North Dakota State
3-0Mountain West · Tim Polasek, year 1 (3-0) · Fargodome · 18,700 · 16,892 avg in 2026
LastW 38–32 at Air Force · Sat Sep 12 · Nathan Hayes 228 pass yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Nextat Sacramento State · Sat Sep 19 · 10:30 pm ET · Hornet Stadium · North Dakota State by 27.5 · first meeting on record · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
All 93 stats
FBS rankings · 2026 season · all stats vs 136 FBS programs
| Player | # | G | Cmp/Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | INT | Rate | ZPR | QBR | Adj ANY/A | Sack% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0.18 EPA/play | 2 | 3 | 47 / 67 | 70.1 | 598 #19 FBS | 8.9 | 6 #14 FBS | 2 | 168.7 | 61 | 61.5 | 8.5 | 5.6 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Stuff% | 10+% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0.02 EPA/play | 5 | 3 | 36 | 180 #32 FBS | 5 | 2 #43 FBS | 31 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||
| +0.11 EPA/play | 7 | 3 | 36 | 145 #72 FBS | 4.0 | 2 #43 FBS | 15 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0.76 EPA/play | 18 | 3 | 11 | 149 #72 FBS | 13.5 | 0 | 51 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||
| +0.48 EPA/play | 15 | 3 | 6 | 96 | 16 | 2 #24 FBS | 44 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||
| Complete TE · +0.21 EPA/play | 81 | 3 | 9 | 90 | 10 | 1 | 23 | |
Yards by week → Complete TENo single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike. The most common profile in its group this season — 17 of 21 classified this way. Played in 3 of 3 games this season · sophomore View Reis Kessel's full player page | ||||||||
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | TFL | Sack | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 94 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2 | |
| 8 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3.5 #17 FBS | 2.5 #15 FBS | 0 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sack | PD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage 'Backer | 1 | 3 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Coverage 'BackerCarries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage. 21 of 84 LBs we've classified this way this season. Season receipt PD rate9.1% 95th percentile · FBS linebackers, min. 15 tackles Tackle volume22 87th percentile · FBS linebackers, min. 15 tackles Trait fingerprint Plays like View Donovan Woolen's full player page | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 #22 FBS | |
| 42 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 41 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 52 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 #22 FBS | |
| 25 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Player | # | G | Tot | PD | INT | TFL | Sack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 14 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | FG M/A | FG% | XP M/A | Pts | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 3 | 6/6 | 100 | 13/13 | 31 | 56 | |
| 38 | 1 | 0/1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | No | Yds | Avg | Long | In20 | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | 3 | 6 | 262 | 43.7 | 61 | 0 | 1 |
Net average is unavailable — CFBD's punting feed carries gross yards only, with no return-yardage or touchback deduction.
| Player | # | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.40 EPA/play | 3 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
2026 stat leaders · North Dakota State
through 3 games
2026 stat leaders · North Dakota StateDonovan Woolen leads North Dakota State with 22 tackles through 3 games.
How They Play · 2026North Dakota State fields a capable run-heavy offense behind an elite, bend-don't-break defense.
Percentile vs all FBS, based on this season's per-game production. Bar = where this team ranks — right is better.
North Dakota State reads strongest in epa allowed (top 5%) and explosive plays allowed (top 5%); the crux lives in passing epa, where North Dakota State sits at the 45th percentile.
offense · strengths lead
defense · higher bar = harder to play against
hidden math · special situations
Home-field advantage · North Dakota State · 2018–present · FBS opponents
North Dakota State is worth +2.9 points more at home than on the road.
Bottom third of FBS, 29th percentile of 133 programs
100% at home, 67% away against FBS opponents since 2018 (6–0 home, 4–2 away). Interval ±8.2.
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge — per-team modelling was tested and did not survive scrutiny (why) — and the books use about 3. Against the closing line, North Dakota State has beaten the number by +2.1 more at home than away over 53 games — inside the ±7.2 that many games can resolve. Results here cannot tell the flat number apart from the building, and that is the honest reading of nearly every FBS stadium.
Fargodome seats 18,700 and has averaged 83% full (15,546, 18 games reported). Visitors face the 10th-longest trip of 135 FBS venues: a median 698 miles since 2018. The map isn't translating, though — the split above still reads bottom third of fbs. 11% of the 2026 roster (13 of 116 located players) grew up inside 100 miles of the stadium.
Edge = half the gap between average home margin and average road margin, FBS opponents only, non-neutral games since 2018; the interval is 95%. Market line: closing spread, seasons with lines on file. Trip length is straight-line miles from the visiting team's campus to the venue, measured across all 64 home games since 2018.
More in this tab
Position battles
Positional competition · RB room
The carries are split. The job isn’t.
