Boise State Hosts North Dakota in Saturday Morning Throwback Game

BOISE, Idaho – An early-morning kickoff is nothing new to Boise State and the Broncos are fully prepared to be ready to go at 10 a.m. Saturday when North Dakota visits Albertsons Stadium for the first time.

The game will air live nationally on FS1 and the Fox Sports app with Eric Collins (play-by-play) and Devin Gardner (analyst) calling the action. For Bronco fans following on the radio, Bob Behler (play-by-play) and Pete Cavender (analyst) will have the call on the Bronco Radio Network and on SiriusXM Channel 384 as well as the SiriusXM app.

Opening Kickoff

Boise State will face a team from North Dakota for the first time in school history. Entering the 2023 season, the Broncos had previously faced teams from 37 of the 50 states, leaving 13 states uncontested. Other than North Dakota, can you name the other 12 states?
For the third consecutive week the Broncos will be facing an offense that leads the nation in a major statistical category regardless of level. The first week it was Michael Penix Jr and Washington's top-rated pass attack from last season. Last week UCF brought the country's top-rated rushing attack and second-best total offensive unit. Now one of the most prolific offenses in FCS visits The Blue as North Dakota brings the No. 1-ranked total offense, No. 2-ranked scoring offense and No. 4-ranked passing offense in FCS to Saturday's contest.
Boise State's defense often leaves opponents feeling blue when they are seeing red. Entering this week's contest, the Broncos have posted a Red Zone Defense that ranks 29th in the country. So far this season BSU opponents have scored seven times (six touchdowns, one field goal) in 10 visits with the Broncos forcing three red zone turnovers against UCF.
Just because Boise State has never faced North Dakota doesn't mean the Broncos will be completely unfamiliar with the Fighting Hawks. Sheldon Newton, who spent the past three seasons at Northern Arizona, faced the Fighting Hawks last season as a member of the Lumberjacks. In that game, Newton recorded one assisted tackle, one QB hurry and blocked a kick.
Welcome to Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year. Boise State is proud to celebrate the Hispanic heritage of head coach Andy Avalos, one of five Hispanic head coaches in the FBS.

What You Need To Know

Highway 20 Ride
Punter James Ferguson-Reynolds may come from the Land Down Under but his time in America has the native Aussie humming a tune sung by a group from down in the Deep South. Boise State's punter enters this week's action leading the nation in punts inside the 20 and in the top 10 nationally - and leading the Group of 5 - in several other punting categories.
Ferguson-Reynolds in the Rankings

Category	Stat	National Rank	G5 Rank	MW Rank
Punt Average	51.3	5th	1st	1st
Net Average	46.7	9th	1st	1st
Inside the 20	7	T-1st	T-1st	1st
Touchbacks	2	T-3rd	T-1st	T-1st
Downed	4	T-3rd	T-3rd	1st

SENSATIONAL SPECIALISTS
Through two weeks, kicker Jonah Dalmas and punter James Ferguson-Reynolds have been superb for the Broncos. Boise State is one of three teams in the nation to have a kicker that has made a field goal of 50 yards or longer and a punter averaging over 50 yards per punt. Dalmas tied a program record with a 56-yard field goal against UCF while Ferguson-Reynolds ranks third nationally with an average of 51.2 yards per punt. Joining the Broncos in this exclusive group are Alabama (Will Reichard, 51-yard FG; James Burnip, 50.2 yards per punt) and Iowa State (Chase Contreraz, 56-yard FG; Tyler Perkins, 52.9 yards per punt).
Dalmas Connects
Kicker Jonah Dalmas has established himself as a threat anytime he steps on the field and that was reaffirmed on Sept. 9. The senior from Meridian is practically hitting field goals from Meridian after tying the Boise State school record with a 56-yard field goal made against UCF. That ties for the second-longest in the country this year, ties for the longest field goal made by a Mountain West kicker this season and ties for the third-longest field goal made in MW history. That also marked the fourth time in his career Dalmas has converted a field goal attempt of 50 yards or longer.
A Rare Occurrence
On Sept. 9 at Albertsons Stadium, a sellout crowd witnessed something that had only happened twice before in NCAA history. The Boise State vs. UCF game was only the third time in the 154-year history of NCAA Football that opposing kickers hit field goals of 55-plus yards in the same game. It previously happened on Oct. 15, 1977 in the Texas vs. Arkansas game held in Fayetteville and then was repeated in the Arizona vs. Washington State game on Oct. 28, 2017 in Tucson.

Date	Home Team Kicker	Long FG	Visiting Team Kicker	Long FG
Oct. 15, 1977	Steve Little, Arkansas	67	Russell Exlerben, Texas	58
Oct. 28, 2017	Lucas Havrisik, Arizona	57	Erik Powell, Washington State	56
*Sept. 9, 2023*	*Jonah Dalmas, Boise State*	56	*Colton Boomer, UCF*	55

(The) Aussie Rules
Boise State punter James Ferguson-Reynolds may have just starting playing (American) football a little over a year ago, but the Australian native is a quick learner. Ferguson-Reynolds enters this week's game ranked third in the nation with an average of 51.2 yards per punt, totaling 615 yards on his 12 punts this season. His numbers include nine punts (67%) going 50 yards or longer, five punts landing inside the 20, two touchbacks and one fair catch.
Celebrating Our Heritage
Each year, Boise State joins millions of Americans in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. That includes celebrating the heritage of head coach Andy Avalos, one of five Hispanic head coaches in FBS. Not only one of a handful, Avalos has the highest winning percentage of any Hispanic head coach that has led a team for more than one full season. Additionally, the Mountain West Conference is home to 40% of the nation's Hispanic FBS coaches.
FBS Hispanic Head Coaches

Name	School	Record	Pct.	Years
Dave Aranda	Baylor	20-18	.526	4
Zach Arnett	Mississippi State	3-0	1.000	1*
*Andy Avalos*	*Boise State*	*17-11*	*.607*	3
Mario Cristobal	Miami (Fla.)	69-97	.507	13
Danny Gonzales	New Mexico	8-25	.242	4

* - Zach Arnett coached one game for Mississippi State in 2022 as interim head coach following the passing of Mike Leach.

