The UND football team competes against Weber State last Saturday at the Alerus Center. North Dakota was defeated, 24-12. Photo by Jennifer Friese/The Dakota Student.

Getting dressed, hearing coaches’ pep talks, getting those butterflies in their stomachs — suddenly walking through the dark tunnel into the bright lights and the thundering applause of excited football fans.

Only then will it hit the seniors on the UND football team that they have one last time to play in front of a home crowd.

Fifteen seniors will make their last home start this Saturday at the Alerus Center against Northern Arizona, including Alex Tillman, who was named team captain in his first season.

Tillman has the two longest touchdowns this season, including a 92-yard pick-six and a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Other players have seen their entire career here at UND, including Baylee Carr, who is UND’s active career leader with 169 tackles.

Dwayne Pecosky and Ben Peters have both been intricate parts of UND’s hard hitting philosophy over the past four seasons. Pecosky has always been known as a hybrid player, switching positions when needed, including time spent on the D-line and O-line before finally finding a niche at fullback.

UND looks to send its seniors on their way on a winning note as it hosts NAU this Saturday and will enter the game hoping to end its three-game losing streak.

The game will be a defensive matchup as both UND and NAU have two of the top defenses in the Big Sky. UND has only relinquished an average of 349.2 yards per game. NAU is a just behind with 385.7 yards.

The last time the teams met was last season, when NAU handed it to UND, decisively winning 48-27. This season has seen successful for NAU once again as the team has won five games in the Big Sky.

“A big challenge should always get you excited,” Schweigert said. “We’re always concerned about UND, but this would give us an opportunity for a good, quality win. We’ve got to prepare hard. It’s our seniors’ last game. That seems to give your team energy all the time. That’s our expectation.”

If UND keeps up its defensive play, and if senior Jer Garman can keep finding those gaps in defenses that has lead him to two back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, UND should see success Saturday.

The season’s end may be right around the corner as UND failed to qualify for postseason play, but Saturday’s game will allow the team one last chance this season to showcase its abilities on its home turf.

UND’s defense will not be too far behind where it is now. It will return Dayo Idowu and Brandon Dranka, who are tied for second on the team with three and a half sacks. Dranka currently leads all freshmen in sacks in the Big Sky.

The defense also demonstrates room for improvement as a majority of the players will return next season. UND coach Bubba Schweigert has played 21 freshmen this season, 10 of which are true freshman.

At Saturday’s game, avid fans of UND football may all watch as the team attempts to end on a high note.

“Right now, in November, it’s cold out in practice, your body doesn’t feel that great anymore, and a lot of our dreams aren’t there anymore,” Schweigert said. “So now we’ve got to see who really wants to do this, and who really wants to set a standard for a way our team will react to tough times.”

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