FCS championship statistical breakdown

Frisco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - North Dakota State and Illinois State are likely seeing a lot of similarities in the other as they prepare for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on Saturday.

The co-champions of the Missouri Valley Football Conference figure to make the championship game at Toyota Stadium a physical affair. Both will try to win the line of scrimmage and force the other into mistakes.

North Dakota State is seeking an unprecedented fourth straight FCS national title. Illinois State will appear in the final for the first time.

The season statistics of the two finalists:

NORTH DAKOTA STATE (14-1)

TEAM STATISTICS

(NDSU, OPPONENTS)

SCORING: 498, 198

Points Per Game: 33.2, 13.2

Points Off Turnovers: 110, 23

FIRST DOWNS: 321, 222

Rushing: 165, 102

Passing: 136, 104

Penalty: 20, 16

RUSHING YARDAGE: 3,549, 1,739

Yards Gained Rushing: 3,736, 2,119

Yards Lost Rushing: 187, 380

Rushing Attempts: 669, 493

Average Per Rush: 5.3, 3.5

Average Per Game: 236.6, 115.9

TDs Rushing: 33, 13

PASSING YARDAGE: 2,915, 2,323

Comp-Att-Int: 216-342-10, 226-423-18

Average Per Pass: 8.5, 5.5

Average Per Catch: 13.5, 10.3

Average Per Game: 194.3, 154.9

TDs Passing: 25, 8

TOTAL OFFENSE: 6,464, 4,062

Total Plays: 1,011, 916

Average Per Play: 6.4, 4.4

Average Per Game: 430.9, 270.8

KICK RETURNS: Number-Yards: 31-601, 50-1,006

PUNT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 26-250, 17-180

INT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 18-242, 10-80

KICK RETURN AVERAGE: 19.4, 20.1

PUNT RETURN AVERAGE: 9.6, 10.6

INT RETURN AVERAGE: 13.4, 8.0

FUMBLES-LOST: 14-5, 24-9

PENALTIES-Yards: 91-746, 72-598

Average Per Game: 49.7, 39.9

PUNTS-Yards: 57-2,558, 86-3,660

Average Per Punt: 44.9, 42.6

Net Punt Average: 38.6, 38.7

KICKOFFS-Yards: 98-6,086, 48-2,900

Average Per Kick: 62.1, 60.4

Net Kick Average: 41.6, 40.1

TIME OF POSSESSION/Game: 33:51, 26:09

3RD-DOWN Conversions: 97/198, 66/211

3rd-Down Pct: .490, .313

4TH-DOWN Conversions: 5/9, 15/32

4th-Down Pct: .555, .469

SACKS BY-Yards: 42-272, 16-88

MISC YARDS: 0, -1

TOUCHDOWNS SCORED: 60, 23

FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS: 26-31, 13-18

ON-SIDE KICKS: 0-0, 0-2

RED-ZONE SCORES: 55-63 (.873), 26-31 (.838)

RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS: 39-63 (.619), 16-31 (.516)

PAT-ATTEMPTS: 58-59 (.983), 21-21 (1.000)

ILLINOIS STATE (13-1)

TEAM STATISTICS

(ISU, OPPONENTS)

SCORING: 547, 293

Points Per Game: 39.1, 20.9

Points Off Turnovers: 246, 165

FIRST DOWNS: 321, 243

Rushing: 161, 96

Passing; 137, 125

Penalty: 23, 22

RUSHING YARDAGE: 3,352, 1,581

Yards Gained Rushing: 3,624, 1,969

Yards Lost Rushing: 272, 388

Rushing Attempts: 608, 486

Average Per Rush: 5.5, 3.3

Average Per Game: 239.4, 112.9

TDs Rushing: 40, 17

PASSING YARDAGE: 3,178, 3,118

Comp-Att-Int: 204-349-10, 247-461-18

Average Per Pass: 9.1, 6.8

Average Per Catch: 15.6, 12.6

Average Per Game: 227.0, 222.7

TDs Passing: 29, 18

TOTAL OFFENSE: 6,530, 4,699

Total Plays: 957, 947

Average Per Play: 6.8, 5.0

Average Per Game: 466.4, 335.6

KICK RETURNS: Number-Yards: 46-986, 66-1,270

PUNT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 23-112, 21-182

INT RETURNS: Number-Yards: 18-221, 10-88

KICK RETURN AVERAGE: 21.4, 19.2

PUNT RETURN AVERAGE: 4.9, 8.7

INT RETURN AVERAGE: 12.3, 8.8

FUMBLES-LOST: 21-13, 16-8

PENALTIES-Yards: 70-610, 81-781

Average Per Game: 43.6, 55.8

PUNTS-Yards: 59-2,386, 85-3,257

Average Per Punt: 40.4, 38.3

Net Punt Average: 35.3, 35.4

KICKOFFS-Yards: 99-5,579, 60-3,190

Average Per Kick: 56.4, 53.2

Net Kick Average: 37.7, 34.2

TIME OF POSSESSION/Game: 31:58, 28:02

3RD-DOWN Conversions: 96/189, 73/210

3rd-Down Pct: .508, .348

4TH-DOWN Conversions: 8/11, 9/24

4th-Down Pct: .727, .375

SACKS BY-Yards: 40-215, 21-130

MISC YARDS: 0, 12

TOUCHDOWNS SCORED: 72, 38

FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS: 14-19, 10-14

ON-SIDE KICKS: 0-0, 1-3

RED-ZONE SCORES: 47-60 (.783), 31-40 (.775)

RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS: 36-60 (.600), 21-40 (.525)

PAT-ATTEMPTS: 67-70 (.957), 27-29 (.931)