North Dakota State brings its 8-3 record against FBS teams to Kinnick Stadium Saturday morning, set to match up with the best team they have faced since moving up to Division 1.
Turnovers are always a key factor in determining winners and losers in football, but I decided to look a bit closer at how those have played out in NDSU’s games against the big boy division.
- 2006 – at Ball State: NDSU 1 turnover, Ball State: 0 Bison win 29-24
- 2006 – at Minnesota: NDSU 2 turnovers, Minnesota: 0 Gophers win 10-9
- 2007 – at Central Michigan: NDSU 0 turnovers, CMU: 3 Bison win 44-14
- 2007 – at Minnesota: NDSU: 1 turnover, Minnesota: 1 Bison win 27-21
- 2008 – at Wyoming: NDSU: 4 turnovers, Wyoming: 1 Cowboys win 16-13
- 2009 – at Iowa State: NDSU: 2 turnovers, ISU: 2 Cyclones win 34-17
- 2010 – at Kansas: NDSU: 1 turnover, KU: 3 Bison win 9-6
- 2011 – at Minnesota: NDSU: 0 turnovers, UM: 2 Bison win 37-24
- 2012 – at Colorado State: NDSU: 1 turnover, CSU: 2 Bison win 22-7
- 2013 – at Kansas State: NDSU: 1 turnover, KSU: 2 Bison win 24-21
- 2014 – at Iowa State: NDSU: 0 turnovers, ISU: 2 Bison win 34-14
A quick check of math goes like so:
- NDSU: 13 turnovers, Opponents: 18 (Bison +5 in turnover ratio)
There are other factors that have gone into winning and losing these games, time of possession is a big one, but these are stats that I don’t believe that can be overlooked.
ESPN has a solid article on why all FCS wins should not be counted the same.