North Dakota State Hosts Wofford in FCS Quarterfinal

Complete release attached

No. 1-ranked North Dakota State (11-1, 7-1 Valley Football) is scheduled to host No. 9 Wofford College (9-3, 6-2 Southern Conference) in a NCAA Division I FCS playoff quarterfinal game at 2:04 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (AstroTurf®’s GameDay Grass™ / 18,700) ... Top-seeded North Dakota State defeated South Dakota State 28-3 on Dec. 1, while the Terriers defeated New Hampshire 23-7 ... The NDSU-Wofford winner plays the Georgia Southern (9-3)-Old Dominion (11-1) winner in FCS semifinals on Dec. 14 or Dec. 15.

SERIES RECORD: This is the first meeting between North Dakota State and Wofford College ... The Bison are 2-0 against members of the Southern Conference with both wins coming over Georgia Southern ... NDSU is 1-1 in FCS quarterfinal games including a 24-0 win over Lehigh in 2011  (recap on page 4) ... Members of the MVFC are 3-13 against the SoCon in the playoffs ... Wofford is 1-2 against MVFC members.

AT HOME: North Dakota State has compiled a 244-37-3 record at home since 1964 ... The Bison are 99-23-0 in Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome since moving from Dacotah Field in 1993 ... NDSU is 20-3 over the last three seasons at home and is 50-12 since head coach Craig Bohl took over in 2003.

SELL OUT: North Dakota State has recorded its 13th sellout over the past seven seasons including a record crowd of 19,065 vs. No. 3 Youngstown State at Gate City Bank Field on Oct. 6 ... NDSU has attracted over 18,000 fans in 14 of its last 15 home games including four sellouts.

POSTSEASON HISTORY: North Dakota State is making its third straight NCAA Division I FCS playoff appearance and the program’s 26th postseason overall including 17 in the Division II playoffs ... The Bison won the 2011 NCAA FCS national championship with a 17-6 win over Sam Houston State on Jan. 7, 2012, in Frisco, Texas ... North Dakota State, the No. 2 seed, posted home wins over James Madison (26-14), Lehigh (24-0) and Georgia Southern (35-7) to advance ... NDSU advanced to the 2010 NCAA FCS quarterfinals before falling 38-31 in overtime at eventual national champion Eastern Washington ... North Dakota State defeated Robert Morris 43-17 in the opening round, the program’s first-ever NCAA playoff game in the Fargodome ... NDSU defeated Montana State 42-17 in the second round at Bozeman ... The Bison are 42-14 overall in the postseason including a 7-1 record in the NCAA FCS playoffs and 31-12 record in NCAA Division II ... North Dakota State has won nine national championships (1965, 1968, 1969, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990 and 2011) and were national runner-up three times (1967, 1981 and 1984) ... The Bison also were third place five times (1970, 1976, 1977, 1982, 2000) ... Championships & placings prior to 1973 were determined by AP or UPI polls ... Championship & runner-up finishes after that were through the NCAA playoff format ... Third-place finishes after 1973 were the result of semifinal losses in the playoff system.

TELEVISION: The game will be televised on ESPN3.com and ESPN GamePlan ... Johnathan Yardley will handle the play-by-play and former Minnesota Vikings/San Diego Chargers linebacker will be the Ben Leber color analyst ... All 11 regular season games in 2012 were televised for the first time in school history ... The Bison are 111-57-1 (.660) in TV games.

RADIO BROADCAST: 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 1:30 p.m., kickoff at 2:04 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 ... Anchored by flagship, The Mighty 790, KFGO-AM, the Bison Radio Network has 20 stations including (Fargo, simulcast on KRWK 101.9 FM); KFYR 550 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 South Dakota State to 217 yards on Dec. 1, North Dakota State has held 11 of its last 13 opponents to under 250 yards of total offense, dating back to the FCS Championship game victory over Sam Houston State ... The 11 rushing yards by Southern Illinois were the lowest yielded since Concordia-St. Paul was limited to minus-14 in 2006 ... The 76 yards given up at South Dakota (10-20-12) was the lowest total offense yardage allowed since Moorhead State was limited to 66 (43 rushing, 23 passing) in 2000 ... Missouri State’s 22 passing yards were the lowest allowed since Minnesota State Moorhead’s 23 in 2000 ... 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 (11.08 avg/g), total defense (197.5 avg/g), rush defense (63.25 avg/g), pass defense (134.25 avg/g), defense 3rd down efficiency (25 pct.) and first downs allowed (11.08 avg/g) ... The Bison defense has allowed only three rushing touchdowns (at Illinois State, 11-17-12; at Missouri State, 11-3-12; at UNI, 9-29-12) and 12 overall ... NDSU has allowed 100 yards on the ground twice through 12 games ... Missouri State had 127 rushing yards on Nov. 3, Illinois State had 111 on Nov. 17 ... Only two of 12 opponents have passed for over 200 yards, UNI had 213 on Sept. 29, Illinois State had 207 on Nov. 17 ... NDSU has 80 tackles for loss, 35 QB hurries, 33 sacks, 30 pass breakups, 13 fumble recoveries and nine interceptions.

