North Dakota State University football concluded its third week of spring practice with a spirited 70-play scrimmage held Saturday, April 23, in the Fargodome.

The first units locked horns during the opening series. Quarterback Brock Jensen led the offense to the 29-yard line before the drive stalled. Jensen completed a pair of third down passes to a five-yarder to Reed Duchscher and 22-yard strike to Trevor Gebhart. The defense received a lift on a pass breakup from cornerback Brendin Pierre.

When the second half of the scrimmage moved situational, Jensen completed a 21-yard TD pass to tight end Taylor Nelson. It was the only touchdown of the scrimmage.

Then the defense made things tough for QBs Jose Mohler, Esley Thorton and Jensen after that. Eight sacks and several more quarterback hurries made things interesting in the backfield. Defensive ends Kyle Emmanuel and Cole Jirik each had two sacks. Meanwhie, linebackers Travis Beck and Chad Willson, defensive end Ricky Hagen, defensive lineman Ryan Drevlow and Justin Juckem. and cornerbacks Christian Dudzik and Aireal Boyd all had heads-up plays.

Solid special team peformance was turned in by sophomore defense tackle Danny Luecke, who used his 6-foot-5, 253-pound frame to block a pair of field goal attempts. Kicker Ryan Jastram made an extra point and field. Sophomore Ryan Smith had one punt return for 21 yards.

The three quarterbacks combined to complete 15 of 27 passes to eight different receivers for 150 yards and no interceptions. Jensen was 10 of 15 for 109 yards. Duchscher caught three passes. There were six different ball carriers led by Derrick Lang's 52 yards on nine carries. Sam Ojuri ran six times for 33 yards, caught a pass for 14, and returned two kickoffs for 34 yards.

There were no turnovers and one fumbled snap recovered by the offense, which generated 12 first downs. There were seven penalties including three defensive offside calls.