The Sioux beat an under-manned Black Hills State team by the score of 53-19 on Saturday night.  In our preview we called for them to come out and take care of business the way they should and for the most part they did.

Thunder Lake Lodge
  • The Sioux defense set the tone for the game when on the second play from scrimmage Broc Bellmore forced a BHSU fumble and Johnnie Daniels picked it and ran it back for a TD.  A quick 7-0.
  • The offense showed they were going to work on fine-tuning the running game in this one as they had 53 rushes vs. 15 passes overall.
  • The Sioux offense had 6 rushing TD’s.
  • Jer Garman and Jake Miller make a very dynamic duo in the Sioux backfield.  They both possess excellent speed and quickness.   The downside is they are undersized but still have showed the ability to run between the tackles.  Garman has some nice moves once he gets into traffic, almost like he is getting lost in all the big guys and comes popping out the other side.
  • Miller had a career high 189 yards on 22 carries and 2 TD’s.
  • Garman ended with 94 yards on 16 carries and a 2 TD’s.
  • QB Joey Bradley was efficient (10-15, 105 yards) but we are still looking for a little more downfield accuracy.  He is a work in progress, as all young players are, but he does seem to have a nice command of the huddle and the respect of the players.
  • The offensive line did a great job of blocking in the run game.  The Sioux offense had 353 yards rushing.  Pass protection was decent but  could still use some improvement.
  • WR RJ McGill impressed us again with his hands and play making ability.  He had 6 catches for 67 yards.
  • The Sioux offense fumbled twice on Saturday.
  • The Sioux defense was pretty good again on Saturday.  They limited BHSU to 265 total yards and forced a fumble and picked one ball off.
  • They came up with 2 sacks in the game, both by defensive ends (Broc Bellmore and Jay Nelson).
  • BHSU QB Ward Anderson was 13-32 for 171 yards.   We still don’t know why their starting QB Wes Kragt did not play but it definitely affected their game plan.  The Sioux pass defense was sufficient in this game but still gave up a few too many easy passes.  Every team is going to get something but they shouldn’t be easy.  The 26 yard TD before the half to Ryan Fagerstrom shouldn’t have happened.  Can’t let that one in seconds before the half no matter what the score.  We can see progress being made and this week will be a real indicator as to where they are.  SUU is an excellent passing team.
  • The front 7 did a nice job once again.   BHSU had 64 yards rushing on 24 carries.  The Sioux took them completely out of their gameplan of wanting to run the spread option.  Teams have not been able to run on the Sioux at all this year.
  • DB Mitch Kudrna had the only interception on what could best be equated to a pass from a game of 500.  QB Ward Anderson just reached back and threw it up for grabs and the Sioux had 3 guys there but Kudrna came down with it.
  • Two more blocked kicks on the day for the Sioux.  We cannot think of another team that blocks more kicks than UND.  It is amazing how they almost do it on a weekly basis.  This week Devin Benjamin blocked a FG and Cordero Finley blocked a PAT and scooped it up and ran it all the way back for a 2 point conversion.

The Sioux got the lopsided win that we wanted and now move onto Great West Conference play.  They take on #19 Southern Utah out in Cedar City this Saturday at 2pm central time.  This is a huge test for the Sioux and in particular the pass defense.   SUU just demolished UNLV in Las Vegas 41-16 one week after UNLV beat Hawaii.