Longtime fan

They had 5 DL on the pac12 all conf teams. 3 were seniors. The best and biggest in my opinion will be back....he was a fresh all American , 1st team PAC 12 as a soph and possibly injured last year....Hon mention PAC 12 as a jun. He's a 6'3" 320lb senior. His partner is a 6'3" 290lb senior....HM PAC 12. Big big Samoans!!! They also bring back DE (ucla transfer) that was inj game 3. He was leading the team in sacks and TFLs before the injury. He will be a senior as well. They will be very difficult to run against. They lose their entire o line except one. Glad to get them in first game of season. They have only 4 upper class men here ....2 sen 2 jun. Our quickness could create problems for them. Their secondary loses 5 of top 6 guys...but the one coming back is a stud ...6'3" 220 jun. need to be able to pass on them They return a first team all American punter.....field position field position field position!! They are going up tempo this year and they are built for it.....the majority of the skilled guys are smallish....5-9ish 175 lb ish. Quickness. und brings back a ton of experienced men ....and they know how to win. cant wait!!!

“I’m going to remember how much the coaches actually cared about the players,” Cook said. “You hear some schools where the coaches care about winning, nothing else. I mean that’s kind of the attitude that it was when I went to NDSU (North Dakota State) and visited there and was talking to them. It was hard for me to consider a program where they are focused more on the games to win rather than developing the players into men of character". Sounds like a reoccurring theme there at cow college. Very refreshing to have bubba and staff.

O line: really like tobin. The one on one drills he was the boss. Interior o line is much better then the outsides. The D owned the edges, but given the fact half of our backers were once safeties, they will be doing the same thing against most opponents. Fast! Johannesson will play a lot. Big dude and hard to take down. IZimmerman in my humble opinion could be the starter. Very confident and throws a beauty of a ball. Give him the summer to learn the playbook and he is all but cemented in as #2. (Or maybe better?). Best pure passer on the team. McKinney is explosive. Great get for UND. Rudolph, finally injury free, is going to push for a starting position. Loved his hudl tape out of high school and loved him live tonight. Great talent Flowers made some noise as well Great crowd ....excited for 2017!

Torrey hunt in a sling??

Holy !@#$ .....ton of people !! Love it!

Ive attended two practices this year and really like the speed on D. Disterhaupt is a tad small for ILB but he "brings" it every play and is very twitchy....great move by the staff. Believe he will have a great senior year. Haas is still on the slight side but much like disterhaupt he brings it every play. Love the potential. His length and aggressiveness separate him. Palmborg making the move to OLB makes the LB crew as whole extremely fast! UND could very well have one of the fcs' fastest units. Really young and inexperienced but very talented group. Schmitty will have them ready! With connor retiring and the inexperience ....look for true fresh Noah Larson to have his shirt pulled. I have heard nothing but great things about him. Big solid fast and tough. Donnell is an extremely talented young man and is the lone LB with game time experience at that position. My favorite player on the team. The guy is a true football player.....he will have a big big year!! Im going to keep my eyes on the qbs tonight. This position has had me the most concerned in the bubba years. Hearing good things about Zimmerman but I would love if Brad could be the guy. Time to prove yourself

I agree on the slow part of it but I'm talking more of a simple slant, screen or dump down. He has missed he target numerous times by 2 yards or more...weather it be the te, rb or wr. That's my knock on him.

Agreed. His leadership skills and/or huddle presence seems to be what sets him apart and of course the fact he doesn't turn the ball over. Und is not and will never be known as a passing team in a bubba run offense, ultimately though, at the most basic level, a team needs the ability to complete passes on any given play to keep defenses honest. Opposing defenses have not respected unds passing game as shown with constantly stacking the box. That doesn't mean they need to throw for 300 yards every game but they need to be able to complete the easy dump downs and screens. Studsrud has a career 54% completion rate, with most of those attempts coming 10 yards or less. With the short passing game that should be around the 65% rate. For UND to take the next step, studsrud needs to bring his A game every play every game. If he does, UND will make a run in December. The three year averages per game are: 21 att 11 completions 149yards 1.1 td and .5 int per game. The most worrisome stat is the 54% completion. Completing half of your passes will not get it done, especially in the playoffs. He cannot take all the blame as the WRs are also responsible for hanging onto the ball but after watching him for three years now....his accuracy needs to improve. Also of note, love hearing the positives on Haas. I was very impressed with him last but was about 30 lbs away from playing. His length and athleticism could create big problems for opposing offenses.

