Now that its bye week is over and done with, UND’s football team will set its sights on finishing the rest of the season like it has been doing in games — strong.

UND currently sits at 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky conference, which is good enough for seventh place. While that may not seem like much, that record puts North Dakota miles ahead of where this team was last year. UND did not win three games until the second to last game of the season in 2013, and held one of the worst records in the Big Sky.

While the Green and White have taken strides this season, the team has still had its struggles. One of them being winning on the road.

“We need to play better than we have on the road,” UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. “The last time we were (away), I thought our last half was what we were looking for when we were out at Bozeman, and that is how we need to approach it.  It would be a nice step for our program to get a positive result on the road.”

UND is 0-3 away from the Alerus Center, playing in arguably its toughest games of the season.

There is reason for optimism this week, though, for the UND faithful.

The Green and White’s opponent this week are the Southern Utah Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are sporting a 1-7 record this year, and sit at No. 11 in the Big Sky Conference.

Southern Utah is statistically better than UND on offense, scoring 22.9 points per game and gaining 414.5 yards per game to UND’s 13.7 points each game and 231.3 yards per contest. Those are strikingly different stat lines, but the difference lies in the defense.

Southern Utah is in the basement of the Big Sky when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. The Thunderbirds have given up 39.9 points per game and a conference worst 554 yards during each game.

UND’s defense has not played as well on the road, but it is still a force to be reckoned with. The Green and White have made opponents black and blue, only allowing 22.7 points and 334.6 yards a game.

The matchup to watch this week is UND’s corners versus the passing attack of Southern Utah. The Thunderbird quarterbacks and wide receivers have accounted for 2,477 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, making them the third best passing team in the Big Sky.

“Looking at Southern Utah, a team that is very explosive offensively, they really stress you defensively,” Schweigert said. “They’ll throw the ball downfield quite a bit. I believe they’re receiving corps is one of the most talented receiving corps that we have seen, the quarterbacks have strong arms you need to defend.”

UND ranks fourth in pass defense, though, not making life easy for opposing passing offenses. The defense has only given up 10 passing touchdowns all season.

After starting the year off 3-4, the new era of UND football has come to show fans that there is something to be excited about when it comes to UND sports.

UND will continue to build on its start of the season this Saturday at 2:05 p.m. in Cedar City, Utah.

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