It isn't often that UND football coach Chris Mussman, a former offensive lineman at Iowa State, makes an appearance in the offensive linemen huddle before a drive.
When he does, players take notice.
"When coach Mussman comes over and looks at us like that, we know it's important," Sioux senior right tackle Keith Queoff said. "We knew as offensive linemen, it was our turn to take over."
Mussman's motivation came before a 13-play, 73-yard game-sealing drive that chewed up 6 minutes, 18 seconds of fourth-quarter clock in UND's 55-14 victory over Northwestern State last Saturday.
It was the kind of physical drive the Sioux hope to build on heading into Saturday's 2 p.m. game against South Dakota in Vermillion.
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On the decisive drive against Northwestern, the Sioux rushed the ball 11 times. No carry went for more than 8 yards.
But during one stretch, the Sioux handed off to running back Josh Murray on five consecutive plays, with gains of 8, 6, 7, 8 and then 0 yards.
"It was important for us to be able to pound the ball out," Queoff said. "It was a good confidence booster."
Nearly churning out nearly 200 a game
In all, the Sioux rushed for 224 yards against Northwestern. A week before against Northeastern State, UND amassed 357 yards on the ground. For the season, the Sioux are averaging 199 yards per game.
Since being limited to 67 rushing yards against Northern Illinois of the FBS, UND's offensive line has controlled the line of scrimmage.
The Sioux front five have started all four games: Creighton Schroyer at left tackle, Joe Kleason at left guard, Ian McGurran at center, Emmett Lynch at right guard and Queoff at right tackle.
Schroyer and Quoeff are seniors, while Kleason is a redshirt freshman and McGurran and Lynch are sophomores.
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"Our younger guys aren't younger anymore," Queoff said. "We don't talk about that any more. Those guys have really matured fast and keep getting better. That's what we needed."
The Sioux hope to carry the strong rushing attack into the South Dakota game.
"I think it's going to be a physical game," Queoff said. "They're one of our rivals, so we know what we need to do. It's easy to get up for a game like that."
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