As much as I like Connor, could you imagine the combo of Disterhaupt and Rodgers at ILB!!! Crazy athletes. The first step that those two have is just incredible. I hope Haas put on some weight..his height and athleticism at OLB would wreak havoc on offenses. Staying healthy at safety is beyond crucial. Seems like the one area that hasn't filled in with depth. Love the Reyes/ Stewart combo however. We all know what Reyes brings but Stewart looks like a gamer.....excited to see it march 3rd. This years defense has the makings of something special. Hope it all comes together on the field.......and stay healthy.

I agree. They were "in" most games they played this year. They lost by 1,7,7,7 and 10 points in the mvfc. Seems like they compete real well. Finishing those games is another story.

Wouldn't be able to respond to a quote of yours? You said the mvfc doesn't need as much depth in the secondary as the big sky. Why is that?

Yeah I read it. I left my response very vague.....my reference was that bubba is adding depth at the other positions as well, not just cb and safety. Your implication is that since und plays in a pass happy league, they distinctly rely heavily on secondary recruiting...not true. They of course look for the best recruit as the secondary is a vital part of any D but there are other positions to fill and bubba knows damn well the gamw is won....trenches. UND will be ready defensively speaking for the mvfc. But I need to ask ... you say teams don't need to be as deep at those two positions in the mvfc then the big sky...why? Injuries don't happen to the secondary positions in the mvfc?? How many safeties and cbs did ndsu have last year on the roster? They had 17. UND had 15. Can you explain that ?

Bubba is building depth.

The mvfc is not known as a passing league, just that you guys had the #2 overall draft pick at qb.

UND has no issue with their defensive line...far from it. They play nine guys regularly and without a drop off. The 3-4 that bubba runs will excel in the mvfc.....much more so then the big sky. Bubba and crew stop the run....period!! UND held the team to the south to their lowest rush yards, ypc (2.7) and zero rush tds in "15" with a very very young and inexperienced d. UND will be fine in the mvfc defense wise The offense needs to catch up for UND.

I'm not overly concerned about the o line. They have the talent but now have experience....unlike the beginning of last year. While I don't think they are the best I don't think they were the main issue last year. Opposing teams know our strengths and weaknesses......thus they stacked the box against our inexperienced line, sometimes with 10 (Mont st) Very hard for even the best o line to block. Brady's girth/power seemed more effective than Santiago and his scat style. So maybe we will see more of a Brady/ James combo next year...,Santiago out wide. Two 230 lb backs with nice speed should be a nice compliment to an experienced line.

Great NLI party at the alerus last night. The coaches talked in depth and had some good/funny stories about the recruits. I've never been one that gives a sh$t what team or teams are recruiting who but the one coach that spoke about a certain 3 star recruit remarked that he was indeed offered by the team to our south...they can deny it all they want but this is straight from the horses mouth. Crowd seemed to enjoy that. Again, I don't care who recruits who as long as they prove it on the field. Three star, no star.....just play lights out on the field. It's doesn't take multiple offers to be a great recruit.....aka...Santiago. From top to bottom, this is a very impressive class. Athletic and size every where. Could this class be the best UND has ever had. Time will tell....but I would adventure to say it will be. Personally I could see a hand full or more playing next year: ott, blubaugh, Larson, McKinney, greibel, Johannason, Stewart, hietpas and maybe Shannon. Really excited for next year! With the personal we have coming back, the new recruits and the coaching staff still in place... 2017 is going to be special!!! Optismism everywhere

Great looking class!! Huge kudos to bubba and crew to recruit these fine young men that will be representing the university of North Dakota.

I agree. Great motor and a big solid dude already. Very intense player

NSD! Should make this a holiday

They committed to bubba and UND. Same coach, same school, different conference in three years. Doubt it would be a factor. Big sky does have some great destination cities to see, but to not commit because of 4-5 games or 4-5 days a year would be very questionable. They loved bubba, UND and the upward swing that the football team currently is in.

Hope he reconfirmed. Big time recruit. He will excel here

Great addition...loved his hudl tape! Playmaker!

In regards of biggest impact for next season, it can be said that most incoming freshman will or should redshirt....so assumption can made that it will be a transfer by means of juco or drop down. Tough to say who play as a true freshman. Wanzek was a huge surprise last year ....and a very pleasant surprise! Juco, Stewart looks great on tape and UND is in need of safety help, so he is definitely a candidate. Should play a ton of minutes. Transfer JJ comes in highly decorated but is in a battle at one of UNDs deepest most talented positions. Very talented! I truly believe it will be greibel.....very talented and ready! Excelled in all American game against top talent. He is a Danny Woodhead /dressler clone. Not saying he will be either but by stature and way of moves he is similar. UND needs an outside threat and his style fits UNDs style to perfection.

I like the palmborg move...he should excel there. If Ray haas has filled out his frame a bit, he could very very good. Was very active in practice and his length could give opposing teams fits. Pretty excited to see what he brings in spring ball.