St. Thomas and North Dakota State meet again, and four more things about Minnesota college football

When North Dakota State and St. Thomas play Saturday in Fargo, N.D., it will be their 24th football meeting.

But it’s been nearly 60 years since the 23rd meeting.

The last time the teams met was Sept. 17, 1966, in Fargo. The Bison won that meeting 35-6 to improve to 14-7-2 against the Tommies.

Saturday’s nonconference game — the regular-season finale for both teams — will be a homecoming of sorts for St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso. Caruso was a member of the Bison football staff from 1997 to 2002 and earned a master’s degree in education from NDSU in 2004.

The Bison, ranked No. 1 in FCS (Division I-AA) and the defending national champion, have won 15 consecutive games since losing 29-28 to South Dakota in their regular-season finale last season. They regrouped to win four playoff games and capture the FCS title, beating Montana State 35-32 on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas, in the championship game.

The Bison defeated Northern Iowa 48-16 last Saturday in Fargo to cap an 8-0 Missouri Valley Conference season. Bison quarterback Cole Payton completed 15 of 17 passes for 212 yards and a TD and rushed for 74 yards and two TDs in the victory. Payton has passed for 2,339 yards and 12 TDs this season with just four interceptions and has rushed for 782 yards and 13 TDs.

The Tommies (7-4) concluded the Pioneer League portion of their schedule with a 23-9 loss to Presbyterian in St. Paul. They finished 5-3 in Pioneer League play.

The Bulldogs (10-1, 9-1 NSIC), who won their first outright NSIC title since 2012, will take on the No. 18 Eagles. It will be the first meeting between the teams. The Eagles (9-2) are in the playoffs for the second consecutive season and third time in the past four seasons.

The Bulldogs, who concluded the regular season with a 33-7 victory at Minot State, have been led by Kyle Walljasper. The senior quarterback is second in Division II in passing efficiency (189.16 rating) and has thrown for 2,176 yards and 26 TDs. He has rushed for a team-high 831 yards and 16 TDs and and is 24th in Division II in total offense with 273.4 yards per game.

Minnesota State Mankato, making its fourth consecutive appearance in the Division II playoffs, will play at Findlay (Ohio) on Saturday for the first meeting between the programs.

The No. 21 Mavericks (8-3, 7-3 NSIC), who reached the semifinals of the Division II playoffs last season, closed out the regular season with a 31-23 loss to MSU Moorhead in Mankato.

Despite suffering its first loss of the season — 23-21 to Tiffin at home — in the regular-season finale, No. 12 Findlay (10-1) put together its most successful season since moving up to Division II from NAIA in 2000.

Wheaton, No. 19 in the D3football.com Top 25, went 8-2 in the regular season, losing to Mount Union in the season opener and to defending Division III champion North Central (Ill.) on Oct. 4. The Thunder were the CCIW runner-up with an 8-1 record. North Central went 9-0 in the CCIW.

Crown QB Jamarrius Courtney is second in Division III with 1,619 rushing yards and 11th with 17 rushing TDs; he’s averaging 8.6 yards per carry.

MIAC champion Bethel and MIAC runner-up St. John’s were among 24 teams that received first-round byes in the Division III playoffs.

Bethel, in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, will play the winner of Concordia (Wis.) and Coe in the second round Nov. 29. St. John’s will play host to Monmouth in the second round. Monmouth, which also received a first-round bye, is in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.