2021 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

The 2021 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team represented the University of North Dakota in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Fighting Hawks competed as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and were led by eight-year head coach Bubba Schweigert. They played their home games at Alerus Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

2021 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Record	5–6 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coach	Bubba Schweigert (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Danny Freund (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Brett Holinka (2nd season)
Home stadium	Alerus Center

2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 14 Missouri State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 16 Southern Illinois ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 18 South Dakota ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 4 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					11	–	4
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^		4	–	4					6	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
North Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Western Illinois		2	–	6					2	–	9
Illinois State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Youngstown State		2	–	6					3	–	7
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The Fighting Hawks finished the season 5–6, 3–5 in MVFC play to finish in eighth place.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	2:00 p.m.	at Idaho State*	No. 8	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	ESPN+	W 35–14	4,667
September 10	8:00 p.m.	at Utah State*	No. 9	Maverik Stadium Logan, UT	CBSSN	L 24–48	18,124
September 18	4:00 p.m.	Drake*	No. 11	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	ESPN+	W 38–0	10,143
October 2	2:00 p.m.	No. 5 North Dakota State	No. 10	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND (Nickel Trophy)	ESPN+	L 10–16	12,846
October 9	2:00 p.m.	at South Dakota	No. 13	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (Sitting Bull Trophy)	ESPN+	L 13–20	5,304
October 16	2:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Southern Illinois	No. 22	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	L 28–31	10,644
October 23	2:00 p.m.	Western Illinois		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	ESPN+	W 34–10	8,807
October 30	2:00 p.m.	at No. 17 Missouri State		Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN+	L 28–32	8,372
November 6	12:00 p.m.	Youngstown State		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	ESPN+	W 24–21	8,441
November 13	2:00 p.m.	Illinois State		Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	ESPN+	W 14–7	6,141
November 20	2:00 p.m.	at No. 12 South Dakota State		Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD		L 21-24	8,132
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time