DRIVE TIME: North Dakota State leads the nation in time of possession at 35-minutes, 42-seconds ... The Bison played “keep-away” for a 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 18:45 out of 30-minutes in the second half including 9:34 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 8.5 plays covering 53.7 yards in 4-minutes, 24-seconds on 64 scoring drives.

CORNERBACK MARCUS WILLIAMS SELECTED MVFC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, FINALIST FOR BUCHANAN AWARD: Cornerback Marcus Williams was named the 2012 Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year ... Williams is a finalist for The Sports Network’s Buck Buchanan Award ... The award honors the outstanding defensive player in the FCS ... Former NDSU and 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 seven times overall including four interceptions, a lateral and a pair of kickoff returns ... Williams recorded his fifth interception of the season and 16th of his career with 7:53 left in the second quarter vs. South Dakota State (12-1-12) ... He had a 98-yard pick six against Youngstown State (10-6-12) ... Williams tied for first all-time in interceptions at NDSU with Steve Krumrei (16/1967-69) ... He is currently tied for ninth in NCAA FCS in interceptions ... Williams has at least one pass defended in 32 of 40 career games played.

BISON PLACE DOZEN ON ALL-MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE TEAM: Missouri Valley Football Conference champion North Dakota State University placed five players on the all-conference first team including Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Williams, four were named to the all-MVFC second team and three others earned honorable mention ... The all-MVFC teams were released Monday, and selected by coaches, sports information directors and media panel ... Williams was joined on the all-conference first-team by linebacker Grant Olson, offensive center Joe Lund, offensive tackle Billy Turner and place-kicker Adam Keller ... Selected to the all-MVFC second team were defensive end Cole Jirik, defensive tackle Leevon Perry and quarterback Brock Jensen, while Ryan Smith earned honors at both wide receiver and return specialist ... Linebacker Travis Beck, defensive end Kyle Emanuel and free safety Christian Dudzik were honorable mention on the all-conference team.

NDSU PLACES FOUR ON VALLEY FOOTBALL ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM: Quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen of UNI has been named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Year and MVFC Freshman of the Year. He heads a list of 23 student-athletes named to the 2012 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team including North Dakota State fullback Andrew Bonnet, offensive guard Josh Colville, running back John Crockett and punter Ben LeCompte. League coaches, sports information directors and a media panel selected the team.

BISON QUICK-HITTERS: North Dakota State has attracted over 18,000 fans in 14 of its last 15 games at Gate City Bank Field ... NDSU has allowed only 30 points over its last five NCAA FCS playoff games ... The Bison offensive line, known as the “Rams” ranks 6th nationally in tackles for loss allowed (3.67 avg/g), and NDSU led the Missouri Valley Football Conference and ranks 25th nationally in rushing offense ... Middle linebacker Grant Olson has four double-figure tackle games this season and five in his career ... Defensive end Cole Jirik has five sacks over the last two games ... Running back John Crockett has three 100-yard games this season, and Sam Ojuri has two this season and seven in career ... NDSU posted its second shutout of the season and the program’s first in 36 MVFC 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 41 times for an average of 42 yards per attempt with a season-long of 65 yards vs. Southern Illinois (10-27-12) ... LeCompte has placed 14 inside the 20 and had six fair catches ... NDSU has allowed just 160 points in its last 16 contests, dating back to the start of the 2011 Division I FCS Playoffs ... The Bison have allowed just 146 points in their last 14 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 13 of its last 27 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 13 times over its last 27 games ... The Bison committed only 12 turnovers overall in 15 games in 2011  ... With an 86-32 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. 1 in pass attempts (918), and No. 2 all-time at NDSU in completions (454) and passing yards (5,519) ... Jensen had a career long rush of 56 yards vs. South Dakota State (11-10-12) ... 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 last season, 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 41 weeks  since moving NCAA Division I FCS including 22 weeks at No. 1 (Aug. 22, Sept. 3, Sept. 10, Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1, Oct. 8; Oct. 19; Nov. 5; Nov. 12; Nov. 19; 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 in the 2012 FCS Coaches Poll released Nov. 19 ... 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.

AGAINST THE NATIONALLY-RANKED: NDSU is 21-8 against nationally-ranked opponents and have won the last 12 in a row (2012: W vs. South Dakota State; W at Illinois State; W vs. South Dakota State; W vs. Youngstown State; W at UNI; 2011: W vs. Sam Houston State; W vs. Georgia Southern; W vs. Lehigh; W vs. James Madison; W at Indiana State; W vs. Northern Iowa; W at Southern Illinois; 2010: L at Eastern Washington; W at Montana State, W vs. South Dakota; L at UNI; 2009: L at Southern Illinois, L vs. UNI; 2008, L at South Dakota State; L at Youngstown State, W at Southern Illinois, L vs. Western Illinois; L at UNI; 2007: W at Cal Poly, W at Western Illinois, W vs. Sam Houston State, 2006: W at Georgia Southern, W vs. Cal Poly, W vs. South Dakota State).