Herald UND football mailbag: Fall camp surprises, redshirt watching, leaked helmets

Aug. 16—GRAND FORKS — With UND near the midway point of fall camp, and with a scrimmage now under its belt, Herald UND football beat reporter Tom Miller fielded questions from readers about the Fighting Hawks.

Q. Biggest surprise of fall camp?

A. The explosiveness veteran running back Luke Skokna has shown has surprised me. When he was hurt for almost all of 2022, I sensed his career may be over.

I questioned where he fit into the evolving offense with similar skill sets in Isaiah Smith and Red Wilson. But if he can stay healthy, Skokna has shown in fall camp he's still got something in the tank.

Honorable mention here to former quarterback Quincy Vaughn's emergence as a full-on, legit tight end.

Q. Freshman most likely to have redshirt pulled?

A. I think it's wide receiver Korey Tai and outside linebacker Lance Rucker.

Tai, a high school quarterback, is a flat-out playmaker. Rucker has a college-ready body at a position I felt UND wasn't good enough in 2022.

Q. Which upperclassman is poised for the biggest leap?

A. Junior outside linebacker Dylan Boecker has been playing a lot of snaps, right up there with Ted Mulin and Josh Navratil at that spot. His emergence kind of came out of nowhere from my perspective.

Q. Will the tight end position be utilized more than in previous years?

A. That's a tough one. I think there's more capable athletes at that position than ever before. Quincy Vaughn, Haydn Stay, Max Gunderson, Jaden Nordby — all are quality candidates to increase production but ultimately it's about finding a rhythm with Tommy Schuster and there's only one ball to go around.

Q. Do you feel the defense will be improved this fall?

A. I do, mostly because I think UND's defensive line and cornerbacks will be improved from 2022. This is a loaded answer, though, because saying the defense is improved isn't a very high bar. The defense was pretty bad last year, so to say there'll be improvement isn't going out on a limb. To what extent will the defense improve? There are positive signs, but we're not really going to know until the lights come on for real.

Q. What defensive positional group do you feel will be most improved?

A. I think UND's defensive line will be most improved. UND brought in a 315-pound nose guard from Northern Illinois in Jeffrey Griffin Jr. and a 270-pound defensive end in New Mexico transfer Jake Saltonstall. In addition, up-and-coming talent like Jack Teiken and Casey Schultz had another year to add weight to their frames. This group is already tougher to push around at practice this fall.

Q. Any individuals look to have taken that next step?

A. Offensively, I like the strides of quarterback Trey Feeney, running back Gaven Ziebarth and wide receiver Nate DeMontagnac. Defensively, I think Malachi McNeal is poised for a breakout year.

Q. For the upcoming road schedule, which place have you circled that will be your favorite to go to?

A. I'm excited to see the blue turf in Boise, even if it's an early kickoff. But I've never been to Northern Iowa or Murray State, and I always like going places for the first time.

Q. Favorite defensive back-wide receiver battle during drills so far?

A. I'll say any corner that has to go against Elijah Klein on a 50-50 ball down the sideline. It's really more like an 80-20 ball for the 6-6 target from Mandan. Now if UND could just keep him healthy for Saturdays in the fall...

Q. What does UND need to improve in order to finally overcome the hurdle of beating NDSU?

A. Probably the biggest area UND needed to improve was the defensive line. The Hawks have started that process this offseason with two FBS transfers, but it needs to be addressed through recruiting and development, too.

Quarterback Cam Miller and the Bison running backs can't run it down your throat like 2022 in the Fargodome. NDSU could've picked its rushing total in that game.

UND's offense has reached a place where they can hack it with anyone, North Dakota State included, but defensively, and this is no hot take of course, but if you're going to beat NDSU, you need the Bison to have to throw the ball.

Q. With the new defensive coordinator and assistant, what changes will we see on defense?

A. Both new defensive coordinator Joel Schwenzfeier and new position coach Tom Dosch have long been in the 3-4 scheme, so the changes are going to be more about effective teaching and a positive culture.

Q. Thoughts on play at outside linebacker and safety?

A. UND wasn't good enough at outside linebacker or safety in 2022, and the Hawks didn't really address these spots in recruiting, either, so they need to hope Schwenzfeier and Dosch can ignite some careers.

If you're looking for optimism, the return of Sammy Fort should help the safeties after missing almost all of 2022 with an injury. Malachi Buckner also appears to have worked well with strength coach Nate Baukol this offseason and is moving around better.

As for outside linebackers, UND needs Josh Navratil to consistently be an all-conference type player. It's in him, and injuries have played a role, but we haven't seen enough of his potential.

Q. Who's QB2?

A. At this point, it's not up for much debate. Trey Feeney has made considerable strides over the past year and has earned the distinction of backup quarterback.

An injury to Tommy Schuster would certainly cause unease but UND would feel much better going with Feeney in 2023 than 2022.

Jerry Kaminski, the rookie QB from Wisconsin, is already making waves and could very well flip the quarterback depth chart on its head in 2024. Just not yet.

Q. How many North Dakota natives on the roster, how many will start and how many others will contribute?

A. UND has 18 North Dakota natives on the roster and probably just two will start in New Rockford's Bo Belquist and Park River's Sam Hagen.

But Mandan's Elijah Klein will have a role at wide receiver if he can stay healthy.

Bismarck's Barty Ogbu will play a lot of snaps on the defensive line.

Wide receiver Nick Kupfer of Bismarck Legacy and fullback Jack Ihry of Finley-Sharon-Hope-Page will have offensive roles, too.

Q. What's with the leaked helmet and what uniform combinations do they plan on wearing it with? Also, what games might they wear the new helmets?

A. UND has been very tight-lipped about the new silver helmets, so when I saw those leaked online last week I was pretty surprised. If I had to guess when they bust them out, I'd say the North Dakota State game.

Q. Will this defense be good enough to finally get over the 7-4 hump? Between NDSU, SDSU, Boise State and UNI, which games do you see as the most likely victories?

A. We need to see this UND defense against a real, live opponent before we can really make any claims about improvement. A few things can be learned by watching fall camp, but there are also elements you can't deduce until you see the product in Game 1.

If UND's going to break through the FCS/Missouri Valley plateau in 2023, I think it's going to have to beat NDSU in Grand Forks.

Winning in Brookings is going to be tough this season with that title team returning almost everybody.