Jake Kubas

Early life

Kubas was born on August 13, 2000, in Dickinson, North Dakota. His father and brother each played football for the North Dakota State Bison. He attended Dickinson Trinity High School in Dickinson, where he competed in football, basketball and track, also being a member of the National Honor Society. He played three years on the Titans football team, two as a starter, and was a two-time team captain, being named a first-team all-conference selection as a junior and a first-team all-state selection as a senior. He graduated from Trinity in 2018 and walked-on to play college football for North Dakota State University.

College career

Kubas redshirted as a freshman at North Dakota State in 2018. He was a member of the team that won the 2018 FCS national championship. He appeared in five games during the 2019 season as a reserve, winning a second national championship. Kubas saw action in three games during the 2020–21 season before missing the remainder due to injury. He started all 15 games in the 2021 season at right guard, helping the team average 280.6 rushing yards per game while winning another national championship.

Kubas was put on scholarship in 2022 and received an undergraduate degree in sport management that year. He started all 15 games during the 2022 season at right guard. He returned for a final season in 2023 and started 14 games, being team captain and being selected first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) and first-team FCS All-American by Stats Perform. He ended his collegiate career with 44 starts, all in his last three seasons.

At North Dakota State, Kubas was also a top student. He was a six-time MVFC Honor Roll selection, the 2019 recipient of the conference's academic excellence award and an FCS academic all-star. He was a member of the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society, was a two-time CSC Academic All-District selection and a 2023 second-team MVFC Scholar-Athlete.