North Dakota
FCS National Championship: Montana State vs. North Dakota State Offensive Spotlight
No. 1 Montana State (15-0) will face No. 2 North Dakota State (13-2) in the FCS National Championship at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. CT on ABC.
As we prepare for the FCS national championship game on Jan. 6, we will look at how the talent on the field will stack up. We will combine the rosters from Montana State and North Dakota State and look at the starting lineup with players from each team at our disposal. We selected the best player at each position entering the FCS National Championship.
QB: Tommy Mellott (Montana State)
RB: Scottre Humphrey (Montana State)
WR: Bryce Lance (North Dakota State)
WR: Taco Dowler (Montana State)
WR: RaJa Nelson (North Dakota State)
TE: Rohan Jones (Montana State)
OT: Grey Zabel (North Dakota State)
OG: Griffin Empey (North Dakota State)
C: Cole Sain (Montana State)
OG: Marcus Wehr (Montana State)
OT: Titan Fleischmann (Montana State)
The most challenging position to analyze in this exercise is quarterback. Tommy Mellott and Cam Miller are projected favorites for the Walter Payton Award and have been the best quarterbacks at the FCS level all season. By choosing one, we will be leaving off an incredible player.
If I had to have one quarterback for an entire season, I would most likely select Cam Miller. He is the best overall pocket passer and decision-maker when pushing the ball downfield. But if I need to win just one game, I will take the most dangerous weapon on the field.
Tommy Mellott has the home run capability that no other player on the field in Frisco will have. In a highly competitive game, I want a player who can generate an explosive play on any given snap. Mellott has improved as a passer this season, completing 69% of his throws for 2,564 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and only two interceptions. However, he is still dangerous with his legs, rushing for over 900 yards and 14 touchdowns on only 109 carries.
This game will have plenty of talent at the running back position. Both teams are led by Jerry Rice Award finalists, headlined by the Jerry Rice Award winner CharMar Brown. Highlighting the depth of both units, there is a chance neither player leads their team in carries in Frisco. North Dakota State’s Barika Kpeenu has started to see more action over the past few weeks, showing flashes in key moments against South Dakota State.
Despite all the talent mentioned above, I will still lean toward Montana State’s Scottre Humphrey. Humphrey possesses a level of breakaway speed and explosion that the North Dakota State running back room does not have. Humphrey has recorded 1,369 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns, averaging over 7.0 yards per carry. Despite being limited due to injury, Humphrey should be in peak condition in Frisco with two weeks off.
Both teams utilize 11-personnel for most of their snaps, so I selected three wide receivers and one tight end for this exercise. It all starts with North Dakota State’s Bryce Lance, who dominated a talented South Dakota State secondary last week with three touchdowns. Lance leads the receivers in this game by a large margin, posting 964 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns.
I selected a dynamic slot option for the second spot in Montana State’s Taco Dowler. Dowler is an explosive weapon, leading all wide receivers in yards per reception (15.6). He thrives in the play-action scheme that Montana State utilizes.
The final spot was a tough decision between RaJa Nelson and Ty McCullough. Nelson gets the edge here despite his lack of overall numbers, which was limited due to injuries this season. He still has one of the most important plays of the season, hauling in the game-winning touchdown against South Dakota State earlier this season. Nelson is a versatile weapon, posting over 300 rushing yards last season.
There may be better blocking tight ends in this game, but no other tight end offers the upside that Montana State’s Rohan Jones brings. He is the most explosive, dynamic athlete at the tight end spot in this game. At 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, Jones is solid in size and possesses the skills of an outside wide receiver. He is a matchup nightmare, posting 451 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns, averaging over 16 yards per completion.
Outside of the quarterback position, this will be the most important unit on the field in Frisco. These have been the two best offensive line units in the nation all season, but they have achieved this differently. Montana State has dominated the line of scrimmage in the rushing game, moving together and creating wide lanes in the zone run game. North Dakota State’s unit has excelled in pass protection, which has allowed Cam Miller to have his All-American season. The Bison have allowed the least pressure of any team in the FCS.
The two most obvious choices are North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel and Montana State’s Marcus Wehr. Both players are consensus All-Americans and will likely be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft. The other tackle spot was a difficult decision, but I leaned toward Titan Fleischmann over Mason Miller. Fleischmann is one of the most underrated players in the FCS, giving up only one sack and six pressures this season.
I selected Montana State’s Cole Sain at center, who has done an excellent job replacing All-American Justus Perkins. Montana State has rotated multiple players at left guard, which led to the selection of North Dakota State’s Griffin Empey. Empey had a Freshman All-American season, allowing only three sacks and 12 pressures.
