Senior Alex Tillman runs to catch the ball during last weekend’s game against Montana at the Alerus Center. Photo by Chester Beltowski/The Dakota Student.

Homecoming. It is a time where students and alumni alike take pride in their school and come together to celebrate.

The culmination of the Homecoming events usually ends with the football game at the end of the week that the home team is encouraged to win.

The UND football team has not shared in that victorious expectation in a long time but hopes to turn that around when it competes against Portland State on its home turf this Saturday.

Homecoming has been a struggle for the Green and White to find a winning formula. UND has lost four Homecoming games in a row, dating back to the 2009-10 season. The last time the team won during the weekend was against South Dakota, where the Green and White won 27-12.

But fear not football fans, all is not lost on this Homecoming weekend.

This team has given its fans reason to believe that this time around could yield different results than previous years.

One of the main reasons for hope is how this team has played at home this year.

“You’ve got to give our guys a lot of credit,” UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. “They’re playing with a lot of heart and desire, running to the ball, creating turnovers and just believing.”

UND has been electric — especially the defense — in the Alerus Center, with the stats to back its performance.

Through three home games this season, UND has a winning record of 2-1, compared to its not-so-strong record of 0-3 on the road.

In those home games, the defense has dominated other teams, allowing an average of only 11.3 points per game.

“It’s a different mindset,” defensive-back Cole Reyes said. “We focus on a couple different things —  whether its running the ball, tackling, communication, and I think those are big keys that we’ve made a big stride from this year to last year.”

A big stride is an understatement.

The term “home field advantage” was irrelevant through the first three home games of last season. The team was 1-2 and was giving up an average of 33.3 points a game.

Another factor that could give fans a chance to leave the Alerus Center with smiles on their faces is the opponent UND is facing.

Portland State is by no means a bad team. The Vikings are 2-3 overall, but won their first Big Sky Conference game against UC Davis.

While not a bad team, its numbers are not very flashy on either side of the ball. Offensively, Portland State is ranked ninth in the Big Sky, scoring 23.4 points per game. That is a solid number compared to UND’s lowly 12 points per game, but the difference is in the defense. The Vikings are giving up 36.4 points a game, to UND’s 23.8, ranking them tenth and second, respectively.

The final factor to make UND fans cautiously optimistic is the way this team has been playing in the fourth quarter.

Even though the Green and White are 0-2 in their last two games, they have shown tremendous signs of life in the fourth quarters of both games.

The offense has seemed to come to life in the last fourth of the game, being able to drive the ball on opposing defenses. Last weekend, UND as a team put up all of its 15 points against Montana, which was almost enough to win the game.

The Green and White face Portland State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the Alerus Center.

While history says otherwise, there is reason for hope coming up — for not only this Homecoming weekend, but in the new era of UND football.

Alex Stadnik is a staff wrier for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].