VERMILLION, S.D. -- The UND football team saw South Dakota star Chris Streveler a year ago in the Alerus Center, and the dual-threat quarterback had his moments, throwing for four touchdown passes in his team’s double-overtime defeat.
He also displayed some of his inexperience and limitations, throwing two costly interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.
On Saturday in USD’s 45-7 thrashing of UND at the DakotaDome, Streveler showcased his progress in the Coyotes offense.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Minnesota Gophers transfer was 23-for-30 for 290 yards. He ran 15 times for 62 yards. He scored one touchdown through the air and two more on the ground.
Streveler is yet to throw an interception this season.
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“That kid’s a tough kid,” UND safety Cole Reyes said. “He’s a good leader on that team. He makes plays when you need plays. It’s everything you want in a quarterback.
“He threw some nice passes today. The way he leads that offense -- he does it really well. He’s a full package.”
Streveler led USD’s offense to 575 yards of total offense, including 400 in the first half alone. The Coyotes scored on five of the team’s seven offensive possessions.
Streveler led his team to a 3-for-3 showing on fourth downs and 8-for-17 on third downs.
“He’s a really good athlete,” UND linebacker Jake Disterhaupt said. “He’s heavy and runs downhill. I tip my hat to him.”
UND adds two injury concerns
UND starting cornerback Evan Holm and left tackle A.J. Stockwell were hurt against USD in the first half and didn’t return. The extent of their injuries wasn’t known after the game.
Stockwell was replaced by Mat Cox, who swung from right tackle to left. Bryce Blair came in to play right tackle with Cox’s switch.
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Tyus Carter played primarily in place of Holm.
USD dealt with injuries, as well. Starting left tackle Nick Jensen suffered an injury early in the game and didn’t return.
“When you lose arguably your best offensive lineman on the second or third play from scrimmage … we played the whole game with a true freshman at center, a redshirt freshman who started the game at center at left tackle,” USD coach Bob Nielson said. “I told them after the game, for that group they had a dominant performance. When you rush the ball against one of the best rushing defenses in the country for almost 300 yards, that starts up front.”
Notes and quotes
- South Dakota is 3-0 for the first time since 2006.
- There were no turnovers in the game.
- UND coach Bubba Schweigert: “We have to fit the run better and tackle better. That’s what we’re going to challenge our guys to do.”
- UND running back John Santiago: “People are going to get yelled at and criticized. I think we needed this. We needed someone to show us we need to keep working. We’ll start our work tomorrow.”
- Santiago accounted for 222 all-purpose yards to go over 4,000 for his career. He’s now fifth all-time at UND.
- Redshirt freshman Jake Rastas made his first career start and finished with a career-high 10 tackles.
- This was the 96th meeting between the two teams. USD won for just the 30th time and second-straight time at the DakotaDome.
- UND quarterback Keaton Studsrud: “We came out flat. There were no momentum shifts and couldn’t get the ball rolling. In football, some teams show up and some don’t. Quite frankly, we didn’t. We got outworked.”
