The Northern State football team is about embark on a demanding schedule this season and it begins this evening at the DakotaDome in Vermillion against Division I foe the University of South Dakota, rated fifth in the FCS poll.

“I took the approach saying we want to play the best team we possibly can and we certainly found that,” said NSU coach Mike Schmidt of scheduling a non-conference opponent. “I think we wanted to challenge ourselves.”

He said the Wolves are in a no-lose situation.

“I think what is great about this game is we literally have nothing to lose,” Schmidt said. “We can lose the game and it won’t ruin our season, it doesn’t hurt our playoff chances, it doesn’t do any of that.”

While it appears that Northern will be strong on offense, defense, and special teams, the one common characteristic, according to Schmidt is physicality.

“We want to be a team that is based on physicality and effort,” Schmidt said. “I don’t know that there’s a position group specifically that’s going to do that, but we needed to get our football program tougher, we needed get our football program more physical, and I think that is reflected in how we’ve practiced and prepared from the end of last season until now.”

Of course, it’s the defensive side of the ball that Schmidt has a particular fondness for.

“I’m a defensive coach. I’m been a defensive guy all my career,” Schmidt said. “I sure hope that we want to have good defense. I want that to be the hallmark of Northern State football.”

Schmidt wants to make sure that opposing offenses find the going tough against the Wolves.

“You’re going to have earn yards here against us,” he said. “It’s a frustrating defense to play against. We keep things in front of us and just swarm people to the football.”

The defense is led by Luke Gunderson, but Schmidt said to keep an eye on Jake Adams as well.

“Jake Adams was as productive a player as there was in our league the last five games last year,” Schmidt said. “He will explode on the scene this year.”

Northern has a key member on offense as well as running back Hank Kraft figures to be a key cog in the Wolves’ attack.

“I’m excited to introduce the world to Hank Kraft,” Schmidt said of the player who set a school record for yards per carry last season. “He’s magnificent. … That’s our go-to guy. That’s our go-to player. I think he’ll be the best player at that position in our conference.”

Schmidt is also excited about the special teams portion of this year’s squad, brining in a new punter and a new kicker.

“It sure looks like we went and put our money where our mouth is at about how important it is,” Schmidt said. “We signed Tom Ellard who is one of the best punters is in the country at any level.”

Ellard was an All-America selection in 2022 at Western Kentucky, and averaged 44 yards per punt last year.

“Now we go get Jeremy Caruso as our kicker,” Schmidt said, “who was a very productive kicker in this league a year ago at Minot.”

The Wolves also bring back their kick returners. Gunderson and Kraft both have touchdown returns on their resumes.

“How many teams return two guys who have returned kickoffs for touchdowns in their careers?” Schmidt asked.

Put it all together and it appears that the Wolves have a chance to prove the naysayers wrong about their preseason projections. Northern was picked to finish ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference poll, something that Schmidt says indicates nothing about this year’s squad.

“This team isn’t the ninth best team in the conference. That was last year’s team,” Schmidt said. “This year’s team has an opportunity to build off of that and make sure that we’re focused on what’s actually important to us and how we think we can win football games.”

Northern’s home opener will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6 against the University of Sioux Falls.