Check Another One Off the List
When the Broncos kick off against North Dakota on Saturday, it will be the first time Boise State has played a team from the state of North Dakota. But how rare is that? North Dakota will become the 37th state to field an opponent against Boise State. What states haven't the Broncos played a team from yet? Regale your friends, family and coworkers with this trivia nuggets: Boise State has yet to play a team from the states of: Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
September Morn
Neil Diamond may not have initially had Boise State in mind when he sang this hit tune but the Broncos are claiming it anyway. This week's 10 a.m. kickoff against North Dakota marks the sixth game Boise State will play since 2011 with a kickoff before Noon (local to game site time). The Broncos have often feasted on their opponents for brunch, winning four of those five games so far.
Defend The Blue
There's not many places that are tougher environments to play on than the infamous blue turf in Boise. Entering this week's contest, the Broncos have an .890 winning percentage on The Blue (130-16) since 2000. That marks the third-best home winning percentage of any team in the nation, trailing only Oklahoma (.908, 128-13) and Ohio State (.895, 136-16).
Not So Fast, My Friend!
Visiting Boise generally has opponents feeling (and seeing) blue. The less-than-hospitable reception often leads to confusion for opponents, causing a national-best 3.14 false starts per game by opponents since 2018. That's well more than North Carolina State's 2.54 opponent false starts per game, which is the second best mark in the country.

Scouting North Dakota

North Dakota enters this week's game with a 2-0 mark, having won consecutive games over Drake (55-7) and Northern Arizona (37-22).
Back in 2001, North Dakota's chamber of commerce resurrected an old proposal: dropping the ''North'' and becoming just plain old ''Dakota'' -- to make the place seem less cold and more hip and inviting to tourists and businesses. If you want to become more hip and inviting, describing yourself as "plain old Dakota" might not be the best route to take, but what do we know?
UND can't be overlooked and Mountain West teams have historically learned this the hard way. The Fighting Hawks are 3-3-1 all-time (.500) against current MW programs.
The Fighting Hawks may have had their trip to Idaho on their mind last week as the game against NAU was billed as the Potato Bowl. The Potato Bowl USA is a week-long festival teaming the University of North Dakota and the Red River Valley Potato growing industry. We think that's an interesting title considering Idaho produced 120,745 (in thousand cwt) potatoes in 2022 while North Dakota only produced 22,995 (in thousand cwt) potatoes. Maybe that's why their potato bowl game isn't Famous?
UND entered the 2023 season having made appearances in the FCS Playoffs in three of the past four seasons. Since leaving the Big Sky Conference for the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020, the Fighting Hawks - who used to play Idaho teams regularly - have only faced one Idaho team (Idaho State in 2021) since. With no other Idaho teams on their schedule, perhaps this trip could also be a potato research fact-finding trip?
North Dakota is just 4-6 against teams from the real potato state. The Fighting Hawks enter this week's game leading the FCS in several categories including total offense (548.5), 3rd down conversions (.600) and 4th down conversions (1.000).
UND also ranks in the top five in several other categories, including second in scoring offense (45.0), tackles for loss allowed (2.00) and completion percentage (.774). The Hawks also rank third nationally (FCS) in fewest penalty yards (50), fewest penalty yards per game (25.0) and team passing efficiency (193.72). That's good because a resoundingly successful offense will be something new for Boise State to see this season.
Tommy Schuster leads the UND attack at quarterback, ranking ninth in the FCS in passing efficiency (178.5), 10th in passing yards per game (260.5), 11th in passing touchdowns (4) and 10th in total offense (274.0).
Beware of Bo Belquist, North Dakota's top receiver. He ranks second in the FCS in receiving yards per game (116.5), third in receiving yards (233) and 13th in receiving touchdowns (13).
Then there's Quincy Vaughn, who ranks 11th in FCS with three total touchdowns.
UND has five different players with multiple touchdowns this season. Most people recall when North Dakota's nickname was the Fighting Sioux. The University dropped the moniker in 2012 and went without a nickname until November 2015, a period in which the highlight was calling the teams the North Dakotas. But the school's original nickname, which lasted from 1904 to 1930, was the Flickertails. We respectfully submit that UND should pay homage to its past and bring that name back.

A Win Would...

Move Boise State to 20-3 all-time against FCS opponents.
Mark the 19th consecutive win over an FCS opponent.
Advance Boise State's all-time record against schools from North Dakota to 1-0.
Bring Boise State's all-time record Missouri Valley Football Conference schools to 1-0.
Push the Broncos' all-time record on FS1 to 11-6.
Be better than a loss.

For complete coverage of Boise State Football, download the Bronco Sports App or follow the team on social media on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter/X.

-BroncoSports.com-

Boise State Hosts North Dakota in Saturday Morning Throwback Game

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Players Mentioned

Jonah Dalmas

James Ferguson-Reynolds

Sheldon Newton

Boise State Athletics

Boise State Hosts North Dakota in Saturday Morning Throwback Game

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Jonah Dalmas

James Ferguson-Reynolds

Sheldon Newton

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