Let’s get this over with immediately: yes, you are correct – my game prediction could not have been more wrong and I am stupid, you are smart…..and so on. Mea Culpa.
To say I severely overestimated the “big, bad, Valley” would be an understatement. SIU had shown a physical, fast defense in 2019 and figured that would translate to 2021. UND had shown a major issue with stopping the run at times in 2019 so I was worried about that part of the matchup. I was wrong on all fronts.
In what I would still classify as a bit of surprise, the Fighting Hawks dominated the Southern Illinois Salukis for the vast majority of the game and served notice that they can compete in the vaunted “Valley”.
The Salukis tacked on a late touchdown to make it a 44-21 final but the second half was a whitewash by the home team. The Hawks put up 28 points and only allowed 7.
UND is now 1-0 on the spring season and take on the soon-to-be #3 ranked Jackrabbits of South Dakota State this Saturday at the Alerus Center. I would advise getting your tickets early as only 4,000 are allowed and there were 3,176 at this game.
The Rundown – Offense
This was the most dominant effort by both lines that I can remember in quite awhile. I have preached that I need more from the offensive line if UND is going to do anything in the playoffs and the effort Saturday gives me hope. The big boys up front looked like a well-coached, veteran unit. They got hat on hat and were able to wear down the physical Saluki front-four. By the end of the third quarter you could see the SIU defense was ready to call it a day.
Even though Schuster was hit several times, he was never sacked on the day.
Total Yards: UND 347 SIU 323
Rushing Yards: UND 39-229. SIU 35-90. This was the story of the game. SIU needs to run the ball effectively to operate on offense and they couldn’t get it going. This allowed the UND secondary to play tight man coverage and effectively limit the Saluki passing game.
OC Danny Freund stated that he wanted to get Otis Weah going in the interior zone run game. Now we know why. Weah ran like a man that hadn’t played in a couple years, breaking initial tackles and dragging defenders to the tune of 91 yards on 13 carries. Weah also scored on a 1 yard TD plunge. The fans are going to love watching Otis play over the next four years.
QB Tommy Schuster had a solid game – not great but good. He went 15-23 for 118 yards and 3 TD’s vs INT’s. Efficient. Schuster missed a couple long balls to Garett Maag that he would like back but the nice thing is they were uncatchable for everyone. Schuster won’t make many mistakes and when he missed it was overthrown, which a coach can live with.
Schuster got drilled on a long completion to Maag due to the fact Schuster hung in the pocket til the very last second, waiting for Maag to clear the linebackers. He got the throw off but took a huge hit in the process. The result was a 31 yard completion where Maag dragged defenders for an extra 15+ yards. Gutty play from Schuster, who had to leave the game for a play but was then right back in there.
Clip of the play:
[KGVID]https://undfootball360.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Schuster-SIU-Completion.mp4[/KGVID]
Backup QB Quincy Vaughn came in and threw a nice deep post to Maag on the very next play but it was a bit high and Maag couldn’t hang on.
The running back by committee approach seemed to work well yesterday. The carries were distributed fairly evenly between Weah, Dalton Gee, Luke Skokna and Creighton Mitchell at the end. Skokna showed some nice burst on his carries and also added a nice 44 yard kick return. Gee caught a tough out route on the goal line and snuck it in for a touchdown.
The receiver unit featured Maag, Jake Richter and Bo Belquist alot yesterday. Marcus Preston and Tyler Burian subbed in periodically.
Belquist showed why the staff was so high on him coming into the spring season. The former 9-man star from New Rockford had a heck of a debut, catching 4 passes for 24 yards and 1 TD. His touchdown catch was a beauty as it was thrown behind him and he had to contort his body to reach back and haul it in.
A concern, at least for me, would be that UND went 3-10 on third down. I like that they didn’t have many 3rd downs but 30% isn’t what it needs to be.
The Rundown – Defense
If you listened to the 360 Preview Podcast you know I was worried about SIU being able to get their downhill running game going. It’s what they base their offense around and if it gets going, it’s tough to stop. Fortunately for UND fans, that never happened on Saturday.
We were particularly worried about the “wildcat” package that featured massive 6’2″-245 RB Javon Williams. Williams rushed for 19 TD’s in 2019 and was the key to their power rushing attack.
The Hawks were aware of this and fit up nicely vs. the Williams and wildcat, holding him to a paltry 35 yards on 13 carries. SIU pretty much abandoned the package early in the 2nd half. Here is a clip of the first forced fumble of the game of Williams by DE Graham Devore.
Notice the backside defenders for UND staying home – #40 Noah Larson and #24 Kadon Kauppinen coming up in support. Williams likes to cut back – UND knew this and never allowed him to get out the gate backside.
[KGVID]https://undfootball360.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SIU-fumble.mp4[/KGVID]
The addition of linebacker Devon Krzanowski (St. Cloud State) is appearing to be a major coup. Krzanowski was everywhere on Saturday and really showed a knack for identifying run fits quickly and reacting. I had said previously that his experience playing physical zone schemes in the NSIC would help him greatly in the MVFC and it showed Week 1.
The UND secondary played very well in this game. C.J. Siegel and Evan Holm were dominant vs. SIU’s big play wide receivers, not allowing one long reception all game. SIU, as you can imagine, like to hit long passes once the running game gets going. With the running game shutdown, they took some shots downfield but guys like Holm, Siegel, and Sammy Fort defended them very well. Holm and Fort both got interceptions for UND. Plus, Siegel got a strip sack which led to a Krzanowski TD when he came on a Cat blitz from the backside of QB Kare Lyles.
The Hawks forced five turnovers in the game – three forced fumbles and two INT’s. The fumbles were forced by Devore, Siegel, and Chandon Pierre (who blew by the guard and stripped the QB).
The Hawks also added four sacks for good measure.
I have a feeling this game may have been a bit personal for some folks in North Dakota. If you recall, DB coach Travis Stepps and DL coach Austin Flyger were both let go at SIU by coach Nick Hill. Also, former UND and SIU head coach Dale Lennon was fired by SIU back in 2015. I don’t know for sure but I am gonna speculate this win meant a little extra for those three.
Kicker Adam Stage won the battle royale during spring camp and showed why vs SIU. His kickoffs were both high and deep, forcing the SIU return man Justin Strong to fair catch many of them. After the coverage team obliterated him on the opening return Strong didn’t want to take that chance anymore.
UND is a better home team than road team and that showed once again on Saturday. They looked tough, faster and just plain better than SIU in all phases.
I would like to give a shoutout to the UND coaching staff and strength & conditioning staff for having the team ready to play this spring. The past 9 months have been a rollercoaster and UND looked sharp and in-shape for that first game. A testament to the staff’s effort to get this spring season in.
It’s time for UND to show that Week 1 wasn’t a fluke and the only way to do that is to beat the Jackrabbits. Playing them tough would appease some people but a big step in the right direction would be a victory. The Jackrabbits are physically imposing squad and will be a big test for UND after they disposed of #3 Northern Iowa 24-20 last Friday.
Cover image courtesy of UND Athletics and Russell Hons. https://fightinghawks.com/
