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Opposition Research: North Dakota Fighting Hawks

On Saturday afternoon at 2:30 pm CT, the Nebraska Cornhuskers will play their home opener for the 2022 season. They will welcome FCS opponent North Dakota to Lincoln for a non-conference showdown. Nebraska will be coming off a 31-28 loss against the Northwestern Wildcats last week in Dublin, Ireland, while North Dakota will be kicking off their first game of the season.

Saturday will be the 14th time that Nebraska has played an FCS team. The Huskers are 13-0 in the previous FCS meetings. They last played a non-FBS squad last season, which was a 52-7 victory over Fordham.

Memorial Stadium will be the home venue for the Huskers during the 2022 season. The stadium, which currently has a capacity of 85,458, opened in 1923 and has been the home of the Cornhuskers since that date.

But enough about Nebraska. Now is the time to look at the Fighting Hawks and learn what’s in store for Scott Frost’s team on Saturday afternoon.

North Dakota background

City: Grand Forks, North Dakota

Stadium: Alerus Center

Conference: Missouri Valley Football Conference

NCAA Division: Football Championship Subdivision

Colors: Green and White

Head Coach: Bubba Schweigert

Conference Titles: 26 (Last title in 2020)

National Championships: One (2001 – Division II)

 

 

Last season

Last season North Dakota finished with a record of 5-6. According to the UND Sports and Information Department, the Fighting Hawks either had the lead or a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter in all 11 of its competitions in 2021. All four losses last year against FCS programs came by an average margin of 4.6 points.

2021 Team Stats

Points Per Game: 24.5
Rushing Yards Per Game: 163.0
Passing Yards Per Game: 240.1
Total Offense: 403.1
Turnover Margin: -1
Points Allowed Per Game: 20.27
Opp. Rushing Yards Per Game: 139.4
Opp. Passing Yards Per Game: 197.4
Opp. Total Offense Per Game: 336.7

Head Coach: Bubba Schweigert

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Schweigert is entering his ninth season as the head coach of UND and his 24th season overall in Grand Forks. He started his career at UND in 1989 working his way up to Defensive Coordinator in 1997. In 2003 he became the head coach at Minnesota Duluth and coached there for four seasons until becoming the Defensive Coordinator at Souther Illinois from 2008-2013 and then returning the North Dakota as a head coach in 2014.  In his eight seasons in charge, Schweigert holds a record of 47-40 with two conference titles.

Series History

This will be the second meeting between these two schools.

All-Time Series: Nebraska leads, 1-0
Last Game: Nebraska won 33-0 (9 23 1961)

The Fighting Hawks do have one win over an FBS opponent, after beating Wyoming 24-13 in 2015.

Returning Starters

Quarterback: Tommy Schuster – 2,493 yards, 13 TDs, and 7 INTs

Wide Receiver: Bo Belquist – 52 receptions, 535 yards, and 5 TDs

Rushing: Isaiah Smith – 52 carries, 356 yards, and 2 TDs

Defense: Devon Krzanowski – 68 tackles and 5 TFL

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Story originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire