The Hawks battled the #6 team in the country for four quarters on Saturday. Unfortunately, they couldn’t finish it off and suffered a 14-10 loss.
The Hawks now sit at 6-4 on the season and are in a must-win situation in Saturday’s finale vs Illinois State. The Redbirds are also 6-4 with their eye on the playoffs, as well. This will be a very good football game, UND fans. Get out to the Alerus Center and be loud!
The game started out as well as it possibly could’ve. Red Wilson took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown to put UND up 7-0. Wilson was untouched on the return and just like the Bison game, UND grabbed all the momentum early.
The offense had some juice at times but couldn’t sustain drives and put up consistent yards. They only had 211 total yards on 53 plays. It was a tight game vs a good defense. Converting on drives was paramount but the missed field goal and the Tommy Schuster interception killed two drives that would’ve won the game.
UND actually outrushed the Coyotes to my surprise. The Hawks ran for 95 yards while the Yotes only mustered 84 yards. The Coyotes did however, throw for 332 yards, which is way too many for an offense like that. It didn’t help that C.J. Siegel left the game and never returned. Apparently it was a concussion issue that really wasn’t an issue but in this day and age they shut players down upon any inkling of a concussion. Too bad because he was standing there itching to get back in.
Bo Belquist only had 4 catches for 13 yards. Gotta find a way to get him going in games like this. They tried a post in the back of the end zone but Tommy threw it a tad high. That would’ve made it 17-7 if they had connected.
Passing was tough in this one as USD has a good front. So the Yotes dropped 7 a lot and made UND try and beat their coverage. Tommy only went 16-24 for 116 yards and 1 INT. Seemed like his initial read was covered up quite a bit and the coverage was solid most of the day.
CB Devin Hembry had a nice INT in the end zone on a fade ball. He has been playing much more confident football this season and has warranted extended playing time.
In the second quarter USD was backed up at their own 10 yard line facing 3rd and 25. The snap was low and flew past Aidan Bouman forcing him to run back into the end zone, grab it and fling it out of bounds. Unfortunately, UND got a roughing the pass penalty giving them a first down. Then after that, somehow UND gave up first downs when South Dakota had 2nd & 24 and 2nd & 25 on the SAME DRIVE. I was pretty much speechless as were most UND fans.
3rd and 25, 2nd & 24, 2nd & 25. All resulted in first downs for the Coyotes. I have never seen anything like it, especially after the 4th and 24 last week that resulted in a first down. Pretty obvious that if you want to beat the #6 team in the country on the road that shouldn’t be happening.
Wyatt Pedigo’s hustle play was the best effort I have ever seen on a football field. Just flat out desire on his part. He ran the length of the field, caught Carter Bell at the one yard line, had the intelligence to rip it out (at very least try to rip it out), then go jump on it in the end zone for a touchback. That was amazing. Pedigo is having an outstanding season for the Hawks. Many guys would’ve tried to just tackle Bell. That play showed me the evolution of his game and his confidence on the field.
This was a 100% winnable game. Stings not coming up with it since it would’ve put UND into the playoffs, guaranteed, and allowed them to play for a seed this coming weekend. I was worried about how they were playing but UND played well enough to win. Far from perfect but close enough for a W.
Photos courtesy of Jacob Nielson of Mitchell Republic