AJS

To me this is a "prove it" game. Defensively, prove what we think you are. Offensively, prove what we think you can become. Before the year I don't think anyone looking at the schedule thought this was a game UND would win and it's changed to a game most think they have a chance. With the limited games in Football, every game carries so much weight and I don't want to come off as someone that thinks this is a must win, but this game could really change the trajectory of their season. A win or loss really changes the landscape of their season moving forward.

I look at it a couple different ways, I'm sure it's like riding a bike, so but this years version of EWU has not practiced or played in anything like the weather will be on Saturday, so that should help mitigate that advantage a little. It would be another thing IMO if they were able to practice in those conditions all week. As far as looking at the teams strenghts / weaknesses, I don't really see it helping one time that much over the other, but I might actually give the advantage a little to UND. Reasoning being, in sloppy conditions, it will hurt the offenses more than defenses. EWU's strength is their offense. I think the key will be UND has not been able to run the ball and EWU has not been able to stop the run, something is going to give on Saturday. Whoever wins that battle will win the game.

The Canadian Junior hockey leagues always have such an early start, the BCHL regular season has been going on for a few weeks now. Budy - F - '00: 2G 4A 6P (6 Games) Bowen - F - '02: 5G 0A 5P (6 Games) Moore - D - '01: 3G 1 A 4P (6 Games) Costello - F - '00: 1G 2A 3P (6 Games) Rizzo ' F ' '01: Recovering from Injury This will be a very fun group to track this year, with most having very high expectations. I would expect 4 of the 5 to be on campus next year. Bowen is the one I'm really excited to follow. Going back when he committed he was thought to be a potential Top 5 pick in the WHL Bantam draft. He was pretty comparable to Rizzo as far as Bantam hype / first year results in the BCHL (playing as Junior in HS). What are others hoping to see out of this group this year? Mine is as follows: Budy / Bowen: Finish the Year in the Top 10 in BCHL scoring Rizzo: Get healthy, Avg 1.5 PPG once fully recovered Moore: Tough to but point expectations on defenseman Costello:

EWU injury report.

Numbers are numbers, the only thing that bothers me and it shouldn't is the line "it won't be close". If EWU plays a perfect game and UND doesn't play well, I agree, it won't be close, but what happens if both teams play well for four quarters? Such sure comments will always get under my skin. Side note: Half of EWU’s games have either been against a very good P5 program or a D2 school. They should cancel each other out, but in all reality, they only have two games of legitimate data.

You mean +7.5, it’s now at +8.5

Russo. I'll go left to right. Waletzko, Tobin, Nguon, Hergel, Ventrelli

Re: Miller's article. By far the biggest news is Ketteringham, very happy he'll be back this weekend. Love how it sounds like he's made huge strides in this past week. Holm off the two-deep. Hasn't played this year, but didn't see it going this direction when he dressed for the NDSU game. I'm also wondering for the first time if this is going to be a yearly thing or since he's missed so much time, will they manipulate and keep him at 4 games so he can redshirt? He played as a True Freshman. Ventrelli starting. Personally, I love it. Probably not ideal, but having two Freshman anchor the right side of the line. If they play well, knowing they have 3 more years is such a bonus.

Opposite, it looks better.

