RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesJul. 31—GRAND FORKS — A beautiful morning — blue skies and less humidity — greeted UND for the third day of fall football camp at Memorial Field.
Here are five observations.
UND cornerbacks Avery Scott and Johnnie Wiltshire again watched practice from the sidelines as they wait to be cleared to join their teammates.
Meanwhile, 6-foot-4 senior cornerback transfer Ben Kamara, who is taking key reps, made a highlight-reel play that showed why height matters at the position.
Kamara intercepted an underthrown ball, using his body positioning and height to fend off 6-foot-4 wide receiver Deng Deng's effort.
Kamara made the contested catch, secured the ball and held on as he fell on his back. The play drew a reaction from his teammates.
"To be that big and long, and to be able to move your feet and play corner, you don't have a lot of those guys," UND coach Eric Schmidt said. "We really have two of them. We think Evan Kludt is very similar as far as his body type, and don't forget about Grant Noland. Those are the guys, right now, who have been most consistent for us."
Kamara spent last season at Akron.
Scott and Wiltshire are expected to join practice soon — once they're officially enrolled in graduate school.
They won't know until later in August if they're eligible to play. That part of the process will be determined by the courts.
Schmidt said he doesn't mind being in limbo.
"To me, I look at it like, hey, they're two guys who maybe got injured during spring ball and they're trying to work their way back," Schmidt said. "We don't know if they're going to make it back or not. If we get them, it's a huge shot in the arm."
During breaks in practice, UND's players frequently ran over to Scott and Wiltshire to converse.
"We're going to support them and help them in any way we can," Schmidt said. "There have been a lot of kids that are in the same category as them who have been given the opportunity to play. So, why not them? Let's exhaust all the different avenues that we can to get those guys back.
"They're really good, quality people and they're guys who are proven at this level. They love football and love being here. They obviously could have easily gone to court and gone somewhere else. But they're like, 'Hey, I want to be here. This place has been good to me and I want to return the favor.'"
Junior safety Tyler Erkman jumped a route to intercept a pass Friday morning during one-on-one drills with wide receivers.
It was the type of play that Schmidt hopes to see from a player who started as a redshirt and slowly has worked his way into getting more and more reps.
"We made a killing on those guys throughout the 90s and early 2000s," Schmidt said. "It was always like, 'You're losing all these guys.' It's like, 'Yeah, but we have all these other guys who are not 18-year-olds, they're 20-year-olds and ready to go, behind them.' He is that for us."
Schmidt said Erkman has been a coach on the field and his consistency has been notable.
"For us, it's consistently good over occasionally great," Schmidt said. "Those are the guys we're going to move to the top of our depth chart. Those are the guys who are going to see the field the most."
UND ran through a drill for its tight ends and wide receivers to work on blocking downfield.
Offensive coordinator Danny Freund said that's going to be a key part of UND's offense and he hopes it can spring big plays.
"For what we want to do on offense, we need to stretch all areas of the field," Freund said. "We're going to throw the ball vertically down the field. We're going to run the ball and attack people inside the tackles.
"But part of the RPO (run-pass option) game and quick game is just being able to throw the ball to the perimeter and stretch the field horizontally. To do that, you've got to have everybody blocking and understanding leverage and knowing how to run their feet out there on the perimeter."
Freund said making key blocks down the field can sometimes turn a five-yard pickup into an explosive play.
UND's tight ends made plays throughout Friday's practice.
Haydn Stay made a few catches that turned into solid yardage. Nathan Hromadka made a few catches in traffic across the middle.
But another tight end drew Schmidt's attention on Friday — Grand Forks Central graduate Tray Kuntz.
"I really like where Tray Kuntz is at right now, Schmidt said. "He's a kid where, we talk about being junkyard dogs and guys who are doing the right things, he does 'simple' better every play. It's not like he's doing less. He just concentrates on the things that really, really matter. He's improved so much. I'm excited about him."
Kuntz made a crushing block Friday to spring quarterback Jerry Kaminski for a big run.
"He's up to close to 270 pounds," Schmidt said. "He's strong and physical and just has the right demeanor. He loves that part about football. He'll go put his face on you all day long. That's what we need. Coach (Gordie) Haug has done a great job with those guys."
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