September 2, 2025 • 19 mins
UND Head Football Coach Eric Schmidt reflects on the loss to Kansas State and previews the upcoming game against Portland State.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
And we will give you back to hot talk Downtown
Grand Courts at the five oh six bub We're glad
you're all here. Good showing tonight. A lot of North
Dakota colors in the building, and it's time to bring
in our head coach of North Dakota football in his
first season, Eric Schmid. Everybody, let's give him a warm welcome.
BOYD did his team fight here the other night in
(00:23):
Manhattan in the Little Apple, falling just short at the
game's end. They had the last run in a game
of runs. Basically, Coach Smidt, you know, if you look
at that game in its entirety, you know it's about
handling those adverse moments in those atmospheres and seeing how
your guys handle when maybe things aren't going in a
straight line. And in game one, you're really learning about
(00:46):
your team. So give me kind of your overall thought
process of kind of your takeaways after you sat down
on Sunday and was able to kind of evaluate the
whole game in total.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, great question.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I think you know overall, just as far as you
know the the mechanics that go into a game, third
to fourth down substitutions, playing you know, offensive football in
a in a loud environment. As far as all the
procedural penalties and stuff like that, I think we played
fairly clean. I think we had three penalties on the
(01:21):
on the day, and I thought our.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Guys did a good job.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I called football conditioning just you know, being able to
handle when it's time to go and then you have
TV timeouts and media timeouts and you know you're not
on the field at times when when the other side
of the balls on the field. So I thought our
guys handled that really well. You know, when it was
time to time to go and they got their number called,
I thought our guys were we're we're playing on their
toes and uh, and did a good job of being
(01:44):
able to you know, just kind of you know, handle
the ebbs and flows you know of a football game.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And uh.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I think as you go through the season that stuff
becomes second nature. But early on it's something that you
practice a lot, but it's always a little different in practice.
And it is a game because it's you know, you know,
your two is going against your twos or your ones
going against your ones, and it's a little bit you know,
maybe more hectic when you have to do it that
way then when you just have one side of the
ball out there. So ultimately, I think you go on
(02:11):
the road if you if you're gonna win a road
game against a really good opponent, you got to play
four quarters. And we just I thought we went into
halftime really well. We tall at the middle eight, being
able to win the four minutes before halftime, the the
last four minutes of the second quarter, in the first
four minutes of the third quarter, we just didn't play,
you know, very well. Coming out of the locker room
(02:32):
for the first you know, probably ten minutes of the
third quarter, we were you know.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Stagnate on offense.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
We really got behind the chains on first downs a
few times, we're in some second and longs, and and
then defensively, I thought, you know, we at that point
were on the field quite a bit and started had
to go, you know, dig deep into our into our
roster and into our depth chart, and and ultimately we
got to get those guys you know, ready to go
and playing at a higher level and just communicating better.
(03:00):
It's not so much of you know, a physical thing.
I think a lot of times, you know, miscommunications and
you know, misalignments gets you beat more than mismatches do.
And that's probably what happened a little bit there in
the third quarter. And then, you know, I was proud
of our guys to be put in a really adverse
situation and then you know, to really bow up at
(03:20):
the end and really take momentum back and and really
had an opportunity and really probably should have won the
football game.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
At the end.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
You had essentially four really good opportunities and an interception
in that game, one that goes through the hands and
into a receiver for a touchdown, another one that would
have been a pick six. Those are little moments that
add up against such good teams like that that you're like, oh,
you'll get one of those. Maybe it's even different at
the end. But I will say in regards to the
(03:48):
guys that are playing out on the islands, like like
Bennett and Noland and those guys, those types of guys
dealing with the high level of receivers that they were
dealing with, I thought they counted for themselves many times
quite well.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Yeah. I mean even the one PI we had three penalties,
and the one p I was not you know, anything
that was you know, just egregious. I thought it was
you know for some of the things that they were
letting go there as the game went along. You know,
it took away a pick from us, you know, the
one the one pass interference penalties. So so yeah, I mean,
I think our guys on the edges. Benn has played
(04:23):
a lot of football. You know, he started at Eastern
Michigan for an entire year two years ago. He he
was a you know, a halftime starter, I guess if
you would call it, the first three games last year
at San Diego State. So he's definitely a guy that
has the ability to be able to uh to play
at a high level and has done that, you know,
and showed that in his career. And then you know,
obviously Grant, you know, playing as a true freshman, I thought,
(04:44):
you know, did exactly what he had been doing in
fall camp. You know, he made a huge play on
the on the third down late in the game to
be able to uh to be able to come up
and and really play physical on a third and four
and knocked the ball away from who I thought was
their best player, Number one was u. It was really
good and it was a handful he saw on the
one post where we couldn't stay with him and any
scores on an explosive, so both those guys and I
(05:07):
thought it was good finally to get Antonio blew it back.
