North Dakota State’s special teams help Bison beat Nevada 31-17

Nathan Hayes accounts for three touchdowns, and Jackson Williams returns a missed field goal 100 yards for a touchdown, helping North Dakota State beat Nevada 31-17ByThe Associated PressOctober 17, 2026, 10:44 PMFARGO, N.D. -- Nathan Hayes accounted for three touchdowns and Jackson Williams returned a missed field-goal attempt 100 yards for a touchdown to help North Dakota State beat Nevada 31-17 on Saturday night. Nevada jumped out to an 11-0 lead early in the second quarter before Williams scored on a 5-yard run and then tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Mekhi Collins. Williams was in the end zone when he caught Joe McFadden's field-goal attempt from 57 yards. Williams broke a couple of tackles and then ran along the sideline for a score to give the Bison a 19-11 lead at halftime. Early in the third quarter, AJ Bianco's 19-yard touchdown pass to Gary Givens III pulled Nevada to 19-17. The Wolf Pack tried a trick play on the 2-point conversion attempt, fumbled the ball and Matthew Stenbroten ran it back to give the Bison the two points and a 21-17 advantage.Hayes' 12-yard touchdown pass to Reis Kessel early in the fourth quarter capped the scoring. Hayes completed 19 of 25 passes for 153 yards for North Dakota State (6-1, 3-1 Mountain West Conference), which bounced back from its 13-7 loss at UNLV. Bianco was 17-of-34 passing for 190 yards but threw two interceptions for Nevada (2-4, 1-2). He also scored on a 15-yard run in the first quarter.Popular ReadsNevada: Hosts San Jose State on Saturday.North Dakota State: At New Mexico on Saturday.___Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here.Sponsored Content by Taboola