GRAND FORKS — A Top 15 matchup in the FCS will play out in the Alerus Center on Saturday when the Fighting Hawks host North Dakota State for the first time since winning the rivalry matchup in the Alerus Center in 2023.

The No. 13 Fighting Hawks and No. 1 Bison kick off at 1 p.m.

Here are three key factors in the matchup.

The UND and NDSU special teams units are trending in opposite directions, and the Fighting Hawks need to address the situation quickly.

UND hasn’t had its starting kicker for the past three weeks, but the Hawks’ special teams woes don’t even start there.

UND has had a punt blocked in consecutive weeks against Indiana State and South Dakota.

After giving up a safety on the punt block, UND also gave up a long kick return, which set the stage for a 9-0 Coyotes advantage to start the game.

NDSU, meanwhile, saw Jackson Williams return a kickoff for a touchdown in a tight win over Youngstown State on Saturday. The Bison also took advantage of a Penguins fumble on a kickoff.

Special teams were a key part of UND’s win over NDSU in 2023, with Luke Skokna returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

“I think that’s a huge emphasis for us, and we’ve done some really good things on special teams this year, so to have that happen was really disappointing,” UND head coach Eric Schmidt said. “(NDSU) does a great job in the return game. I think they have an elite returner. He does it a lot of different ways, breaking tackles, hitting it downhill.

“I think they’re really, really sound covering kicks, too. We know we have our work cut out for us. Field position is really important in these games if you can make teams have to go 75-80 yards. It becomes hard to be able to do that.”

UND’s defense has struggled with the running ability of North Dakota State’s quarterbacks in the Division I era, particularly in the Fargodome.

In last year’s game, Cole Payton ran for 47 yards against UND and Cam Miller for 39 more.

Payton now has the full reins of the offense in 2025 and has proven effective in both the run and pass game.

Payton has 640 rushing yards this year with 10 touchdowns and three games of more than 100 yards rushing.

“He’s a load,” Schmidt said. “He does a great job, not just with his arm, but I think he’s been really accurate this year and made some really timely plays, doing a good job of distributing the ball out to their playmakers … just really not taking losses, being able to break tackles and scramble around.

“He’s a big kid that moves well, so he definitely presents some challenges. I think he’s the biggest, most physical QB that we’ve played up to this point.”

UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski entered last Saturday’s game against South Dakota with 22 touchdowns to two interceptions on the season.

Kaminski struggled as much as he has all season in a loss to the Coyotes, finishing with two interceptions and no touchdown passes.

UND offensive coordinator Isaac Fruechte is confident in his sophomore quarterback’s ability to bounce back.

“He’s really strong mentally,” Fruechte said. “I love what he has to say after the game. He and I are two peas in a pod sometimes. Hard on ourselves, to a fault sometimes.

“I talked to him (Sunday) and on the bus Saturday coming back. You have to stay positive and can’t let external factors affect your current play. Don’t make the hero play, make the right play. I think that showed up a little where he felt he needed to press and make a play. On the other side, our guys need to make a play for him. He can help himself by trusting his protection and trust what I’m teaching him. Love his response. He wants to get right back in the film room and talk about it. I expect him to rebound really, really well as we move forward. You’re going to have mistakes — you’re human. I call bad plays at times. I did on Saturday. We were still over 50 percent on third down and about 400 yards of total offense. We just need to be more consistent and take care of the football.”

VERMILLION, S.D. (USD) — The University of South Dakota football put a well-rounded effort on display Saturday afternoon from the DakotaDome with a safety and an 80-yard scoop-and-score as the Coyotes handed No. 8 North Dakota their first MVFC loss of the season in a 26-21 victory in front of the home fans.
 
South Dakota improves to 6-4 (4-2 MVFC) and picks up their fourth win in front of the home crowd on Saturday. North Dakota picks up their first loss in Valley play, dropping to 6-3 (4-1 MVFC).

On the afternoon, Aidan Bouman was 14-for-20 for 173 yards and one touchdown. The performance against the Fighting Hawks also saw Bouman become just the second Coyote in program history to throw for 8,000 yards in their career. He also moves into a tie with Chris Streveler, throwing his 54^th career touchdown pass, to move into fourth-place all-time.
 
