Last week I asked if you were entertained at the Potato Bowl.
Well UND fans, were you not entertained again yesterday? This team is taking a strong resemblance to the 2016 squad. A squad that went 9-2 and seemingly won every game in dramatic fashion.
The 2022 version of the UND Cardiac Kids pulled out another nailbiter on Saturday 27-24 over Northern Arizona down in Flagstaff. They upped their record to 2-1 in the process heading into MVFC play.
I tweeted that this team has some moxie to them. Let’s be honest, the first three quarters were a rollercoaster of miscues, big plays, and everything in between. Considering UND has a less than stellar road record over the past 8 years, it wasn’t crazy to get worried about the outcome.
But….then the 4th quarter came and UND started to galvanize as a team. It wasn’t perfect, no, but let’s remember the other team has athletes too. They like to make big plays also.
The defense began to get dialed in to what NAU was doing in their dropback game all while completely shutting down the NAU running attack.
The offense went back to the run game, which then opened up the intermediate passing game. Out of nowhere the offense was in sync again after sputtering for 30-35 mins.
Would it have been easy to panic and hope somebody else made a play to save the day? Sure. But that isn’t what happened. The leaders led. The playmakers made plays and the Hawks got out of town with win.
I will get to the play of Tommy Schuster but I wanted to start out praising the front four of the UND defense. This unit got stronger as the game went on and by the 4th quarter were dominating the NAU offensive line.
NAU gained 448 yards of offense but it came vs a bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort from UND. NAU missed two field goals after long drives, both of which ended up being huge times in the game.
DE Ben McNaboe was a one-man wrecking crew again this week. Disruptive and volatile all game – plus the big sack in the 4th quarter to put NAU behind the sticks.
When a defensive coordinator can bring four guys and drop seven life is good – like real good. Another move I loved was on the final play of the game UND brought six guys knowing NAU needed to run a hail mary. To not allow the QB time for his receivers to run 50+ yards downfield is a wise move and underutilized in these situations.
Senior CB C.J. Siegel was huge on Saturday with the big pick six in the second quarter to tie things up 7-7. He also had a sack on a corner blitz. Playmakers making plays.
UND had zero turnovers for the second time in three games. It wasn’t always pretty but this offense does value the ball and that keeps you in games.
NAU QB R.J. Martinez was quite elusive all day and gave the Hawks fits. He ended the game with 324 yards and 2 TD vs 1 INT. He was hit quite a few times and was running for his life quite often, as well.
WR Bo Belquist was sensational again this week, including his highlight reel touchdown. Everyone in the world thought he was down, except him. He ended the game with 6 catches for 56 yards and the TD.
His WR counterpart Garett Maag came alive also in this one making several crucial catches. The veteran stepped up in time of need.
UND played Peyton Lotysz at center the majority of the game. Good to see more young guys get experience.
The game winning flea flicker was a thing of beauty from Danny Freund. The entire drive was a master class in how to move efficiently down the field and that final play was beautiful. WR Jack Wright was supposed to be the clear out guy for Tommy to throw to Zavalney. NAU covered Zavalney but not Wright so Tommy found the Oklahoma native in the back of the end zone for the game winner with 53 secs left.
QB Tommy Schuster played well again. He has had a very nice start to the season. 206 yards and 2 TD’s. No sacks, no INT’s. The early sputters of the offense were largely contributed to not having anybody to throw to at times. The pressure wasn’t great but the coverage was.
The Hawks running game wasn’t dominant but it was effective, averaging 4.5 yards/rush. Tyler Hoosman eclipsed the 100 yard mark again this week (102). He has turned into a hell of find out of Northern Iowa. Glad the Panthers had no use for him anymore.
Punter Cade Peterson was named the MVFC Special Teams POW. He was loving it down in that thin mountain air – averaging 52 yards/punt.
Am I worried about our kicking game right now? Yes. The kicks that Brady Stevens did make were shaky and didn’t look very good at all. The timing was off from the snap as he was early and had to rush the kick one time. To kick it right before the half was a questionable decision at best. It was blocked and UND went into the half down 1. Go for it and get closer for a field goal try or NAU gets the ball there anyway with little time left.
With the win the Hawks cruise in to MVFC play with a 2-1 record and have their season and playoff hopes all right in front of them.
This week they head back down to Carbondale, IL for the second straight year to take on the resurgent Salukis. SIU (1-2) upset Northwestern last week to keep their playoff hopes alive. An 0-3 start would’ve been disastrous.