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UND coach Bubba Schweigert says All-American running back Otis Weah will be back for North Dakota State showdown

Weah, a Walter Payton Award finalist in the spring, was a healthy scratch from the lineup last Saturday against Drake.

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Fighting Hawks running back Otis Weah carries the ball through the N.D. State Bison defense on a first quarter carry Saturday, March 20, 2021 at the Fargodome. Nick Nelson / Grand Forks Herald

The North Dakota football team is on a bye week this week as the Fighting Hawks practice at the Pollard Center.

But it's no ordinary bye week as UND's next opponent is North Dakota State, which comes to Grand Forks next Saturday for the first time since 2003.

With the Bison looming, UND coach Bubba Schweigert provided UND fans a comforting update on the status of All-American running back Otis Weah, who was a healthy scratch from last Saturday's 38-0 Potato Bowl win over Drake at the Alerus Center.

After the game, Schweigert said the decision was best for UND and for Weah.

On Wednesday, he offered more clarification and declared Weah back in the lineup moving forward.

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"He needs to be more responsible," Schweigert said. "That's what it was about. We have to have guys doing the right thing all the time. He's back. We're doing everything we did before with him, so he's back."

No. 10 UND and No. 5 NDSU will play next Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Alerus Center. The game will be carried on WDAY, Midco Sports and ESPN-Plus.

Weah, a redshirt junior from Moorhead, will enter the Bison game with 938 career rushing yards, 62 shy of becoming the eighth 1,000-yard rusher in UND's Division I history.

Weah, who missed the 2019 season because he was academically ineligible, is nearing 1,000 yards despite playing in 13 career games, with two of those games coming during his redshirt 2018 season.

Against NDSU in Fargo last spring, Weah ran 13 times for 129 yards including a 74-yard touchdown run.

After starting the 2021 fall season with 22 carries, 114 yards, three touchdowns against Idaho State, Weah's latest game is his lowest rushing output of his career (not including the two games as a redshirt in 2018).

Against Utah State, Weah ran 17 times for 47 yards. Known for long runs in the 2021 spring, Weah's longest run this season is 16 yards.

Miller has covered sports at the Grand Forks Herald since 2004 and was the state sportswriter of the year in 2019 and 2022.

His primary beat is UND football but also reports on a variety of UND sports and local preps.

He can be reached at (701) 780-1121, tmiller@gfherald.com or on Twitter at @tommillergf.
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