The North Dakota football team reached double digits in fall practices after the conclusion of Friday's second session at Memorial Stadium and the feeling around camp is that progress is being made across the board.
Friday's two practices also marked the final two before the first full scrimmage of the fall, which will take place on Saturday morning (9:30 a.m. start time).
The fifth-year head coach continues to talk about the good give-and-take he is seeing on the field and explains why that is so important. "If the defense was just dominating, we wouldn't be getting any better as an offense and vice versa," Mussman said. "But, both sides are competing and doing good things at different times, which is a sign of a good all-around football team."
The best example of that came during the first team drills of the opening practice this morning. The team worked on mid-yardage third down situations and the defense barely outdueled the offense, getting 12 stops compared to nine makes by the offense.
Freshman Kenny Golladay (Chicago, Ill.) made two highlight reel catches to account for two of those first downs. His first was a 25-yard sideline route that classmate Joe Mollberg (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) put right on target, then Marcus Hendrickson (Perham, Minn.) found the six-foot-four wideout on a similar play on the opposite sideline that Golladay had to use his height to go up over the shorter defensive back.
Practice Notebook
Friday's two practices also marked the final two before the first full scrimmage of the fall, which will take place on Saturday morning (9:30 a.m. start time).
The fifth-year head coach continues to talk about the good give-and-take he is seeing on the field and explains why that is so important. "If the defense was just dominating, we wouldn't be getting any better as an offense and vice versa," Mussman said. "But, both sides are competing and doing good things at different times, which is a sign of a good all-around football team."
The best example of that came during the first team drills of the opening practice this morning. The team worked on mid-yardage third down situations and the defense barely outdueled the offense, getting 12 stops compared to nine makes by the offense.
Freshman Kenny Golladay (Chicago, Ill.) made two highlight reel catches to account for two of those first downs. His first was a 25-yard sideline route that classmate Joe Mollberg (Detroit Lakes, Minn.) put right on target, then Marcus Hendrickson (Perham, Minn.) found the six-foot-four wideout on a similar play on the opposite sideline that Golladay had to use his height to go up over the shorter defensive back.
Practice Notebook
- Mussman told his squad after the first practice that he liked seeing the defense applaud the offense for a good play or the offense applaud the defense. He knows right now they are competing against each other, but said he enjoyed seeing the camaraderie developing between the team 10 practices into fall camp.
- The team rolled out for the second practice of the day in just helmet and shorts. There was a definite emphasis on saving some energy and contact for Saturday's scrimmage. The team worked a lot within its individual groups, focusing on different nuances that will come up during the season.
- Offensive coordinator Greg Breitbach was giving me an X's and O's outlook on all the reads that senior quarterback Braden Hanson (Charlotte, N.C.) was supposed to be making during a skelly period and the left-hander was flawless on the plays that he provided what should be the proper reads. "He's a smart player," Breitbach quipped afterwards.
- The team went live for a few periods during Thursday's practice, but Saturday will mark the first true scrimmage of fall camp. Two positiosn battles to keep an eye on if fans make it out to Memorial Stadium are one of the cornerback spots (Chavon Mackey or Chris Hall) and the will linebacker positions (Ben Peters or Brian Otto).
