The Jackrabbits are back in action tomorrow against the Fighting Hawks of North Dakota. This is a VERY intriguing matchup because both teams non-conference slates were meh. Yes, the Jackrabbits won against Montana State but neither team played really well and yes, the Jackrabbits took care of business against Western Oregon and Drake as expected. Simliarly, UND beat the beat the brakes off Drake and NAU as expected and then played poorly and lost against Boise State. This will be a game where we learn plenty about the 2023 versions of SDSU and UND. Below are the things that the JI crew is keeping an eye on this week.

Contain Schuster
The Jackrabbits struggle against against the improvised runs of opposing quarterbacks. They seem to be okay against the called QB run plays but the scramble runs still give us nightmares. Schuster is a pass first quarterback but he has good mobility and can tuck and run if needed. UND prefers to get rid of the ball quickly and Schuster has great pocket awareness AND just seems slippery. Last season the defensive line did a really good job of all rushing together and not rushing themselves too far up field and out of the play. It’s imperative that they show that level of teamwork this week against Schuster.

Pass Protection vs. UND’s games
The Jacks have given up 3 sacks so far this year and it feels like they have all been when opponents have brought extra rushers. As was outlined in the UND preview, UND brings blitzes from all over the field and almost always brings 5 rushers. They have 27 quarterback hits and 4 sacks on the season. The #605Hogs will have to communicate and the running backs will have to be solid in blitz pickup. Hopefully Mark ends the day clean. In a similar vein, we want to see the #605Hogs truly dominate the line of scrimmage. UNDs defensive line is good but we feel the Hogs are better and should be able to win this matchup.

Time of Possession
One theme that has emerged this season is that the defense has spent too much time on the field this season. Opponents are controlling the ball for +5 minutes per game. The offense needs to dictate the pace of play and give the defense breaks. UND can run the ball with physicality and that tends to grind down a defense if it is on the field for too long. The Jacks need to be balanced on offense and keep the defense fresh. For its part, the defense needs to win on 1st and 2nd down and then continue to be excellent on 3rd down (25% conversion rate).

The Crowd
Everyone and their grandma has been talking about how great the Jackrabbit crowd was against Montana State. Do it again. That was the first time a BIG regular season crowd felt like a playoff crowd. Do it again. Make noise early and often, even if the team isn’t giving us a ton to cheer about. Do it anyways.

Start Fast & Keep the Pedal to the Metal.
As the B-Team outlined, UND has started games really slowly this year and then has exploded in the 3rd quarter. It is too soon to know about the Jacks. They came out strong in two of their three games but erupted in the 3rd quarter against Montana State. We’d love to know the first few possessions that Lujan has scripted because it still feels like we have just caught a glimpse of what this offense is in 2023. Likewise, a few early three and outs from the defense would go a long ways to getting the crowd engaged.

Go Jacks!
Ben, Brendan, Chad, Dallas, Matt