Teeder11

Friday practice update: The boys reported for duty this morning in half pads and a select few must have showed up with less than half the effort, as Bubba used another chew-out session to get his team's collective mind ready for what's ahead. "How you practice is how you play," he said. Dranka and Larson were among those still out nursing various health conditions. You can add Engwall to that list too. There are others but they've been mentioned on here before. This is by no means atypical for fall camp for any team. From the Bozos to the south to the Coyotes even farther south, teams are nursing their own fair share of bumps and bruises. I read something the other day that Bob Nielson at USD said that he had something like 25 players out at one time with various health concerns -- four seemed to be long term. On the flipside, the Fighting Hawks welcomed back to practice guys such as a Mikey Greibel, Seibel, Pinke, Mason Bennett and even McKinney played limited reps with his hard cast on his right arm (don't read too much into that... i would assume he still won't factor in this season.) A couple of guys did sit out early in practice with lower body issues -- They were J.J. and Izzy. During skelly drills, Ketteringham had the best play with a long bomb to WR Jack Pifer in tight coverage. Pifer when up high and caught the pass in the end zone. S Chuck Flowers came to play today -- and by that I mean play rough-- he had a couple of PBUs along the sidelines with receivers. Chuck might have been a little more aggressive than coaches would want him to be in practice. No harm no foul, though. During team drills, WR Noah Wanzek went up high to pull down a 40 yard pass from Studsrud. Studsrud scrambled to his right and heaved what might have been not the most advisable pass into double coverage. Still, Wanzek went up between Geier and Blubaugh and snatched the ball at an altitude his defenders could not muster. Heidelbaugh then hit WR Stetson Carr on a quick in route and Carr used good blocking to take it in for what would have been about a 40-plus yard TD. The defense stepped up with a nice PBU by Canady on Carr that would have gone for a TD. Boltmann finished things off for the day with a nice toss down field to WR Travis Toivonnen who did a superb job of going up high over defender Kyle Heipas along the sidelines and still coming down within bounds and scampering in for the TD.

Looks sharp! I like it a lot!

Not sure I'm following you, but it's my understanding that UND coaches made the decision a long time ago (well before camp started) to suspend AG for the season and AG was well aware of it. I found out last week that he wasnt going to play this season. I chose not to say anything about it until it was officially reported. That happened today. There are student privacy rules at play here that limits what UND can say. If anything it is UND that has taken the hard high road here and AG respects the decision and has worked his ass off on the practice field despite it all.

It's been known for a while. Someone finally asked about it.

Not really... they all go through a similar progression and usually sometime between RS freshman and RS soph season it clicks and they figure out how to practice hard and still save their bodies at the same time. Santiago was an exception to this. I've never seen him sit out a fall camp rep.

Like every year, the IR is made up mostly of young guys, true freshman who haven't learned how to pace themselves for the rigors of fall camp. There are some exceptions, of course.

No clue. But I think it pretty much seals the deal on his red shirt staying intact IMHO.

At a time when he should have been focused on our first playoff appearance in the DI era.

Knee.

Practice update: The team looked sharp out there this morning as they took their practice into the cozy confines of the HPC to avoid a wet and slippery Memorial Stadium field. There was a ton of energy on the turf, and all 21 drill sessions were conducted nice and crisp. The boys must sense that install week is approaching. Dranka, Pinke, Bennett and Honerlaw joined the group of a dozen or so players who sit out and DNP with various health conditions each day. On a good note, J.J. was back in full gear and looked just as good as ever. He was hitting his holes hard and participated in all drills. Also, highly touted true freshman, Graham Devore was taking limited reps with the team this morning, still with a hard cast on his right hand after an off season non-football mishap. He'll be a good one in future years. I will have to amend my guess on who might get their RS pulled now that McKinney and Larson have spent considerable time out of the practice and losing out on more and more reps every day. Right now, I am betting on Izzy on offense and Blubaugh on defense. It's probably for the best long term to give as many of our young guys, such as McKinney and Larson, an extra year to get even bigger, faster, stronger and come back with four more playing years. In most cases, as they say, we are trading their relative worst year for the their best year. That said, it is hard not to want to see what they can do right away. But remember had it not been for a hurt hand in Reyes' first year, he'd be gone already. Good things come to those who wait. I have to say that when it comes to the amateur eye-ball test, the line backing position group, as a whole, looks to be faster than ever. Maybe not quite as big but they definitely have the quicks. Since I made such a big deal of Tobin taking reps at RG with the 1s earlier this week, I should make mention that it was Aplin who did the same today. Now for the good stuff, the Play of the Day goes to none other than Austin Cieslak on the DL. Playing the role of nimble linebacker. Cieslak dropped back in pass coverage after Studsrud bought some time with his feet to his right, looking for an outlet receiver. Studs fired a bullet at a target that was in pretty tight coverage. When it was all said and done, the hefty Cieslak was on the receiving end for a pick. He rumbled down the field for about 15 yards before being forced out, eliciting an eruption of cheers from his defensive teammates and coaches, and secretly from some offensive guys as well. Studs more than made up for the Cieslak INT later with a long rope to the deceptively fast and sure handed WR Noah Wanzek who streaked past CB Garret "G" Bollant, who is lightening quick in his own right, for a 60-plus yard reception that might have gone for a TD depending on the angle of the safeties who were near by. Got to take another day off tomorrow but I will try to be back on Friday.

I'll try to be back on Wednesday

Just FYI... since I am back to work, I won't be able to make it out to Memorial Stadium at all tomorrow morning. Damn meetings!!!!

I made it out to Memorial Stadium for the last hour of practice today. Coaches laid into the boys pretty good after a lackluster day on the practice field. Need more focus, need more fire and need to clean up errors if they're going to want to compete in three weeks and beyond. Other observances: J.J. practiced today in shorts and helmet and took limited reps after getting his bell rung toward the end of Saturday' scrimmage. He was moving around pretty good albeit in limited reps. Seibel also was not fully dressed and limited in reps after getting bumped around during Saturday's scrimmage. Young LB Noah Larson, who's pushing to start aside Rodgers at Middle linebacker, tweaked something in his lower body today. He took it easy after that. Hard to say to what extent this will effect his ability to get more reps in the coming weeks. Eagle eye Tom Miller of the Herald noticed today that Tobin took reps with the 1s at left guard, the spot recently held by Dan Bell. Bell took reps with the 2s today. Izzy Adeoti and Toivonnen had the most productive day at receiver hauling in catches on long and short patterns. Toivonnen showed deceptive speed when he got behind the secondary for a long TD catch.... Izzy had an equally impressive medium to long TD reception with Disterhaupt hot on his heels, which is impressive if you know how fast Izzy can move. Finally, Kyle Heiptas and Ty Shannon made their presence known in the secondary today with a few PBUs and INTS between the two of them.

None that I saw.... wouldn't have been much for them to look at since most of the to-be draft eligible players didn't play much as emphasis was on the younger guys. Earlier in the week, the Saints, Texans, Lions and Steelers visited UND first and then headed down to NDSU the next day on an I-29 swing.

Interesting.... makes sense now why Larson's been getting so many reps with the 1s.