Temperatures hovered in the upper 40s for Minnesota Duluth's football practice Thursday, but with sunny skies, it felt warmer as the Bulldogs scrimmaged at Malosky Stadium.
The defensive players on the sideline were as loud as possible, trying to razz the offense in preparation for this Saturday's game against Augustana.
Afterward, coach Curt Wiese addressed the team. Defensive back Tareq Abulebbeh blended in with the huddle, as seamlessly as the Bulldogs hoped it would be.
Abulebbeh, a graduate transfer from Southern Illinois, has had an instant impact in his one - and what will be only - season with the team. He leads the seventh-ranked Bulldogs (5-0) with three interceptions and seven passes defensed.
"I love it here," Abulebbeh said. "I've played in California, Colorado and Illinois, for Division I programs, and the culture here is so much different. When I look at our results, it makes perfect sense. We've got great coaches who are not only trying to make you a better player, they're trying to make you a better man, and great teammates who understand their roles and trust the man next to them. I feel the camaraderie we have as a team. It really is a family."
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Have talent, will travel
Abulebbeh (pronounced uh-bool-uh-bay) is 24, which garners ribbing from his younger teammates, who call him "pops," "old man" and "grandaddy."
"I'm the old guy on the team," Abulebbeh said, laughing.
The San Diego native started his college career at Northern Colorado, where he was redshirted in 2012. He went on to attend San Diego Mesa College, where in 2014 he paced the Olympians with six interceptions, including two he returned for touchdowns. He transferred to Southern Illinois where he battled injuries. While he exhausted his Division I eligibility, he still had a semester remaining at the D-II level because of different eligibility rules between the divisions.
A close friend from Southern Illinois had looked at UMD, so Abulebbeh checked it out as well, calling Wiese and defensive coordinator John Steger, who coached a stint at Southern Illinois.
Abulebbeh soon took an official visit.
"It was so hard for me to not want to come here," Abulebbeh said. "It wasn't even that I was sold, because Coach Wiese wasn't trying to sell me anything. The one thing I really loved was that he never made me any promises. I've dealt with recruiting for five years. I've talked to big-time schools, and I've talked to small-time schools. A lot of times what they do is give you a lot of false hope, false promises, but Wiese was very straightforward. He was very honest and genuine."
Mixing it up
UMD always has been choosy when it comes to transfers. With national championships in 2008 and 2010, the Bulldogs have built a good thing and plan to keep it that way. UMD tries to avoid someone who won't fit in, but it's been a trend in college football to go after cornerbacks.
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You can't have enough good ones, and that's especially the case for UMD. The Bulldogs ask a lot of their corners, often leaving them 1-on-1.
"It's too important," Wiese said of the position. "If your corners are struggling, it can be a long season, so if you have a someone like Tareq show interest in your program, you have to go after him."
Despite hardly playing the past two seasons, Abulebbeh showed up at UMD over the summer ready to go.
"Tareq molded with us over the summer, working out and learning what he could, and the benefits are showing up now," UMD senior safety Sam Lynch said. " As long as a guy is willing to work hard and do his 1/11th, it's going to work out for him."
At 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, Abulebbeh plays with the proverbial chip on his shoulder. Playing with that kind of passion, sometimes the intensity boils over, as it did Sept. 13 at St. Cloud State, when Abulebbeh was ejected for taking a swing at an opponent in the fourth quarter and by rule had to sit out the first half of the next game.
"It's always the second guy who gets caught, but I take responsibility for what happened," Abulebbeh said. "I knew I messed up, and the toughest thing for me was looking at my teammates afterward. I can't say enough about how great of teammates and coaches I have."
Wiese understood. While he wants Abulebbeh to play smart, he doesn't want to change him, either. He doesn't mind guys who play with an edge.
"He's a competitor, so between the whistles, Tareq's at 100 miles per hour," Wiese said. "You hear a lot about how you have to temper a guy down. I'd rather have to temper a guy down than try to motivate him, and he's a guy we don't motivate to play hard. We have to be smarter with the personal fouls, but in the same sense, we appreciate the way he plays football."
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NO. 7 UMD (5-0) AT AUGUSTANA (3-2)
What: NSIC football game
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Kirkeby-Over Stadium, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Sioux Falls forecast: Partly cloudy with a high of 47 and 9 mph wind
Internet: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd
Radio: KDAL-AM 610/KDAL-FM 103.9
