Grand Forks, N.D. -- The North Dakota football team wrapped up its spring practices with a spirited scrimmage on Saturday in front of more than 1,200 fans at the High Performance Center.
Several of the specators, who were getting their first look at the new indoor practice facility that opened last fall, sat in temporary bleachers and stood along the track as the Fighting Hawks went through nearly 60 plays with a majority of those coming in "live" situations.
Overall, third-year head coach Bubba Schweigert said he was pleased with the progress his team made through their 15 practices. "We're excited about the team we are going to have in 2016, but we have a lot of work in front of us," he said. "I saw a number of good signs today and a lot of positives to take away."
The tightly-scripted scrimmage saw starting quarterback Keaton Studsrud only go through a series of 12 red-zone snaps that were played at a tag-up tempo. The junior signal caller went 3-for-9, tossing a pair of touchdown passes to Clive Georges and another to sophomore Luke Stanley before his day concluded.
On the next series of plays along the goalline, the defense came up with four stops on a 3rd-and-goal scenarios from inside the 3-yard line. Senior Ryan Bartels took the snaps for the offense, while sophomore Brady Oliveira came up with a touchdown run and converted fullback Kyle Norberg hauled in a 2-yard touchdown reception.
Senior linebacker Dylan Bakker, who is in line to replace All-Big Sky performer Will Ratelle, came up with a pair of tackles on the defense's four stops. Redshirt freshman Jade Lawrence made a nice solo stop on Oliveira just short of the goalline on the last play of that series.
"Offensively, I thought we really took good care of the ball today," Schweigert said. "We are constantly telling our guys the only poor play on offense is a turnover and we didn't have any of those today. I thought our running backs did a nice job of being consistent and picking up some first downs.
"Defensively, we need to do a better job of tackling in space and eliminating those 5-yard penalties. We put ourselves in tough positions just by not lining up correctly, but we'll get that fixed. I'm pleased with the progress though. We have come a long way in terms of our communication."
Bartels took six more third-down snaps before his day was finished. He found All-American John Santiago on the opening play for a 16-yard gain on a swing pass that was the only time the reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year touched the ball.
The offense came up with a first down on four of the six snaps with Wyoming transfer Oscar Nevermann leading the way. The Sweden native took advantage of his opportunities in the back field, coming up with a pair of tough first-down gains to wrap up that session.
Redshirt freshman Brad Heidlebaugh finished out the last 36 plays of the scrimmage as the team's signal caller. He went 10-for-12 for 146 yards, but also would have been taken down by the defense for sacks a half dozen times during his stretch of plays.
The longest pass play went from Heidlebaugh to redshirt freshman Tim Dulin, who made a tackler miss and sprinted down field for a 37-yard again during a 12-play series of 3rd-and-5 calls. Grand Forks native Chad Bartosh came up with two first-down grabs as well during that allotment, hauling in passes of 12 and eight yards.
Dickinson, N.D. native Carter Blackwell had a 22-yard reception after making a would-be tackler miss and also added a 15-yard grab from Heidlebaugh.
Before the last series of plays, the coaches allowed fans to see a glimpse of a normal practice drill called the tunnel drill and that segment provided the most excitement for the fans as three defenders went up against three offensive players with a fourth defender free to try and stop a ball carrier.
The defense dominated the drills early with stops on the first four plays, but Oliveira and Nevermann provided some dramatics for the offense. Oliveira used his muscle to score the first touchdown, while Nevermann leaped over a lunging defender to get across the goal-line on the final play that resulted in up-downs for the defense.
Nevermann finished with three carries for 22 yards, two of which went for first downs on short-yardage situations, and also added a 15-yard reception.
Sophomore safety Tanner Palmborg was in on a couple of tackles and had two pass break-ups to highlight the defensive effort along with Bakker, who led the unit with three tackles.
-- UND --