He hadn't you know, practiced all that much in the
summer here and in fall camp, just with some lower
body injuries. But I think he's now turned the corner there,
and to get him out there and to have him
play some reps was good for us. And then we
got to get Avery Scott going now, and we got
to get you know, Q Carmichael going, like we just
(05:27):
have to continue, like I said before, to be able
to build some depth and be able to count on
those guys when you know, when we're playing.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
A lot of football on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
The run game, they're very stale through the interior of
their defense Kansas State, and it was going to be
a challenge going in. You certainly found some creases with
some winning plays, scoring the football on a couple of
nice runs. At the same time, early in the game,
it seemed like you were trying to be get their
eyes moving a little bit, working the perimeter on some
(05:57):
runs and finding ways to find areas. And I thought,
you know, even though you do that, and maybe that's not.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
All the time.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
What North Dakota football is always going to be identity,
you know, identity wise. I thought they were blocked really
well when you decided to run those types of plays,
because you're thinking, this is how we're going to be
able to move the ball by running a little bit,
and you went to it and blocked it quite well.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I just think the variety of the runs too as well,
you know, keeping the ball in Jerry's hands and letting
him be able to make some decisions there. He's a
definitely a threat with his feet too as well. You
get him on the perimeter. He had you know, a
couple explosive runs. There was one, you know, early in
the second quarter that you know, we were second and
maybe twenty and he picks up a twenty three yard
game or something like that. I can't remember exactly what
(06:41):
it was. So and I do think, you know, we
have the ability not just throwing the ball, but being
able to have enough variety in our run game that
when teams do do you know, a good job of
being able to maybe put an extra body in the box,
especially you know in the A or the B gaps
that we can get the ball to the perimeter, you know,
and be able to take it and be dynamic enough
on offense to be able to say, all right, like
(07:03):
this is how we can attack them, now, this is
where they're vulnerable, and then be able to take advantage
of that. And I thought, you know, we did a
good job with that of getting the ball. That's how
we got the ball to Corey Taie a few times,
how we got the ball to our tight ends you know,
on some of the on some of the behind the
line swipe actions that we were doing to as well.
So yeah, I mean, ultimately, I think, you know, that's
how we're going to continue to move the football. And
I think we just have to have, you know, a
(07:25):
lot of variety in what we're doing, and we have,
you know, a lot of playmakers. I think, you know,
I don't know how many people caught a ball yesterday
or Saturday, but I think eleven guys caught footballs and
maybe four or five guys had rushes. So just you know,
up and down our roster there, to be able to
have enough weapons and to be able to use those guys,
I think keeps guys interested in the game plan and
ultimately is going to help the morale and the you
(07:45):
know and just the the the overall depth of our team.
So that was good to see.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
I thought it was interesting yesterday during the press conference
that coach Frickty had mentioned the question was sent to
him about, well, what surprised you about Jerry on sad
and I think they were trying to see, you know,
where he'd go with some of the good things. But
I thought his response was perfect. He said, well, I
don't know if that I was really all that surprised
(08:09):
with what Jerry did, because Jerry's been doing that in
the spring, been doing that in our practices. We kind
of saw the Jerry that I've been seeing. And certainly
Jerry wants to improve, he wants to to iron out
and be sharp and certain details, but we saw a
lot of what we've been seeing, and so I don't
know necessarily that I was all that surprise. I thought
that was such an honest answer, with such candor. I
(08:33):
thought that was great.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with Isaac Moore. I think, you know,
when you look at you know, maybe even the quarterback
matchup out there going into it, everybody would have said
Avery Johnson was you know by far and away the
better quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
But I think once you when you left the.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Field out there, I thought, Jerry really you know, held
his own and played, you know, just as well as
Avery did. And and you know, there's some things to
be said if our dbs catch footballs, you know that
that he and I'll played him, you know, as far
as the risk reward and in some of the in
some of the the plays that took place there. But
Jerry's been consistent. I think, you know, I'll keep going
(09:09):
back to say it. I think that you know, you
gain confidence through reps, and he he's really starting to
understand and getting to another level. I feel like, not
just you know, how we do things, but why we
do certain concepts and digging into those concepts and understanding that,
you know. I think the big reason why there was
so many different players that cod footballs was he was
able to get through his progressions and get through them,
(09:31):
you know, obviously against a really good deal I against
guys that you know, are our our elite players, and
he's got to be able to get to his progression,
you know, before those guys can get to him. So
I thought he did a really good job of that.
