A look at UND football's history in FBS matchups
Aug. 24—GRAND FORKS — The UND football team will play a Big Ten opponent this fall for the first time since 1976, when the then-Fighting Sioux traveled to Wisconsin and suffered a 45-9 defeat.
UND opens the 2022 season against the University of Nebraska in 90,000-seat Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., on Sept. 3.
Here's a quick look at UND's Division I era matchups with the FBS:
In UND's second season classified as Division I, the then-Fighting Sioux experienced their first taste of the big time against a Texas Tech team coming off a Cotton Bowl appearance led by coach Mike Leach, star quarterback Graham Harrell and wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
With Harrell and Crabtree in the NFL, UND took advantage of new quarterback Taylor Potts as safety Joel Schwenzfeier — now UND's recruiting coordinator — intercepted three passes.
UND trailed just 28-13 early in the fourth quarter. Brandon Hellevang kicked field goals of 39 and 52 yards.
Mitch Sutton ran in UND's touchdown from 9 yards out, a drive extended by a Marcus Hendrickson run on a fake field goal.
Quarterback Jake Landry, now an assistant coach at St. Thomas, delivered a strong showing in his first season as starter. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 134 yards and no interceptions.
Idaho was an FBS opponent in 2010 and the Vandals looked a league above against UND.
Nathan Enderle completed 24-of-37 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns.
Jake Landry, a Grand Forks Central product, was 19-for-34 for 122 yards and two interceptions. Lead running back Josh Murray ran for 49 yards and fumbled once.
Fullback Catlin Solum was UND's leading receiver, catching seven passes for 45 yards.
UND, in its second consecutive FBS matchup of the 2010 season, had a late chance to pull off an upset with the ball at the Northern Illinois 27 with 6 seconds left.
But a desperation pass from Jake Landry, who later coached at Northern Illinois, was intercepted by Tommy Davis at the Huskies' 6 on a ball intended for Greg Hardin.
NIU's Chad Spann scored on a 79-yard run to open the game.
After falling behind 16-0, UND turned the tables, sparked by a Dominique Hawkins interception and 63-yard return.
Landry and Hardin connected for an 85-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Hardin finished with six catches for 171 yards.
UND put a scare into the Jerry Kill-led Huskies when Chris Anderson blocked a punt, which led to a Zeb Miller 40-yard field goal with 2:47 remaining.
A hot start is almost forgotten in this one as Idaho quarterback Brian Reader completed 15 straight passes at one point and the Vandals scored six unanswered touchdowns.
Midway through the second quarter, Sioux quarterback Joey Bradley hit Greg Hardin for a 54-yard touchdown pass. The play gave UND a 14-3 lead.
UND's first touchdown came on Erik Mersereau's 79-yard punt return for a touchdown, which gave UND its first-ever lead on an FBS foe in the Division I era.
UND ran for just 29 yards on 20 carries, including 6 rushing yards in the second half.
Just like in 2010, UND followed a dud of an FBS game with a near stunner in 2011.
Fresno State didn't have the game in hand until Robbie Rouse, who later coached UND's running backs, picked up a first down with an 18-yard run in the final minute.
It was the breakout game for UND running back Jake Miller, a Bismarck High School product. He ran for 145 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, filling in for starter Mitch Sutton, who ran for 70 yards before leaving the game with an injury.
Defensively, UND defensive end Ross Brenneman, one of UND's best in the Division I era, sacked future NFL quarterback Derek Carr twice.
Carr was 5-for-5 in the first quarter for 177 yards but went just 6-for-12 for 58 yards after that.
UND quarterback Joey Bradley was 11-for-16 for 95 yards in the second half. His top target was R.J. McGill, who had five grabs for 31 yards.
Behind quarterback Marcus Hendrickson and wide receiver Greg Hardin, UND pushed San Diego State to the limit.
Hendrickson hit Tyhre Ivery for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 6:17 left in the game to cut the lead to eight.
UND's effort to tie the game came painfully short as Hendrickson's fourth-down pass to Mitch Sutton with 1:10 remaining was "a chain link" short, according to head coach Chris Mussman.
Hendrickson threw for 434 yards and four touchdowns. He was also UND's leading rusher with 36 yards, despite being sacked four times.
Hardin had eight grabs for 142 yards and three touchdowns.
Jameer Jackson had six catches for 88 yards, R.J. McGill had five for 81 and future NFL standout Kenny Golladay had three catches for 47 yards.
