North Dakota State experienced its largest-ever loss of players to the transfer portal before the recent FBS move, and fortunately, the Bison didn’t lose the program’s next starting quarterback.

Senior quarterback Nathan Hayes told Bison  1660 AM that he wasn’t certain it the FBS move up would happen during his years in Fargo. That said, Hayes admitted “that’s not why I stayed” regarding the once-potential FBS move.

“I stayed because of the coaching staff here. I stayed because of my teammates and the relationships that I’ve built with them,” Hayes told Bison 1660 AM on Feb. 11. “So no matter who we play, we’re just gonna go out there and try to prove something and show all the work that we’ve done, all the time that we’ve put in together.”

A West Chicago, Illinois, native, Hayes has been part of the Bison program since 2023 and won a FCS national championship in 2024. He played in just 18 games over the past three years, but he is poised to take the starting job after Cole Payton‘s departure for the NFL Draft.

Nathan Hayes: ‘Might Be Eye-Opening’

In Hayes’ brief appearances, he completed 59% of his passes for 595 yards and seven touchdowns versus one interception. He also rushed for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

“Yeah, I think the first few weeks might be eye-opening, surreal because thinking back to Colorado [in 2024], I mean, we get to the stadium, it’s a bigger stadium, all the bright lights,” Hayes said.  “We’re playing a team that’s supposed to be better than us from a you know, FBS standpoint. So I think the first few weeks might be a little bit of an adjustment period, but I don’t think that should affect our play.”

Nathan Hayes Reveals Players’ Vibe Amid FBS Announcement

Hayes talked about the Feb. 8 team meeting when the players knew the FBS move was official after years of speculation over NDSU’s FBS plans.

“Oh yeah, especially the seniors, just because in previous years you have all the, you know, … the periods where you’re gonna be an FCS for another year, but you can’t compete for a playoff,” Hayes said. “So going into this offseason, kind of hearing the rumors like is that something we seniors kind of selfishly is that what we really want? Because we’re just gonna have 12 FCS games and not be able to play for a championship, and then we’re gonna move to the Mountain West next year.”

“And then we hear officially that Okay, we’re going this year. We get to play this year, and so I think the seniors were really excited,” Hayes continued. Everybody was really excited to, oh, dang, … it’s on now. So standing ovation in the team room for Matt Larsen and coach [Tim] Polasek was really cool. Just the energy in there even after everybody’s talking. Everybody’s in the group chats excited about, you know, who we’re gonna play.”

Matthew Davis covers the NFL, WNBA and college sports for Heavy.com. As a contributing writer to the StarTribune, he has also covered Minnesota prep sports since 2016. More about Matthew Davis