Looking at the schedule before the year, you always have preconceived notions on how teams are going to do. It's fair to say that up to this point, Eastern Washington has fallen short of those expectations. It appears that they've been hit pretty hard with injuries so far, I'm not sure on the status of those players, but we've seen the affect that can have. They seem to be a pretty streaky team, awful first half against Idaho, pretty solid second half. We all know how reactionary message boards can be, but reading their comments they are down on their O-line and Defense (all facets). This game has taken on a new importance with EWU sitting at 1-3. Regardless of their injury situation, they still have a great offense, their defense does appear to be struggling and we all know it's a tough place to play. This potentially, could turn into a bad loss if that's the result, even though I do see a lot of W's left on their schedule. This will be a test, but I'm sold on UNDs defense. Most encouraged by the changes they made 2nd half to stop SHSU's QB's ability to run. Along with containing EB3's ability to run, they also need to get off the field on 3rd downs and not allow TD's almost every time EWU is in the red zone (both things they struggled against NDSU). EWU offense vs UNDs defense is strength on strength, I would put them as fairly even. I see this game coming down to UNDs offense vs EWU's defense. Ketteringham practiced this past week, but will he be fully healthy by Saturday? I kind of look at it as regardless, they won't be in as bad of a situation as they were against SHSU, as Schuester now has at least 3/4 of a game under his belt. If they have a break out game, finally getting the running game going and take another step with the passing attack, they'll be in good shape. Pretty long post to quickly summarize I see this one as a toss up. Still don't know enough about this UND offense yet. Predicitions for injured players, who will be back? Ketteringham Gordon Holm Nelson Rooney Anyone I'm missing?

If the coaches think Schuster gives them the best chance to win, he'll play. Nobody actually thinks Schuster gives them a better chance to win than Ketteringham though, right?

Based on what?

Heading into the first bye week, seems like a good time to dig into where the team is at. Record wise, they are where they need to be at 2-1. Comparing this year to last year, I felt last year at this time we knew what we had. This year, I really have no idea. That's a good thing, given the very similar results. This team offensively I really feel hasn't even scratched the service of their potential. That's pretty obvious when you're installing a new offense and you've played 3 different QBs (not in garbage time) through 3 games. Good news is it sounds like Ketteringham will be back for EWU. Let these guys find a rhythm and see what they can do. See what their potential is when the defense isn't teeing off on the run game. On defense, the D-line won't be where it was last year, but given how many guys are new at that position, it's a unit that has a lot of room for growth. I think they've been fine so far. Overall, this is a very good unit.

I really want to commend the defense, they were on the field a lot yesterday and played outstanding, especially the second half adjustment minimizing their QBs running ability. Of course there's a drop off in talent of the two deep, but UND plays so many guys and nobody stuck out (in a bad way). Want to shout out the secondary, especially Siegel and Galvin. It's amazing how good Siegel is as a freshman and I thought Galvin was terrific. Those guys have really stepped up with Holm and Nelson injured. Impressed with Schuster, can't imagine coming in as a True Freshman and that being your first experience, talk about being thrown into the fire.

Maybe, maybe not. I've always wished rankings were more fluid, since you learn so much each week and probably don't get a good idea till around week 5. I guess they should just have you create the rankings since you know so much about every team through 3 weeks.

Here's my hope with the O-line. They seem to protect ok, but currently can't run block. It's still early with a new offensive philosophy and the Center, RG and RT are either new starters or playing a new position for the first time (Center). I'll have to rewatch the game as I don't notice the ins and outs like a lot of you do when in the moment, but was Sam Houston loading the box yesterday? I recall one of the announcers talking about how Sam Houston leaves their CB's kind of on an Island betting on their guy vs their opponents. With a True Freshman playing, even more incentive to key on the run and make him beat you in the air (which is a solid strategy). Likewise with NDSU, going against a guy starting his first game of his career. Having three different QBs play in three different games has to be difficult when installing a new offense. One of the bye weeks is coming at a perfect time, rest up, work on the little things and get guys (QBs, Gordon) healthy.

In all reality a make or break type game, which everyone had circled as such before the season started. Win and you have a confident team with a Top 25 win heading into a bye week, lose and it's an uphill battle.

Wanted to really let this game sink in. Special Teams: B. No huge mistakes, didn't do anything to hurt the team. Defensively: C- : I don't know if this will make sense, but they did a lot of the little things pretty well. 38 is too many points, but it's close to what could have been a pretty solid game (28-31 point range). Third downs (NDSU going 9-14) and the redzone (TDs vs FGs) were really detrimental. Offensively: F: So disappointed. Only two games in, so clearly there is room to grow.