I think he can still get better, you know, I
mean not doing that too as well. But but overall
I thought, you know, you talked about it on the perimeter,
(09:51):
being able to throw and catch it. I thought he
made a couple of really good throws. The twos that
the two throws that stick out to me are the
fourth and six. I thought was a really good throw
just on an out route on the sideline. And then
right before halftime, you know, on a even a far
hash throw, a far sideline throw, like he really drove
a football, got it there.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
The dB thought he.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Could jump it and be able to get his hands
on it, and the ball was by him, so he
beat the dB you know, with the ball, and then
Kate Dennis was able to turn up right another probably
fifteen yards and get out of bounds. Then we scored,
you know, on the very next play. So I thought
those were things where you're like, all right, like, you know,
he's he's really confident right now in his arm and
in what he's doing, and he was just into the
floor and he's a really good competitor. Like the thing
(10:35):
I like about Jerry is like, hey man, he's he's
about it and he loves going out there and competing
every single day.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Two questions before we take a break and then turn
around and talk about the week ahead here Potato Bowl.
And these were people that ran into me either Sunday
or yesterday and said, would you mind asking coach this?
And I said, sure I will. The first thing was
is that late game, you know how it's playing out.
Things are happening, They've got the ball, a chance to
respond to try to regain and retake the lead. But
(11:02):
then we get the ball and we've got a situation
where we're trying to run the clock out. They were
awarded a time out just before the two minute timeout
by the officials. Would that have been a situation on
that second down then where you could have maybe went
through the air because the two minute timeout would have
happened anyway. Would that have been a maybe one of
(11:24):
those things he'd kind of look back and say, maybe
we could have had went a little differently in our playbook.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I think you know, there's no there's no you know,
penalty for being able to throw a pass. The clock's
gonna stop anyways, right you know, after the plays or so,
we actually I talked to Isaac about I'm like, hey, man,
you shouldn't have called it there, like we can, we
can take advantage of it now as far as you know,
I think, you know, most of the analytics would tell
you don't take a timeout when you're on defense in
between two oh six and the two minute warning because
(11:51):
he's the offense and opportunity to to not have.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Any penalty for throwing the football.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Now, we threw a run pass option and ended up
being a you know, a run read for him, but
definitely feel like, looking back on it, we could have
just dropped back and thrown the football and and uh
and uh, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I guess had had an opportunity there.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So I think it's a good question and definitely something
that you know that's uh, you know, in our in
our in our thoughts. As soon as somebody you know
made a time made it, made a call there, made
a time out, Caol was hey, we can throw it
now because the clock's gonna stop regardless if we run
or throw it.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And then then the other question that somebody had for me,
And I appreciate everybody out there that has run into
me and either said pass this question on along to
and I'm happy to do so they certainly see that
we have a number of running backs that we can
turn and go to. Sawyer had probably the two bigger
runs going for scores in that game. And so the
person said to me, it was like, was it a
thought in the personnel situation late game when you're trying
(12:42):
to get a first down to get that clock moving,
you know, was it a situation where Xavier was the
guy in that in that personnel grouping that they that
was the right guy or or do you change it
up late game and say Sawyer's kind of got the
hot hand, we do we move him in? I guess
that was their question.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Yeah, I think it's a fair question too as well.
I mean Sawyer's definitely a gamer. I mean that's as
well as he's he's played or practiced, you know, since
since we've been together, and I've pushed him and really
talked to him about that. So it's awesome to be
able to be able to see him do the things
that he does. I mean, he's really talented, and we
got to continue to push him to be able to
(13:21):
get better and become a dominant back. Like, I think
that's the question right now that we all have, you know,
about Sawyer is, hey, can you go out there and
can you handle you know, twenty five thirty carries a
game off for fifteen or twenty carries a game, let's
just say, and be able to hang on the football
and be durable enough, you know. And I think that's
that's still the question mark. So, you know, coming into
the game, he was you know, starting to feel better
(13:43):
and had done some things there the last week. He's
had some lower body things going on to as well.
So I think, you know, X and Z have been
the guys at that time that that we've kind of
leaned on, you know, in those situations. But you know,
we're gonna be a different team as we get through
this thing and really start to see who the guys
are on Saturday that produce you know, I say it
all the times. The games are for learning, you know,
And it's not just as far as situations that you're learning.
(14:05):
It's not just you know, you know, the different like
questions you have right here, but it's also your personnel
you know too as well, to keep learning like who
are the guys you know that give you the best
opportunities in certain situations? And I think it's like I
said a good question. I definitely feel like, you know,
Sawyer had the hot hand when you look at things
on Saturday night, We're gonna.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Just push through where we'll take a break at the end,
instead of we're going to push right into who we've
got North Dakota entertaining Portland State. This goes back to
the old big skyer of the Portland State Vikings. Believe
it or not, Portland State's head coach Bruce Barnum what
an entertaining character from some of the things that he's
done in college football with his program and how he's
(14:46):
engaged the fan base. I honestly think he's just an enjoyable,
honest coach. I know they've gotten off to a bumpy ride,
but Portland State has had some really good years here recently.
