GRAND FORKS, N.D. — No. 17/12 North Dakota earned a gritty 27-19 victory over Weber State to remain unbeaten in Big Sky play and push its winning streak to seven straight Saturday at the Alerus Center.
The Fighting Hawks (7-2, 6-0 BSC) knocked the Wildcats (5-3, 4-1 BSC) from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten with their first win in three all-time meetings with Utah-based program.
“I’m really proud of our team again today. We knew this was going to be a tough game for us,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “Give a lot of credit to Weber State, they made it very difficult to run the football.
“Again, I’m proud of our guys to find a way to win. It’s not always easy and it’s a struggle sometimes, but you have to stick with it and really compete. I thought our guys really competed hard today, especially in the second half.”
Sophomore John Santiago got the home crowd excited early with a 100-yard kickoff return to open the contest, but that would be the only score of the first half for the Fighting Hawks.
Weber State’s defense held UND to 105 total yards in the opening 30 minutes and the Wildcats scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to give them a 13-7 edge at halftime.
In the end, it was four Weber State turnovers that ended up costing the Wildcats as UND outscored the visitors 20-6 in the second half and scored 13 points off a trio of those miscues that came after halftime.
Senior safety Cole Reyes had two second-half interceptions and eight total tackles in his return from a two-game absence. UND’s defense also racked up a season-high seven sacks and limited the Wildcats to just 12 yards rushing in the contest.
“No. 8 (Reyes) is a really good football player for us,” Schweigert added. “Those were two big-time plays he made for us to get us some field position and really change momentum.”
After holding Weber State off the scoreboard on the opening possession of the second half, UND regained the lead on a 17-yard touchdown run by Brady Oliveira, who now has at least one rushing score in all six league games.
Reyes then came up with his first interception of the contest on Weber State’s next drive and returned it 24 yards to the Wildcats’ 17-yard line.
After junior Keaton Studsrud went out of the game following a rush for no gain on second-and-goal from the WSU 1-yard line, redshirt freshman Brad Heidlebaugh entered the contest at quarterback. He handed off on 3rd-and-goal for a 1-yard loss, then completed a 2-yard pass to Noah Wanzek for a touchdown on his first collegiate attempt to put the Fighting Hawks ahead 21-13.
Wanzek made a highlight-reel catch on a play that was reviewed and stood as called for his third scoring catch of the season.
UND’s defense would dial up the pressure for the rest of the game, leaving the Wildcats’ offense struggling to find yardage.
After a fumble recovery by Brandon Dranka on a sack by Drew Greeley, Reid Taubenheim would put his squad up 24-13 with a 28-yard field goal with 5:33 to play.
Weber State quarterback Jadrian Clark did make things interesting, capping a quick 3-play, 38-yard drive only 47 seconds later with a 16-yard pass to Tui Satuala. That scoring toss with 4:46 to play trimmed the deficit to 24-19, but Reyes would come up with another huge play on the Wildcats’ ensuing possession.
Clark finished 20-for-36 for 274 yards and two touchdowns for Weber State, but he also threw a trio of interceptions and was credited for 10 carries for minus 29 yards.
Reyes made a diving interception this time and Taubenheim would extend the lead to 27-19 with a 42-yard field goal with 1:57 to play.
The Wildcats would get one more chance, but turned the ball over on downs and UND would run out the clock to preserve its first 6-0 start in conference play since the 2005 team went 7-0 in the North Central Conference.
UND will wrap up its Big Sky road schedule next Saturday at Northern Colorado. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT from Nottingham Field.
GAME NOTES: Captains for today’s game were Luke Mathewson, Connor O’Brien, Keaton Studsrud and Cole Reyes … Reyes returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with an injury had two interceptions and eight total tackles … Reyes now shares the team lead with three interceptions … UND now has 16 interceptions, which are the most in a single season during its Division I era and most overall since the 2005 defense netted 21 … Sophomore John Santiago’s kickoff return for a touchdown was the first of his career and first for a UND player since 2013 (Greg Hardin, 99 yards at Idaho State; Oct. 5) … Santiago finished with a season-high 205 all-purpose yards (also team-high 61 rushing yards) … The last UND team to win seven straight was the 2005 squad, who started that campaign with nine-straight victories. The last UND team to open conference play at 6-0 was the 2003 squad that went 7-0 in North Central Conference play and finished as the DII runner-ups … With the win, UND improves to 4-0 at the Alerus Center this season and moved its overall record to 80-22 in the building … UND has won six straight at home since last season’s loss to Idaho State (Oct. 10, 2015) and is 12-3 during head coach Bubba Schweigert’s two-plus seasons at the indoor facility … UND seven sacks are the most since the squad also recorded seven against Stony Brook in a 13-3 win on September 20, 2014 … Redshirt freshman Brad Heidlebaugh’s touchdown was on his first-career passing attempt … The last player to accomplish that feat was Ryan Bartels when the redshirt freshman completed a 75-yard touchdown pass to Greg Hardin against Valparaiso in the 2013 season opener … The 41 passing yards by UND are the lowest since the Fighting Hawks threw for 37 in a loss at Eastern Washington in 2014 … The last time a UND defense held a team to fewer than 20 rushing yards was in 2014 when Northern Colorado (Nov. 22) had only 18 yards on 20 carries … The 12 rushing yards allowed were the lowest since UND allowed only six yards on 21 carries to Idaho State in October 2013 … Senior Dylan Bakker led UND with 14 tackles, equaling his career-high set last season at Montana (Oct. 24) … Junior Drew Greely led UND with 2.5 sacks and now has a team-high 4.0 on the season.
Press release courtesy of Ryan Powell – UND Athletics. All Rights Reserved.
