Familiarity with the Offense Helped NDSU’s Gonnella Earn No.1 Spot

Sophomore listed as starter for Saturday's game against Albany

FARGO, N.D. — After a successful spring season playing in nine games rushing for 495 yards and two touchdowns, Dom Gonnella finds his name at the top of the depth chart for North Dakota State at running back.

The sophomore was in a unique situation after the FCS Playoffs ended. Gonnella went to Arizona and through rookie ball for the Diamondbacks, who signed him out of high school, and wasn’t back in Fargo until late July.

Even with the limited time getting ready for the fall, head coach Matt Entz said the Florida native did the best job of picking up the offense.

Another year in the system brought familiarity for the tailback to transition so quickly.

“Being able to pick it up. Another year in the system makes it so much easier to come in verses everything being fresh and all the terminology sounding weird,” Gonnella said. “It allows me to play faster knowing the playbook more and playing with the same guys. A lot of our line is the same as the spring so it’s a nice feeling to know where they’re going to end up blocking and how they’re going to wash them out.”

Gonnella also said he’s been learning more plays to catch out of the slot along with blocking schemes.