Do in fact, I think he's got an identity for
his program. I know early on here it hasn't shown
in a couple of wins because they've they've gotten beat
by two good football programs. But coming in on Saturday,
(15:06):
I think is a Vikings team that's pretty hungry.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah, I mean we're going to get their best shot obviously,
you know, looking at their schedule and what they have
had had to go through here so far, and what's
coming up you know too as well.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I think they're going to Hawaii, you know, the week after.
So we know that.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
You know, coach Barnham has done a great job. He's
a really good offensive coach. We've gone against each other
when I was a coordinator here before and really felt like,
you know, they do a great job of utilizing personnel.
So you're going to see every personnel grouping out there.
He'll he'll put offensive linemen in the backfield, the block,
He'll do, you know, whatever he needs to do. They'll
play with four tight ends on the field at times,
they'll they'll do whatever, you know. I mean, I think
(15:43):
he's a guy that that's really he has a creative mind.
When it comes to the run game and how they
want to move the football. They'll line up an empty
and and and swipe their tight end and run the
quarterback out of those formations which you just don't see
very often. So they present definitely present some challenges. You know,
their first game, they were moving the ball a lot
and then a lot of tip balls, like I think
three tip balls in that game that got picked off,
(16:05):
and those are you know, two of them that were
close either in the red zone or they were driving
the football. So you know those obviously hurt and and
played two really good teams. Like you said, Paul, I
mean byu' is, you know, a very very good football team.
I think when it's all said and done, will be
a top you know twenty football team for sure in
college football. And then Tarlton State's beating them, and then
went and beat Army, you know Amy last week in
Army won I think nine or ten games last year.
(16:27):
So they played really good opponents. And we you know,
our whole deal is, we haven't won a football game yet.
We haven't put four quarters together yet. Like we're gonna
worry about us and make sure that our guys are
ready to go here and are well prepared and and
we got to player best football. We're gonna win on
Saturday night.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
All right.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Just a fun question before I let you go. It's
Potato Bowl week. You've been to your fair share of
French fry feeds over the years. What is your favorite
potato type of to enjoy? Is it the French fries
that the tat Todd? Is it a baked potatoes, an
ash browns? I don't think he can go wrong with.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Any of the guess you know that's that's the Mount
Rushmore that you're saying. Right there, I feel like of
of potatoes, but I'm gonna have to go baked potato,
you know what I mean? I am the same way
as the right way, sour cream and yeah, and throw
some bacon on there and cheese, like you can't beat it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Right before, if there's one addend him to this question.
Because it is Potato Bull Week. The community is great, right,
I mean, it's a celebration. I suppose you know, I
almost go back to, you know, previous coaches saying, hey,
we got to our part is the game. Our part
is the game. I mean, we we want you to
be part of campus, but we we've got our job
to do. Is that kind of the messaging going into
(17:36):
the week.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
For sure?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I think, you know, we feel like there's gonna be
a really good vibe at the Alaya Center on Saturday night.
It's our job to make sure that, you know that
everybody can continue to have fun at the game and
create a really good environment, a hard environment for for
our opponents to be able to come play in. And
uh yeah, that's where our guys are focused on, honestly, like, hey,
all the other things that go on are really cool
for the community, and and obviously you know, the pot
(18:00):
potato growers around here are huge supporters and a big
part of the fabric of this region. But ultimately, like
at the end of the day, man, we got to
go one to know and do a good job of
playing well on Saturday night.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Really appreciate our conversation here, Thanks very much, and let's
have a great week. Okay, thanks Baul, Eric Schmidt, everybody
appreciate it. Head coach North Dakota Football leading us off
here on Hawk Talk tonight, heard all across the Fighting
Hawks Radio network, and of course on fourteen forty AM
the Fan, seven forty KNFL, the FEN and Fargo Morehead
as well, and all across the world on the iHeartRadio app.
(18:34):
All you have to do is tune in and go
to fourteen forty kkxl AM on the iHeartRadio rapp and
stream us live wherever you are. And of course you
could do that on seven forty KNFL as well and
stream us live from there.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
So we've went along with.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Coach Schmidt, We're gonna take a quick break, we're gonna go, well,
we're gonna go to the course, not the golf course. Well,
they ran on a golf course, but it's the course
of cross country. And Tom Scott was a press conference
a couple of weeks ago and he let slip that
he is pretty excited about his programs. So we're going
to bring in a head coach across country when we
(19:09):
return after this break. As you're listening to Hawk Talk
from the five Oho six Pub downtown Grand Forks, all
across the Fighting Hawks Radio network,
And we will give you back to hot talk Downtown
Grand Courts at the five oh six bub We're glad
you're all here. Good showing tonight. A lot of North
Dakota colors in the building, and it's time to bring
in our head coach of North Dakota football in his
first season, Eric Schmid. Everybody, let's give him a warm welcome.
