For the first time since Nov. 30, 2019, North Dakota football is set to take the field against Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon from the Alerus Center. Fans can tune into the Home of Economy Radio Network AM 790 FM 104.7 |94.1 with Jack Michaels and Tom Dosch.
This will be a historic season opener for the Fighting Hawks on multiple levels, as UND begins its first year as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The green and white are joining the league after spending the last two seasons as an FCS Independent, and will battle former North Central Conference (NCC) rivals North Dakota State, South Dakota State and South Dakota this season.
Home openers have been kind to the program in recent memory, as UND has not dropped its Grand Forks debut since 1986 vs. Texas A&M Kingsville. Over that span, the green and white have posted 33 straight victories in home openers, with the average margin of victory being 31.9 per contest.
This will obviously be the latest home opener in program history, as UND is set to battle eight MVFC programs in the abbreviated, conference-only slate. It will also be the first time in the program’s Division I history (2008-present) that it has opened with a ranked FCS opponent at home.
Football 2/16/2021 11:41:00 AM Alec Stocker Johnson, FightingHawks.com
