North Dakota used its playoff exclusion as fire for the off-season leading up to a 2016 campaign filled with expectations. Just 11 quarters into the season, the Fighting Hawks found their backs pressed squarely against the walls of the Alerus Center.
UND lost its opening two games in heartbreaking fashion. In a cross-country trip to Long Island to take on Stony Brook, the Seawolves blocked a punt in the fourth quarter and returned it for a touchdown, the winning score in a 13-9 victory. The following week, UND took Bowling Green down to the final seconds as Keaton Studsrud engineered a two-minute drill to perfection, hitting Stetson Carr for a three-yard touchdown to draw North Dakota within one point with 13 seconds left. North Dakota went for two, Studsrud’s attempt went in and out of Carr’s hands and the Fighting Hawks missed a second FBS win in as many seasons by a single play, falling 27-26 in Ohio.
With two straight losses to begin the season, North Dakota could not afford a third straight loss leading into conference play. A 0-3 start would mean UND would have to win at least seven of eight Big Sky Conference contests to even equal the 7-4 mark of 2015, a record that left the Fighting Hawks on the outside looking in when the 24-team FCS playoff team was announced. UND faced a pivotal game against longtime rival South Dakota in its home opener in Grand Forks in the 51st Potato Bowl.
UND players celebrate a John Santiago touchdown in 2015
“We had to win,” UND junior cornerback Deion Harris said. “I couldn’t go into Week 4 knowing we were 0-3. No way. We had to pull off the W right there.”
The sense of urgency entering last was on full display early on. Junior safety Cole Reyes intercepted Chris Streveler’s pass and took it 33 yards for a touchdown to give UND a 7-3 in the waning moment of the first quarter. True freshman wide receiver Travis Toivonen caught an 11-yard pass from Studsrud to give UND a 14-6 lead with nine minutes to play in the first half.
Then Streveler and the USD offense caught fire. The Minnesota drop-down threw three touchdowns in the last five minutes of the first half to take a 27-14 lead at halftime. USD scored to begin the second half during an 28-0 run that gave the Coyotes a 34-14 lead midway through the third frame.
“When we went into the locker room at half, Coach said we still have to have a belief we can win the game and I believe our guys still believed we could,” said UND sophomore All-America running back John Santiago. “We just had to come back more physical and come back with more heart. We came out second half and gave it our all, played our hearts out and we came all the way back.”
“When they scored that first touchdown of the second half, at first it was kind of dead, but then all the captains, brought us other together and really encouraged each other, this ain’t over yet,” Harris said.
Santiago, Harris and kicker Reid Taubenheim sparked a 27-0 run for North Dakota as the Fighting Hawks came storming back for a crucial victory. Taubenheim hit a 32-yard field goal late in the third quarter before Santiago’s first career touchdown reception early in the fourth cut the USD lead to 10, 34-24. Taubenheim hit a second field goal with five minutes left in regulation, then Harris’ 33-yard pick-six tied the game at 34 with 3:28 remaining.
In the first overtime, Santiago ripped off a 25-yard touchdown run to the delight of the 11,477 in attendance for UND’s home opener. Streveler’s fourth touchdown pass, a 25-yard toss to Shamar Jackson, forced double overtime but UND held US to a field goal. The hosts then executed five-play drive capped by Studsrud’s one-yard touchdown to emerge with a hard-fought 47-44 victory, UND’s first of 2016.
UND defensive players in 2015
“The two weeks before were close tough losses but that week before South Dakota was our hardest, most focused weeks,” said Santiago, who finished with 140 yards, his 11th 100-yard game in 14 career starts. “We went into the game believing that we could win and we left everything on the field last Saturday. I have confidence in our guys that if we play our butts off, we will always come out with a positive result every time out.”
While Harris and Santiago gave no hesitation expressing the magnitude of the moment, North Dakota’s tempered leader stopped short of calling Saturday’s comeback the result of a must-win mentality.
“We don’t have any must-win games early in the year,” UND third-year head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “Maybe when you get late in the year but early in the year, you have to feel like you are have important games and they are all important. We felt like we really needed a win. There was importance on the game but this is still playing college football and not life and death. A must-win, no, but we felt it would be good to get one headed into the conference season.
“I was really proud of our team the way we showed grit and toughness to get the game tied and eventually win it in the second overtime.”
The conference season opens for UND in Bozeman against surging Montana State. The Bobcats took Idaho down to the wire in a 20-17 loss in Moscow before winning two straight at Bobcat Stadium. MSU has forced five turnovers in each of its last two victories to enter its third straight home game on its first winning streak since November of 2014.
“This is a real life football team that is coming to town,” MSU first-year head coach Jeff Choate said. “They have scored 82 points and their opponents have scored 84. They are a flip of a coin away from being a 3-0 outfit.
UND junior quarterback Keaton Studsrud (7)
“I think Coach Schweigert and his staff do a tremendous job. The thing that stands out to me is this guys fight to the finish in every game. I think they are well conditioned and well disciplined. That is a testament to the leaders on that team and the coaching staff.”
Although Studsrud’s numbers won’t blow anyone away — the junior captain has completed 53 percent of his passes for 170 yards a game, three touchdowns and one interception in three starts — he has executed late in games two weeks in a row. It’s something that stands out to Choate when preparing for UND, saying Studsrud and Santiago have “point guard mentalities” and “want the ball in their hands at the end of games.”
“The Studsrud kid has been clutch for them,” Choate said. “They were down 34-17 going into the fourth quarter against USD and they came back and won that game. The were down the entire game against Bowling Green. They needed one drive. He took them straight down the field, scored, they went for two, probably should’ve caught the ball. He’s very clutch.”
“When the money is on the line, I think he’s at his best.”
Montana State and North Dakota kickoff at Bobcat Stadium at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