BOYD did his team fight here the other night in
(00:23):
Manhattan in the Little Apple, falling just short at the
game's end. They had the last run in a game
of runs. Basically, Coach Smidt, you know, if you look
at that game in its entirety, you know it's about
handling those adverse moments in those atmospheres and seeing how
your guys handle when maybe things aren't going in a
straight line. And in game one, you're really learning about
(00:46):
your team. So give me kind of your overall thought
process of kind of your takeaways after you sat down
on Sunday and was able to kind of evaluate the
whole game in total.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, great question.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I think you know overall, just as far as you
know the the mechanics that go into a game, third
to fourth down substitutions, playing you know, offensive football in
a in a loud environment. As far as all the
procedural penalties and stuff like that, I think we played
fairly clean. I think we had three penalties on the
(01:21):
on the day, and I thought our.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Guys did a good job.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I called football conditioning just you know, being able to
handle when it's time to go and then you have
TV timeouts and media timeouts and you know you're not
on the field at times when when the other side
of the balls on the field. So I thought our
guys handled that really well. You know, when it was
time to time to go and they got their number called,
I thought our guys were we're we're playing on their
toes and uh, and did a good job of being
(01:44):
able to you know, just kind of you know, handle
the ebbs and flows you know of a football game.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And uh.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I think as you go through the season that stuff
becomes second nature. But early on it's something that you
practice a lot, but it's always a little different in practice.
And it is a game because it's you know, you know,
your two is going against your twos or your ones
going against your ones, and it's a little bit you know,
maybe more hectic when you have to do it that
way then when you just have one side of the
ball out there. So ultimately, I think you go on
(02:11):
the road if you if you're gonna win a road
game against a really good opponent, you got to play
four quarters. And we just I thought we went into
halftime really well. We tall at the middle eight, being
able to win the four minutes before halftime, the the
last four minutes of the second quarter, in the first
four minutes of the third quarter, we just didn't play,
you know, very well. Coming out of the locker room
(02:32):
for the first you know, probably ten minutes of the
third quarter, we were you know.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Stagnate on offense.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
We really got behind the chains on first downs a
few times, we're in some second and longs, and and
then defensively, I thought, you know, we at that point
were on the field quite a bit and started had
to go, you know, dig deep into our into our
roster and into our depth chart, and and ultimately we
got to get those guys you know, ready to go
and playing at a higher level and just communicating better.
(03:00):
It's not so much of you know, a physical thing.
I think a lot of times, you know, miscommunications and
you know, misalignments gets you beat more than mismatches do.
And that's probably what happened a little bit there in
the third quarter. And then, you know, I was proud
of our guys to be put in a really adverse
situation and then you know, to really bow up at
(03:20):
the end and really take momentum back and and really
had an opportunity and really probably should have won the
football game.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
At the end.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
You had essentially four really good opportunities and an interception
in that game, one that goes through the hands and
into a receiver for a touchdown, another one that would
have been a pick six. Those are little moments that
add up against such good teams like that that you're like, oh,
you'll get one of those. Maybe it's even different at
the end. But I will say in regards to the
(03:48):
guys that are playing out on the islands, like like
Bennett and Noland and those guys, those types of guys
dealing with the high level of receivers that they were
dealing with, I thought they counted for themselves many times
quite well.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Yeah. I mean even the one PI we had three penalties,
and the one p I was not you know, anything
that was you know, just egregious. I thought it was
you know for some of the things that they were
letting go there as the game went along. You know,
it took away a pick from us, you know, the
one the one pass interference penalties. So so yeah, I mean,
I think our guys on the edges. Benn has played
(04:23):
a lot of football. You know, he started at Eastern
Michigan for an entire year two years ago. He he
was a you know, a halftime starter, I guess if
you would call it, the first three games last year
at San Diego State. So he's definitely a guy that
has the ability to be able to uh to play
at a high level and has done that, you know,
and showed that in his career. And then you know,
obviously Grant, you know, playing as a true freshman, I thought,
(04:44):
you know, did exactly what he had been doing in
fall camp. You know, he made a huge play on
the on the third down late in the game to
be able to uh to be able to come up
and and really play physical on a third and four
and knocked the ball away from who I thought was
their best player, Number one was u. It was really
good and it was a handful he saw on the
one post where we couldn't stay with him and any
scores on an explosive, so both those guys and I
(05:07):
thought it was good finally to get Antonio blew it back.
