AP photo North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance (5) celebrates after his team scores a touchdown during the first half of the FCS championship game against James Madison on Jan. 11 in Frisco, Texas.

MARSHALL — How does one improve upon perfection?

That question has been on the minds of draft pundits after North Dakota State University starting quarterback Trey Lance finished the 2019 football season with 28 passing touchdowns to no interceptions, a perfect 16-0 record and a national championship as a redshirt freshman for the Bison.

“I’ve gotten a lot better mentally and physically,” Lance said in a press conference Monday. “My body just feels a lot better, probably better than I’ve felt in a long time.”

Last month, the Missouri Valley Football Conference Presidents Council moved the MVFC’s eight-game conference schedule to the spring, but allowed schools to still play nonconference games in the fall at their own discretion.

NDSU will play just one game this fall, today against Central Arkansas, with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. In-person attendance is limited to player families only, but the game will be available to stream online on ESPN+.

This morning on ESPN’s College GameDay, Tom Rinaldi will have a feature interview profiling Lance.

In addition to mental and physical improvements, Lance has also spent plenty of time in the film room.

“Being able to break down more defenses, more NFL tape, things like that,” he said. “Watching as many throws of myself as I can, breaking them down and going through pros and cons of my mechanics.”

More than football

Nationally, people know the name Trey Lance because of his work on the football field. But locally and regionally, he wants people to know about the things he does off of the football field.

“The social justice thing is something that is obviously way bigger than football, and a lot bigger than me or anyone else,” Lance said. “I think that’s been more on my mind than anything, especially the past few months and going all the way back to May.”

He’s also taken a lot of time this summer to grow as a leader, both within his Bison football team and in the Fargo community.

“I’ve been able to realize the platform that I have, along with a lot of the other guys on the team,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of great intentional conversations with people inside and outside of our program, people in the community.”

NDSU coach Matt Entz has seen the off-field growth firsthand, and believes it shares similarities with how Lance is on the field.

“He’s handled it like a pro. He’s done a great job of internalizing some things,” Entz said in his weekly press conference Monday. The more I get to know Trey, the more I understand he doesn’t show a lot of thing to the public. He’s a thinker. Hes extremely mature, poised. The things you see on the football field is how you see him handle his day-to-day life.”

Though regular visits to the children’s hospital and to local schools have been put on hold during the pandemic, Lance has still been doing his best to get out into the community while staying safe, including taking part in peaceful protests around Fargo this summer.

“It’s been a lot different, trying to find a happy medium between getting out into the community and keeping myself and the guys safe,” he said. “Guys here have families, and there are just lines you can’t cross.”

Learning to lead

Through the offseason, Lance has taken some of his time off to continue to develop quality leadership traits.

“Learning how to handle different situations and learning how to talk to different people about things outside of football,” Lance said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to talk to people outside of the football world about leadership qualities and things like that.”

Those talks have allowed Lance to handle the different situations the offseason brought away from the field, whether social justice initiatives or NFL draft buzz or living through a pandemic.

“I’ve learned a ton about myself and about the guys around me; leadership qualities and things like that,” he said. “It’s been a lot at times, but leaning on coach Entz and my family and my family here as well, it’s been easy.”