For all of you (including us) wondering if the UND Football team could win a “shootout” type of a game, well, you got your answer on Saturday.  UND and Montana State got into a wild one at the Alerus Center and the future Hawks/Nodaks/Roughriders pulled it out at the very end, 44-38.

Thunder Lake Lodge
Thunder Lake Lodge

It was an extremely entertaining game for the fans with explosive plays happening throughout, most of which were by UND.

UND also went all Green for this game and we loved it!  Great classic look.

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  1. The return of QB Keaton Studsrud galvanized the UND offense.  There is no question that the offense plays with a different demeanor with him in there.  We can’t quite put our finger on “it” because it doesn’t appear that he is a big rah-rah guy vocally, but he’s definitely got command of the offense and huddle.
  2. Studsrud never ran QB power once throughout the game.  That play would have worked well, based on the fact UND ran for 426 yards.  But, it was obvious that he still was not 100% confident in his cutting ability.
  3. Studsrud only threw the ball 9 times on Saturday. He completed 6 of them and had 2 others dropped by Josh Seibel.  Seibel also fumbled on a first down conversion that could have been recovered by freshman WR Luke Stanley, who tried to pick it up and advance it instead of falling on it around the pile – another youthful rookie mistake. Seibel needs to lock it in here down the stretch and start playing better.
  4. The return of WR Clive Georges completely changed the dynamic of the UND offense.  When UND can throw a 5 yard hitch to Georges, have him make one move, and take it to house for a 21 yard TD, that is special.  Offensive coordinator Paul Rudolph called a masterful game on Saturday.  But, having playmakers like Georges and Santiago makes his life so much easier knowing he doesn’t have to script a 10-15 play drive every time they get the ball (like last year).
  5. Overall, the offensive line just mauled people all game.  Great push and solid fundamental blocking for the most part up front.  Still a few breakdowns here and there, particularly at the center spot, that we continue to notice and needs to be cleaned up.  Pass protection still needs some work.  UND is getting beat off the edge in one-on-one situations too much lately.
  6. Brady Oliveira’s unsportsmanlike conduct 15 yard penalty cannot happen. He made the “spoonfeeding” gesture after a big gain. Why would you do that? That cannot happen anymore. Freshman rookie mistake that we hope we don’t ever see again from him or anyone else. Time to start acting like you’ve been there before.
  7. We love the nastiness of LT AJ Stockwell, love it.  But, he is starting to teeter on the edge with clippings, etc. and it cost UND field position on Saturday.  He got a clipping penalty that put UND back to 2nd and 22 in the 3rd quarter.  We don’t want him to change the way he plays just try to reign it in a bit so as to not hurt the team.
  8. Lets give some credit to the fullbacks and tight ends for the edge blocking they did on Saturday.  Jacob Francis, Zach Adler, and Luke Fiedler did a nice job either sealing or kicking their guy out to provide a lane for Santiago on the stretch plays.
  9. In fact, Fielder stuck out one time on Santiago’s long 75 yard TD run, as he was still blocking his guy at the line of scrimmage as Santiago crossed the goal line.  The UND coaches were actually yelling for him to stop as he did not know where the ball was.  Pure effort and desire to do HIS job.
  10. True freshman RB’s John Santiago (30-230-3TD) and Brady Oliveira (12-167-1TD) were outstanding once again this week.  Santiago is the speed and quickness and Oliveira is the power, along with a quick cutting ability at the line.  Those two are going to be something to watch over the next three years.
  11. The UND Defense finally created 4 turnovers. However, the UND Offense gave it back 3 times of their own, 2 of which were by Studsrud in pass protection. In our estimation, one for sure was on the o-line/RB. It can be debated that Studsrud’s internal clock needed to go off on the other one.
  12. The absolute “want-to” out of ILB Will Ratelle is almost unbelievable.  He wants to get to the ball carrier no matter where he is on the field.   Ratelle was everywhere vs. MSU, with 13 tackles and 0.5 TFL and 0.5 sacks.  He is carrying this defense right now.
  13. The Bobcats continually hurt UND with the quick bubble screen.  But, those are chain-moving plays for MSU and not what they want to do as an offense.  Would UND like to defend them better?  I suppose, but we aren’t too worried about those because there isn’t an OC in America that will keep calling those all game.
  14. In addition, we can’t help but notice the corners in run support.  They have to be tougher and do better at getting off stalk-blocks by WR’s and close the alley to set the perimeter edge.  It is impossible for the rest of pursuit to adjust when they are dancing inside and out with the blocking WRs.  We realize they were softened up by the Bobcats gimmicky plays on offense, but they still have to do better.  Both Tyus Carter and Deion Harris are very talented young corners with chances to be very good, but now it is time to start learning from your mistakes in the run game as well as the pass game.  You can’t be a complete corner until you start making a difference in run game support.  This is our challenge to them in the final weeks (obviously in addition to playing the ball better in the air in the pass game).
  15. We were surprised with the Bobcat running game and how well it did.  They ran for 186 yards on 37 carries.  Give them credit for running the ball right at the strength of the UND defense.
  16. The above point makes us wonder why MSU needs to keep reverting to gimmicky plays every other series?  They have a solid scheme with Prukop at the controls but turn to bubble-screen double passes, throw back passes to QB, fake handoff/fake reverse play-action passes that really are not needed.  They hurt UND most with their base stuff on Saturday.
  17. This is a great time for a bye week as UND plays a much improved Northern Colorado squad in Grand Forks on November 14th.  Studsrud, Cole Reyes, Stockwell, Dayo Idowu, Steve Greer, Drew Greely (could play), and Elijah Grady all get a chance to heal up for the stretch run.
  18. Speaking of Grady, he went down with what appeared to be a knee injury.  After watching him stay on the sideline and watch the rest of the game we do NOT think it is serious.  Probably a minor sprain or something along those lines.  Let’s hope for the best.
  19. Big Sky officiating continues to be an embarrassment to the league.  How the head referee made the initial call of intentional grounding rather than fumble is beyond us.  He had no view or angle and the side judge that did called it a fumble accordingly.  Thank goodness for instant replay.
  20. Sidenote:  With the win over Montana State, UND has now defeated all but 2 Big Sky Conference teams since their transition to Division 1. Those 2 teams? Eastern Washington (0-3) and……Weber State (0-2).
  21. One last sidenote that we forgot to mention after last week’s Montana game.  For what it’s worth, UND has faced two teams this year on the schedule that were coming off of a bye and had 2 weeks to prepare for UND.  Those 2 teams?  NDSU and Montana – a combined 76-25 and UND’s two worst losses of the season.