North Dakota State football’s incredible 39-game win streak is officially over. The Bison are the three-time reigning FCS national champions — they’ve also won eight of the last nine titles for an FCS record total — and their last loss was to South Dakota State on November 4, 2017.
Well, up until Saturday.
On the road against Southern Illinois for its second game of the 2021 spring season, North Dakota State — which is playing without quarterback Trey Lance, who declared for the NFL Draft in October — struggled to keep up with the Salukis. The Bison fell into a 17-0 hole toward the end of the second quarter, but it managed to get a late-half touchdown in to trail by 10 going into halftime.
Unfortunately for the Bison and their outrageous win streak, the second half was tougher than the first with Southern Illinois running away with a 38-14 victory to hand North Dakota State its first loss in more than three years.
🚨 UPSET ALERT 🚨#Salukis take down No. 1 North Dakota State!#WeAreSouthernIllinois pic.twitter.com/p7PqP1VaTQ
— Saluki Football (@SIU_Football) February 27, 2021
The Salukis had the ball for about 23 more minutes than the Bison and finished with 443 total yards compared with North Dakota’s 268 yards.
North Dakota State’s 39-game win streak was the third-longest in Division I history and the longest in the FCS. It broke its own previous FCS record of 33 consecutive wins between 2012 and 2014. The Bison needed just one more W to tie Washington’s record from 1908 to 1914, but Southern Illinois shut that down with a dominant victory.
After so many straight wins, a loss for the Bison is truly unbelievable.
🚨 DOWN GOES NO. 1 NDSU 🚨
Southern Illinois takes down the three-time defending FCS champion, 38-14. They entered the game as 16.5 point underdogs. pic.twitter.com/M4NzqBApFh
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 27, 2021
The longest winning streak in FCS history comes to an end at 39 games with a whimper, as SIU dismantles #1 NDSU, 38-14. https://t.co/M4kB5ZW8Gp
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) February 27, 2021
🚨🚨
39 GAME WINNING STREAK NO MORE!!! THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS TAKE THE #1 NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON TO THE WOODSHED. pic.twitter.com/12EvGn5LiR— CFB Home (@CFBHome) February 27, 2021
THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS HAVE DEFEATED THE NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON.M 38-14, ENDING NDSU’S 39-GAME, FOUR-YEAR WIN STREAK pic.twitter.com/W2dUhTnLSh
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) February 27, 2021
Folks,,,,,, UND is about to be ranked ahead of NDSU in Top 25 polls pic.twitter.com/rZNFdCLNOG
— Sam Herder (@SamHerderFCS) February 27, 2021
North Dakota Linebacker Ray Haas makes an incredible INT and #14 North Dakota looks to knock off #3 South Dakota State. pic.twitter.com/z1vfqcPyNG
— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) February 27, 2021
The biggest upset of the year in college football is taking place in February. Southern Illinois 31, North Dakota State 7, fourth quarter.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) February 27, 2021
North Dakota State has lost to Southern Illinois 38-14. This ends the Bison's winning streak at 39 games, the 3rd-longest winning streak in NCAA football history.
The scoring margin (28 Points) is equal to the scoring margin in the Bison's 3 losses over the past five seasons. pic.twitter.com/Kp4xJi6mA0
— Fifth Quarter Stats (@FQStats) February 27, 2021
Southern Illinois just ended North Dakota State’s 39-game winning streak 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/6JjzocFzbC
— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) February 27, 2021
