Adversity is something every football team has to go through.

How a team responds to that adversity is the true test of what the team is made of.

On Saturday afternoon, the UND football team knew it was not going to succumb to adversity on that day, as it defeated Portland State 24-16.

“Bite, scratch and claw,” UND Coach Bubba Schweigert said. “That’s how we need to play to play great defense. That’s how you’re going to trip guys up and create turnovers.”

Every time it seemed Portland State was going to run away with the momentum and the game, the Green and White resoundingly responded.

It all started when a pair of UND’s best offensive players went down.

UND’s leading wide-receiver R.J. McGill was injured early on after a kickoff return, and starting quarterback Joe Mollberg was hurt after completing a quarterback sneak that resulted in a first down.

“We lost a lot of key guys,” Schweigert said. “That is hard on your team, but our guys hung in there and found a way.”

Good teams have players step up when they are needed, and the backups did just that.

After a shaky start by Ryan Bartels, the backup found his groove in the second half, finishing the day with a stat line of 14-23 for 151 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown.

“I loosened up a lot going into that second half,” Bartels said. “I knew I was going to be playing that second half instead of me not knowing. I was thinking too much in that first half. My mind was racing, and I came out in that second half and just played football.”

Bartels was not the only backup to have a productive day.

Zach Adler filled the void at wide-receiver for McGill, catching seven passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.

While the Green and White had adversity to deal with internally, there was still a game to be played. Portland State had rushed out to a 13-3 lead in the first half and had other opportunities to put the game out of reach.

The second half was UND’s game.

UND scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to take the lead away from the Vikings, then added some insurance in the fourth with team captain Alex Tillman’s school record 95-yard punt return for a touchdown.

At that point, it felt like the Green and White were on their way to their first Homecoming victory in four years.

But then adversity reared its ugly head yet again.

After a three-and-out by the offense, UND was forced to punt it back to the Vikings, setting up Portland State on UND’s 18-yard line.

What resulted was the most intense series of the season.

Portland State looked as if it would blow its prime field position, but then converted on a must-have fourth down.

UND’s defense held it to another fourth down chance. Portland State’s quarterback Kieran McDonagh threw the ball to the left of the end zone.

Game over — or so it seemed.

Before the snap, Schweigert had called a timeout, erasing the resulting play.

“I called a timeout when the game would have been over,” Schweigert said. “But we just felt that we weren’t lined up properly, and we didn’t want to give them an easy one.”

Again, the defense had to make a game-saving stop.

The Vikings ran the ball out to the right, and was stopped short on the two-yard game.

UND won, 24-16.

“Our guys, they hang in there and keep battling,” Schweigert said. “Just so many times we had to overcome things, and I’m really proud of our guys — just to be resilient and keep competing the entire game.”

Adversity can strike from anywhere during a football game, and UND found that out first hand.

But in the new era of UND football, the Green and White seemed up for the challenge.

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