2023 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

The 2023 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represented the University of North Dakota as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by tenth-year head coach Bubba Schweigert, the team played their home games at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team drew an average home attendance of 10,288 in 2023.

2023 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football
NCAA Division I First Round, L 35–42 vs. Sacramento State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 12
FCS Coaches	No. 14
Record	7–5 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	Bubba Schweigert (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	Danny Freund (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Pistol
Defensive coordinator	Joel Schwenzfeier (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Alerus Center

2023 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 South Dakota State $^		8	–	0					15	–	0
No. 4 South Dakota ^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 3 North Dakota State ^		5	–	3					11	–	4
No. 19 Youngstown State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 16 North Dakota ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
Northern Iowa		5	–	3					6	–	5
No. 12 Southern Illinois ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Illinois State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Missouri State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Murray State		1	–	7					2	–	9
Indiana State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Western Illinois		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 19, 2024 Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	3:00 p.m.	Drake*	No. 17	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 55–7	8,503
September 9	3:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona*	No. 17	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	ESPN+	W 37–22	10,009
September 16	11:00 a.m.	at Boise State*	No. 14	Albertsons Stadium Boise, ID	FS1	L 18–42	35,610
September 30	2:00 p.m.	at No. 1 South Dakota State	No. 12	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	MidcoSN	L 21–42	19,231
October 7	1:00 p.m.	Western Illinois	No. 16	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 49–10	9,758
October 14	1:00 p.m.	No. 6 North Dakota State	No. 15	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND (Nickel Trophy)	MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 49–24	13,091
October 21	4:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa	No. 11	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	L 0–27	10,677
October 28	1:00 p.m.	Indiana State	No. 15	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	MidcoSN2/ESPN+	W 36–33 OT	11,125
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Murray State	No. 13	Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, KY	MidcoSN2	W 45–31	6,217
November 11	12:00 p.m.	at No. 6 South Dakota	No. 10	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (Sitting Bull Trophy)	MidcoSN	L 10–14	6,834
November 18	1:00 p.m.	Illinois State	No. 13	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 22–21	9,238
November 25	12:00 p.m.	No. 15 Sacramento State*	No. 12	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN+	L 35–42	6,522
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time