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Coming into his sophomore season at the University of North Dakota, Mac Swanson was facing more uncertainty than at any point in his young hockey career.
By his own admission, Swanson, 20, struggled at times on the ice as a freshman. And after the 2024-25 season, the Fighting Hawks had replaced their head coach, introducing another variable.
But first-year coach Dane Jackson has now led UND to a 29-9-1 record, and Swanson has added multiple dimensions to his game in his second year of college hockey.
Now Swanson and UND are among the final quartet of teams playing for a national championship this weekend at the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.
The Hawks take on Wisconsin on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Alaska time with a chance to advance to the championship. That game will be preceded at 1 p.m. by the first semifinal, pitting Michigan against Denver, which is coached by Anchorage’s David Carle. Both games are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.
A mainstay on UND’s second line, Swanson has added strength, improved his scoring and taken on more responsibility on defense.
“I felt confident throughout the year,” Swanson said. “My goal-scoring has improve and obviously we have a great team this year. It’s easy to play with those guys.”
When UND announced it was replacing longtime coach Brad Berry, Swanson said players were in a holding pattern. But Jackson, who was on the UND staff for nearly two decades before taking the head coaching role, helped maintain continuity for the players after a couple weeks of wondering who would lead the team.
“There was a lot of uncertainty in the program for the first time in a while,” Swanson said. “It was definitely a weird time for all of us that were kind of deciding whether to stay or transfer out. But when coach Jackson got the job, we all felt pretty confident in him and his abilities, so we really did think that we would have a good team this year.”
Swanson described Jackson as a “hard but fair coach” and said the announcement secured his future with UND.
“I love my time here,” he said. “I love playing at The Ralph (Engelstad Arena), and I didn’t really want to leave at all. So I’m happy with where I’m at.”
Swanson’s production this season has been consistent. He’s seventh on the team in scoring, with 11 goals and 17 assists in 39 games. He showed a major uptick in his goal-scoring ability, after notching just two as a freshman.
Swanson believes his progression at UND is similar to what he was able to accomplish with the Fargo Force, where he played before signing with the Fighting Hawks. There he developed into a much more dynamic offensive player in his second season with the USHL team. Swanson has been especially effective the last half of the season with 13 points in his last 15 games.
“I think (my game) has evolved a little bit,” he said. “I’ve really tried to round out my two-way game. I started penalty killing this year too, which just adds another dimension to my game and makes me more valuable to the team.”
Mac’s dad, Brian, had a standout hockey career at Colorado College and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 1999. Having his dad as a sounding board has been invaluable as he’s progressed through his college career.
“He’s always there for me,” Swanson said. “But he never forces anything upon me, which I think is a good thing. He obviously is there for me whenever I need to talk or just a quick text before or after a game. … It’s great to have someone who’s been through everything I’m going through.”
Part of Swanson’s offseason mandate was to add strength. In Alaska over last summer, he worked out independently as well as at Mac’s Strength & Power in Eagle River, operated by his cousin.
“It gave me a good opportunity to grow in some areas I needed to,” he said.
The Frozen Four is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in recent history. The four teams have the four most NCAA championships in history, led by Denver’s 10 and followed by Michigan (9), UND (8) and Wisconsin (6).
“It’s really cool it’s kind of all these blue-blood programs,” he said. “Obviously we’ll try not to focus on too much of the stuff going on in Vegas and just focus on us.”
UND was dominant in reaching the Frozen Four, winning a pair of games by a combined 8-0 score in the Regional at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He had family in attendance for those games and in the week and a half since has received plenty of messages from friends and family.
“Obviously you feel that support being from Alaska,” he said. “When someone is doing well, everyone is happy for them, which I think’s pretty cool about the hockey community back home.”
North Dakota
North Dakota approves certificate of site compatibility for 400MWh BESS from NextEra Energy Resources
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BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Kelly Armstrong today announced the opening of the application period for school, community and church bands, orchestras and choirs across North Dakota to apply to serve as the Governor’s Official State Band/Orchestra Program and Choral Program for the 2026-2027 school year.
The Governor and First Lady will select the two groups from the applications received based on musical talent, achievement and community involvement. The governor may invite the groups to perform at official state functions held throughout the 2026-2027 school year, including the State of the State Address in January 2027 at the Capitol in Bismarck.
Interested groups should submit an application with a musical recording to the Governor’s Office by 5 p.m. Monday, May 4. The Governor’s Band/Orchestra Program and Governor’s Choral Program will be announced in May. Please complete the application and provide materials at https://www.governor.nd.gov/governors-chorus-and-bandorchestra-program-application.
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