Time of Possession Point of Emphasis for UND Football

Montana State possessed the ball for nearly two-thirds of Saturday's game vs. UND

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Returning home to the Alerus Center did not change things for UND football.

The Fighting Hawks’ struggles continued giving up 49 points to Montana State to open big sky play.

The Bobcats gained their first win of the season and possessed the ball for about two-thirds of the game.

“If you look at the game as a whole, the time of possession needs to be in our favor to give our team the best chance at a positive result,” head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “It wasn’t in our favor by a large amount. We need to defend the run better, we know that. We’ll take a look at how we can do that better. We also need to control the ball offensively.”

The players agree.

“I mean we just got to stay on the field longer,” sophomore wide receiver Travis Toivonen said. “It has put our defense in a tough position when we go three and out. I know we had a bunch of them this past Saturday. We got to stay on the field longer and make some more plays. We just need to focus better and stop making so many mental mistakes. Just got to get everyone moving in the same direction, and put everything together and should end up clicking.”

UND travels to UC Davis this Saturday looking for their first win in the Big Sky Conference.