Bison notebook: NDSU WR Green changes jersey number to his grandma's favorite

"It’s my grandma’s favorite number," he said.

The redshirt sophomore from Farmington, Minnesota, had a key 26-yard catch to convert a third-and-long early in the game last weekend in a 35-10 season-opening college football victory against Eastern Washington at U.S. Bank Stadium. Green finished with two catches for 41 yards.

The Bison are scheduled to play Maine at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome in the home opener.

Green said he first wore the No. 13 a number his older brother also wore beginning in travel team basketball starting in third grade and wore it all the way through high school.

In addition, his grandma Georgia Freetly is also a fan.

“It sure does make you feel good," Green said. “She comes to all my games, which I’m really grateful for.”

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Green is part of a balanced Bison receiving group that had eight different players, including five different wide receivers, catch passes in the season-opener against Eastern Washington. NDSU also had three different tight ends with receptions.

“We all have our own play style I feel like," Green said of the wide receivers group. "Having all those options, it makes it pretty easy for us to call our whole playbook and execute all our passing plays.”

Green had six receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown last season. His touchdown was a 44-yard catch against South Dakota State in the Division I FCS championship game last January.

Green is hoping plays like that are a precursor of what's to come during his third season in the program.

“I’m very confident with our playbook now going into my third year," Green said. “I feel I can be a deep threat for the team as well as getting in and out of routes and completing short-game stuff. ... I’ve got to make the most of every opportunity I have.”

The verbal commitment this week of walk-on Will Rosenmeyer is evidence of NDSU opening new recruiting territory. Rosenmeyer, a defensive back from Rock Canyon High School in Littleton, is the first Bison recruit from Colorado in recent memory.

It's part of a targeted effort by Bison coaches to shift some of their out-of-region recruiting from Georgia to Colorado. Georgia was fertile ground for a couple of years with running back Kobe Johnson and safety Dom Jones coming to Fargo.

There are a few reasons for the switch, according to head coach Matt Entz.

First is cost. Airline tickets from Fargo to Denver are more affordable than those from Fargo to Atlanta, meaning a cost savings to the football program and potentially to the recruit and his family.

Second, Bison coaches believe Colorado high schools have a talent level equal to that of the Twin Cities area and is under-recruited. There aren't many FCS programs that recruit Colorado and only a handful of FBS Group of Five schools are regulars in the state. Colorado State, of course, and Wyoming are two Mountain West Conference schools that mine the state for football talent.

Entz also cites retention. He believes the lower cost of airline tickets will allow Bison players to get home more often if they desire, even if it's just for an off weekend or holiday.

The Bison will continue to look at Florida and north Texas for players, as they've successfully done in Division I.

It's still the CAA, but there was a major change to the name of Maine's league in the offseason. The Colonial Athletic Association is now the Coastal Athletic Association.

The move is a reflection of the league's expanding footprint in recent years, with members spanning from Massachusetts to South Carolina. The CAA may have lost James Madison two years ago, but is now at 15 football-playing members with the addition of Campbell University (N.C.), Hampton University (Va.), Monmouth University (N.J.), North Carolina A&T and the State University of New York at Albany.

It means the league is no longer geographically concentrated around the colonial states. It will keep its same logo.

With 15 schools, each team will play eight conference games making for an off-balanced schedule. Of the five CAA teams ranked in the FCS coaches top 25 poll this week, the Black Bears avoid Delaware and New Hampshire this season.