The journey to Texas has 11 pre-scheduled stops with only one break between now & late November. There will be twists, turns & trouble along the route but through it all the Herd will progress. Following each game that progress will be analyzed. As great as the destination is, enjoy the weekly pit stops along the way!
All due respect to Brock Jensen, Hunter Luepke is the best get from the state of Wisconsin yet. How none of the BIG's saw his potential could get people demoted or fired. That may seem over-the-top but with the way he continues to produce Saturday after Saturday in the cash-cow business that is college football it can't be ruled out. Today's two touchdown performance sparked comment by a couple luminary's from the four-letter as well as the pro that Luepke is most commonly compared to. He may not shed the fullback designation but the next best thing to another touchdown run or catch would be for all of us to call him what he actually is - a football player. In the purest sense of it, that is what he is. He runs, he catches, he blocks, if you called upon he could probably kick an extra point, throw a touchdown & be the gunner.
HE IS A FOOTBALL PLAYER.
But he is not the whole story of today's victory.
Cam Miller didn't throw a touchdown, though he got very close to connecting with Zach Mathis as predicted, and yet this is pretty much exactly the sort of performance that he should finish each game with. Better is always better and there's plenty of room for that but error free & in command is what is required for him to lead the team to all the places they aim to go and that was the level he played at today. His performance was augmented by top-four rushing performances from he & Cole Payton as only Luepke & Kobe Johnson amassed more yardage.
The hope continues to be that Payton will be used less predictably as the season unfolds but like Miller, today was a positive one for the highly-touted Nebraskan.
That also applies to Joe Stoffel as he showed for the second time that he's more than capable to fulfilling the tight-end duties, finishing with the team-high for receiving yards on a tidy four receptions.
Can't forget about the defense as Spencer Waege finished with a sack & a half, Michael Tutsie hauled in the game's only turnover and young Jaxon Duttenhefer got his first QB takedown. With injuries taking their toll today more young & unproven guys will get their chances in coming weeks so Duttenhefer setting the bar gained that significance.
Even with Jaleel McLaughlin averaging a gaudy 8.8 yards/rush on 17 carries Code Green kept the Penguins sub-300 total yards. Suffocation defense has long been the standard but as the pieces change today's game creates another baseline from which the players can learn & improve.
And last but not least, NDSU showed it has a pulse at the kicker position as Griffen Crosa nailed two medium-length kicks in the fourth quarter. We will need to see more of the same over the next month+ to put the narrative to bed but even if only in the friendly confines it's yet another occurrence that can be harkened back to in big moments months from now.
Time may prove otherwise but it seems like this particular pitstop on the journey was the most fruitful one yet. With just one more game before the Marker makes it's return to the North these lessons are entirely necessary!
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