Flickertail State? North Dakota could be called the Football State, too

Tod Leiweke moved from being the president of the Wild to president of the Seattle Seahawks in 2003. He took along the Wild's greatest gimmick, "The State of Hockey," and soon the Seahawks were declaring Washington to be "The State of Football."

Leiweke has continued to move on up. He's now the CEO of the NFL and the No. 2 to Commissioner Roger Goodell. Every despot needs a right-hand man.

The Washington Huskies have sprung back to prominence and may have landed a spot in the College Football Playoff by winning the Pac-12 title game Friday night. With the Seahawks still an NFC contender, Washington residents are probably feeling smug about that State of Football bit.

I would disagree. On this first Saturday of December 2016, per capita, there's no question that the State of Football is North Dakota (population 740,000).

The Football Championship Subdivision is home to quality competition and a postseason that requires a minimum of four victories to win a title.

North Dakota State has won the past five of these, and will open the bid for a six-peat on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. vs. the San Diego Toreros in Fargo. The Bison are not unbeaten this time, having lost at home to South Dakota State 19-17 in mid-October.

There are paranoid followers of the Gophers who try to demean the Bison accomplishments, but when assuming that haughty attitude, they should be aware of this:

The Gophers also have one of those defeats on NDSU's perfect Power Five résumé.

The more dramatic football news in the Flickertail State is that another FCS second-round game will kick off 80 miles to the north at 5 p.m. in Grand Forks. Richmond and the University of North Dakota will bring into this game a pair of historic nicknames: Spiders vs. Fighting Hawks.

North Dakota State and North Dakota went separate ways in the spring of 2004, when the Bison moved to NCAA Division I-AA and UND spent five more school years in Division II football.

North Dakota made the move to Division I-AA that year and also served time in the disjointed Great West. UND found a landing place in the longstanding and strong Big Sky Conference in 2012. It was overmatched against top Big Sky football teams the first two seasons.

Bubba Schweigert, a 15-year assistant at UND in the days of going head to head with NDSU (1989-2003), was hired as the head coach on Christmas Eve in 2013. Three seasons later, the Hawks went 9-0 in the Big Sky.

"We're different. We want to run the ball, run the clock, limit the other team's snaps. We play a field-position game."

The Hawks alternate two running backs: Brady Oliveira (855 yards), a bowling ball from Winnipeg, and John Santiago (971 yards), a small, tough speedster from St. Francis.

There are more numbers with a Twin Cities connection for this rushing attack: Starting quarterback Keaton Studsrud, a junior from Benilde-St. Margaret's, has rushed for 348 yards, and freshman tailback Austin Gordon, from Maple Grove, has 250.

"We have a lot of Twin Cities guys, a lot of players from Minnesota," Santiago said. "For me, Grand Forks feels like home, because St. Francis is more like a smaller town than the suburbs."

St. Francis has not been a mecca for football recruiters. There was a St. Francis assistant who knew Schweigert, and he suggested to Bubba that he invite Santiago to North Dakota's summer camp in the summer of 2014.

"I was going to be a receiver and kick returner as a freshman, and then we had a couple of running backs hurt," Santiago said.

"I started the opener at tailback against Wyoming a year ago, and that went OK."

Santiago had 148 yards rushing in North Dakota's 24-13 upset win in Laramie. That started the road back for UND football and this first appearance in the FCS playoffs. The pairings are such the Bison and Hawks couldn't meet until the title game, but no matter:

Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 … North Dakota is "The State of Football."

Oh, yeah: South Dakota State also is hosting a FCS playoff game vs. Villanova at 2 p.m. in Brookings.