What a game.  In what will be remembered by UND fans for a long, long time, the Fighting Hawks came back from a 17 point fourth quarter deficit to defeat the USD Coyotes 47-44.

The announced crowd of 11,477 was treated to a hell of a football game.  Here are the highlights (and there are plenty of them):

  • USD ran 81 plays on Saturday and held the ball for 28:24 while UND managed 69 plays for 31:36.
  • UND fumbled three times, losing one of them.  Also, UND threw an interception off of a tipped pass that should have been caught.  All this needs to be cleaned up and cannot continue to happen.  This UND offense simply isn’t good enough right now to overcome that, especially on the road.
  • QB Keaton Studsrud started out slowly again this week.  He ended up playing very well again late in the game but his early rhythm seems to be lacking right now.  Studsrud was 12-25 for 177 yards and 2 TD’s.
  • The UND offensive line needs to play better.  The Yotes defensive front dominated UND in the first half.  It was frustrating to see that happen early on.
  • The protection from the UND OL was very good in the second half.  Studsrud had time to find his WR’s and even easily scramble out of the pocket late in the game when nothing was open.
  • The UND defensive front needs to do better against the zone running game of a team like USD.  Got shoved around a bit too much on the interior.
  • UND OLB’s did a great job against USD QB Streveler on 3rd down in the “spy” coverages and calls.  We noticed Jawon Johnson and Jade Lawrence a few times did well on it.
  • John Santiago had a ‘quiet’ 142 yards rushing and a TD.  He’s now averaging 103.3 rushing yards per game through 3 games (310 total).  Still hasn’t hit any ‘homeruns’ yet this year.  Saw him get back to some old bad habits on Saturday by carrying the ball in the wrong hand a few times.  That increases the odds of a fumble, which happened.
  • UND’s TE’s and RBs need to be and probably will be more involved in the passing game as a safety valve for Studsrud.  Slip and swing screens/passes to get Santiago the ball more in space would do wonders for the WRs downfield.  Fiedler needs to be more of an option on the seams with his size.
  • Speaking of tight ends, true freshman Alex Cloyd had his redshirt pulled on Saturday .  He caught 1 ball for 6 yards.  We hope to see him on the field a ton from here on out.  Yes, he can make a difference in the passing game, however we think his biggest impact can be in the blocking game on the edge.  Physically, he’s got exceptional tools.
  • Speaking of pulled redshirts, cornerback Evan Holm needs to get some reps at corner, also.  He has looked really sharp on kick returns, averaging 28 yds/return.
  • Speaking of corners, the play overall is much improved on the outside.  Deion Harris has upped his level of play and it has been contagious.  He scored his 2nd TD of the year when he changed the entire game on the interception down the sideline.  We think and hope he has grown mentally.  Even on the long TD against Tyus Carter, he was in great position, went up to high-point the ball and simply got outfought for it.  Lots of luck for the USD WR on that one, too.
  • On the other side of things, cornerback Torrey Hunt’s taunting penalty was poor for him and his team.  That is unacceptable.  Clean it up, no need for it.  Just play football.  That penalty was a huge momentum killer.  We look forward to the freshman learning from it and moving on.
  • Punter Austin Dussold continues to be a huge weapon and surprise.  We are ecstatic so far with his performance through the 1st three games.  He is averaging 42 per punt with seven landing inside the 20 yard line.
  • USD QB Chris Streveler is a load to bring down when he takes off running.  I don’t think UND ever stopped him where they first made contact.  Tough kid, too.  He took some shots in that game and kept coming back for more.
  • USD’s defense played pretty well overall.  Balanced, seemed to be in the right spots for most part and made it hard on the UND OL for a good part of the game.
  • Safety Cole Reyes had yet another huge game for the UND defense.  He amassed 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT for TD, and 2 pass breakups.  All that and he missed the 4th quarter and OT with an ankle injury.  Reyes is really snakebit by nagging injuries.  He has had a number of small injuries that cut into his playing time.  We think it’s time for UND fans to kneel down before Jobu and ask for his help with Cole’s health.  If Jobu decides not to help, you know what to tell him.
  • UND played this game without three of it’s regular defensive lineman.  Austin Cieslak, Steve Greer, and Carl Engwall were all in street clothes.
  • The play Brian Labat made on 3rd and 11, late in the game was huge.  USD tried a RB screen to #21 Bouma and Labat read it from the beginning, flying past the OL and tackling Bouma for a loss of four yards.  This gave UND the ball back once again, allowing them to go down and kick a FG, pulling within seven.
  • WR Alex Reed was outstanding on punt coverage.  TWICE he caught UND punter Austin Dussold’s high spiral punt to pin USD within the 3 yard line.  That is really hard to do when you are running full speed and having to look back over your shoulder and up towards the ceiling.
  • Besides having a highlight reel, body-twisting c atch on the sideline, WR Noah Wanzek had a nice block on the cornerback during Santiago’s 25 yard TD run to start OT.
  • True freshman WR Travis Toivonen got his first career TD reception.

Your thoughts?  Feel free to share/discuss.

UND opens Big Sky play out in Bozeman, MT this week vs. the Montana State Bobcats (2-1).  Should be another good one between these two.