North Dakota Head Coach Bubba Schweigert
Opening Statement:
Well just looking back at the game, we knew it was going to be a real tough challenge and we were going to have to earn everything we got today. And I thought going into halftime that we played decent football, with the exception of one turnover that we have them, and then a couple big plays on defense. And down 17-3 and what we’re really looking at is coming out in the second half and scoring first to get back in the game and get some momentum. And we did that but when we get down in there after John’s big run, really, you’re looking for seven. And then as the game moved on we just needed to stay on the field offensively. That was a lot of plays defensively against a real physical front and eventually wore us down.
Was running back John Santiago one of the bright spots today?
I think John is always a bright spot for us because he competes really hard. He’s a good player, some of those three and four yard runs that he got today were really good and he made a nice play on a draw play where he probably got contacted about seven yards and ended up getting an eleven yard run. Those are huge plays. You know, we knew there wasn’t going to be a whole lot of space there against these guys. You’re going to have to go through some small creases and get yards. And I think he was a bright spot, you know, he does a lot for us. You know, he returns kickoffs, and then he made a big play on a pass play too. So he does a lot for us.
In the second half did you think your team tired out a little bit?
Well I think, you know, what we’re going to look at is we made some mental mistakes and the mental mistakes really show up and we’re really going to work hard at our guys to, hey when you’re breathing hard you’ve really got to focus. Yeah we were out there a lot of plays, but the expectation, when you’re breathing hard that’s a skill that you can still focus and we’re going to work hard on that. And we talk to our guys about that a lot and we’re going to address those next time we get in the video room because we can play more sound if we’re more assignment sharp. But, against a good opponent it shows up and it makes it more difficult.
FIGHTING HAWKS PLAYERS
RB John Santiago
How do you think you guys played?
Looking at it from a captain’s perspective, I think that we played hard, we obviously didn’t play to our best potential. We didn’t get the result that we wanted. We played sharp mentally. Having no penalties was big for us. We have to keep building week to week. It was a great experience.
What was the mood at halftime?
We always try to keep the guys upbeat no matter the score. If you keep yourself down, you are setting yourself up for failure. We just have to execute better, be more physical, be tougher, be smarter in many different aspects of the game. I feel like this helped us as a team.
What do you want to see moving forward?
We have to just keep building. I know that the coaches are going to have something prepared and a good game set up. We just have to bounce back, work from day to day, and things will come together.
LB Tanner Palmborg
What is the atmosphere in the locker room?
I think the guys are proud of how we played. We stuck with it through a lot of the game, we were right in it through three quarters. It was a bitter ending, to not be able to close it out in the fourth. I think that we are all optimistic, no one is really getting down on themselves. We are keeping our heads up moving on to next week.
What was the most challenging aspect of Washington?
Defensively, they have so much talent. On the other side, their receivers are as good as anybody, Jake Browning is as good of a quarter back as any other in the nation. It is hard to neutralize a team like that when they can keep attacking you from so many different angels.
Was it hard to keep up in the second half?
We didn’t have as much rotation as we do in home games. I know that a lot of us were feeling worn down in the fourth quarter, but we can’t use that as an excuse. I think fatigue started to wear and little mistakes during big plays took a toll on us.
