Getty North Dakota State will host Albany in its season opener.
Life without Trey Lance begins for the North Dakota State Bison, who kick their 2021 season off at home hosting the Albany Great Danes at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome on September 4.
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The game (3:30 p.m. ET start time) will be televised locally on ABC North Dakota, but if you don’t have cable or you don’t live in-market, anyone in the US can watch Albany vs North Dakota State live on ESPN+:
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You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Albany vs North Dakota State Preview
North Dakota State saw its unreal 39-game winning streak snapped last season, and it finished the year with a 7-3 overall record and a 5-2 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bison scored an average of 26 points a game on offense while allowing 19 points a game on defense.
They’ll be going up against an Albany team that played a limited amount of games during a shortened 2020 season. The Great Danes went 1-3 on the year (1-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association). They didn’t do much offensively, netting 18.8 points a game while surrendering 24 points per contest to opposing teams. Albany gave up 11 sacks in those four games, so shoring up the offensive line has been a focal point for the team.
NDSU goes into this one the clear favorite, but the Bison aren’t trying to overlook any opponent after losing three games last year — something that has been unheard of for the team in recent years.
“Finish plays at the corner position and the safety position. Getting our hands on the football,” NDSU head coach Matt Entz said heading into the game against Albany. “They have some experience coming back at the wide receiver position so getting to that point of attack is my biggest concern right now. I think we’ll have a good idea of where we need to defend but we need to finish every down. Having the ability to make the play when it’s provided. We can’t lead the country in pass breakups, we need to start catching some of these things.”
Under center for the Great Danes will be quarterback Jeff Undercuffler. His last action was in 2019, when he completed 56.4% of his passes for 3,524 yards, 41 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
On the other side, NDSU will be led by Quincy Patterson, who will be taking over for third overall pick Trey Lance. Patterson, a transfer from Virginia Tech, has played in a limited capacity so far. In 2020, he completed 7 of 10 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 67 yards and a score on the ground, so it will be interesting to see how well he fills the role vacated by Lance.
Fans will be back in the stands again, which should have the Fargodome rocking.
“It’s probably going to be the loudest game we’re going to play,” Undercuffler said. “That doesn’t matter. That’s just another reason for us to be even more locked in, dialed in, and just execute our own gameplan. We’ll let the chips fall where they may. Just go out, have fun and ball out.”
This is the first-ever meeting between these two teams.