Sophomore quarterback Joe Mollberg prepares to throw the football at the Alerus Center earlier this season. Photo by Nicholas Nelson/The Dakota Student.

For the UND football team, life does not get any easier a week after playing No. 15 Montana State.

This week, Big Sky opponent Montana is coming to town to take on the Green and White.

Currently, the Grizzlies rank seventh in the FCS in the Coaches Poll.

Looking at Montana’s team, it is very clear what its strength is.

Defense is king with the Grizzlies, as the team ranks first in almost every defensive category. They have given up the fewest points a game at 17.2, while also giving up the fewest yards per game in the Big Sky Conference — 338.8 yards.

“There’s no question that you want touchdowns at the end of drives, and they make it very difficult,” UND Coach Bubba Schweigert said. “You see, they play top teams and it’s hard to score on them. They don’t give up a whole lot, especially down in the red zone. They’re really good. So we’ll look for ways, but we know it’s going to be a challenge.”

While Montana may be a defensive juggernaut, it is not as strong on the other side of the ball.

The Grizzlies’ offense is in the middle of the pack in the Big Sky Conference, ranking sixth in scoring offense at 27.2 points a game, and No. 10 in total offense, accounting for 339.2 yards per game and 17 total touchdowns.

Montana may be top-ranked in most statistical categories, but UND is a very close second.

Where the Grizzlies are giving up 338.8 yards a game, North Dakota gives up 340.6.

Montana gives up 17.2 points each game, UND gives up 25.

While UND has played well defensively, Schweigert sees room for improvement.

“We challenge our guys to play with great effort,” he said. “That’s an expectation that we are going to live by. I think our guys are learning our system. The results are pretty good, but we’re still challenging our guys. There are plenty of mistakes that we made and we think we can get a lot better and we need to be a lot better if we are going to be in a lot of football games.”

The two defenses facing off this weekend at the Alerus Center are very evenly matched, which could make for a very low scoring game.

The one advantage UND could have over the nationally ranked Grizzlies is being at home. North Daktoa has proven this season that it players better around its own crowd.

During the two games at home this season, the Green and White have given up a total of 16 points to the opposition.

Defense will reign supreme on Saturday night, and while the coaching staff has liked what it’s seen, it doesn’t feel as though they it has seen a complete effort — a trend the players will look to change this weekend.

“We’re going to challenge our guys to play sixty minutes,” Schweigert said. “And until we get to that point, we aren’t that happy.”

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