UND notebook: Players take responsibility

UND senior linebacker and captain Ryan Kasowski delivered a message following Southern Utah's 31-21 win against the Sioux on Saturday.

He was blunt in his delivery.

"This (loss) has nothing to do with our coaches," Kasowski said, obviously frustrated with the day that started well and ended poorly. "It's our inability as players to make plays. And that's what is frustrating.

"We had great schemes offensively and defensively. We just didn't make plays -- again."

He said that UND coaches prepared game plans that would have worked had the Sioux players executed the plans.

"We have to fix these mistakes because it's costing us games and it's extremely frustrating," Kasowski said.

There was a lot of frustration to go around in the Sioux locker room.

"We couldn't get anything generated on either side of the ball," Kasowski said.

A 14-0 UND lead also couldn't be preserved.

"We had all the momentum going our way," Kasowski said. "Joel (Schwenzfeier) picks off a pass and goes in for a (100-yard) touchdown. You can't ask any more than that."

Serious injuries

UND coach Chris Mussman couldn't remember a game in which his team had so many serious injuries.

Seth Stanchik, a redshirt freshman defensive lineman, suffered the most serious injury -- a broken leg.

The defense was hit especially hard. Dan Hendrickson and Justin Belotti both suffered possible concussions. Linebacker Paul German went down with a leg injury and Ross Brenneman hurt his shoulder.

Hendrickson suffered his head injury busting up a wedge on the UND kickoff coverage team.

"It's not a lot of fun when you have to go out there and the kid is not moving and they're holding his neck," Mussman said of Hendrickson's injury. "He's a tough kid. He was up and walking around. But they took his helmet away from him."

The game was delayed for a few minutes so medical personnel could deal with Stanchik's broken leg. He was taken off the field on a stretcher.

The injuries to Hendrickson, German and Stanchik all occurred on one SUU possession.

"Injuries are now a major, major concern," Mussman said.

Off week

UND came into the game relatively healthy but exited with injuries and concerns with depth, especially on defense.

But the Sioux are off this week, perhaps a good and bad thing.

The time off will give UND players a chance to heal. But the bye week also comes on the heels of a poor outing.

Mussman, however, said the team will go back to work as usual this week at Memorial Stadium.

"Our focus has to be on getting better," Mussman said. "It can't be on the next game. It has to be on the next practice or whatever we're accountable for on any given day."

Notes and quotes

n Sioux running back Josh Murray on a lack of offense: "They made good adjustments and we made a few mistakes here and there. Penalties killed a lot of drives for us."

n The Sioux were penalized seven times for 75 yards; SUU was penalized nine times for 78 yards.

n Sioux safety Joel Schwenzfeier, who electrified the crowd with a 100-yard interception return: "Dominique (Hawkins) told me that if I wasn't going to get it (interception) he was going to get the pick."

n UND's longest play from scrimmage was 16 yards.

n UND has lost three straight to SUU after beating the Thunderbirds in 2007 as a Division II program.

n UND coach Chris Mussman on the toll injuries took on UND: "I don't think I've ever been involved in a game with anything like that, and to have that many serious injuries. There were a lot of sad faces in the locker room."