakota State quarterback Brock Jensen is No. 2 all-time at NDSU in completions (408) and passing yards (5,081) ... Dating back to the second quarter vs. Sam Houston State (1-7-12), Jensen had attempted 140 passes without an interception until Indiana State (10-13-12) ... He completed 15 of 25 passes for 200 yards in the win over Southern Illinois (10-27-12) ... Jensen recorded his ninth career 200-yard passing game ... He completed 22 of 31 passes for a career-high 243 yards and one touchdown in the win at No. 14/17 Northern Iowa on Sept. 29 ... The 22 completions tied a career-high for Jensen and the 31 attempts are a career best ... Jensen completed 13 of 15 passes for 192 yards and three TDs in the first half against Prairie View A&M (9-22-12) ... The three TD passes tie a career-high for Jensen, set three times previously ... The 69-yard TD pass to Zach Vraa was the longest in his career ... Jensen completed 18 of 29 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown at Colorado State on Sept. 8 ... He also rushed 10 times for 42 yards ... Jensen directed an offense that ran 81 plays for 366 yards of total offense and held a 39:52-20:08 advantage in time of possession ... That included scoring drives of 12 plays for 67 yards (5:21), 10 plays for 53 yards (1:44) and 16 plays for 71 yards (9:29) ... Jensen completed 16 of 23 passes for 217 yards and three TDs vs. Robert Morris  (9-1-12) ... Jensen threw four interceptions last season ... Following an interception at Southern Illinois, Jensen attempted a school record 142 passes without a pick ... Jensen completed his first 15 passes vs. Missouri State (10-15-11) to break the school record of 10 in a row set three times previously ... Including the Southern Illinois game, he had completed 19 passes in a row to top the school record of 16 set by Steve Walker in 2004.

BISON IN THE POLLS: North Dakota State has been ranked in the top five for 38 weeks  since moving NCAA Division I FCS including 19 weeks at No. 1 (Aug. 22, Sept. 3, Sept. 10, Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 5, Oct. 12; Nov. 3; Jan. 9, 2012 / Oct. 31, Nov. 7, 2011 / Sept. 1-8, 2008 / Oct. 8-15-22-29, Nov. 5-12, 2007) ... NDSU was No. 1 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and No. 2 in the 2012 FCS Coaches Poll this week ... The Bison were ranked No. 1 in both the final FCS Coaches Poll and The Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25 polls released Jan. 9, 2012.