UND sophomore Alec Carrothers runs toward the ball during last Saturday’s Potato Bowl at the Alerus Center. Photo by Nicholas Nelson/The Dakota Student.

Defense wins championships, but offense helps a team get there.

UND’s football team is at the same point it was last year.

The team is 1-1, looking down the barrel of what could be a very challenging season.

Longtime fans will be able to look at the team this year and see that there already have been defensive improvements from last year’s team, which gave up an average of 33.7 points per game But there also is something else that’s very worrisome.

The offense has struggled through the first two games of the season.

If UND is to improve from last season, the Green and White must be more consistent on offense.

So far, the offense has scored 26 points in the first two games.

To put that into perspective, the previous year’s team had scored 97 points between the first two games.

To be fair, UND started out on fire in the first game of last season, throttling Valparaiso 69-10. That team cooled off as the year went on, averaging 23.8 per game when everything was said and done.

While the 26 points have been enough for the Green and White to win a game, the troublesome part is that almost half of their points (12) have come from kicker Reid Tanbenheim and special teams.

So, who is to blame for the lack of offensive firepower?

If you know the game of football, you know the offense only goes as far as the offensive line will take it, and that’s where the problem starts.

Last Saturday during the Potato Bowl, the offensive line could not find its groove. Robert Morris’ defense may only have sacked quarterback Joe Mollberg once, but it hurried Mollberg six times and only allowed 113 yards rushing.

The defensive line of Robert Morris pushed back the O-line of UND back all night.

But it’s not just the big boys up front at fault.

Joe Mollberg has not played exceptionally well in his first two games. His completion percentage is at a middle-of-the-road 53.7% (22 of 41), and he has thrown for 281 yards and one touchdown. He has not been reckless with the ball, though, only throwing one interception through two games.

Skill players also are still settling into their roles.

Through the first two games, the wide receivers have dropped five passes thrown their way and have yet to form chemistry with Mollberg.

UND’s rushing attack has been decent, averaging 3.5 yards per carry and only scoring one touchdown.

Now let’s be fair and put this all into perspective. There are multiple factors that this team has to deal with.

First off, this is a young and inexperienced team.

On the current roster, 58 out of 93 players are all underclassmen (redshirt freshmen, freshmen, and sophomores). If this is a team where 62 percent of the team is younger than junior status, early season struggles are bound to happen.

Another huge factor as to why this offense has not found its rhythm yet is the receiving corps.

All-American Greg Hardin was a huge player for this team. Last year, he caught 67 passes for 1,153 yards and five touchdowns.

Hardin is not the only loss, though.

With only two returning wide receivers from the previous year coming back, it’s no wonder it has taken a couple games for connections to be made between Mollberg and his wide-outs.

And, finally, arguably the largest factor, is the fact that every coach on the team this year is new,aside from strength and conditioning coach Nate Baukol.

It takes time for a coach’s new strategies and systems to set in, which can be seen in the lack of offensive production.

With that much turn around in one off-season, early-season jitters should be expected.

While there have been problems, UND has seemed to weather some of them by putting a win on the board.

It’s early enough in the season where almost every team in college football is figuring out its identity.

But in order for this to be a successful season, UND must turn those jitters into production on offense or face the same fate as last season.

Alex Stadnik is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].