UND came back home after a rollercoaster ride of a non-conference schedule and took care of business against UC Davis, beating the Aggies 31-24 on Saturday afternoon.
The game was a fun one to watch from a fan’s perspective as there were a bunch of big plays in all phases of the game and it was a competitive contest til the end.
Like us, we are pretty sure every UND fan who attended or watch the game on Saturday is now somewhat relieved that UND was able to run the ball again. UND ran the ball 40 times for 240 yards, led by freshmen John Santiago’s 19 rushes for 152 yards and 2 TD’s. Santiago was able to beat the first defender multiple times leading to big gainers, his longest being 23 yards.
UND OC Paul Rudolph wasted no time getting true freshman RB Iwarri Smith involved in the game, giving Smith a jet sweep handoff on the first play of the game that went for 15 yards. Smith ended the game with 8 rushes for 34 yards. Once Smith finally breaks through, which is going to happen, we are gonna be anxious to see his speed in the open field. He still looks like a freshman confidence-wise when running and needs to stick his nose downfield to gain the extra “fall forward” yards after contact.
The changes along the offensive line seemed to be a spark for the UND offense. We have stated for 18 months that UND is best served with Meehan down inside at guard. The apparent emergence of Mat Cox, who started at right tackle allowed it to finally happen. Elijah Grady has also been added to the equation at tackle and looked pretty damn good for a true freshman. We absolutely love his feet and aggression. No doubt he will be playing a lot as the season progresses. Reports say Brandon Miller has not been operating at 100%, which is probably what prompted the changes. Also, guard Dan Bell got multiple reps on Saturday.
The UND passing game was very vanilla again this week. Lots of short, intermediate stick routes and slants. Keaton Studsrud finished the game 8-19 for 58 yards and 2 TD’s. There were 2-3 drops by the UND WR’s and TE’s that skewed those numbers a bit.
Studsrud also threw a poor INT on a boot play where he tried to hit the dragging receiver but the defender jumped up in front of it. TE Luke Fiedler was hit flat guy underneath but got chopped down at the line so Studsrud was on his own to find somebody. Probably should have thrown it in the stands, much like he multiple times later in the game.
Studsrud had a great game rushing the ball, however. He ended with 11 rushes for 62 yards with most coming on QB power. He would have had 80+ yards rushing had the 22 yard line not reached out and ankle-tackled him.
The last drive by the UND offense to end the game was masterful. They burned the final 6 minutes off the clock and did not give Davis a shot at tying it up. UND produced 4 first downs with every play coming via the ground game minus one 10-yard pass to Josh Seibel. Very important to get that kind of a mindset instilled for the future.
The play of the game was made by Miguel Cerriteno on the long punt return by the Aggies electric returner Chris Martin. Martin had broke into the free and Cerriteno caught him from behind, stripped the ball out, and UND’s Brandon Anderson fell on it to give UND the ball back. Being it was 14-10 at the time and nearing 5 mins left in the first half, that was a HUGE momentum changer as UND went right back down the field and scored to make it 21-10 at the half.
Punter Mitch Meindel had a great start to the game by booming a 55 yarder that rolled down to the 2 yard line. However, Meindel then wobbled his next 3 punts, one of which was very low but rolled a long way. He appears to be having issues with his drop as the front tip points down before impact, resulting in an end-under-end type of kick. Being we have seen numerous big returns against UND in the punt return game this season due to low punts, this is concerning to us.
UND knocked another QB out of the game (briefly) on Saturday. Davis QB Ben Scott had to leave the game for a couple series after being sacked by LB Will Ratelle. He did come back into the game a couple series later. Ratelle was basically unblockable on Saturday again by the Davis offensive line.
CB Deion Harris had an outstanding interception on Davis’s first drive of the game on a quick slant route. He also added a nice return the INT to set up UND in good field position. Nice to finally see the UND DBs convert interception opportunities into turnovers.
Up front, the UND defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part. However, 3rd down and short proved to be the kryptonite as they had trouble getting off the field. If Davis needed 2 yards, it seemed like they got 3. Davis was 5 for 13 on 3rd down and 2 for 2 on 4th down, but it seemed like all of them were on short yardage running plays. A little concerning moving forward and needs to be better.
The rest of the UND secondary (and even the rest of the defense) needs to take note on how Cole Reyes attacks the line of scrimmage in the running game. He has absolutely perfected the “knifing” technique by coming in low on guards & fullbacks and somehow still gets a hand on a foot, toe or shoelace. Even if nobody is attempting to engage him, he has an ability that is mostly innate to get low and make a play on the ball carrier. This is all about effort and determination. “Scratch & claw” to make a play and get the guy on the ground. If you can’t, create a pile and cause problems and let your teammates pursue and make the play.
The tape very well could have shown different, but we didn’t notice Tyus Carter or Jawon Johnson too much on Saturday. Not a bad thing considering the positions they play. Johnson was most notable on a short pass to the flat when he came flying up and erased the Davis ball carrier on a big hit.
UND had only forced 1 turnover on defense and 2 sacks. We need to do more. Some had to do with Davis’s offensive scheme, which we really liked. They do a nice job of setting up their players for success through motions and shifting. They just seem to make 2-3 bad mistakes that kill them right now. That will even out.
Overall, we are happy with the UND win vs. a desperate UC Davis squad. They pulled out a few tricks to try and get their first “W” (flea-flicker, fake FG gone bad) but UND survived them and led the entire game, wire-to-wire. Now the true test comes up as they head on the road to Portland State to take on a 3-0 Vikings squad that is playing very sound football under Interim HC Bruce Barnum, including a win over Washington State.