Everybody has been chasing North Dakota State since the first of its 10 FCS national championships in 2011. Three programs have combined for four titles during the 14-year span, even beating the Bison along the way. What was similar and different with those teams?
North Dakota State has changed everything in FCS college football by winning 10 of the last 14 national championships.
During the dynasty, the Bison have accomplished it under four different head coaches, from Craig Bohl (three FCS titles) to Chris Klieman (four) to Matt Entz (two) to Tim Polasek (one).
The other title-winning programs in that time had come to know quite a bit about the NDSU excellence – much of it firsthand:
NDSU’s first playoff win of its first FCS championship season in 2011 was against James Madison, which later won the 2016 national title. Sam Houston State fell to the Bison in the 2011 and ’12 championship games and again in 2014 and ’17 semifinals before winning the 2020 FCS title. South Dakota State and NDSU are archrivals whose series began in 1903, and the Jackrabbits lost to the Bison in their first four playoff meetings from 2012-18 before they beat them in the 2022 national title game, and they repeated as champions in 2023.In many ways, James Madison, Sam Houston and South Dakota State patterned their championship teams after NDSU’s blueprint – often talking about the need for similar size and athleticism at the line of scrimmage – but they also put their own stamps on those titles.
For SDSU’s 2022 national championship squad, that started on the defensive side of the ball.
“The biggest thing we did was to recruit and play more D-linemen,” said John Stiegelmeier, the head coach of that team in his final season of a 26-year tenure with the Jackrabbits. “NDSU had done that for years and we saw the benefit. That meant we needed to change our scholarship plan to allow for more D-line.
“What did we do? We stayed the course on recruiting student-athletes that fit our family and culture. We went way beyond the measurables when evaluating the student-athletes. Honestly, I am certain our assistant coaches got better at teaching and finding advantages with the opponent. In those days, a staff built a football program. We just continued the build.”
Following are some of the similar and different characteristics between North Dakota State football and the other four national championship teams.
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Offense: NDSU’s FCS dynasty is associated with a power run style that’s fueled by an offensive line of NFL prospects and running backs with speed and strength.
The 2011 Bison – their first FCS championship team – only ranked 39th in the FCS in rushing yards per game, but the next nine haven’t been below 21st and five of them have been in the top 10, led by the 2021 squad at No. 2. Given the ground dominance, seven NDSU champs were top 10 in FCS average time of possession, including No. 1 and 2 rankings two times each.
The offense has also featured top quarterbacks, from Brock Jensen, who played in the Canadian Football League, to four different NFL Draft choices in Carson Wentz, Easton Stick, Trey Lance and Cam Miller. With emphasis on the run, none of the first nine Bison national title teams ranked in the top 75 of FCS passing yards per game, but they still received elite play behind center as nine of their 10 teams ranked in the top 11 nationally in pass efficiency rating and seven in the top 25 of completion percentage.
Notably, the offense changed quite a bit in Tim Polasek’s first season while the Bison won the 2024 national title. Unlike the previous nine champs, the Bison gained more yards through the air than on the ground, with the offense (Miller was the starting QB) ranking first in FCS passing efficiency, second in completion percentage and 46th in passing yards per game (up 30 spots from their second-highest ranking in that statistic).
Defense: Five of the first nine national title seasons ended with the Bison ranking No. 1 in the FCS in fewest points allowed per game, and the other four were in the top five. Eight of those teams also finished in the top five nationally for fewest yards allowed per game, including No. 1 rankings in 2012 and 2017.
Most of the defensive rankings weren’t as strong in 2024, including 13th in scoring defense and 26th in total defense, but the Bison team worked collectively to rank No. 1 in the FCS in turnover margin.
All but the 2024 team ranked in the top 13 for fewest passing yards allowed per game and top 17 of passing defense efficiency. Five of the 10 title teams were in the FCS top 10 for rushing defense.
All 14 FCS champions since 2011 have finished in the top three of FCS point differential (points scored vs. points allowed). Seven of the 10 Bison champs were No. 1 in that statistic, but so, too, were the 2016 JMU, 2020 Sam Houston and 2023 SDSU squads.
