Getty North Dakota State will host Youngstown State Sunday. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
No. 1 North Dakota State Bison (8-0, 4-0 Missouri Valley) will head to Youngstown State (5-3, 1-3) to face the Penguins Saturday evening.
The game (6 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch it live right here on ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that has exclusive coverage of dozens of college football games and other live sports every week, all the 30-for-30 documentaries and additional original content (both video and written) all for $4.99 per month.
You can sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch NDSU vs Youngstown State live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
North Dakota State vs Youngstown State Preview
The Bison have been virtually unstoppable so far, and they have one of the best offenses in the nation. North Dakota State rank fourth in the country with 2,341 yards on 373 rushing attempts, and they’re averaging 37.1 points a game, which is tops in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Led by freshman phenom Trey Lance, the Bison have been a formidable force on offense this year. Lance is joined by junior running back Adam Cofield, who had a breakout game last week against South Dakota State. Cofield broke free for a 71-yard touchdown run on a fourth down play with less than three minutes to go to cap the victory off for the Bison.
The Bison are also getting it done on defense, leading the conference in fewest points given up per game with 11. They’ll be facing a Penguins team that ranks second in offense in the MVFC, averaging 36.1 points a game.
Youngstown State is coming off a 59-14 trouncing of the Western Illinois Leathernecks. They were led by senior wide receiver Jermiah Braswell and quarterback Nathan Mays, who threw four touchdown passes in the game.
The Penguins have the fifth ranked defense in the Missouri Valley Conference, giving up 22.8 points a game. They will have their work cut out for them against Lance and Company, who have been absolutely on fire this entire season.
Youngstown State head coach Bo Pelini knows the quality of the team and the players he will be going up against this weekend. He recently had this to say about North Dakota State linebacker Jabril Cox: “I think’s he’s an NFL guy. I think he is really good…Sometimes I don’t know what the NFL guys look for, but how you don’t watch this kid on film and say that you don’t want this kid on your football team … you don’t know much about football if anybody says that. He’s a good football player,” Pelini said. Pelini was an NFL assistant coach from 1994-2002, so he knows a thing or two about what it takes to make it in the league.
The last time Youngstown State defeated NDSU was in 2011 in North Dakota at the Fargo Dome, and they are definite underdogs in this game.