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2018 North Dakota State

15–⁠0 (8–⁠0 Missouri Valley Football Conference).

Schedule and results

North Dakota State in 2018, game by game: won vs. Cal Poly 49–3; won vs. North Alabama 38–7; won vs. Delaware 38–10; won vs. South Dakota State 21–17; won at Northern Iowa 56–31; won at Western Illinois 34–7; won vs. Illinois State 28–14; won at South Dakota 59–14; won vs. Youngstown State 17–7; won at Missouri State 48–7; won vs. Southern Illinois 65–17; won vs. Montana State 52–10; won vs. Colgate 35–0; won vs. South Dakota State 44–21; won vs. Eastern Washington 38–24+48Won 49–3 vs. Cal Poly+46Cal PolyWon 38–7 vs. North Alabama+31North AlabamaWon 38–10 vs. Delaware+28DelawareWon 21–17 vs. South Dakota State+4South Dakota St…Won 56–31 at Northern Iowa+25Northern IowaWon 34–7 at Western Illinois+27Western IllinoisWon 28–14 vs. Illinois State+14Illinois StateWon 59–14 at South Dakota+45South DakotaWon 17–7 vs. Youngstown State+10Youngstown StateWon 48–7 at Missouri State+41Missouri StateWon 65–17 vs. Southern Illinois+48Southern Illino…Won 52–10 vs. Montana State+42Montana StateWon 35–0 vs. Colgate+35ColgateWon 44–21 vs. South Dakota State+23South Dakota St…Won 38–24 vs. Eastern Washington+14Eastern Washing…
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsCal PolyW 49–⁠392%
Sep 15vsNorth AlabamaW 38–⁠791%
Sep 22vsDelawareW 38–⁠1082%
Sep 29vsSouth Dakota StateW 21–⁠1769%
Oct 6atNorthern IowaW 56–⁠3165%
Oct 13atWestern IllinoisW 34–⁠774%
Oct 20vsIllinois StateW 28–⁠1479%
Oct 27atSouth DakotaW 59–⁠1480%
Nov 3vsYoungstown StateW 17–⁠790%
Nov 10atMissouri StateW 48–⁠789%
Nov 17vsSouthern IllinoisW 65–⁠1794%
Dec 1vsMontana StateW 52–⁠1087%
Dec 8vsColgateW 35–⁠079%
Dec 14Bowls & playoffvsSouth Dakota StateW 44–⁠2171%
Jan 5Bowls & playoffvsEastern WashingtonW 38–⁠2468%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Eastern Washington 38–⁠24; unranked in the final AP poll; Missouri Valley Football Conference champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 51 on file).

Missouri Valley Football Conference champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Record
15–⁠0
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Missouri Valley Football Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
622–⁠189
Coach
—
Elo
1720 +164 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
7.0 No. 1 of 125 in FCS
Recruiting class
No. 134
Offensive coordinator
Courtney Messingham
Defensive coordinator
Matt Entz
Offense
Pro-style
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 2018 class

Saybein Clark ATH★★★No. 1557
Trey Lance DUAL★★★No. 2004
Tony Pierce Jr. SDE★★No. 2495
Phoenix Sproles ATH★★No. 2534
Mitchell Kartes S★★No. 2535

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

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.810
Running backs22.00.745
Receivers22.00.727
Offensive line32.00.746
Defensive line52.00.768
Defensive backs12.00.790
Athletes and specialists42.30.783
Whole class182.10.764

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 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 5Easton Stick QBLos Angeles Chargers

2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Dakota State8–⁠015–⁠0
South Dakota State6–⁠210–⁠3
Indiana State5–⁠37–⁠4
Northern Iowa5–⁠37–⁠6
Western Illinois4–⁠45–⁠6
Illinois State3–⁠56–⁠5
South Dakota3–⁠54–⁠7
Youngstown State3–⁠54–⁠7
Missouri State2–⁠64–⁠7
Southern Illinois1–⁠72–⁠9

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