Head coach Chris Mussman scaled back what was scheduled to be a full scrimmage for the North Dakota football team on Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium. There were too many bumps and bruises on both sides of the ball to risk a lot more wear and tear on the top the units.
The first and second team offenses and defenses did go live for a brief time in the red zone to get some looks in those situations. The team did not get those opportunities last Saturday in the first scrimmage of fall camp.
Senior quarterback Braden Hanson (Charlotte, N.C.) led only one drive on the day and it resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass to classmate Seth Nichols (McVille, N.D.). Fellow senior Ethan Magstadt (Maple Grove, Minn.) made a nice catch where he was upended by Erik Mersereau (Port Washington, Wis.) on a third-and-two to keep that drive alive.
The No. 2 offense failed to score on its two possessions inside the red zone. The defense came up with two sacks on the second possession as Dayo Idowu (Woodbury, Minn.) and Myles Jablonski (Omaha, Neb.) registered those quarterback touches.
The younger players got the brunt of the work in live situations after the red zone work as the three true freshman quarterbacks each engineered one drive from the 50-yard line.
Detroit Lakes native Joe Mollberg and redshirt freshman P.J. Sparks (Glendale, Ariz.) moved the third-team offense all the way down to the one-yard line before Brandon Larson (Bemidji, Minn.) and Mike Edwards (Sun Prairie, Wis.) created a turnover. The true freshman duo jarred the ball loose from Sparks as he was fighting for the goal line. Their classmate Taj Rich (Minneapolis, Minn.) recovered the loose ball.
Sparks had the most extensive action of any of the running backs and it looked like he did cross the goal line on a 17-yard run that preceded the fumble, which was called by an officiating crew working the practice. He finished with eight carries for 28 yards.
Freshman Dan Konowalski (Milwaukee, Wis.) brought the drive led by Ryan Bartels to an abrupt end by forcing the second consecutive fumble by the third-team defense. He knocked the ball out of classmate Zach Oliver's hands after the six-foot-three receiver caught his second pass of the drive.
Both No. 1 units closed out the final session of the practice in 11-on-11 work, but it was not live contact. Mersereau and Idowu both had interceptions during the 10-minute session.
Magstadt hauled in a screen pass that would have gone for big yardage if the coaches had not blown the play dead to save some time as the big fullback had a lot of green to work with.
Practice Notebook
The first and second team offenses and defenses did go live for a brief time in the red zone to get some looks in those situations. The team did not get those opportunities last Saturday in the first scrimmage of fall camp.
Senior quarterback Braden Hanson (Charlotte, N.C.) led only one drive on the day and it resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass to classmate Seth Nichols (McVille, N.D.). Fellow senior Ethan Magstadt (Maple Grove, Minn.) made a nice catch where he was upended by Erik Mersereau (Port Washington, Wis.) on a third-and-two to keep that drive alive.
The No. 2 offense failed to score on its two possessions inside the red zone. The defense came up with two sacks on the second possession as Dayo Idowu (Woodbury, Minn.) and Myles Jablonski (Omaha, Neb.) registered those quarterback touches.
The younger players got the brunt of the work in live situations after the red zone work as the three true freshman quarterbacks each engineered one drive from the 50-yard line.
Detroit Lakes native Joe Mollberg and redshirt freshman P.J. Sparks (Glendale, Ariz.) moved the third-team offense all the way down to the one-yard line before Brandon Larson (Bemidji, Minn.) and Mike Edwards (Sun Prairie, Wis.) created a turnover. The true freshman duo jarred the ball loose from Sparks as he was fighting for the goal line. Their classmate Taj Rich (Minneapolis, Minn.) recovered the loose ball.
Sparks had the most extensive action of any of the running backs and it looked like he did cross the goal line on a 17-yard run that preceded the fumble, which was called by an officiating crew working the practice. He finished with eight carries for 28 yards.
Freshman Dan Konowalski (Milwaukee, Wis.) brought the drive led by Ryan Bartels to an abrupt end by forcing the second consecutive fumble by the third-team defense. He knocked the ball out of classmate Zach Oliver's hands after the six-foot-three receiver caught his second pass of the drive.
Both No. 1 units closed out the final session of the practice in 11-on-11 work, but it was not live contact. Mersereau and Idowu both had interceptions during the 10-minute session.
Magstadt hauled in a screen pass that would have gone for big yardage if the coaches had not blown the play dead to save some time as the big fullback had a lot of green to work with.
Practice Notebook
- The players had the ND decals on their helmets for the first time as today was the final official practice of fall camp. The team take Sunday off from the practice field, but will hold its annual bowling tournament and also participate in a Pep Fest for new freshman on the UND campus.
- The team will go into "scout mode" as head coach Chris Mussman called it on Monday as the team will start game planning for its season opener vs. South Dakota School of Mines.
- Mussman mentioned to the local media in attendance that both Sparks on offense and Javen Butler (Pittsburg, Calif.) were players that stood out to him. He said Sparks had a couple of those "spectacular" four-yard runs and Butler is making steady progress after sitting all of last season.
