Bowling Green Thoughts

UND was oh so close to winning their second FBS game in as many years on Saturday.  The two-point conversion attempt (which we loved) tipped off WR Stetson Carr’s hands and with it, UND’s upset victory bid came up just short.  The game was outstanding to watch and showed marked improvement in all three phases by UND.  But, in the end UND lost 27-26 and are now 0-2 heading into the home opener vs. The Yotes.

• After a slow start to the game which saw BGSU get out to a 14-0 lead, UND fought back nicely and controlled the next 2.5 quarters.  The mental toughness of Coach Schweigert’s staff, players and program showed through.
• The UND offense had 383 yards of total offense.
• The UND offensive line played better overall.  The pass protection was much, much better and Keaton Studsrud had a nice pocket to work from most of the game.
• Admitting we only re-watched certain parts of the game, but RG Demon Taylor didn’t have his best game.  LG Dan Bell played much better but both of them have a ways to go.  The absence of Brandon Anderson and Sean Meehan is noticeable right now.
• The mental side of playing OL is what appears to be getting those two.  From pre-snap reads to the first 0.5 second after the snap there is a lull there that causes them to be a step slow in whatever direction is needed.  It will improve but right now is hurting the offense at times.
• Studsrud was much better this week.  Much more confident in his throws.  We were hard on him last week but he did what he needed to do to put UND in a position to win the game.  Studsrud ended the game 21-36 for 219 yards and 1 TD.
• RB John Santiago was able to get back on track and looked like the JS of 2015.  He ended the game 18 rushes for 119 yards and 1 TD.  The pass protection from the running backs was very good on Saturday, a big improvement from week one.
• Punter Austin Dussold was solid again.  42 yard average, long of 58, three inside the 20 yard line.  He has been huge this year.
• UND actually ran more plays than BGSU did on Saturday – 79 to 75.  Very surprising.
• The UND Defense played a pretty damn good game minus a couple gaffes in the secondary on the two long Scott Miller TD’s, which were essentially the same play and route.  BGSU had 417 yards of offense, which isn’t great for UND, but were stopped on 4th down once and committed three turnovers.  After the 14-0 start, the UND defense really settled in nicely over the last 3.5 quarters.
• Rotating 10+ guys in along the defensive line is really working well thus far for UND.  That group is extremely active and has given both offensive line’s they have faced issues.  They notched 2.5 sacks and 2 TFL’s in the game.  Brandon Dranka and Steve Greer each got a sack.
• The up-tempo speed did not appear to harm UND on defense.  BGSU got yards, obviously, but UND seemed to be in good defensive position and controlled the line of scrimmage most of the game.
• The UND cornerbacks played their best game in YEARS on Saturday.  Deion Harris is playing like an all-conference cornerback right now.  Extreme confidence is exuding from him during these games.  He is pressing guys, backing off at times, getting into them on fade routes.  Oh, and he picked off TWO passes on Saturday, returning one 61 yards for a TD.  He has taken a big leap from last year.
• Cornerback Tyus Carter also registered a interception.  He was much more aggressive this week vs. a very good BGSU WR corps.
• Not quite sure what happened on the two long TD passes but we are pretty sure the second one was blown coverage.  UND had LB Taj Rich trailing WR Scott Miller on the post route, which tells us they wanted to force a higher throw giving the safety time to get over it.  Instead, safety Zach Arnell broke to the fade route along the sideline, essentially leaving nobody in the middle of the field.  A back-breaker when your defense was playing pretty well overall, making BGSU work for their yards.
• EDIT:  Re-watched the 2nd long TD pass and not quite sure what was going on because Arnell did appear to play it the right way.
• The UND defense has scored points in both games this season.
• OLB Jade Lawrence had a nice defensive play in coverage on a fade route in the end zone.  Lawrence ran with the WR and didn’t look back, essentially face-guarding him and having the ball deflect away.  Pretty good technique for a freshman.

Time to move on to the South Dakota Coyotes, who are currently sitting at 1-1 after staging a huge comeback against Weber State and eventually winning in double-OT 52-49.  Sitting Bull will not be on the line in this one, however.

This is a MUST-WIN for UND.  They need to play with an extreme sense of urgency in this one.   Should be an interesting week of practice.