Frisco, TX – The NCAA Division I Football Championship Game is thought to be an offense-vs.-defense showdown.
But there's a lot more to North Dakota State than its top-ranked defense in the FCS and Sam Houston State and its No. 2-ranked scoring defense.
The rematch of last year's 17-6 NDSU win in the national championship game will kick off at 1 p.m. ET Saturday at FCS Dallas Stadium.
The season statistics of the two finalists:
NORTH DAKOTA STATE (13-1)
TEAM STATISTICS
(NDSU, OPPONENTS)
SCORING: 456, 160
Points Per Game: 32.6, 11.4
FIRST DOWNS: 284, 167
Rushing: 135, 74
Passing: 122, 84
Penalty: 27, 12
RUSHING YARDAGE: 2,752, 1,292
Yards Gained Rushing: 2,992, 1,666
Yards Lost Rushing: 240, 374
Rushing Attempts: 596, 436
Average Per Rush: 4.6, 3.0
Average Per Game: 196.6, 92.3
TDs Rushing: 35, 5
PASSING YARDAGE: 2,360, 1,834
Comp-Att-Int: 210-340-8, 180-306-9
Average Per Pass: 6.9, 6.0
Average Per Catch: 11.2, 10.2
Average Per Game: 168.6, 131.0
TDs Passing: 19, 10
TOTAL OFFENSE: 5,112, 3,126
Total Plays: 936, 742
Average Per Play: 5.5, 4.2
Average Per Game: 365.1, 223.3
KICK RETURNS: Number-Yards, 33-703, 70-1,460
PUNT RETURNS: Number-Yards, 27-398, 21-131
INT RETURNS: Number-Yards, 9-170, 8-282
KICK RETURN AVERAGE: 21.3, 20.9
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE: 14.7, 6.2
INT RETURN AVERAGE: 18.9, 35.2
FUMBLES-LOST: 16-6, 24-16
PENALTIES-Yards: 69-562, 98-831
Average Per Game: 40.1, 59.4
PUNTS-Yards: 51-2,206, 79-3,297
Average Per Punt: 43.3, 41.7
Net Punt Average: 38.3, 35.2
KICKOFFS-Yards: 86-5,274, 42-2,412
Average Per Kick: 61.3, 57.4
Net Kick Average: 56.3, 36.5
TIME OF POSSESSION/Game: 34:39, 25:21
3RD-DOWN Conversions: 102-198, 48-171
3rd-Down Pct.: 52, 28
4TH-DOWN Conversions: 14/17, 9/19
4th-Down Pct.: 82, 47
SACKS BY-Yards: 34-245, 23-151
MISC YARDS: 11, 35
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED: 58, 20
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS: 17-22, 7-12
ON-SIDE KICKS: 0-0, 0-0
RED-ZONE SCORES: 60-67 (.90), 13-17 (.76)
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS: 45-67 (.67), 9-17 (.53)
PAT-ATTEMPTS: 53-57 (.93), 19-20 (.95)
ATTENDANCE: 166,641, 52,621
Games/Avg Per Game: 9/18,516, 4/13,155
Neutral Site Games: N/A, 1/9,269
SAM HOUSTON STATE (11-3)
TEAM STATISTICS
(SHSU, OPPONENTS)
SCORING: 587, 283
Points Per Game: 41.9, 20.2
FIRST DOWNS: 302, 230
Rushing: 176, 77
Passing: 104, 121
Penalty: 22, 32
RUSHING YARDAGE: 3,909, 1,178
Yards Gained Rushing: 4,215, 1,600
Yards Lost Rushing: 306, 422
Rushing Attempts: 704, 408
Average Per Rush: 5.6, 2.9
Average Per Game: 279.2, 84.1
TDs Rushing: 46, 7
PASSING YARDAGE: 2,578, 3,383
Comp-Att-Int: 185-299-8, 249-477-18
Average Per Pass: 8.6, 7.1
Average Per Catch: 13.9, 13.6
Average Per Game: 184.1, 241.6
TDs Passing: 25, 27
TOTAL OFFENSE: 6,487, 4,561
Total Plays: 1,003, 885
Average Per Play: 6.5, 5.2
Average Per Game: 463.4, 325.8
KICK RETURNS: Number-Yards, 39-838, 72-1,284
PUNT RETURNS: Number-Yards, 36-477, 20-106
INT RETURNS: Number-Yards, 18-234, 8-187
KICK RETURN AVERAGE: 21.5, 17.8
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE: 13.2, 5.3
INT RETURN AVERAGE: 13.0, 23.4
FUMBLES-LOST: 21-8, 25-12
PENALTIES-Yards: 105-941, 86-746
Average Per Game: 67.2, 53.3
PUNTS-Yards: 63-2,677, 87-3,375
Average Per Punt: 42.5, 38.8
Net Punt Average: 38.9, 32.6
KICKOFFS-Yards: 103-6,075, 57-3,477
Average Per Kick: 59.0, 61.0
Net Kick Average: 50.7, 38.0
TIME OF POSSESSION/Game: 34:00, 26:00
3RD-DOWN Conversions: 92/202, 56/198
3rd-Down Pct.: 46, 28
4TH-DOWN Conversions: 10/17, 13/27
4th-Down Pct.: 59, 48
SACKS BY-Yards: 37-266, 5-37
MISC YARDS: 139, 0
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED: 76, 37
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS: 18-22, 9-16
ON-SIDE KICKS: 2-2, 1-3
RED-ZONE SCORES: 59-64 (.92), 25-33 (.76)
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS: 43-64 (.67), 18-33 (.55)
PAT-ATTEMPTS: 73-75 (.97), 32-36 (.89)
ATTENDANCE: 35,129, 192,519
Games/Avg Per Game: 4/8,782, 9/21,391
Neutral Site Games: N/A, 1/26,185
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