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Cam Miller is one of five Bison quarterbacks who have made it to the NFL.

North Dakota State landed quarterback Carter Temple from Kearney, Missouri, late last week, he recently explained his decision to join one of the newest FBS programs in the country.

The Bison moved up after dominating the FCS for 15 years with 10 national championships, but the program’s success producing NFL quarterbacks tipped the scale for Temple. NDSU has produced five quarterback draft picks since 2016 and one CFL quarterback before them.

“It was huge for me and especially … NDSU just came from a left-handed quarterback [Cole Payton] who’s big, physical, can run and dual threat,” Temple, also a left-hander, told InForum’s Dom Izzo on Monday. “I just kept looking back on that. It was like the development part of it, like I want to go to a  program where it develops me and you know … that really gives me a good look of kind of what they can do with me.”

Temple announced his decision on May 16 via X.  He passed on offers from Arkansas State, Illinois State, Lindenwood, Missouri State, Northern Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Rice and Western Illinois. Izzo reported that Iowa State “was hot after Temple as well” on the recruiting trail.

Carter Temple Already Familiar Bison’s Home  Turf

Temple multi-sport athlete who also excels in wrestling. He won a USA wrestling national title at the FargoDome in 2024

“From winning my first national championship in wrestling to now having the opportunity to play in the FargoDome, this journey has truly been a blessing,” Temple wrote on X. “I’m incredibly thankful for everyone who has supported me and helped me get to this point.”

Bison Report’s Blake Engerbretson reported that Temple met with Bison quarterbacks coach Joe Beschorner and head coach Tim Polasek during the recruitment process. Temple is a  three-star recruit and a 6-foot-3, 215-pound dual threat quarterback.

“I’m not scared of contact … I thrive off that,” Temple told Izzo. “I’m scared to hit somebody … and I think it really helps with our run game, too, because … our running were really, really good.”

Last season, Temple led Kearney to the Class 4 state championship with a 14-0 record as a junior. He completed 70% of his passes for 1,452 yards and 18 touchdowns with a 135.6 quarterback rating, and he ran for 1,120 yards and 22 touchdowns on 144 attempts.

“So it’s always been my dream,” Temple told Izzo. “I’ll never forget that moment.”

Carter Temple to Join Full QB Room

At the moment, Temple will join a Bison quarterback room that looks set to have Trey Drake, Preston Brown, Zander Smith and Henry Nelson in 2027. Senior starter Nathan Hayes has only one year of NCAA eligibility left in 2026 after graduating this spring.

NDSU has 15 recruits overall for 2027 with Temple as the first quarterback in the class. Offensive players in the recruiting class include running backs Austyn Wittek and Martin Sleen, tight end Hunter Peterson and offensive linemen Drew Matt, Jack Tabbert, Bryce Vigness. Defensive players include defensive backs Cody Braun and Robi Duclona, defensive linemen Jack Noonan, Dorian Ward, Jake Sokoll, Guardian Harris and Andrej Sabatka and linebackers Ashton Van Beek.