He hadn't you know, practiced all that much in the
summer here and in fall camp, just with some lower
body injuries. But I think he's now turned the corner there,
and to get him out there and to have him
play some reps was good for us. And then we
got to get Avery Scott going now, and we got
to get you know, Q Carmichael going, like we just
(05:27):
have to continue, like I said before, to be able
to build some depth and be able to count on
those guys when you know, when we're playing.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
A lot of football on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
The run game, they're very stale through the interior of
their defense Kansas State, and it was going to be
a challenge going in. You certainly found some creases with
some winning plays, scoring the football on a couple of
nice runs. At the same time, early in the game,
it seemed like you were trying to be get their
eyes moving a little bit, working the perimeter on some
(05:57):
runs and finding ways to find areas. And I thought,
you know, even though you do that, and maybe that's not.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
All the time.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
What North Dakota football is always going to be identity,
you know, identity wise. I thought they were blocked really
well when you decided to run those types of plays,
because you're thinking, this is how we're going to be
able to move the ball by running a little bit,
and you went to it and blocked it quite well.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
I just think the variety of the runs too as well,
you know, keeping the ball in Jerry's hands and letting
him be able to make some decisions there. He's a
definitely a threat with his feet too as well. You
get him on the perimeter. He had you know, a
couple explosive runs. There was one, you know, early in
the second quarter that you know, we were second and
maybe twenty and he picks up a twenty three yard
game or something like that. I can't remember exactly what
(06:41):
it was. So and I do think, you know, we
have the ability not just throwing the ball, but being
able to have enough variety in our run game that
when teams do do you know, a good job of
being able to maybe put an extra body in the box,
especially you know in the A or the B gaps
that we can get the ball to the perimeter, you know,
and be able to take it and be dynamic enough
on offense to be able to say, all right, like
(07:03):
this is how we can attack them, now, this is
where they're vulnerable, and then be able to take advantage
of that. And I thought, you know, we did a
good job with that of getting the ball. That's how
we got the ball to Corey Taie a few times,
how we got the ball to our tight ends you know,
on some of the on some of the behind the
line swipe actions that we were doing to as well.
So yeah, I mean, ultimately, I think, you know, that's
how we're going to continue to move the football. And
I think we just have to have, you know, a
(07:25):
lot of variety in what we're doing, and we have,
you know, a lot of playmakers. I think, you know,
I don't know how many people caught a ball yesterday
or Saturday, but I think eleven guys caught footballs and
maybe four or five guys had rushes. So just you know,
up and down our roster there, to be able to
have enough weapons and to be able to use those guys,
I think keeps guys interested in the game plan and
ultimately is going to help the morale and the you
(07:45):
know and just the the the overall depth of our team.
So that was good to see.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
I thought it was interesting yesterday during the press conference
that coach Frickty had mentioned the question was sent to
him about, well, what surprised you about Jerry on sad
and I think they were trying to see, you know,
where he'd go with some of the good things. But
I thought his response was perfect. He said, well, I
don't know if that I was really all that surprised
(08:09):
with what Jerry did, because Jerry's been doing that in
the spring, been doing that in our practices. We kind
of saw the Jerry that I've been seeing. And certainly
Jerry wants to improve, he wants to to iron out
and be sharp and certain details, but we saw a
lot of what we've been seeing, and so I don't
know necessarily that I was all that surprise. I thought
that was such an honest answer, with such candor. I
(08:33):
thought that was great.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I couldn't agree with Isaac Moore. I think, you know,
when you look at you know, maybe even the quarterback
matchup out there going into it, everybody would have said
Avery Johnson was you know by far and away the
better quarterback.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
But I think once you when you left the.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Field out there, I thought, Jerry really you know, held
his own and played, you know, just as well as
Avery did. And and you know, there's some things to
be said if our dbs catch footballs, you know that
that he and I'll played him, you know, as far
as the risk reward and in some of the in
some of the the plays that took place there. But
Jerry's been consistent. I think, you know, I'll keep going
(09:09):
back to say it. I think that you know, you
gain confidence through reps, and he he's really starting to
understand and getting to another level. I feel like, not
just you know, how we do things, but why we
do certain concepts and digging into those concepts and understanding that,
you know. I think the big reason why there was
so many different players that cod footballs was he was
able to get through his progressions and get through them,
(09:31):
you know, obviously against a really good deal I against
guys that you know, are our our elite players, and
he's got to be able to get to his progression,
you know, before those guys can get to him. So
I thought he did a really good job of that.
