Paul Rudolph has had ups and downs in his first season as Minot State's head football coach.
The ups have been more frequent lately.
"We've made some progress, but we've hit some hurdles," said Rudolph, a MSU alumnus who was hired last fall to succeed Mike Sivertson.
The Beavers began the season 0-3 but rebounded at the onset of their Dakota Athletic Conference schedule. MSU has back-to-back wins over Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines. They lost to Rocky Mountain, Bemidji State and Jamestown College to begin the season.
"We've hit a few bumps in the road here or there," Rudolph said. "For the most part, we've made some progress."
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The biggest progress has been the Beavers' offense, which was held to less than 10 points in five of their six losses in 2006.
Last season, the Beavers averaged 269 total yards of offense per game.
This year, with the emergence of sophomore quarterback Jon Meier and junior tailback Nick Banks, MSU is logging 326 yards a game.
Meier, a 6-foot-4 former Mott-Regent standout, is putting up big numbers but is having troubLe shaking the interception bug.
He has thrown for 967 yards but just three touchdowns to go with nine picks.
"From my vantage point, he's made good progress each and every week," Rudolph said. "He had a little bit better understanding where the ball should come out, unfortunately has been snake bit on a couple throws."
Banks, meanwhile, is coming off a solid performance against South Dakota Mines in which he had 257 all-purpose yards. He had 200 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the 17-10 win over the Hardrockers.
"We had a pretty decent game Saturday, but we're still struggling to equate points," Rudolph said.
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Much like DSU, the Beavers are young, starting just two senior receivers on offense and four seniors defensively.
"When you talk in terms of seniors, we're pretty young," Rudolph said.
