Big Sky Conference

Oliveira, ball-hawking defense leads UND past Montana State

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BOZEMAN — Brady Oliveira seems to save his best for the Montana State Bobcats. On Saturday in Bozeman, the North Dakota sophomore tailback quite literally played his best, saving the longest run of his young career for crunch time at Bobcat Stadium.

With North Dakota clinging to a 10-9 lead with under three minutes to play, the sophomore from Winnipeg took an inside handoff, cutback toward Montana State’s sideline, broke a diving tackle by recently shaken safety Bryson McCabe three yards past the line of scrimmage, cut inside diving cornerback Bryson Alley, who collided with safety Khari Garcia as Oliveira sprinted 60 yards for a touchdown.

The score staked UND to a 17-9 lead with two minutes, 27 seconds left in a slugfest that would finish in a wild fashion following Oliveira’s go-ahead score. It also pushed the 5-foot-10, 225-pound workhorse to 166 of his career-high 171 yards and gave him the second touchdown of the afternoon in a tug of war otherwise dominated by defense.

Montana State scored a touchdown, missed a two-point conversion that would’ve tied it and recovered an onside kick for one final chance during a wild finish. In the end, Oliveira’s career day coupled with a pile of Bobcat miscues helped lift North Dakota to a hard-fought 17-15 in front of 19,507 on Montana State’s homecoming Saturday afternoon.

“We fought hard again and found a way to win again,” said UND head coach Bubba Schweigert, who’s team lost its first two games by a combine five points before winning by three, 47-44, in double overtime against South Dakota. “We forced a couple turnovers (5) and overcame some adversity, some penalties. They get on the one and a half yard line, to stop that kid (Chad Newell’s two-point try) short of the goal line, quite a great effort. Get another pick…just couldn’t run the clock out. Kept persevering and finally won.”

MSU wide receiver Kevin Kassis breaks loose for a 75-yard catch and run vs UND

MSU wide receiver Kevin Kassis (85) breaks loose for a 55-yard catch and run vs UND

In the Big Sky Conference opener for UND and MSU, Oliveira’s sprint to pay dirt was only the beginning. Three plays into MSU’s next possession, junior quarterback Tyler Bruggman fired to wide receiver Kevin Kassis on a sharp hitch pattern. The California product put his foot in the ground, juked out fellow true freshman Torrey Hunt and sprinted 55 yards before getting pushed out three yards short of the end-zone to extend a career day. On the afternoon the El Dorado Hills native caught his first pass, he ended up with four catches for 90 yards.

MSU senior captain Chad Newell pounded in a 3-yard touchdown on the following snap, pushing him to exactly 100 yards during a heroic if not injury-ridden performance. Newell’s 23rd career touchdown, tying him with legendary quarterback Travis Lulay for sixth in school history, cut the UND lead to 17-15 with 1:41 to play. The Billings Senior product hyper extended his left knee in the second quarter but returned with a brace on to rush for 32 yards on nine carries after intermission.

Montana State tried the two-point conversion. North Dakota senior inside linebacker Dylan Bakker held MSU senior tight end Austin Barth from the snap, drawing a flag and giving the Bobcats another try from one yard from the goal line. MSU handed to Newell, but UND junior linebacker Connor O’Brien wrapped Newell around the waist before junior safety Cole Reyes stonewalled the Bobcat battering ram short of the goal line.

“Someone had his legs, he was falling forward so I threw my shoulder in there and tried to drive him back,” said Reyes, who finished with six tackles, a stripe of Newell in the first quarter and a sack on a safety blitz. “I was pretty excited to make a play like that, a big-time play. I’m proud of all the guys, we fought to the finish.”

The Bobcats were not finished. Gabe Peppenger — a true freshman who kicked three consecutive field goals as MSU’s offense stalled out on three separate occasions — executed a perfect onside kick. The dribbler bounced to Oliveira on the front line and it squirted out of his hands. MSU linebacker Lukas McCarty briefly got his hands on it before it shot backward into the possession of defensive end Jessie Clark. A Bobcat 15-yard penalty gave Montana State the ball on its own 21 with 1:04 to play.

Bruggman found senior Gunnar Brekke for a 14-yard gain on a screen pass on first down, then Newell got the Bobcats closer to midfield with his 18th and final carry. On second down, Bruggman threw down the UND sideline to Mitch Herbert, who was closely covered by UND’s Zach Arnell. The junior safety, who missed the most of last season after suffering a gruesome leg injury against North Dakota State, snared his first career interception, Bruggman’s third pick on a day the Bobcat offense coughed the ball all over the field.

MSU running back Chad Newell (17) runs through a pile of North Dakota defenders

MSU running back Chad Newell (17) runs through a pile of North Dakota defenders

UND took over, Oliveira stuck his nose into the pile for four yards, giving him four more yards than his career-high total in UND’s 44-38 win last season. But two straight runs for no gain meant UND would punt one last time.

Montana State’s final possession started at its own 14 with 49 seconds left. A false start and a chop block on MSU sophomore tight end Connor Sullivan backed MSU six yards from its own end-zone brought up a second down and 18. Bruggman again chucked one up to Herbert and Arnell almost intercepted it again. MSU got a first down at its own 22 thanks to a pass interference penalty before a final play that included four laterals ended Montana State first-year head coach Jeff Choate’s Big Sky debut with a loss.

