5 things you might've missed in South Dakota State's 42-21 win over UND
Sep. 30—BROOKINGS, S.D. — The defending national champions and No. 1 South Dakota State flexed its muscle Saturday in a 42-21 win over No. 12 UND at sold-out Dana Dykhouse Stadium.
Here are five things you might've missed during the game.
For the first time this season, UND used kicker C.J. Elrichs for extra points.
Elrichs didn't attempt a field goal but was 3-for-3 on extra points.
Elrichs, a redshirt freshman from Olathe, Kan., had four kickoffs with two touchbacks.
UND kicker Brady Stevens, who started the team's first three games of the season, was in Brookings and dressed but coach Bubba Schweigert said he was dealing with an injury.
Stevens missed an extra point two weeks ago at Boise State.
"We wanted to give C.J. an opportunity," Schweigert said. "Brady was coming off a health issue and was sore after the last game. He's okay now, and we'll see going forward but we wanted to give C.J. an opportunity."
UND running back Isaiah Smith didn't play two weeks ago at Boise State due to an injury.
Smith played against SDSU albeit sparingliy. Smith had four carries for 3 yards. He didn't catch any passes.
Schweigert was asked postgame if Smith's usage was impacted by the injury.
"We just didn't get a whole lot of opportunities to mix guys in there," he said. "We had 25 offensive plays in the first half. We just didn't have an opportunity to get in a good flow to mix in our running backs."
UND caught a tough break with a chance to flip some momentum in the third quarter.
Trailing 28-7, UND punted to SDSU standout returner Tucker Large.
UND's Jack Wright hit Large and jarred the ball loose. Jett Sutton recovered for the Hawks.
Officials ruled an inadvertent whistle had blown and the play needed to be replayed.
On the replay, UND punter Luke Silvernale nailed a long punt that Large returned 51 yards.
Schweigert bit his tongue when asked postgame whether that play could've been needed momentum.
"Yes," Schweigert said without expanding on a comment.
UND wide receiver Elijah Klein made his second head-turning catch of the season against SDSU.
Klein, a 6-foot-6 Mandan product, had a 19-yard catch late in the first quarter in which Klein made a difficult grab on the sideline on a lofted ball with blanketed coverage.
Klein's catch sparked UND's first scoring drive, which ended with Quincy Vaughn's 1-yard dive over the pile to make it 14-7 SDSU.
Klein also had a long highlight-reel touchdown catch from backup quarterback Trey Feeney against Drake in Week 1.
UND's defense struggled to pressure South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski, finishing without a sack.
The Hawks were credited with just one quarterback hurry — awarded to defensive end Jaelen Johnson.
Through four games, UND now has four sacks thanks to three against Northern Arizona.
UND's defensive linemen have been credited with one sack this season, and it belongs to nose guard Elijah Beach.
