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2015 North Dakota State

13–⁠2 (8–⁠1 Missouri Valley Football Conference).

Schedule and results

North Dakota State in 2015, game by game: lost at Montana 35–38; won vs. Weber State 41–14; won vs. North Dakota 34–9; won vs. South Dakota State 28–7; won vs. Northern Iowa 31–28; lost vs. South Dakota 21–24; won at Indiana State 28–14; won at Southern Illinois 35–29; won vs. Western Illinois 59–7; won at Youngstown State 27–24; won vs. Missouri State 55–0; won vs. Montana 37–6; won vs. Northern Iowa 23–13; won vs. Richmond 33–7; won vs. Jacksonville State 37–10+55−3Lost 35–38 at Montana-3MontanaWon 41–14 vs. Weber State+27Weber StateWon 34–9 vs. North Dakota+25North DakotaWon 28–7 vs. South Dakota State+21South Dakota St…Won 31–28 vs. Northern Iowa+3Northern IowaLost 21–24 vs. South Dakota-3South DakotaWon 28–14 at Indiana State+14Indiana StateWon 35–29 at Southern Illinois+6Southern Illino…Won 59–7 vs. Western Illinois+52Western IllinoisWon 27–24 at Youngstown State+3Youngstown StateWon 55–0 vs. Missouri State+55Missouri StateWon 37–6 vs. Montana+31MontanaWon 23–13 vs. Northern Iowa+10Northern IowaWon 33–7 vs. Richmond+26RichmondWon 37–10 vs. Jacksonville State+27Jacksonville St…
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29atMontanaL 35–⁠3862%
Sep 12vsWeber StateW 41–⁠1490%
Sep 19vsNorth DakotaW 34–⁠984%
Oct 3vsSouth Dakota StateW 28–⁠760%
Oct 10vsNorthern IowaW 31–⁠2875%
Oct 17vsSouth DakotaL 21–⁠2491%
Oct 24atIndiana StateW 28–⁠1467%
Oct 31atSouthern IllinoisW 35–⁠2969%
Nov 7vsWestern IllinoisW 59–⁠785%
Nov 14atYoungstown StateW 27–⁠2471%
Nov 21vsMissouri StateW 55–⁠095%
Dec 5vsMontanaNCAA Division I Football Championship – Second RoundW 37–⁠673%
Dec 12vsNorthern IowaW 23–⁠1370%
Dec 18Bowls & playoffvsRichmondW 33–⁠770%
Jan 9Bowls & playoffvsJacksonville StateW 37–⁠1053%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Jacksonville State 37–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; Missouri Valley Football Conference champions.

In program history: The tied 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 51 on file).

Missouri Valley Football Conference champions8–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Illinois State

Record
13–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠1 first in Missouri Valley Football Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
524–⁠230
Coach
—
Elo
1671 +127 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
0.4 No. 1 of 125 in FCS
Recruiting class
No. 132
Offensive coordinator
Tim Polasek
Defensive coordinator
Matt Entz
Offense
West Coast
Defense
3–⁠4

Player leaders are hidden for this season: our source’s player stats for North Dakota State are missing players (they add up to less than 85% of the team’s passing or rushing yards).

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Ben Ellefson TE★★★No. 2124
Trenton Mooney OT★★No. 2328
Demaris Purifoy RB★★No. 2838
Jaxon Brown S★★No. 2838
Aaron Mercadel ILB★★No. 2838

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs12.00.767
Receivers32.30.754
Offensive line22.00.745
Defensive line42.00.746
Linebackers12.00.767
Defensive backs12.00.767
Athletes and specialists42.00.733
Whole class162.10.748

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2016

The 2016 draft
Rd 1Carson Wentz QBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Joe Haeg OTIndianapolis Colts

2015 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Dakota State8–⁠113–⁠2
Illinois State7–⁠110–⁠3
South Dakota State5–⁠38–⁠4
Western Illinois5–⁠37–⁠6
Northern Iowa5–⁠49–⁠5
South Dakota3–⁠55–⁠6
Indiana State3–⁠55–⁠6
Youngstown State3–⁠55–⁠6
Southern Illinois2–⁠63–⁠8
Missouri State0–⁠81–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.