With a roster that saw significant overhaul amid the coaching changeover from Chris Mussman to Bubba Schweigert, the new era began with a disappointing showing.
UND didn't score a touchdown until Jer Garman's 7-yard scoring run with 1:17 left in the game.
Joe Mollberg was 14-for-20 for 126 yards at quarterback for UND. Cedric Simmons, oddly enough a transfer from San Jose State, was UND's leading rusher with 54 yards on 13 carries.
UND's leading receiver was tight end Kyle Ruhe, who caught one pass for 51 yards.
UND picked up its first and still the program's only FBS win against former North Dakota State coach Craig Bohl and Wyoming.
In Bubba Schweigert's second season, a new era was emerging as true freshman running back John Santiago and sophomore quarterback Keaton Studsrud powered a dominating effort.
Santiago had a 52-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Studsrud had a 44-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. When Santiago scored his second touchdown of the game in the third quarter, UND led 21-0.
Santiago ran 24 times for 148 yards and two scores.
Will Ratelle had seven tackles and Deion Harris had three pass breakups.
This was UND's most painful narrow defeat in its FBS-game history.
With 13 seconds left, Keaton Studsrud — looking to knock off an FBS foe for the second year in a row — couldn't connect in the back of the end zone with Stetson Carr on a 2-point conversion pass that was just off the outstretched fingertips of Carr.
Carr caught a 3-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal and Bubba Schweigert went for the win rather than the tie.
UND trailed 21-10 at halftime as future NFL standout Scott Miller caught five balls for 161 yards and three touchdowns, including scoring plays of 71, 51 and 11 yards.
Studsrud had 219 passing yards, despite missing top receiver Clive Georges, who was hurt the previous week at Stony Brook.
John Santiago had 19 rushing yards at halftime but finished with 119.
Ater trailing 14-0 midway through the first quarter, UND turned the game around when Deion Harris had his first of two interceptions and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown.
UND hung around for a little bit but Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley's 227 passing yards, 70 rushing yards and three total touchdowns were too much in this Thursday night opener.
UND was within 11 points in the fourth quarter when quarterback Keaton Studsrud hit Noah Wanzek for 41 yards, then Travis Toivonen for 33. The drive was capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass to Luke Fiedler to make it 27-16 with 14:10 remaining.
Utah kicker Matt Gay hit a 49-yard field goal to push the lead to 14, then Studsrud — on third-and-long with less than five minutes to go in the game — was intercepted as he was looking for tight end Alex Cloyd, who tipped the pass into the arms of Utah defensive back Julian Blackmon, an eventual third-round NFL draft pick.
The No. 9-ranked team in the FBS at the time, Washington only humored UND for a half.
Huskies quarterback Jake Browning, considered one of the top quarterbacks in the country at the time, threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns.
UND was led offensively by John Santiago, who rushed for more than 100 yards against an FBS opponent for the third time in his career. He had 139 rushing yards on 18 carries, including a 69-yard run in the third quarter.
After not having an FBS game on the 2019 schedule and having the 2020 season pushed to the spring (without FBS games) due to COVID, UND returned to FBS play with a wacky Friday night in Logan.
The game, scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff, started about 90 minutes late due to lightning and a brief power outage.
Utah State quarterback Logan Bonner threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns, as the Hawks couldn't hold on to any early momentum.
Otis Weah, a Walter Payton Award finalist in the spring, finished with just 17 carries for 47 yards and didn't score a rushing touchdown for the first time in his young career.
Tommy Schuster threw for a career-high 348 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Garett Maag caught five passes for 81 yards, while Luke Skokna had six catches for 77 yards. Bo Belquist, playing in his first game of the season, had five grabs for 51 yards.
UND led 21-7 in the first quarter thanks to touchdown passes from three different quarterbacks. Quarterback-turned-wide receiver Brock Boltmann hit Belquist for a 13-yard strike, Schuster found Adam Zavalney for a 12-yard score and Quincy Vaughn hit Tyler Burian for the Grand Forks native's first career touchdown.
Adam Stage's 29-yard field goal in the third quarter gave UND a 24-20 lead but were the Hawks' only points of the second half. Utah State added three fourth-quarter touchdowns — a 2-yard Calvin Tyler Jr. touchdown on fourth down, a 41-yard Derek Wright catch and a 59-yard run by backup quarterback Andrew Peasley.
