2012 North Dakota State Bison football team

The 2012 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by tenth-year head coach Craig Bohl and played their home games at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota. North Dakota State entered the season as the defending NCAA Division I Football and Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) champions. In 2012, the Bison won their second straight MVFC title posting, a 7–1 conference record and 10–1 overall mark in the regular season. In the FCS playoffs they defeated South Dakota State, Wofford, Georgia Southern, and Sam Houston State to finish the season 14–1 and win their second consecutive national title.^[1]

2012 North Dakota State Bison football
NCAA Division I champion MVFC champion
NCAA Division I Championship, W 39–13 vs. Sam Houston State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 1
FCS Coaches	No. 1
Record	14–1 (7–1 MVFC)
Head coach	Craig Bohl (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brent Vigen (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Chris Klieman (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Fargodome
Seasons ← 2011 2013 →

2012 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 14 South Dakota State ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 8 Illinois State ^		5	–	3					9	–	4
Indiana State		5	–	3					7	–	4
Southern Illinois		5	–	3					6	–	5
Youngstown State		4	–	4					7	–	4
Northern Iowa		4	–	4					5	–	6
Missouri State		3	–	5					3	–	8
Western Illinois		1	–	7					3	–	8
South Dakota		0	–	8					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	6:00 pm	Robert Morris*	No. 2	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN3	W 52–0	18,769	[2]
September 8	6:00 pm	at Colorado State*	No. 2	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO	NBC ND/KTVD	W 22–7	23,567	[3]
September 22	3:00 pm	Prairie View A&M*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN3	W 66–7	18,623	[4]
September 29	6:00 pm	at No. 14 Northern Iowa	No. 1	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	KVLY/Panther Sports Network/ KWWL-TV	W 33–21	16,008	[5]
October 6	1:00 pm	No. 3 Youngstown State	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN3/ MVFC TV	W 48–7	19,065	[6]
October 13	3:00 pm	Indiana State	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND	NBC ND/ESPN3	L 14–17	18,164	[7]
October 20	6:00 pm	at South Dakota	No. 4	Howard Wood Field Sioux Falls, SD	Midco SN	W 54–0	9,269	[8]
October 27	3:00 pm	Southern Illinois	No. 3	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Harvest Bowl)	NBC ND/FCS	W 23–17	18,066	[9]
November 3	1:00 pm	at Missouri State	No. 1	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	NBC ND/Mediacom	W 21–17	6,253	[10]
November 10	3:00 pm	No. 16 South Dakota State	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Dakota Marker)	NBC ND/FCS	W 20–17	18,721	[11]
November 17	1:00 pm	at No. 11 Illinois State	No. 1	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	NBC ND	W 38–20	6,793	[12]
December 1	3:00 pm	No. 19 South Dakota State*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 28–3	18,482	[13]
December 8	2:00 pm	No. 9 Wofford*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN3	W 14–7	18,267	[14]
December 14	7:00 pm	No. 6 Georgia Southern*	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)	ESPN2	W 23–20	18,484	[15]
January 5	12:00 pm	vs. No. 5 Sam Houston State*	No. 1	FC Dallas Stadium Frisco, TX (FCS Playoffs National Championship Game)	ESPN2	W 39–13	21,411	[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
Sports Network	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	4	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Coaches	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year at North Dakota State	Alma mater (year)
Craig Bohl	Head coach	10th	Nebraska (1982)
Brent Vigen	Offensive coordinator Quarterbacks	15th	North Dakota State (1998)
Chris Klieman	Defensive coordinator Defensive backs	2nd	Northern Iowa (1990)
Kenni Burns	Recruiting coordinator Wide receivers coach	3rd	Indiana (2006)
A. J. Cooper	Defensive ends coach	7th	North Dakota State (2006)
Scott Fuchs	Offensive line	4th	North Dakota State (1995)
Nick Goeser	Defensive tackles coach	3rd	Wisconsin–Eau Claire (2003)
Tim Polasek	Special teams coordinator Tight ends Fullbacks Backs	6th	Concordia (WI) (2002)
Steve Stanard	Linebackers	1st	Nebraska (1989)
Gordie Haug	Offensive assistant	1st	Bemidji State (2009)
John Richardson	Defensive assistant	2nd	North Dakota State (2010)

^[17]

References

1. "2012 NDSU football schedule". North Dakota State Athletics. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
2. "Opener: Bison in runaway". The Bismarck Tribune. September 2, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Humbled at home, CSU football team brought back to earth after loss to North Dakota State". Fort Collins Coloradoan. September 9, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Bison do not miss the beat". The Bismarck Tribune. September 23, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "No. 1 NDSU downs Northern Iowa". Sioux City Journal. September 30, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Bison exact revenge, NDSU does no wrong in win over Penguins". The Bismarck Tribune. October 7, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "NDSU is upset, top-ranked Bison lose to Sycamores". The Bismarck Tribune. October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Coyotes put up little resistance against NDSU". Sioux City Journal. October 21, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "SIU falls short". Southern Illinoisan. October 28, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Bears' upset bid comes up short". The Springfield News-Leader. November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Jackrabbits lose Dakota Marker game to NDSU". Rapid City Journal. November 11, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Bisons' 4th-quarter surge sinks Redbirds". The Pantagraph. November 28, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Bison defense is dominant again". The Bismarck Tribune. December 2, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Terriers' playoff run ends in Fargo". The State. December 9, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "No luck in North Dakota". The Macon Telegraph. December 15, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "N. Dakota State takes title". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. January 6, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
17. "2012 Football Roster". NDSU. Retrieved January 8, 2022.