“Turnovers were the entire difference in the game,” Choate said after MSU fell to 2-2. “We gave the ball away five times, we only got it once. It was kind of like Bryant (a 27-24 Bobcat win two weeks ago) when they came in here. You can’t win a game like that. We have to value the football more on the offensive side of the ball. That’s very disappointing.”

Bruggman finished the game 15-of-26 for a career-high 259 yards, but his three costly interceptions, including two in the game’s final nine minutes plus two other costly MSU fumbles doomed the Bobcats.

“We just can’t beat ourselves,” Choate said when asked what his level of concern is with the offense. “You guys are going to worry about that. I’m not worried about that. I know you guys will create plenty of controversy on that, try to divide us and all that. That’s what you guys (media) do. I get that. But we aren’t going to ever allow that to seep into our locker room. My job is to be the head coach here and not listen to you guys. We take care of our locker room. Write whatever you want. We are a team first. You heard it right here. Always will be, as long as I’m in charge of this program. There’s not going to be any divide between the offense and the defense.”

The Bobcats forced a fumble on UND’s first possession but settled for a 26-yard Peppenger field goal despite advancing the ball inside the 10-yard line. Bruggman threw three incompletions after holding a first and goal from the 8. MSU held a first down from the UND 12 early in the second quarter but again saw Bruggman throw back-to-back completions to set up a 24-yard Peppenger 3-pointer.

“Forcing field goals is huge and our guys made a lot of good plays today, batting balls, we dropped one pick,” Schweigert said. “(Harris) really has good hands (laughs). But guys were relentless, putting pressure on the passer, tackling, getting to the ball. That helps you in the red-zone.”

Oliveira’s clutch touchdown was the longest of Oliveira’s young career and the third touchdown of his career. His first came against Montana State during a career-high 167-yard day as a true freshman last season.

UND running back Brady Oliveria (5)

UND running back Brady Oliveria (5)

“I hit front side, they were flowing, I saw someone in my peripheral vision, I cut back, made someone miss and I hit it,” Oliveira said while describing his long touchdown sprint. “I don’t know why I play so well against Montana State. I feel like I just need more carries. If I get more carries, I will produce like this. I’ve had two big games against Montana State and it’s a great feeling.”

With MSU keying on All-America sophomore running back John Santiago — the Bobcats stuffed Santiago, holding him to 57 yards on 19 carries — Oliveira became UND’s go-to ball carrier.

“I feel like all season, it’s going to be me and John,” said Oliveira, who led a UND attack that rushed for 227 yards on 46 tries, averaging 4.9 per tote despite Santiago finishing below 100 yards for just the fourth time in his 15 career starts. “If they are going to try to take one out, try to stop the other one. If they are going to take me out, try to stop him. I feel like it will be hard for any team to try to stop both of us. Pick which one you want to try to stop.”

Oliveira entered last season’s game against MSU with 167 rushing yards. He missed a few games during a mid-season three-game losing streak that eventually caused UND to miss the 2015 playoffs despite a 7-4 record. In North Dakota’s 44-38 win over then-No. 19 Montana State, Oliveira scored a 30-yard touchdown and equaled his season total in a single outing with 167 yards. On Saturday, Oliveira’s 22nd carry gave him 171 yards; he entered the game with 101 yards this season.

“We always knew Brady was capable,” Schweigert said. “That was a big part in our season where Brady wasn’t able to play. We like the 1-2 punch and he was running the ball really well. He’s capable of doing that. We believe if we keep pounding people and in the fourth quarter, you’ll be able to break a big play.”

Montana State entered the game without the services of junior defensive ends Tyrone Fa’anono, Shiloh Laboy and Devin Jeffries, leaving MSU with just redshirt freshman Marcus Ferriter and true freshman Derek Marks on the strong side of its defensive line. Redshirt freshman Josh Hill made his fourth straight start at Will linebacker. Still, the Bobcats swarmed to the football, allowing UND to 5.1 yards per play on 68 plays. UND managed 348 yards in 33 minutes, 50 seconds of possession.

UND cornerback Deion Harris (19) defends a pass vs MSU wide receiver Mitch Herbert (82) in the endzone

UND cornerback Deion Harris (19) defends a pass vs MSU wide receiver Mitch Herbert (82) in the endzone

“I wouldn’t say it was a noticeable step up but they definitely came at me on the weakside,” said Hill, a Kalispell Glacier product who finished with nine tackles, including eight solo stops. “I knew they were going to do that coming into this game because other teams have had success running it to the weak side. Our game plan was to stop 22 (Santiago), so we repped it all week, getting the edges, getting our gaps.”

Aside from Oliveira’s 60-yard burst, MSU’s defense played with vigor. The Fighting Hawks managed 3.7 yards per carry and held Santiago to less than two yards per try outside of one 15-yard burst late in the first half. Reyes stripped Newell with 3:27 left in the first half to set up a six-play, 27-yard drive capped by Oliveira’s first touchdown from three yards out to help North Dakota take a 7-6 lead into halftime.

“We knew it was going to be dogfight going into the game with both our styles of play,” said MSU senior linebacker Fletcher Collins, who finished with 10 tackles. “It hurts to lose. That’s the thing with losing: it hurts. Defensively, we could’ve gotten another stop. Win and lose as a team. We could’ve gotten another turnover, which would’ve changed the outcome of the game. But we didn’t.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved. 

 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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