I think he can still get better, you know, I
mean not doing that too as well. But but overall
I thought, you know, you talked about it on the perimeter,
(09:51):
being able to throw and catch it. I thought he
made a couple of really good throws. The twos that
the two throws that stick out to me are the
fourth and six. I thought was a really good throw
just on an out route on the sideline. And then
right before halftime, you know, on a even a far
hash throw, a far sideline throw, like he really drove
a football, got it there.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
The dB thought he.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Could jump it and be able to get his hands
on it, and the ball was by him, so he
beat the dB you know, with the ball, and then
Kate Dennis was able to turn up right another probably
fifteen yards and get out of bounds. Then we scored,
you know, on the very next play. So I thought
those were things where you're like, all right, like, you know,
he's he's really confident right now in his arm and
in what he's doing, and he was just into the
floor and he's a really good competitor. Like the thing
(10:35):
I like about Jerry is like, hey man, he's he's
about it and he loves going out there and competing
every single day.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Two questions before we take a break and then turn
around and talk about the week ahead here Potato Bowl.
And these were people that ran into me either Sunday
or yesterday and said, would you mind asking coach this?
And I said, sure I will. The first thing was
is that late game, you know how it's playing out.
Things are happening, They've got the ball, a chance to
respond to try to regain and retake the lead. But
(11:02):
then we get the ball and we've got a situation
where we're trying to run the clock out. They were
awarded a time out just before the two minute timeout
by the officials. Would that have been a situation on
that second down then where you could have maybe went
through the air because the two minute timeout would have
happened anyway. Would that have been a maybe one of
(11:24):
those things he'd kind of look back and say, maybe
we could have had went a little differently in our playbook.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I think you know, there's no there's no you know,
penalty for being able to throw a pass. The clock's
gonna stop anyways, right you know, after the plays or so,
we actually I talked to Isaac about I'm like, hey, man,
you shouldn't have called it there, like we can, we
can take advantage of it now as far as you know,
I think, you know, most of the analytics would tell
you don't take a timeout when you're on defense in
between two oh six and the two minute warning because
(11:51):
he's the offense and opportunity to to not have.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Any penalty for throwing the football.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Now, we threw a run pass option and ended up
being a you know, a run read for him, but
definitely feel like, looking back on it, we could have
just dropped back and thrown the football and and uh
and uh, you know.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I guess had had an opportunity there.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So I think it's a good question and definitely something
that you know that's uh, you know, in our in
our in our thoughts. As soon as somebody you know
made a time made it, made a call there, made
a time out, Caol was hey, we can throw it
now because the clock's gonna stop regardless if we run
or throw it.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And then then the other question that somebody had for me,
And I appreciate everybody out there that has run into
me and either said pass this question on along to
and I'm happy to do so they certainly see that
we have a number of running backs that we can
turn and go to. Sawyer had probably the two bigger
runs going for scores in that game. And so the
person said to me, it was like, was it a
thought in the personnel situation late game when you're trying
(12:42):
to get a first down to get that clock moving,
you know, was it a situation where Xavier was the
guy in that in that personnel grouping that they that
was the right guy or or do you change it
up late game and say Sawyer's kind of got the
hot hand, we do we move him in? I guess
that was their question.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Yeah, I think it's a fair question too as well.
I mean Sawyer's definitely a gamer. I mean that's as
well as he's he's played or practiced, you know, since
since we've been together, and I've pushed him and really
talked to him about that. So it's awesome to be
able to be able to see him do the things
that he does. I mean, he's really talented, and we
got to continue to push him to be able to
(13:21):
get better and become a dominant back. Like, I think
that's the question right now that we all have, you know,
about Sawyer is, hey, can you go out there and
can you handle you know, twenty five thirty carries a
game off for fifteen or twenty carries a game, let's
just say, and be able to hang on the football
and be durable enough, you know. And I think that's
that's still the question mark. So, you know, coming into
the game, he was you know, starting to feel better
(13:43):
and had done some things there the last week. He's
had some lower body things going on to as well.
So I think, you know, X and Z have been
the guys at that time that that we've kind of
leaned on, you know, in those situations. But you know,
we're gonna be a different team as we get through
this thing and really start to see who the guys
are on Saturday that produce you know, I say it
all the times. The games are for learning, you know,
And it's not just as far as situations that you're learning.
(14:05):
It's not just you know, you know, the different like
questions you have right here, but it's also your personnel
you know too as well, to keep learning like who
are the guys you know that give you the best
opportunities in certain situations? And I think it's like I
said a good question. I definitely feel like, you know,
Sawyer had the hot hand when you look at things
on Saturday night, We're gonna.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Just push through where we'll take a break at the end,
instead of we're going to push right into who we've
got North Dakota entertaining Portland State. This goes back to
the old big skyer of the Portland State Vikings. Believe
it or not, Portland State's head coach Bruce Barnum what
an entertaining character from some of the things that he's
done in college football with his program and how he's
(14:46):
engaged the fan base. I honestly think he's just an enjoyable,
honest coach. I know they've gotten off to a bumpy ride,
but Portland State has had some really good years here recently.