DJ Scott and Myles Mitchell split the carries (35/70 vs 35/70) -- but the job isn't split the same way.
Scheme claims
Standard downs vs. passing downs
Does North Dakota State hold up once the down-and-distance turns against them?
86th percentile success on standard downs, 27th on passing downs — a 59-point gap between the two.
View all FBS teams as a table
| Team | Standard-downs percentile | Passing-downs percentile |
|---|---|---|
| App State | 44th | 90th |
| Arizona | 92nd | 86th |
| Arkansas | 60th | 80th |
| Auburn | 75th | 55th |
| Ball State | 12th | 24th |
| Baylor | 40th | 96th |
| Boise State | 58th | 46th |
| Boston College | 27th | 56th |
| Buffalo | 7th | 14th |
| California | 9th | 25th |
| Central Michigan | 16th | 6th |
| Charlotte | 73rd | 83rd |
| Clemson | 1st | 19th |
| Coastal Carolina | 61st | 52nd |
| Colorado | 35th | 77th |
| Colorado State | 82nd | 91st |
| Delaware | 70th | 31st |
| Duke | 20th | 29th |
| Eastern Michigan | 52nd | 10th |
| Florida Atlantic | 43rd | 87th |
| Florida International | 46th | 43rd |
| Florida State | 28th | 65th |
| Georgia Southern | 24th | 45th |
| Georgia Tech | 58th | 44th |
| Hawai'i | 18th | 41st |
| Iowa State | 4th | 23rd |
| Jacksonville State | 65th | 82nd |
| Kansas | 70th | 35th |
| LSU | 33rd | 98th |
| Liberty | 14th | 59th |
| Louisiana | 19th | 92nd |
| Louisville | 96th | 70th |
| Memphis | 69th | 65th |
| Michigan | 2nd | 62nd |
| Michigan State | 62nd | 29th |
| Middle Tennessee | 87th | 68th |
| Missouri | 36th | 85th |
| Navy | 98th | 59th |
| Nevada | 77th | 52nd |
| New Mexico State | 45th | 75th |
| Norfolk State | 16th | 9th |
| North Dakota State | 86th | 27th |
| North Texas | 49th | 68th |
| Ohio | 38th | 17th |
| Ohio State | 90th | 40th |
| Oklahoma State | 41st | 49th |
| Ole Miss | 94th | 50th |
| Oregon | 35th | 33rd |
| Oregon State | 10th | 38th |
| Pittsburgh | 30th | 76th |
| Purdue | 83rd | 88th |
| Rutgers | 30th | 71st |
| Sacramento State | 23rd | 14th |
| Sam Houston | 78th | 61st |
| San Diego State | 4th | 40th |
| San José State | 54th | 22nd |
| South Alabama | 50th | 73rd |
| South Florida | 91st | 52nd |
| Stanford | 76th | 15th |
| Syracuse | 48th | 64th |
| TCU | 93rd | 8th |
| Tennessee | 65th | 78th |
| Texas | 72nd | 94th |
| Texas A&M | 85th | 72nd |
| Texas Tech | 88th | 48th |
| Troy | 22nd | 59th |
| Tulane | 31st | 2nd |
| Tulsa | 56th | 1st |
| UAB | 65th | 81st |
| UNLV | 51st | 7th |
| USC | 97th | 99th |
| UTSA | 99th | 29th |
| Utah State | 4th | 93rd |
| Vanderbilt | 80th | 12th |
| Wake Forest | 56th | 97th |
| Washington | 81st | 4th |
| Washington State | 8th | 3rd |
| Western Kentucky | 25th | 34th |
| Western Michigan | 39th | 20th |
| Wisconsin | 13th | 18th |
| Wyoming | 65th | 36th |
Pass defense by zone
Pass-depth identity
What this team throws, and gives up, by depth.
On short throws (≤19 air yards), North Dakota State’s passing game completes a completion rate above the FBS mean (70.4% vs 68.3% league-wide, shrunk toward the mean for its 63-play sample) — mid-pack, 33 of 41 qualifying offenses.
We won’t show a deep-ball (20+ air yards) leaderboard here, on either side of the ball: even a full season of charted plays gives most teams well under 30 deep attempts — too thin to tell a real tendency from noise, so we won’t guess. Same refusal for yards-after-catch allowed and where a team’s attempts land by zone: both measured and both came back statistically indistinguishable from season-to-season noise.
Havoc & trenches
Havoc & trenches
Disruption, run-blocking, and down-and-distance efficiency.
Ratings
Comparable teams
Most similar programs · North Dakota State
Most similar programs · North Dakota StateReads like
Matched on how the programs are built — tier, prestige band, kind of fanbase, conference, voice and roster size — not on this season's stats. A calibration, not a prediction.