FARGO — Flocks of fans, sporting various shades of green and yellow, made their way inside the Fargodome on a windy Saturday afternoon for an annual tradition: the biggest game in North Dakota, the Bison against the Fighting Hawks. The official crowd attendance was recorded at 18,732, Fargo’s largest since 2022.
NDSU is having a strong year typical to its standards. Sporting a 4-1 record, the Bison entered the matchup ranked No. 2 in the FCS. But UND has been no slouch this season, either, coming into the day with an identical 4-1 record and ranked No. 7.
The Hawks won last year’s matchup, 49-24. But despite being an underdog on the rise, the Bison were too strong for them Saturday. NDSU avenged last season’s loss with a commanding 41-17 win.
“I think anytime you’re playing a school that’s 70 miles apart, it has a storied history,” NDSU head coach Tim Polasek said. “You talk about whose dirt this is. Today, it was our dirt.”
UND is well-represented by the Lake Region — most notably in quarterback Simon Romfo and wide receiver Bo Belquist. But the pieces didn’t all gel as the Hawks took their first loss since Aug. 31.
“Today was tough,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “We did not get off to the start we wanted. When you head down here and you get down, it makes it tougher.”
Here are four principal takeaways from the action.
Slow start for quarterback Simon Romfo
Romfo’s story is an inspiring one: from growing up in the tiny town of Calvin, to leading Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich to three consecutive state titles, to being named UND’s starting quarterback as a 5-foot-11 junior.
But Saturday’s game didn’t begin the way he would have liked.
Romfo got sacked on UND’s first possession, and the Hawks didn’t pick up a first down until the final drive of the first quarter. Until an eight-yard keeper play that concluded the quarter, Romfo had -1 rushing yards.
“There’s a lot of different coverages and things that he probably hasn’t seen in live action,” Schweigert said. “So we try to do as much as we think he can handle.”
Romfo completed his first five pass attempts, though he only got 40 yards out of it. His perfect stat line ended with back-to-back incompletions in the second quarter.
“It’s a big jump from high school,” Romfo said of the passing game at this level. “But I’ve been practicing [with UND] for a few years, so you kind of get used to it.”
Romfo went 13-for-16 in passing in the second half, collecting 126 yards. But it only resulted in one second-half touchdown.
“He’s really tough,” Schweigert said. “I just love the kid… He competes hard.”
Star wide receiver Bo Belquist slowed down in first half
Before Saturday, Belquist had collected 478 yards across the first five games.
Through the entire first quarter and over half of the second, he had zero.
Romfo didn’t even attempt a pass to Belquist until 6:29 to go in the second quarter, when Belquist caught it for a gain of 13. It was his only reception of the first half.
Less than four minutes into the second half, Romfo completed a seven-yard reception to Belquist. Romfo himself picked up the remaining three yards on a keeper play. But UND’s drive, trailing 31-10 at that point, was short-lived.
After the Bison ran the score up to 38-10, Belquist had the type of signature reception from Romfo that the two have become accustomed to. Romfo found him wide open in the middle for a gain of 21 — more than doubling the yardage Belquist had acquired in the game thus far.
It was a better second half for Belquist, who also had a 66-yard punt return on special teams. It got UND to the five-yard line, and Romfo threw a touchdown pass to Caden Dennis on the very next play. UND cut the deficit to 38-17.
“Bo’s awesome,” Schweigert said. “He’s made so many plays for us throughout his career, and he’s played well against North Dakota State. He gets excited to play with everybody, but I think there’s a little bit extra there.”
Belquist finished the second half with three catches for a gain of 48 yards, giving him 61 total. The fifth-year senior is now averaging 89.8 receiving yards per game. While he couldn’t replicate last year’s win against the Bison, he’s going out from his college career on quite a high note.
“The guy stuck with us in his final year to come back,” Schweigert said. “And we’re really appreciative of that.”
Gaven Ziebarth was a first-half highlight for UND
With Belquist’s production down in the first half, the Hawks really leaned on running back Gaven Ziebarth.
Ziebarth rushed for 66 yards in the first half, while no other Hawk had more than five. He opened the second quarter with a 23-yard run that led to UND’s first touchdown. He had 48 yards on the drive alone, which ended in a one-yard sneak from Quincy Vaughn for the touchdown.
Ziebarth was quiet in the second half, though, and Romfo rushed for 23 to bring his total to 28. It was an uneven performance for the Hawks, not getting all their pieces going at the same time.
UND made it as close as 14-7, but couldn’t contain NDSU on next drive
Despite their slow start, the Hawks were right back in it after Vaughn’s touchdown.
But, as was a common theme all afternoon, UND couldn’t contain the Bison to keep it close. NDSU’s TK Marshall had a 34-yard run on the next drive, and quarterback Cam Miller completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chris Harris.
The Bison widened the gap to 21-7, and they never relented.
UND came out of halftime trailing 24-10. Badly needing a score to make it close, Romfo fumbled and turned it over on the first drive. NDSU capitalized, eventually scoring a touchdown on a two-yard run by Miller.
“Those are momentum swings that 18 and 19 and 20-year-old guys gotta be able to handle. They’re game changers,” Polasek said. “I don’t even know where to begin to describe how big that start of the third quarter was.”
Bryce Lance led the Bison with 50 receiving yards overall, while Mekhi Collins was right behind him with 47 and Marshall had 42. CharMar Brown led the running game with 83 yards. It was a well-rounded, versatile effort from NDSU — something UND just couldn’t counter.
“Electric,” Marshall said of the feeling in the locker room after the game. “I think it’s just joy all around.” Harris added that the Bison came into the game with a chip on their shoulder, adding to the satisfaction.
So now the Hawks will try to bounce back. It had been nothing but success over the last four games, but now it’s back to the drawing board to return to the win column.
“How we respond to this is really important,” Schweigert said. “We talk to our guys about how we go through events, and our response is one thing that we can control.”
UND’s next game is at home against Northern Iowa on Saturday at 1 p.m.