Do in fact, I think he's got an identity for
his program. I know early on here it hasn't shown
in a couple of wins because they've they've gotten beat
by two good football programs. But coming in on Saturday,
(15:06):
I think is a Vikings team that's pretty hungry.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah, I mean we're going to get their best shot obviously,
you know, looking at their schedule and what they have
had had to go through here so far, and what's
coming up you know too as well.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
I think they're going to Hawaii, you know, the week after.
So we know that.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
You know, coach Barnham has done a great job. He's
a really good offensive coach. We've gone against each other
when I was a coordinator here before and really felt like,
you know, they do a great job of utilizing personnel.
So you're going to see every personnel grouping out there.
He'll he'll put offensive linemen in the backfield, the block,
He'll do, you know, whatever he needs to do. They'll
play with four tight ends on the field at times,
they'll they'll do whatever, you know. I mean, I think
(15:43):
he's a guy that that's really he has a creative mind.
When it comes to the run game and how they
want to move the football. They'll line up an empty
and and and swipe their tight end and run the
quarterback out of those formations which you just don't see
very often. So they present definitely present some challenges. You know,
their first game, they were moving the ball a lot
and then a lot of tip balls, like I think
three tip balls in that game that got picked off,
(16:05):
and those are you know, two of them that were
close either in the red zone or they were driving
the football. So you know those obviously hurt and and
played two really good teams. Like you said, Paul, I
mean byu' is, you know, a very very good football team.
I think when it's all said and done, will be
a top you know twenty football team for sure in
college football. And then Tarlton State's beating them, and then
went and beat Army, you know Amy last week in
Army won I think nine or ten games last year.
(16:27):
So they played really good opponents. And we you know,
our whole deal is, we haven't won a football game yet.
We haven't put four quarters together yet. Like we're gonna
worry about us and make sure that our guys are
ready to go here and are well prepared and and
we got to player best football. We're gonna win on
Saturday night.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
All right.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Just a fun question before I let you go. It's
Potato Bowl week. You've been to your fair share of
French fry feeds over the years. What is your favorite
potato type of to enjoy? Is it the French fries
that the tat Todd? Is it a baked potatoes, an
ash browns? I don't think he can go wrong with.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Any of the guess you know that's that's the Mount
Rushmore that you're saying. Right there, I feel like of
of potatoes, but I'm gonna have to go baked potato,
you know what I mean? I am the same way
as the right way, sour cream and yeah, and throw
some bacon on there and cheese, like you can't beat it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Right before, if there's one addend him to this question.
Because it is Potato Bull Week. The community is great, right,
I mean, it's a celebration. I suppose you know, I
almost go back to, you know, previous coaches saying, hey,
we got to our part is the game. Our part
is the game. I mean, we we want you to
be part of campus, but we we've got our job
to do. Is that kind of the messaging going into
(17:36):
the week.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
For sure?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I think, you know, we feel like there's gonna be
a really good vibe at the Alaya Center on Saturday night.
It's our job to make sure that, you know that
everybody can continue to have fun at the game and
create a really good environment, a hard environment for for
our opponents to be able to come play in. And
uh yeah, that's where our guys are focused on, honestly, like, hey,
all the other things that go on are really cool
for the community, and and obviously you know, the pot
(18:00):
potato growers around here are huge supporters and a big
part of the fabric of this region. But ultimately, like
at the end of the day, man, we got to
go one to know and do a good job of
playing well on Saturday night.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Really appreciate our conversation here, Thanks very much, and let's
have a great week. Okay, thanks Baul, Eric Schmidt, everybody
appreciate it. Head coach North Dakota Football leading us off
here on Hawk Talk tonight, heard all across the Fighting
Hawks Radio network, and of course on fourteen forty AM
the Fan, seven forty KNFL, the FEN and Fargo Morehead
as well, and all across the world on the iHeartRadio app.
(18:34):
All you have to do is tune in and go
to fourteen forty kkxl AM on the iHeartRadio rapp and
stream us live wherever you are. And of course you
could do that on seven forty KNFL as well and
stream us live from there.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
So we've went along with.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Coach Schmidt, We're gonna take a quick break, we're gonna go, well,
we're gonna go to the course, not the golf course. Well,
they ran on a golf course, but it's the course
of cross country. And Tom Scott was a press conference
a couple of weeks ago and he let slip that
he is pretty excited about his programs. So we're going
to bring in a head coach across country when we
(19:09):
return after this break. As you're listening to Hawk Talk
from the five Oho six Pub downtown Grand Forks, all
across the Fighting Hawks Radio network,
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.