The 2020 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Bubba Schweigert, they played their home games at the Alerus Center as first-year members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
2020 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football | |
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FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 21–34 vs. James Madison | |
Conference | Missouri Valley Football Conference |
Ranking | |
STATS | No. 7 |
FCS Coaches | No. 6 |
2020 record | 5–2 (4–1 MVFC) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Danny Freund (2nd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Brett Holinka (1st season) |
Home stadium | Alerus Center (Capacity: 12,283) |
2020 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 2 South Dakota State +^ | 5 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 12 Missouri State +^ | 5 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 7 North Dakota ^ | 4 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 6 North Dakota State ^ | 5 | – | 2 | 7 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 14 Southern Illinois ^ | 3 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Iowa | 3 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Dakota | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois State† | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Youngstown State | 1 | – | 6 | 1 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Illinois† | 1 | – | 5 | 1 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Fighting Hawks finished the 2019 season with a record of 7–5 and earned a birth to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost to Nicholls.
Schedule
North Dakota's game scheduled against Valparaiso was canceled on July 27 due to the Pioneer Football League's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | ||
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February 20 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 24 Southern Illinois | ESPN+ | W 44–21 | 3,176 | ||||
February 27 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 3 South Dakota State | No. 14 |
| ESPN+ | W 28–17 | 3,638 | ||
March 4 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 20 South Dakota | No. 4 |
| ESPN+ | W 21–10 | 3,491 | ||
March 13 | 12:00 p.m. | at Western Illinois | No. 3 | ESPN+ | W 38–21 | 658 | |||
March 20 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 4 North Dakota State | No. 2 | ESPN+ | L 13–34 | 9,121 | |||
| | | No. 6 |
| | Canceled | |||
| | | No. 6 | | Canceled[a] | ||||
| | No. 6 | | Canceled | |||||
April 24 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 12 Missouri State | No. 7 |
| ESPN3 | W 44–10 | |||
May 2 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 1 James Madison | No. 7 |
| ESPN2 | L 21–34 | |||
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[2]
- ^ On March 21, 2021, Illinois State announced that it would opt-out of the remainder of the 2021 spring season due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
- ^ Kelley, Kevin (27 July 2020). "Pioneer Football League to play conference-only football schedule in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ "2020 North Dakota Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved November 28, 2020.