Northwest Notes: July 29, 2021

Eastern to open 2023 football

season against North Dakota State

Two NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) perennials will clash at one of America's newest major stadiums to open the 2023 football season. The Eastern Washington University football team will play at North Dakota State on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023 at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, in Minneapolis, Minn., with a time to be announced at a later date.

The matchup will be the sixth all-time between the two programs, but only the third time the Eagles and Bison have clashed during the regular season. Eastern Washington is 1-4 all-time against NDSU, with the most recent game coming on April 24, 2021 when the Bison knocked EWU out of the first round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs by a score of 42-20 in Fargo, N.D.

Prior to that, EWU lost to NDSU in the FCS Championship game on January 5, 2019 in Frisco, Texas, by a final score of 38-24. The other playoff match-up was the first-ever game between the two foes, and that one went Eastern's way on Dec. 11, 2010, in overtime when the Eagles beat the Bison 38-31 to advance to the NCAA Semifinals en route to the 2010 title. In fact, two matchups between the teams have gone to overtime, with EWU losing the other on Sept. 10, 2016, in Fargo, N.D. by a final score of 50-44.

North Dakota State is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Eastern Washington is currently 10-15 all-time against current MVFC members, including a 5-0 record versus North Dakota when it was a member of the Big Sky.

The Bison went 7-3 during the abbreviated spring 2021 season, advancing to the NCAA FCS Quarterfinals where they lost to Sam Houston State. In 2019, NDSU went a perfect 16-0 and won its eighth-straight FCS National Title.

Ticket information for the 2023 match-up will be available at a later date.