UND's Tommy Schuster sets the tone in 37-22 win over Northern Arizona
Sep. 9—GRAND FORKS — UND quarterback Tommy Schuster had never been hit so hard.
"I got smoked," Schuster said.
In the second quarter, Northern Arizona sniffed out a UND screen play on third down and Schuster tried to improvise. He scrambled and put his head down near the sideline and was blasted just short of the line to gain.
Schuster remained on the turf for a moment.
"I tried to get my air back," he said.
Even though UND was backed up in its own end, the Fighting Hawks went for it on fourth-and-1 and Schuster didn't miss a play.
UND extended the drive and just six plays after the biggest hit of his career, Schuster scrambled on third-and-10 down the middle of the field. Rather than sliding, Schuster picked up 11 yards on the run.
"When your quarterback takes a hit like that, it really makes your guys say 'that's our guy,'" UND running back Luke Skokna said. "For him to get up like that, that speaks to how tough Tommy really is. He could've run out of bounds. Ninety-five percent of quarterbacks run out of bounds."
Schuster's toughness set a tone for the Fighting Hawks, who built a 28-point lead in the fourth quarter and ended with a 37-22 victory over Northern Arizona in the Potato Bowl at the Alerus Center.
"We were very concerned," UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. "We were talking about throwing punches today. He got hit. He's tough. He's not going to let us know if it's bothering him. He wants to play football. I think for him to come right back out was huge for our team."
For the second week in a row, the Fighting Hawks surged with a big third quarter.
After leading 13-3 at halftime, UND scored 17 third-quarter points.
On UND's second drive of the second half, South Dakota transfer wide receiver Wesley Eliodor picked up 10 yards on a tunnel screen down to the 1. One play later, Quincy Vaughn scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to give the Fighting Hawks a 20-3 advantage.
The Lumberjacks came back within 20-9 on a 6-yard touchdown catch by Bryzai White from Kai Millner. However, on the 2-point conversion attempt, Millner was sacked by Elijah Beach and fumbled. Ted Mullin picked up the fumble and returned it to the end zone for two points and a 22-9 UND lead.
On UND's next possession, the Fighting Hawks went back to Eliodor, who caught a 45-yard deep ball from Schuster. An Isaiah Smith 2-point conversion run followed for a 30-9 lead.
Schuster finished 21-for-30 for 259 yards. Bo Belquist had his second-consecutive 100-yard game as he had eight catches for 123 yards.
Gaven Ziebarth led the rushing attack with 12 carries for 69 yards.
The Lumberjacks tacked on a pair of desperation scores in the final 3:20 of the game. Millner scored on a 13-yard run, then after a successful onside kick, Coleman Owen took advantage of blown coverage to haul in a 37-yard touchdown catch for the final margin.
"We challenged our guys to play really physical, and I thought we did that," Schweigert said. "We really played good football to get up four scores. The way it ended wasn't what you want. We wanted to get experience for some guys, and we didn't play really smart. We're going to celebrate wins; they're really hard to get. We're going to make corrections tomorrow and make smarter decisions."
The Lumberjacks were led by Millner's 258 passing yards and 76 rushing. Devon Starling added 73 rushing yards. Owen was the team's leading receiver with six catches for 96 yards.
"We know it was a hard-fought game," Beach said, "but there was a bitter taste about the last two touchdowns at the end."
UND travels to Boise State next Saturday. The Hawks kick off at 11 a.m.