It was a wild first half inside the DakotaDome for the two Dakota flagship institutions. The first 30 minutes saw a blocked punt safety, a 60+ yard kickoff return, and a pair of Coyote interceptions as South Dakota completely dominated the first half of play with a 16-7 halftime lead.
 
The defense came strong on the opening North Dakota drive, forcing the Fighting Hawks to punt. It marked the fifth-straight game a South Dakota opponent punted on their opening drive. South Dakota would utilize the pass game as Bouman found Larenzo Fenner deep for 40 yards to spark the offense. South Dakota would push the ball to the goal line but the UND defense held firm and stopped the Yotes on fourth and one from the one-yard line.
 
The defense, playing with continued urgency, would not allow North Dakota to get passed their own 10-yard line on their second drive. As on fourth-and-seven, the Coyotes would bring the heat with a punt block with freshman Jaden Brown charging off the edge and getting his hands on the Fighting Hawk punt for a USD safety to make it 2-0 early. The USD offense would then use the ensuing kick and drive the ball for a seven-play touchdown as L.J. Phillips Jr. punched it in from one-yard out to make it 9-0 Yotes early in the second quarter.
 
The Fighting Hawks would put together a drive of their own, going 75 yards on just eight plays to cut into the lead and tamper some of South Dakota’s momentum. UND running back Sawyer Seidl would cap of the drive with a tough six-yard touchdown run.
 
With under a minute remaining in the half, Bouman would find Fenner for the second time. Finding him on the near sideline, Fenner would make a slew of Fighting Hawk defenders miss as he had 20+ yards from the reception into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown grab. South Dakota would take the 16-7 lead into the locker room.
 
The South Dakota defense would hold North Dakota running back Sawyer Seidl, who has had three-straight 100-yard games, to just 36 rushing yards in the first half.
 
On the first possession of the second half, the Coyotes would march into Fighting Hawk territory. A 10-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a field goal by Will Leyland 36-yard field goal. For Leyland, it’s his 34^th career made field goal and moves him into a tie for sixth-place all-time. The Yotes extended their lead to 19-7 with 10 minutes to play in the third.
 
The next drive, North Dakota would move the ball 40 yards in six plays before the series came to a crashing – and game defining moment. Seidl would get the handoff up the middle and defensive tackle Chris Dixon immediately made contact and popped the ball loose. In the scramble, it would be DeJuan Lewis who came free with the ball and won the foot race 80 yards to the house to make it 26-7 midway through the third quarter and marked the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Yotes.

North Dakota would be the final team to score on the contest, ultimately making it a one possession game at the final whistle. Before the end of the third quareter, UND cut it to 26-14 with an 11-yard touchdown run from Kaminski.
 
Early in the fourth quarter, Seidl would break off a 41-yard touchdown run right up the middle to make it a one score game with 12 minutes to play. The South Dakota defense would buckle down on the final two Fighting Hawk drives of the day, forcing turnover on downs on both of them to secure the top-10 win with a 26-21 victory inside the DakotaDome to hand UND their first conference loss and snap a five-game win streak.
 
North Dakota outgained South Dakota in total yards 382-266 on the day with nearly equal time of possession (USD, 30:42). Bouman was 14-for-20 with 173 yards and the one touchdown, while Phillips Jr. had his sixth 100-yard rushing game this season with 106 yards on 24 carries with one touchdown. Fenner had his two receptions for 83 yards and touchdown, while Jesse Miller had a team-best four receptions for 35 yards.
 
Defensively, Nate Ewell posted his third 100-yard game of the season with his team-best 10 tackles. Dixon forced the fumble and Roman Tillmon had a tackle for loss on the day. Gabriel Hardman, Mikey Munn, and RJ Stewart all had a break-up in the victory.
 
Up Next: The homestand concludes next week with the annual Interstate Series clash with No. 4-ranked South Dakota State coming to the DakotaDome for a 3 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU. The Coyotes will also celebrate Senior Day inside the Dome.