1. Wanzek suffers injury, still has big day

UND's top wide receiver, Noah Wanzek, had an eventful day during Idaho State's 55-20 win Saturday at Holt Arena.

The senior from Jamestown caught six passes for 124 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown catch.

On fourth-and-goal from the 6 late in the third quarter, Nate Ketteringham passed to Wanzek in the end zone, where Wanzek was hit by an ISU defender and his helmet came off, causing a cut to his face.

The Bengals were penalized for targeting, giving UND a first down. The Fighting Hawks eventually scored on a Brock Boltmann touchdown catch.

Wanzek returned to the field in the fourth quarter, catching the 33-yard touchdown to cut Idaho State's lead to 48-20.

UND's other notable injuries came to wide receiver Cam McKinney, who injured his shoulder on the final kickoff of the first half. He didn't return.

Starting left tackle Matt Waletzko also left the game early with an injury.

2. Hawks have first-half letdown

UND gave up 31 points in the first half to Idaho State, marking the Fighting Hawks’ most points surrendered in a half since 2017.

In 2017, South Dakota -- led by quarterback Chris Streveler -- picked UND apart in a 45-7 win in the Dakotadome.

Idaho State didn’t punt in the first half. UND gave up 256 passing yards in the second quarter alone.

UND coach Bubba Schweigert said he thought UND entered with the right mindset, coming off an emotional win last Saturday over UC Davis.

"We practiced well, so those are the signs you look for early in the week," Schweigert said. "We knew they were going to be a tough team. They're very good at home."

3. UND QB not out for coin toss

UND quarterback Nate Ketteringham was voted a captain this preseason, but the senior starter was not out with the other three captains for the coin toss before the game.

Donnell Rodgers, Noah Wanzek and Mason Bennett went out for the coin toss without Ketteringham.

Ketteringham and UND coach Bubba Schweigert were demonstrative toward each other on the sideline in the second half of UND’s 38-36 win over UC Davis last Saturday at the Alerus Center.

4. UND shuffles OL

UND was nursing a number of injuries along the offensive line.

Junior Sean Russo started at left guard and redshirt freshman Donny Ventrelli started at right tackles, taking the places of Ryan Tobin and Nathan Nguon, respectively.

Tobin and Nguon did travel to Pocatello and played in a few offensive series apiece.

Russo and Ventrelli have both started games for UND this season at right tackle. Nguon started the season at center but was moved to tackle when senior Patric Rooney returned after an early-season injury.

5. UND sees long travel day

The Fighting Hawks didn’t spend much time in Pocatello.

UND was originally scheduled to fly a charter plane out of Grand Forks at 4 p.m. Friday, but the winter storm hitting the region caused concern that Grand Forks’ airport would close before the Hawks could get out.

So UND took three buses from Memorial Stadium to Bemidji, where the Hawks waited in the airport for about four hours before the charter flight arrived and was ready to depart for Pocatello.

In all, UND’s travel day was about nine hours. The Hawks landed in Pocatello at about 10 p.m. Mountain.

"We got off to a good start; there's no excuses in our program," Schweigert said.