We will start this post by stating that this is by far the most enjoyable write-up we have ever done. The obvious reason is because UND achieved their first ever FBS win, which is a huge monkey of their back. The other reason is even bigger in our minds.
UND has declared since day one that they are going to be a physical team. They are going to run the ball, stop the run, and win games the old fashioned way. Well, they did exactly that in beating a very similar type of team that likes to win the same way. That is why it is so gratifying to us.
Wyoming knew what UND was going to do and couldn’t stop it. They knew exactly what UND does on defense and couldn’t run on it, whatsoever.
The UND offense had 276 yards rushing and 429 yards of total offense.
We stated that UND had to eliminate the “big plays” and make Wyoming churn their way down the field. Minus one blown coverage UND did exactly that and better. Wyoming’s longest run of the day was a measly 9 yards.
Wyoming rushed for 29 yards on 19 attempts.
Wyoming had 318 yards of total offense. 92 of those yards came on one play. So, they ran 57 plays for 226 yards besides that one blown coverage.
The UND front seven did a solid job all day. A few of the Wyoming players alluded to the fact that UND was moving their front all day and it essentially confused them. Freshman Austin Cieslak from Hazen, ND had a nice first game. He was in on the game ending sack of Wyoming QB Cameron Coffman, a play where UND sent 7 on an all out blitz to put it away.
We are going to come out and say it: The two UND coordinators took it to their counterparts on the Wyoming staff. Coach Bohl even alluded to the fact that the Cowboy offense made adjustments and UND seemed to right on top of them immediately.
UND OC Paul Rudolph called a great game. When you are calling “draw” on third and long and getting it, you are seeing something that nobody else is. Rudolph noticed how Wyoming was staying in their standard 4-3 on 3rd and long, thus bailing out on the snap. So he countered by handing it off to Santiago giving him a full head of steam to try and get the first down. The ILB’s didn’t have enough time to react up due to Santiago’s speed.
QB Keaton Studsrud led a very organized, efficient offense on Saturday and showed exactly what everyone was hearing he could do. He is a great athlete, as evidenced by the 44 yard TD run where he ran away from everyone on the field. But he is very smart, too. He did not make any mistakes (other than maybe hanging onto the ball too long that yielded Eddie Yarbrough’s only sack of the day) and went 13-23 for 153 yards. UND was 9 for 17 on 3rd down. Very good.
John Santiago rushed for 148 yards and 2 TD’s as a true freshman in his first even collegiate football game. Not bad for the former running back turned wide receiver turned running back.
Speaking of Meehan, he did a job on Yarbrough all day. Those two were locked up 1 on 1 for pretty much every play and Meehan only gave up the 1 sack after Studsrud held it for 4 seconds. After reviewing the highlights, Wyoming actually ran a game on that play and the running back whiffed on Yarbrough. Not Meehan’s guy.
UND played the same five offensive lineman the entire game (Stockwell, Anderson, Boas, Miller, and Meehan).
The holding call on John Santiago’s 70 yard TD run was legit. WR Luke Stanley did a good job initially tying up his guy but stayed with him a second too long and it appeared as if he was holding then at the end of the block.
Here is a quote that probably should not have been said when speaking about Santiago: “He wasn’t anything special,” UW redshirt freshman safety Chavez Pownell Jr. said. “I feel like it was all on us.” Really? Maybe freshmen shouldn’t speak to reporters.
Here is an outstanding analysis of John Santiago’s 52 yard TD run vs. Wyoming. A few notes on this play:
- UND lined up in a two fullback formation where all three “backs” are stacked in a line. There is a name for this formation in the football world but we are not going to say what it is because this is a family blog.
- The two fullbacks blocked the strong side linebacker and the free corner on that side. The biggest block on the play, IMO, was by left tackle Sean Meehan. He had their all-conference defensive end Yarbrough on ice skates and spun him around twice by the time the play was over, pushing him back 5 yards. This allowed Santiago to cut behind him while at full speed and simply outrun the safety, who took a terrible angle on the play (cut off by Meehan). UND left the ILB and safety unblocked, which proved to be perfect strategy.
- The other reason why this play was so hard to defend that day: Because the offensive line blocks left, while the fullbacks go right. The ILB’s keys sent him with the UND offensive line, essentially freezing him for that split second, which allowed Santiago to slip out the weak side and onto the second level.
WR Clive Georges injured his hand early in the game and will now miss a couple weeks. That is too bad because Georges had a great fall camp and was going to be UND’s main deep threat this season. He still can be that guy when he comes back from injury. The word is he is out 4-6 weeks. UND will need to find another player to run the jet sweeps each game as it appeared Georges was going to be that guy.
