GRAND FORKS – Today’s college football fall camp is almost as much about testing the mind as it is physically testing the body.
Gone are the days of two training sessions a day and consistent tackling exercises.
In UND football, the preseason practice game is the exception.
The Fighting Hawks will hold a scrimmage at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning on the turf field south of Memorial Field.
“We’re going to give our freshmen a chance to play live football,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “Who’s going to finish a play? How do they react when they make a play or get beat on a play? We’ve got to give the guys a chance to earn a spot. It’s going to be for the freshmen or the guys who haven’t played much in their careers.”
Schweigert did not provide any information about which veterans will miss the training game, but past seasons indicate that many regular players will not be used.
Regardless of whether or not information about the offensive line is gleaned from the scrimmage, the Hawks are nearing a point in fall training camp where they can begin deciding on the initial starting lineup.
UND has not released a roster since the end of the 2023 season.
The starting offensive line, a combination of tackles Seth Anderson, Liam Becher and Trace Thaden, guards Jack Kuntz and Caleb Olson, and centers Carter Gorder and Ben Buxa, has been present at most practices. Buxa has also played as the starting guard.
“There has to be a point where we put our best five players, but we still have to rotate because you never know what’s going to happen in games,” Schweigert said. “We’re still determining who the best five, six, seven, eight are. We have to find the right combination. It’s important to do that at some point in fall camp.”
The battle for the quarterback position isn’t much clearer at this point in fall camp, with Trey Feeney, Jerry Kaminski and Simon Romfo seemingly taking turns putting together better practices than the competition.
“It’s a process we’re going through,” Schweigert said. “We’re working hard on the evaluation. Coach (Isaac) Fruechte has spent a lot of time on it. It’s a pretty good competition right now. You see good things in each of the guys and you see what to look for when it comes to mistakes that need to be corrected. We need to see more consistency. That’s what we’d like to see.”
The scene: UND trained from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. on the turf of Memorial Field
Match of the day: Rookie wide receiver Deng Deng climbed up to show off his jumping ability and body control during 1-on-1 drills on a red zone catch.
Keep an eye on the following: Nate Demontagnac. The 6’2″ junior wide receiver will see more action in fall camp and will be one of the best options to complement Bo Belquist.
- Jerry Kaminski took the first snaps of the first part of practice. He hit Demontagnac with a slant, one play after throwing a well-placed ball to the Canadian on the sideline, but Demontagnac was undercut and the ball came loose as it hit the turf.
- Trey Feeney was the second quarterback out, completing two swing passes to running back Gaven Ziebarth before Kittson County Central’s Kaden Vig picked up the sack on a dropback.
- The highlight of Simon Romfo’s first team session was a short pass to Sam Strandell.
- In the second part of the 11-on-11 game, UND worked on inside runs and short passing.
- On one of the final plays of practice, Romfo rolled out and went through his progression before landing on a route underneath to Tray Kuntz, a rookie tight end from Grand Forks.