Over the past couple of days I'm becoming increasingly confident that this will be a close game. I absolutely believe that this years UND is severely underrated by just about everyone, which is understandable for those that don't follow them closely. The truth is nobody really knows how this game is going to play out. I realize it was Drake, but I saw nothing in the first game that would make me change course that this is a good football team. NDSU is a very good football team, we know that, but how good? This years version of NDSU isn't supposed to be as good as last years, correct? The scenario I have in mind right now is that Butler is straight up not a good football team. That can lead based on the team they had last year (in which they lost a ton) and the result in week 1, we could see not only overconfidence, but that they overall aren't at that level just yet of years past. By the way some have talked this week, it seems like this is going to be a matchup of the best NDSU they've ever had and the worst version UND has. That's not the case. I'm ready to get this going! Prediction: UND 28 NDSU 24

Starting with the line, listening to interviews (just listened to Tom Miller's on Dom Izzo's show), it's feeling more and more like I'm the crazy one for having any sort of optimism going into this Saturday. I have too many questions right now, but to start off, what was 30 points more impressive about NDSU's Week 1 win than UNDs?

Simply put for me, they performed in Week 1, like you'd expect a team you think is pretty good should perform. I'm trying to find a nice balance between getting too over excited, because the win was against a team that has historically gotten worked by Missouri Valley / Big Sky teams, but also not trying to down play it too much. In all reality, that Game went about as well as one could have hoped for. My two biggest worries: Ketteringham's injury. I'm more than ok with Zimmerman starting, I truly think it's a 1 / 1A type situation. We've seen how these things can pile up though. Need them both healthy. Kick offs. It's nice to see the back up at least find the end zone once. I'd feel better if he can hit that more times than not. Leach can't be used for kickoffs. I'm good with him kicking field goals though.

It's only one game, but if this is a really good team, like many of us think, the final score can't be close to what the line is now. UND 38 Drake 10 Something in that range with the backups playing in the 4th would be a confidence booster.

Completely agree. I was answering his question speaking specifically to the offensive side of the ball.

@Bison06 pretty simple as someone who has pretty much watched every game of the Bubba era and something that others have said, but it'll no longer trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It sounds almost silly saying since it's so obvious, but playing to not only the players strengths, but also the opponents weaknesses sounds like a winning formula to me. You couldn't count the times the opposing team stacked the box knowing exactly what was coming and more time than not, they were right. I'm also really high on the personnel they have returning, since no system works without the players. Outside of RB, every single positional group should be better this year than last. The RB position although it's tough losing Oliveria and Santiago, still have a lot of talent. Outside of those two guys, they only lose one TE and one OL from last years team. Lastly, having an OL that is finally a strength again, will do wonders for the positional groups.

Really enjoying the chatter over the past 24 hours. Want to really dig into the D-line: Starter: Bennett SR (258) Two-Deep: Seguin SO (241) Three-Deep: Morrison SO (278) They only return two players who were on the two-deep after Ott went down, it was Bennett / Seguin on the right side. For this discussion let's have them on the same side this year. That specific side will be an upgrade this year, with each (specifically Seguin) gaining valuable experience last year. Now we are down to needing 4 players. NG: Morrison SO (278), Lickfeldt RFR (263), Beach FR (267) End: Johnson RFR (228), DeVore SO (243), Moore FR (215), Schoenfelder R-FR (235), Pierre FR (256) *Injured-not sure to what extent* A lot of inexperience in that group, but also talent. There's a decently wide net they are casting. Based on what they have behind them, this doesn't (and won't) be the best line we've seen recently, which is fine, but can they hold their own? Hold their own on the run, be disruptive in passing situations. Going back to casting a wide net, not everyone will be ready this year, which is fine. As long as most are to fill those spots, this can end up being an effective group. If the D-line was a stock, I'm buying right now.