Who: Arizona (1-1) vs North Dakota State (2-0)

When: 8:00 p.m. MST

Where: Arizona Stadium | Tucson, Arizona

TV: FS1

All-time series: First meeting

Arizona (1-1) is hosting its second game of the season Saturday night as the Wildcats welcome defending FCS champion North Dakota State (2-0) to Tucson after losing its home opener to Mississippi State 39-17 last week.

NDSU has become a dominant program in recent years, winning nine championships in the past 11 seasons. Head coach Matt Entz is aiming to bring about another upset to a Power Five team after defeating five FBS teams in the past 10 seasons. The last one ended with an upset victory over then-No. 13 Iowa back in 2016.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and Bison.

Fisch is optimistic about his team heading into Saturday as he believes it will be ready for whatever NDSU throws their way.

“I’m excited about our team, excited about our players, our mindset right now,” Fisch said Thursday. "I thought it was a great opportunity for our players, it's great challenge for our players to go play a very good football team.”

The Wildcats will face different personnel and alignments, defensively, than what they saw in their first two contests. Fisch mentioned that NDSU's old school, power approach that it has been operating for years will be something to look out for when preparing his team for this upcoming game.

"They're [Arizona] coming off going from a true Air Raid of Mike Leach to a two-back, I-back power team,” Fisch noted. “I would say they’re an old school pro style. They’re playing with a fullback, multiple tight ends going downhill at you. They’ve [NDSU] been doing it for so long and doing it the same way for so long … so they’re really able to get rolling with this system.”

FBS teams have not scored against NDSU in the fourth quarter in the last four matchups between them. This raises eyebrows and poses the question of how the Wildcats can get past the Bison defense late in games? Fisch previewed what he expects out of NDSU’s defense as well as his offense.

“I think they’re gonna play very hard physically on defense,” Fisch added. “Offensively, we can’t turn the ball over, I think it’s important in a game like this that we maintain possession of the ball when you have it.”

A stadium’s atmosphere can be a large factor for a team’s success throughout the game. Arizona has not been used to the longevity of their fans remaining in the stands often watching the crowd depart after the first half of their home games. Last week, Fisch noticed the impact the crowd had on his team after a third-down stop when the game against Mississippi State was within one possession.

“The best tradition was that they [the fans] were still there,” Fisch said. “If we can continue to get our fans to stay throughout the whole game, you can see how that energy was turning… that play was loud, I thank our fans for that and if we can continue to do that and build this Arizona Stadium into a place where no one wants to play.”

• Tia Savea (leg) – The Arizona defensive lineman continues to battle a leg injury that he suffered on a cut block against Mississippi State, and he is expected to be a game-time decision for the Wildcats.

• Treydan Stukes (leg) – Arizona's projected starting cornerback could be limited once again as he also deals with a leg injury this season. Stukes injured his leg early in training camp and has slowly worked back onto the field. He played just 17 snaps last week after being held out of the season opener.

Arizona has also added talent to the roster this game week, bringing in Northern Arizona graduate transfer Tremaine Savea, Tia’s older brother, adding in FCS experience on the defensive front. Fisch mentioned the explanation for his newest acquisition.

“We had 109 spots on the roster, and we wanted to take it to that 110 number, Fisch noted. “We feel like the defensive line is a great position of depth and also good for Tia to have his brother here.”

The Wildcats will look to prepare and make any tweaks needed to limit the production of a unique Bison team which is eyeing another upset win against an FBS team for their program. NDSU will come to Tucson to play the Cats this Saturday night with kickoff set for 8 p.m MST at Arizona Stadium. FS1 will broadcast the matchup.

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