Sep. 7—The UND football program had a mix of good and bad news Monday when head coach Bubba Schweigert gave an update on availability for the Fighting Hawks’ game Friday night at Utah State.
UND expects to have two top wide receivers back in the mix with Bo Belquist and Garett Maag ready to go for the 8 p.m. kickoff. However, linebacker Ray Haas will miss the rest of the season after suffering an injury following his interception in last Saturday’s 35-14 win over Idaho State.
Maag missed time in the second half in Pocatello after pulling up limp on a deep ball. Belquist was simply termed “unavailable” against Idaho State.
It’s unclear whether Belquist’s absence was related to a leg injury he suffered last spring in a playoff win against Missouri State.
“We anticipate having both of them back,” Schweigert said. “They’re key to our offensive attack. Garett was feeling pretty good yesterday and much better today, so we are anticipating having him back. We’re confident we’ll have Bo with us this weekend, too.”
Before sitting out with an injury, Maag had two catches for 43 yards against the Bengals. Both catches came on long back-shoulder throws from quarterback Tommy Schuster.
Belquist, a second-year player from New Rockford, N.D., could be an important addition, as he finished the spring with 25 grabs for 255 yards and three touchdowns.
Haas, a fifth-year senior, has played in 25 career games at outside linebacker. The 6-foot-5 Haas started all seven games at linebacker in the spring, finishing fifth on the team in tackles with 30.
During his third-quarter interception against Idaho State, which was a tipped ball from Idaho State quarterback Tyler Vander Waal, Haas appeared to land awkwardly. As he tried to get off the field after the play, he collapsed halfway to UND’s sideline and needed significant attention from the training staff.
“Unfortunately, he won’t be playing anymore this season,” Schweigert said. “He made a really good play and was playing really well Saturday night. The guy comes back for an extra year and wants to give everything to the program. It was a long journey for him, and he was playing at such a high level early in the game. It was just unfortunate.”
Despite UND’s big win at Idaho State, the Hawks dropped from No. 8 to No. 9 in the Stats Perform FCS poll. The drop was a result of Montana’s big win over Washington, which helped the Griz leap from No. 9 to No. 4 in the poll.
Utah State is coming off a big win of its own, beating Washington State in Pullman, Wash. The Aggies trailed 23-11 early in the fourth quarter before scoring 15 unanswered points.
The win was Utah State’s first road win over a Power 5 opponent since 1971.
Utah State, which finished 1-5 in the spring, has a first-year coaching staff and a roster littered with new transfer additions.
Although UND had a game with a quick turnaround just this last spring on a Thursday night against South Dakota, the program hasn’t played a Friday game since beating Central Washington 28-14 in Ellensburg, Wash., in 2006.