# 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team

The 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Klieman, who also coached his final season with the Bison before heading off to take over for the retiring Bill Snyder at Kansas State. The team played their 26th season in the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They entered the season as defending National Champions and had won six of the last seven FCS titles. In 2018, the Bison finished the regular season 11–0, the first undefeated Bison season since the 2013 campaign, and won their eighth consecutive MVFC title. They received an automatic qualifying bid to the FCS playoff tournament and were seeded as the No. 1 team. The Bison then went 4–0 in the FCS playoffs to finish 15–0 and FCS champions.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Bruce Anderson | RB | SR |
| Walter Payton Award | Easton Stick | QB | SR |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Greg Menard | DE | SR |

### Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Bison predicted unanimously to win the MVFC championship.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 390 (39) |
| 2 | South Dakota State | 270 |
| 3 | Northern Iowa | 258 |
| 4 | Youngstown State | 248 |
| 5 | Illinois State | 248 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 206 |
| 7 | Western Illinois | 163 |
| 8 | Southern Illinois | 139 |
| 9 | Missouri State | 90 |
| 10 | Indiana State | 41 |

### Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Bison placed eleven players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 2:30 p.m. | Cal Poly* | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 49–3 | 18,483 |
| September 15 | 2:30 p.m. | North Alabama* | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 38–7 | 18,557 |
| September 22 | 1:00 p.m. | Delaware* | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 38–10 | 18,883 |
| September 29 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 3 South Dakota State | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND (Dakota Marker) | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 21–17 | 18,846 |
| October 6 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 22 Northern Iowa | No. 1 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 56–31 | 9,899 |
| October 13 | 6:00 p.m. | at Western Illinois | No. 1 | Hanson FieldMacomb, IL | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 34–7 | 2,709 |
| October 20 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 8 Illinois State | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 28–14 | 18,553 |
| October 27 | 2:00 p.m. | at South Dakota | No. 1 | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 59–14 | 9,589 |
| November 3 | 2:30 p.m. | Youngstown State | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND (Harvest Bowl) | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 17–7 | 18,028 |
| November 10 | 2:00 p.m. | at Missouri State | No. 1 | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN+ | W 48–7 | 5,224 |
| November 17 | 2:30 p.m. | Southern Illinois | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND | NBC ND/ESPN+ | W 65–17 | 18,008 |
| December 1 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 23 Montana State* | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | NBC ND/ESPN3 | W 52–10 | 17,005 |
| December 8 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 8 Colgate* | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals) | NBC ND/ESPN | W 35–0 | 16,404 |
| December 14 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 5 South Dakota State* | No. 1 | FargodomeFargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Semifinals) | ESPN2 | W 44–21 | 18,286 |
| January 5 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 3 Eastern Washington* | No. 1 | Toyota StadiumFrisco, TX (FCS National Championship) | ESPN2 | W 38–24 | 17,802 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||
* Source: Schedule

## Game summaries

Polls are based on the FCS STATS Poll

### Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 1 Bison | 7 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 49 |

### North Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 1 Bison | 7 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 38 |

### Delaware

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fightin' Blue Hens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| No. 1 Bison | 28 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 38 |

### South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 1 Bison | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### At Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Bison | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 | 56 |
| No. 22 Panthers | 14 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 31 |

### At Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No.1 Bison | 3 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| Leathernecks | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 8 Redbirds | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 1 Bison | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |

### At South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Bison | 21 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 59 |
| Coyotes | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### Youngstown State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Penguins | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 1 Bison | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |

### At Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Bison | 20 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 48 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Salukis | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 1 Bison | 28 | 16 | 7 | 14 | 65 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Montana State–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Bobcats | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 1 Bison | 21 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 52 |

### Colgate–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 9 Raiders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 1 Bison | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |

### South Dakota State–Semifinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Jackrabbits | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 1 Bison | 7 | 7 | 21 | 9 | 44 |

### Eastern Washington–Championship

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Eagles | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| No. 1 Bison | 10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 1 (151) | 1 (157) | 1 (154) | 1 (152) | 1 (152) | 1 (155) | 1 (160) | 1 (160) | 1 (163) | 1 (160) | 1 (158) | 1 (155) | 1 (155) | 1 (156) |
| Coaches | 1 (23) | 1 (26) | 1 (25) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) | 1 (26) |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 5 | 166 | Easton Stick | QB | Los Angeles Chargers |