UND football set to begin new era of Midwest FBS games

Aug. 29—GRAND FORKS — In its Division I era, the UND football program has almost exclusively played FBS opponents by flying west.

Utah, Washington, Fresno State, San Diego State, Wyoming, Utah State, etc.

UND's only FBS games in the Midwest were 2010 at Northern Illinois and 2016 at Bowling Green.

On Saturday, when UND travels to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the Cornhuskers, the game marks the start of a new Midwest trend.

With a 2023 game at Boise State as the exception, UND's next FBS games will be at Iowa State (2024), Kansas State (2025), Nebraska (2026), Minnesota (2028), Iowa State (2029) and Minnesota (2030).

"I think these games aren't just about the team, they're about the program," UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. "Our fan base and alumni and supporters can experience this with us. We're hearing lots of buzz about people going down. They can see the atmosphere of one of the storied college football programs. I believe Midwest games are the right thing to do when you can get them scheduled."

Schweigert said the change in FBS scheduling philosophy centered on recruiting.

Last week, two of UND's Nebraska natives scheduled to make the trip — linebackers Kason Kelley and Marcus Vaughn-Jones — both referenced the game against the Cornhuskers as an appealing recruiting carrot.

"I thought it was important because that's our recruiting footprint," Schweigert said. "We've had a fun time out West and there might be some more of those sprinkled in in the future. We are just really looking forward to playing these games in areas we recruit."

UND's game against Nebraska will be the closest driving trip for an FBS game in the Fighting Hawks' Division I era.

"The experience (our fans) have will be in a different mode than we are," Schweigert said. "We're on a business trip. We have a game to play."

Schweigert said he's never been in Memorial Stadium for a game. Only one of UND's coaches can make the claim of participating in a game in the 90,000-seat stadium.

First-year UND running backs coach Steve Crutchley was on staff at Northern Illinois when the Huskies upset Nebraska in Lincoln in 2017.

"I picked his brain for what it was like," Schweigert said. "Utah was an electric atmosphere but not quite the number of seats we'll see here. Washington was 60,000. This will be different with the tailgate atmosphere when we pull up to the stadium."