1983 North Dakota State Bison football team

1983 North Dakota State Bison football
1983 North Dakota State Bison football
NCAA Division II champion; NCC champion
NCAA Division II Championship Game, W 41–21 vs.Central State (OH)
Conference	North Central Conference
Record	12–1 (8–1 NCC)
Head coach	Don Morton (5th season);
Defensive coordinator	Mike Daly (5th season)
Home stadium	Dacotah Field
	Seasons ← 1982 1984 →

1983 North Central Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 North Dakota State +^	8	–	1	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Nebraska–Omaha +	8	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
South Dakota	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Augustana (SD)	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Northern Colorado	4	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
North Dakota	4	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
St. Cloud State	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Mankato State	3	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
South Dakota State	3	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Morningside	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

The 1983 North Dakota State football team represented North Dakota State University during the 1983 NCAA Division II football season, and completed the 87th season of Bison football. The Bison played their home games at Dacotah Field in Fargo, North Dakota. The 1983 team came off a 12–1 record from the previous season.^[1] The 1983 team was led by coach Don Morton. The team finished the regular season with a 9–1 record and made the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Bison defeated the Central State Marauders, 41–21, in the National Championship Game en route to the program's first NCAA Division II Football Championship.^[2] The 1983 team was inducted with the Class of 2023 into the Bison Athletic Hall of Champions on September 29, 2023.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	at Northern Michigan*		Memorial Field Marquette, MI	W 17–14	5,602	^[3]
September 17	at Mankato State		Blakeslee Stadium Mankato, MN	W 10–9	4,000	^[4]
September 24	Augustana (SD)	No. 3	Dacotah Field Fargo, ND	W 20–6	12,700	^[5]
October 1	at Nebraska–Omaha	No. 3	Al F. Caniglia Field Omaha, NE	L 10–18	8,400	^[6]
October 8	South Dakota	No. 10	Dacotah Field Fargo, ND	W 17–3	13,200	^[7]
October 15	at South Dakota State	No. 9	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD (rivalry)	W 24–12	9,308	^[8]
October 22	Northern Colorado	No. 10	Dacotah Field Fargo, ND	W 34–21	10,600	^[9]
October 29	at North Dakota	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Grand Forks, ND (Nickel Trophy)	W 23–6	14,800	^[10]
November 5	at Morningside	No. 5	Elwood Olsen Stadium Sioux City, IA	W 49–7	1,356	^[11]
November 12	St. Cloud State	No. 5	Dacotah Field Fargo, ND	W 31–20	3,300	^[12]
November 26	No. 4 Towson State*	No. 5	Dacotah Field Fargo, ND (NCAA Division II Quarterfinal)	W 24–17	5,600	^[13]
December 3	at No. 1 UC Davis*	No. 5	Toomey Field Davis, CA (NCAA Division II Semifinal)	W 26–17	9,100	^[14]^[15]
December 10	vs. No. 7 Central State (OH)*	No. 6	McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium McAllen, TX (NCAA Division II Championship Game—Palm Bowl)	W 41–21	5,275	^[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee Poll released prior to the game