The Fighting Hawks played like a team that needed a win. An urgent team that knew the stakes.
On Saturday, all three phases came together to produce a 28-19 victory over rival South Dakota. The win upped the Hawks record to 7-3.
More importantly, it gets UND firmly in the discussion for the FCS playoffs, no matter the result this coming weekend. A win over NDSU would put them in seed discussions, not just the playoffs.
The game didn’t start out the way we all hoped, but it wasn’t a total surprise. Teams have scored early on UND this year (only for the Hawks to adjust and slow them down second half). USD came out and moved the ball down the field efficiently on their first two drives, scoring a TD both times. This gave them a 13-7 lead heading into half – or so we all thought!
After a UND stop deep in the the Yotes end of the field, Malachi McNeal busted through the middle of the USD punt wall and got a paw on the punt, sending it rolling back to the two yard line. Nate DeMontagnac fell on it setting up UND in prime position.
With only 14 secs left before half Tommy Schuster found Bo Belquist for a game-changing touchdown. UND seized all the momentum into half and never relinquished it. The McNeal block could definitely be termed the “play of the game”.
The McNeal punt block was massive but a close second was C.J. Siegel’s PAT block after USD’s third touchdown. It kept the game 28-19, meaning it was still a two-score game. Siegel absolutely exploded off the edge and took a tight route off the wing blocker – flawless technique.
USD only had 248 yards of offense. This surprised me because it seemed as if they were moving it quite a bit. But, one needs to remember that UND’s offense owns the time of possession battle every game so the opponent doesn’t get extra possessions. The Yotes were a methodical offense to begin with.
Time of Possession – UND 36 USD 24.
The Yotes were 8-12 on third down. Don’t like that stat one bit but it will give UND things to look at it heading into next week. The pressure didn’t get there and the coverage couldn’t hold long enough on many of those.
UND appeared to change their blitzes as the game went on. They kicked defensive ends out to a 7-technique and let him work the tackles a bit more, while bringing more pressure on the inside with the linebackers, essentially more 5 & 6 man pressures vs bringing only 4. This produced the game-clinching sack by Ben McNaboe (2 sacks, 2 TFL in the game) as he went right around #71 with a speed dip/rip move.
Aaron Cooper had a similar sack in the play prior to McNaboe’s sack. Cooper has been quite active lately, showing he may be getting more comfortable as the season has progressed.
I said on the pregame show that the weakness of the Yotes offense is their OL. They are solid run blockers due to their massive size but are not very good in pass protection. This began to show up as the game went on. UND had three sacks in the game & several more pressures.
The UND defense only allowed one score in the Coyotes last six possessions. They played much more confidently, especially in the secondary.
Schuster was very good again. He went 24-28 for 243 yards and 3 TD vs 1 INT. I am sure he would love to have back that INT in the end zone as it was an ill-advised throw and frankly, uncharacteristic. Throw it away. But he did so many good things in that game, like buying time and finding open receivers. He won’t have the numbers to be all-conference but he is an all-conference type QB.
Belquist was outstanding all day. He ended with 7 catches for 92 yards and 2 TD’s. Belquist leads the MVFC in receptions with 57, is 3rd in yards with 688, and 4th in TD’s with six.
RB Tyler Hoosman was rugged in this one. He was dragging guys, running over others, and just plain tough to bring down. Hoosman rushed 23 times for 100 yards.
The UND offensive line played quite well, IMO. Tommy wasn’t sacked in the game and USD only had one TFL total. Also, the push up front was noticeable.
Center Danny Carroll was back in the starting role after the loss of Peyton Lotysz last week in practice. Carroll had a few snaps that were high, forcing Tommy to jump for them but overall he played well. Carroll is a tough inside blocker and blocked well on his pulls, also.
Losing Lotysz is a tough one for UND. He was playing solid football in his first year of action after coming off injuries his freshman year. He will be back in 2023.
The Hawks had 351 yards of total offense.
If I had a criticism of the offensive line it would be blocking in space on plays such as screens. They seem to whiff on a guy or let one slip through every so often and it blows up the play. The Hawks screen game is better than it’s even been but there is definitely room for improvement. The screen to Isaiah Smith in the red zone doesn’t count because USD literally had nobody out there to block, haha. That is the definition of a ‘perfect call’ by Danny Freund.
Well here we are UND fans! Last game of the season vs. the rival NDSU Bison. Game time is set for 2:30pm from the Fargodome.
NDSU is sitting at 8-2 on the season. UND is 7-3. Both teams are playing well and this should be a fun one. The UNDFB360 Pregame Show should be an exciting one this week.
Cover photo courtesy of Russ Hons and UND Athletics