Arizona coach Jedd Fisch began his Thursday media briefing by reading off items from North Dakota State’s résumé. It’s something to behold:
The Bison have a 151-12 record since 2011 — 144-9 if you exclude the ’20 COVID season.
They have won nine FCS national championships in the past 11 seasons.
They are 9-3 all time against FBS opponents and have won six in a row.
That should be enough to get the Wildcats’ attention, right? After all, the UA barely has won any games, let alone championships, in recent seasons. As they proved last year against their most recent FCS foe, NAU, the Cats are in no position to look past anyone.
But human nature is a powerful force, especially when dealing with 18- to 22-year-olds. North Dakota State isn’t NAU — but it isn’t Mississippi State, either. That was Arizona’s opponent last week, which also happened to be the Wildcats’ home opener.
The buzz, at least among UA fans, won’t be the same Saturday night at Arizona Stadium. If UA players aren’t on high alert, they’ll run the risk of losing a second straight game to an FCS opponent.
In an attempt to take those factors out of the equation, the Wildcats are looking inward.
“Our mindset hasn’t changed from January when we started with this group. It’s not really about who we’re playing. It has to be about us performing and executing,” UA offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll said. “If you get into that – who you’re playing, who’s your opponent, this team may do this or it’s the Pac-12 or it’s non-conference or whatever it is – you can get screwed up.
“We’re trying to be consistent – trying to keep the messaging the same and not vary from week to week.”
That message seems to be striking a chord. When asked about Arizona’s approach to this game, receiver Dorian Singer said: “Everything’s within the team first.”
NDSU appears to have the Wildcats’ attention and respect. Edge rusher Hunter Echols noted that the Bison “bring a lot of confidence because they win – they feel like they can win.”
It’s beyond that; they know they can.
The oddsmakers do too. When the line finally trickled out Friday, NDSU was favored by three points.
Arizona coach Jedd Fisch and one of the game officials watch a play under review on the big screen during last week’s loss to Mississippi State.
NAU game irrelevant ... or is it?
Given that they both play in the Football Championship Subdivision — where programs are limited to 63 scholarships per year vs. 85 in FBS — it’s only natural to compare North Dakota State to NAU.
Fisch rejects that premise. He said the NAU game last year — a stunning upset — hasn’t been brought up this week.
“We have a pretty different team than we had a year ago — very different team,” Fisch said. “I don’t know how many starters from that game are actually playing in this game.
“Nor does it matter. I would sooner bring up San Diego State (Arizona’s opening opponent) and Mississippi State to these guys than worry about a game last year against an opponent that has nothing to do with North Dakota State.”
Fisch repeatedly has stressed that this isn’t the same Arizona team, and there’s plenty of proof: 51 of the Wildcats’ 111 players are new, and only 12 players who started last year’s NAU game started the first two games this year.
The two players who spoke to the media this week, Singer and Echols, did not play in that game. Singer was with the team but didn’t dress. Echols was at USC.
The team is different, the circumstances have changed, but there are lessons that can be pulled from the Wildcats’ loss to the Lumberjacks.
Singer watched it all unfold. He saw his teammates squander a 13-0 second-quarter lead, starting with a fateful pick-six. Arizona was unable to rally and lost to NAU for only the second time ever and the first time since 1932. It’s the Wildcats’ only loss in 16 tries against FCS opponents since 1980.
“I just remember we weren’t disciplined as a team,” Singer said. “We didn’t follow our values. ... Very disappointing.”
Coach Matt Entz has helped continue North Dakota State’s tradition of stellar football. The Bison are the defending Division I FCS champions.
‘The most unselfish program’
So what exactly will Arizona be up against Saturday night? What makes NDSU so special?
“I’ve been in college athletics for 26 years now,” said Matt Larsen, who’s been the athletic director at North Dakota State since 2014. “I would say it’s the most unselfish program I’ve ever been around. You watch us play, you’ll see us have probably seven or eight guys carry the ball. It’s never about how many carries I have. It’s never about how much yardage or how many touchdowns. It’s about, ‘Do we win?’
“The team concept is so much greater than the individual — which, in today’s world of college athletics, is the opposite. It’s so much about the individual. I think our success has been rooted in the fact that it’s team first and you’re playing for the person next to you. That’s something that’s stood the test of time since the ’60s, when we won our first national championship.”
NDSU is, as Larsen put it, a “developmental program.” It has a well-established culture. The Bison don’t take many transfers. Coach Matt Entz and his staff look for high-character prospects who can be molded into accomplished college players.
“It’s really hard to be a student-athlete at NDSU,” Larsen said. “The expectations are incredibly high. You need to understand that coming in. And you need to be willing to put in the work.
“You have guys who come in from Day 1 and are bought into who we are. They earn their stripes. That’s been the foundation for years and years and years.”
NDSU has what Larsen described as an “incredibly rabid” fanbase. Green-and-gold-clad Bison supporters are expected to show up in force Saturday night. It won’t be on par with the FCS Championship Game, where NDSU regularly turns Frisco, Texas, into Fargo South. But the number of Bison fans at Arizona Stadium could reach five digits.
NDSU is scheduled to open a new indoor practice facility this fall. The cost is $54 million, Larsen said, and it’s all privately funded.
“Our fanbase understands you have to invest to continue to be successful,” Larsen said.
They get it. They’ve lived it. They’ve reveled in the Bison’s enduring dominance. Can the Wildcats send them home unhappy?
"It’s a great challenge for our players to go play a very good football team,” Fisch said. “I think our guys are really excited about that opportunity.”