2016 James Madison Dukes
Facing NDSU: The CAA Football squad, under first-year coach Mike Houston, ended NDSU’s record five-year run as FCS champion with a 27-17 road upset in the playoff semifinal round.
Similarities to NDSU: It started with quality play behind center with Bryan Schor finishing as the FCS leader in completion percentage, pass efficiency and yards per pass attempt. Khalid Abdullah also was top 10 nationally in rushing yards per game, so the Dukes resembled NDSU teams and were even stronger offensively with FCS rankings of No. 2 in points per game, No. 3 in offensive yards per game and No. 5 in rushing yards per game.
The Dukes ranked seventh nationally in passing efficiency defense, a ranking that would have been fifth-best against the 10 NDSU champions, and their 21st ranking in opponents’ completion percentage would have tied for fifth among those Bison teams.
Differences From NDSU: JMU’s turnover margin ranked eighth in the FCS and was so much better than previous NDSU champs that the Bison immediately made significant gains in that statistic, starting one season later when they captured the first of three straight titles.
JMU relied on passing (No. 44 in the FCS) much more than NDSU title teams prior to the 2024 Bison.
Additionally, while the defense often forced a stop or turnover in key spots, its overall FCS rankings weren’t as strong as some of the Bison’s, including per-game rankings of 29th in rushing yards, 31st in scrimmage yards and 18th in points.
2020 Sam Houston State Bearkats
Facing NDSU: In the 2020 season playoffs that were held in spring 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, coach K.C. Keeler’s Southland Conference power defeated the Bison 24-20 in the quarterfinal round.
Similarities to NDSU: Eric Schmid was quite the dual-threat like NDSU standout quarterbacks, ranking in the FCS top 10 of total offensive yards per game and points responsible for per game.
The Bearkats ranked ninth in the FCS in points per game and 13th in offensive yards per game, which were right in line with the three NDSU national champions that preceded them.
Their rush defense also was stout, as the Bearkats’ No. 11 national ranking was similar to the first eight Bison title seasons, and higher than three of them.
Differences From NDSU: Sam Houston was much more pass-oriented, ranking 14th nationally through the air and 35th in rushing yards per game. About one-fifth of FCS programs did not play a game that season, so that benefited the No. 14 passing ranking that is higher than any FCS national champion since Marshall was 12th in 1996.
The quick-strike ability also meant the Bearkats ranked only 73rd in the FCS in average time of possession (the only Bison team ranking outside the top 21 was the 2011 team at No. 46).
2022 and 2023 South Dakota State Jackrabbits
Facing NDSU: SDSU’s back-to-back national champions won three meetings with the Bison as part of a five-game winning streak in the series. In coach John Stiegelmeier’s final season in 2022, they won 23-21 at NDSU in their Missouri Valley Football Conference matchup, then again in the FCS title game 45-21. They also won 33-16 at home under first-year coach Jimmy Rogers during the 2023 regular season.
Similarities to NDSU: The Jackrabbits boasted Mark Gronowski, who went on to tie Easton Stick’s FCS record for career wins by a starting quarterback (49). Statistically, their 2022 offense more resembled the first two NDSU title winners (2011 and 2012) in many ways, including FCS per-game rankings of 23 for points, 54 for yards, 32 for rush yards and 79 for pass yards, while also being sixth in turnover margin and 13th in time of possession. With abundant NFL talent, however, the 2023 offense improved a lot, ranking No. 1 in pass efficiency, No. 3 in points per game, No. 5 in rushing yards per game, No. 6 in offensive yards per game, No. 7 in time of possession and 11 in completion percentage.
The defense was smothering, including top-three national rankings in both seasons with average points, rushing yards and total yards allowed per game (The Jacks had a No. 1 ranking in each of those stats in one of the two seasons).
Differences From NDSU: Oddly, despite the 2023 champs ranking fourth nationally in defensive pass efficiency and eight in pass yards allowed per game, it was 111th in completion percentage allowed (32 spots under the NDSU low). But that’s nit-picking as SDSU’s second champion probably most resembled the best Bison teams of their FCS dynasty.
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