As the 2018 UND Football season gets underway we thought we would brain dump a bit on you about the past year, the upcoming season, and anything else that has been rattling around in our heads.

Rumors
Thunder Lake Lodge

Ready?  Alright:

  • The 2017 season turned into a soon-to-be unmitigated disaster the moment ILB Donnell Rodgers got hurt in the Missouri State game – Week 2.  They had already lost their linebacker leader Connor O’Brien in the spring (concussions) and Dijon Murray and Jake Geier weren’t ready.  True freshman Noah Larson got hurt in camp so he wasn’t available (thank goodness because he then redshirted). Freshman Cam Hunt was still injured so he wasn’t available until late in the season.
    • The result was a young ILB in 195 pound freshman Jake Rastas, who filled in admirably the rest of the season, and 210 pound senior Jake Disterhaupt, who was best served playing OLB but played his ass off for the team at ILB.
    • Teams saw this and ran at-will up the middle with every player they had – fullbacks, running backs, quarterbacks.  Didn’t matter.  UND couldn’t physically stop them.  The result = 3-8.
  • Fast-forward to 2018.  UND’s inside linebackers now look like this:
    • Donnell Rodgers – 248
    • Noah Larson – 233
    • Everett Williams – 250
    • Tyron Vrede – 225
    • Cam Hunt – 214
    • Dijon Murray – 220
    • Jake Rastas – 200
    • Jake Geier – 223
    • Hayden Reynolds – 210
  • Teams aren’t going to run QB power or straight zone right down UND’s throat this year.  They couldn’t do it in 2015 & 2016 and 2018 will be more like those years, IMO.  Which means the opposing offense’s will need to get more creative and actually turn the page, which creates more opportunities for the Hawk defense to make a big play – like in 2016.
  • Speaking of Williams – he has been likened to former UND ILB Taj Rich.  Big, physical run-thumper.  The former Gopher is not going to play sideline to sideline but he will blow up anything between the tackles.  Sounds good to me.
  • Various sources all corroborated that UND had an outstanding summer of workouts – possibly the best in recent memory — and get this: everyone stayed healthy.  Go knock on wood NOW!
  • The leaders on the team were leaders.  Sounds simple but that always hasn’t been the case. Dynamic RB duo John Santiago and Brady Oliveira had outstanding summers and are ready to close out their Hawk careers on a high note.
  • All-American CB Deion Harris was cleared to train at 100% this entire summer.  He accomplished that goal and should be ready for camp.  But, the next step is the mental game.  Coming off a devastating achilles injury is not easy.  The hardest part is making football movements and trusting yourself to not re-injure it while doing them.
  • We are still a bit worried about the offensive line.  The depth isn’t there yet and the right side of the line is completely up in the air.  We are hearing RG Nate Nguon may not be ready early in camp due to an injury suffered in the spring.  That hurts.
  • Right guard is a battle between senior Grant Aplin, the swiss army knife of the OL, and freshman Connor Kruse.
  • Right tackle is completely unproven with sophomores Bennett Helgren and Sean Russo battling for the starting job.  Neither has played much at all.
  • The left side of the offensive line will be UND’s strength.  The sophomore duo of LT Noah Mortel, who is a future all-conference type player and LG Ryan Tobin will be solid.  They both got their taste of game action last year as freshmen and should take a huge jump forward this year as the game slows down for them.
  • The defensive staff reacted to losing all four starting secondary members last year to injury by adding four transfers – S Osayi Onaghinor, S Hayden Galvin, CB Lenny Nelson, & CB Terrell Jennings.  They did not want to have to play true freshmen again (like Ty Shannon & Hayden Blubaugh in 2017).  This move will help develop this year’s true freshmen secondary players.
  • It is going to be a 3 week battle in the secondary for those four spots.  The depth is there but no clear cut #1’s right now (because of Harris injury).
  • Speaking of playing as true freshmen – the new rule allows the UND staff to play freshmen up to four games without them losing their redshirt.  Interesting for sure.  The most interesting part is how will teams utilize those freshmen and when.  Save them for the end when depth gets thin is our thought.
  • Having said that – what does that do to your scout team when these freshmen move over to other end of the field and get reps with the starting offense/defense?
  • We are excited to watch the four freshmen defensive lineman get reps this fall.  Big things are expected from Zeke Ott, Jalen Morrison, Quintin Seguin and Nick Honerlaw.  Ott is the one with the most twitch and ability to disrupt a game.
  • Who is going to punt?  They brought in freshman Cade Peterson so he is the odds on favorite but we have heard there is another kid on campus already who may take a swing at it.  Let’s dig into that one.
  • UND just got their 7th OL commitment last night in Milnor/North Sargent standout Adam Neustel.  Yes, SEVEN offensive line commits in one class.  Certainly unique but definitely understandable considering there are depth issues along the line right now.
  • The guys we are watching in recruiting right now are TE Vance Brazile – LB Thomas Brunner – TE William Enneking – CB Caleb Nelson – (Lenny’s brother).
  • UND is about full for their 2019 class.  It’s gotta be real tight counter-wise and it’s only August 2nd.  Those four have to be about the last of the standing offers, barring some surprise.
  • Expect freshman OL Kyle Hergel to be on the field once they start up tomorrow.  Not sure why he isn’t listed on the roster.
  • Same goes for safety Chavildo Van Ommeren.  He had some paperwork issues that needed to be cleared up but has been in Grand Forks all summer.  He will be on the field soon.
  • Vrede is listed as a senior but is going through some compliance stuff and could very well be a junior again, soon.

Photo courtesy of fightinghawks.com.