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2020 Game Preview: North Dakota

North Dakota head coach Kyle Schweigert
North Dakota head coach Kyle Schweigert (Associated Press)

WHO ARE THEY?

North Dakota is led by Kyle "Bubba" Schweigert, who is entering his seventh season. North Dakota has played second fiddle in their state to FCS power North Dakota State for years, though the Fighting Hawks have made the FCS playoffs two of the last three seasons.

Last year the Hawks finished 7-5 with a first round FCS playoff loss to Nicholls 24-6. Remember, that was the same Nicholls team that Kansas State beat 49-14 in game one of the Chris Klieman era.

UND had 2 wins over Top 20 FCS teams - versus UC-Davis and Montana State. Additionally, they won four of their last five before their playoff loss.

Schweigert is only 37-32 in his six seasons at North Dakota after a 22-21 record in his first head coaching stop at Minnesota-Duluth. In between, he spent six seasons as the defensive coordinator at Southern Illinois.

UND has a second-year offensive coordinator in Danny Freund and a first-year defensive coordinator in Brett Holinka. The Fighting Hawks will be in their first season in the Missouri Valley Conference after spending the last three as an FCS Independent while transitioning from the Big Sky. UND made the jump to FCS from D2 in 2011 after multiple years as a D2 power in the early 2000s.

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THE OFFENSIVE NUMBERS

The Hawks feature a spread offense, mostly with three or four wide and a single back, often aligned in pistol formation.

Last year the Fighting Hawks threw it 58 percent of the time with a lot of RPO (Run/Pass Option) and play-action. They run a lot of jet sweeps and motions, but they also broke quite a few big runs with inside power, pulling a guard and tight end.

They ranked 26th in passing yards in the FCS (262 yards per game), 96th in rushing offense (122 yards per game) and 60th in total offense (384 yards per game).

North Dakota scored 26.6 points per game, which was good for 62nd in the FCS and averaged 5.6 yards per play to rank 52nd. Even though they featured a spread passing attack, UND was a ball control offense that finished 102nd in time of possession last year.

North Dakota head coach Kyle Schweigert
North Dakota head coach Kyle Schweigert (Associated Press)

THE OFFENSIVE PERSONNEL

UND lost senior Nate Ketteringham at quarterback and over 90 percent of their completions, yards and touchdowns are gone. Sophomore Tommy Shuster is the most likely replacement, finishing 18 of 34 for 168 yards in limited action a year ago.

Leading rusher James Johannesson is also gone (124 carries and 530 yards), though North Dakota rotated quite a few backs. Senior Dalton McGee, sophomore Luke Skokna and junior Cam McKinney all played significant snaps last season and each averaged five yards per carry or better.

At receiver, the Fighting Hawks lose their top two in yardage and two of the top three in receptions. Garrett Magg returns with 59 catches and 610 yards, plus Brock Boltmann is back and recorded 31 receptions for 243 yards with an additional 31 carries for 199 yards on jet sweeps last year.

All three returning running backs caught at least 12 passes last year as well. UND often uses a tight end for H-Back in their spread offense, though none of their returners recorded a catch last season.

THE DEFENSIVE NUMBERS

The Fighting Hawks run an aggressive 3-4 defensive scheme. They generally send four to five every snap while using a variety of stunts and blitzes with their linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties.

UND ranked 73rd in the FCS in total defense (398 yards per game), 93rd against the run (193 yards per game) and 41st against the pass (205 yards per game). They gave up 5.6 yards per play, which ranked 52nd and were 68th in scoring defense, allowing 28.5 points per game.

North Dakota played Washington in 2018
North Dakota played Washington in 2018 (USA Today)

THE DEFENSIVE PERSONNEL

Four of North Dakota's top six tacklers are back, though they did lose Donnell Rodgers and his 126 total tackles from last season. Senior defensive back Jordan Canady returns with 87 tackles and 7 havoc plays.

Junior linebacker Noah Larson finished with 82 tackles and 7.5 havoc plays. Senior linebacker Jaxson Turner, junior defensive end Graham DeVore and senior defensive back Hayden Blubaugh all finished with 8.5 havoc plays.

Finally, sophomore defensive back CJ Siegel lead the secondary with 10 pass break-ups and two interceptions.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

UND had a solid special teams unit and returns all their specialists from last year. The Fighting Hawks ranked 20th in kickoff returns, 43rd in punt returns and 94th in net punting.

Kicker Brady Leach was a solid 12 of 17 on field goals, punter Cade Peterson averaged 35 yards on 52 punts and junior Cam McKinney is a solid returner with decent explosiveness who averaged 24 yards on 17 kickoff returns. Mikey Griebel averaged nine yards per return on nine punt returns.

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman knows all about North Dakota
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman knows all about North Dakota

DY'S SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

I don't have as much to say as I did about the contest versus Buffalo. North Dakota isn't as close to as solid as Buffalo. They will be the worst team on the schedule for Kansas State.

The fact that K-State defeated Nicholls by five touchdowns a year ago, and then Nicholls whipped the Fighting Hawks says a lot. On top of that, North Dakota loses many of their best players from a year ago.

Assuming everything is as we expect it to be if or when a season arrives, North Dakota should be even more out-matched against the Wildcats this year than Nicholls was a season ago.

PREDICTION: KANSAS STATE 56, NORTH DAKOTA 7

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