AJS

It’s so early, so things can change, but outside of Perron, what other forwards appear ready to come in next year? Let’s start by taking Klee and Singleton off the table. Boisvert is not eligible. That would leave Croal (possible), Panzer and Slipec. You would think an extra year would be beneficial for all three of them. Like I mentioned, still early, but it is a bit concerning that only one forward appears to be ready to take that next step. Going to need to make a McLaughlin type splash for next years class.

This game kind of broke my brain. Not sure what to really make of it from a talent standpoint if that makes sense. That 8 minutes that changed the game was so preposterous it will never happen again. Unfortunately in classic UND fashion this is two steps back. I’ll say this, if they can bounce back from this I’ll be really impressed. Starting with a parents only crowd next weekend. This feels like the NDSU loss from last year, which turned out to be a season ending loss. Prove me wrong!

Why onside kick? 3 TO’s, low probability, why not wait until it’s necessary?

This is it for me. It’s not just the loss, it’s the how.

I mean. This is next level UND unraveling. Game over. Potentially season over type of stuff. I’ve never seen anything like this

Todays game day anticipation feels different. The fan base is fully engaged, the opportunity is there. I’m going 11.5K for attendance. Let’s get this one.

Pre walk up crowd. I’d take over 11K.

Just listened to the interview, I came away very impressed with Martinson.

24 Hours from kickoff, according to current tickets available from Ticketmaster. Total: 1863 Non-End Zone: 882 End Zone: 981

SDSU has scored over 30 points twice this year, both at home, against Butler (45) and WIU (34). I sure hope that isn't the case, but I think that podcaster potentially doesn't understand how difficult scoring over 50 points is. It would take an all-out collapse from UND. Not only defensively, but offensively and ST's as well. Day before the game and I'm still conflicted. There are certain "BIG TIME" games that I have just a really hard time imagining UND winning. This is one of them. On the other hand, you cannot deny UND's record at home. Bye week, SDSU coming on the road for the 2nd week in a row, after their game against NDSU. My question is, after years of one step forward, one step back, are the stars aligning for this program?

48 Hours from kickoff, according to current tickets available from Ticketmaster. Total: 2119 Non-End Zone: 1021 End Zone: 1098 (Sections 218 / 201 / 209) UND / Alerus does seem to randomly release more tickets. Section 201 had limited tickets at the beginning of the week and then last night they opened up more seats. I was following the ticket situation before the UNI game fairly closely. They did release a fair amount the night before. Based on following the UNI available tickets, there will be a bigger crowd this weekend. Hoping for a nice push here in the next 24 hours and the walk-up crowd will fill in the non-end zone sections.

I agree with this.

The FCS Coaches poll might be the worst poll in all of sports. Idaho at 24 is so brutal. I know STATS has this too, but how can you justify NDSU being #4 and Weber State being #5?

Onto the game. I'm really conflicted on how this will go. On one hand, there's the reality of where this team has been defensively this year. To win, they will need to play their best game of the year. The other reason is this game is without a doubt a Top 5 D1 game for UND. I truly believe it's a game that can change the trajectory of a program. You don't get a lot of "fast track" type games. This is one of them. As a fanbase, it just seems like you see this team make a dent and then they just can't take that next step. Can they finally truly break thru? On the other hand, UND has been amazing at home. Things just seem to have broken perfectly for them this game. A well-timed Bye week, SDSU winning an emotional game against their biggest rival. Back-to-back road games for the Jackrabbits. UND has real momentum. Why wouldn't the Alerus magic continue? Cannot emphasize the opportunity UND has enough this weekend. Win and they are in the conversation on the FCS national level.

There's less then 2400 tickets currently available for this game on Ticketmaster. This isn't a fair comparison, since I don't know where tickets were at the same time of the week for the UNI game, but the day before that game there were just over 2000 available. There's no doubt they will surpass the Potato Bowl crowd. Although 2400 is a lot of tickets, it doesn't really look it. The 3 End Zone sections account for 35% of the unsold tickets.

I think the hockey game will have minimal impact on attendance. My thoughts are along the same line as @Siouxperfan7, if it's not packed, it won't be because of the hockey game. I know this was a playoff game, but back when UND played Richmond there was 10K in attendance (technically 9,837), that was the same night that UND was playing in NYC. I have no doubt that attendance will be affected less against SDSU then it was that night. This is a big game, in October against a rival(ish), the 2nd closest team as far as distance goes. Attendance will be > 11K.

I did just notice that for the ACU game they do have a "Friends and Family 4 pack" which is $5.00 tickets. Kudos for that. I'm hoping they do some sort of marketing blitz for the SDSU game as well. This is probably a Top 5 home game in the D1 era. They need to do whatever they can to fill the place.

Hensler is this special high-end type of recruit that Berry has not been able to land the last few years. These recruits don't necessarily have the same exact story, but the examples of them have been (Fleming, Nelson, Chelsey, Eiserman, Cooley). The pattern is either a high-end player that picks Minnesota over UND or a high-end Minnesotan that goes elsewhere. Let's win one of these! Based on recent history I'm not optimistic.

@Dustin nice call on Hoosman. I should have included him by name as a surprise since he's been so good. He's a #1 MVFC back. Reminds me of Brady O.

You are your record, so this season is going according to what I expected so far. I had them at 4-2 going into the bye week. My biggest surprise is Tommy. As a Junior he's turned into a legitimately good FCS QB. I've always thought he was solid, but what we're seeing this year is a clear step above that. Like Tommy, I'm surprised the offense is as good / balanced as it is. Again, a clear step above what I would have expected. Disappointments. Blanket statement over the defense. I'm surprised how poor they've been this year. Yes, they lost a lot, but I never thought they would drop to what we've seen. I don't think it's one positional either that you can point to. They are not for the most part pressuring the QB like they have been the past few years which in turn hurts the secondary. I think we are seeing slight improvements the last few weeks in a few areas. My expectations are that they finish 3-2 and make the playoffs at 7-4. What to look out for? Two things (1) Circle the game on 10/22. If win, the trajectory changes. (2) Defense, Defense, Defense. Can they start playing with more consistency? My hope is that this off week will give them time to really study film. What's been going wrong. I do think there's a certain level of importance to being able to have time to reflect that I don't think you get when you are going from one game to the next. IF we see this team take a step defensively, they can be really good.

Hawks Win 35-30 In Yet Another Wildly Entertaining Game - UND Football 360 This quote I found really interesting. I did mention before, but points given up in the 2nd half the last two games has been pretty good, so not necessarily surprised, but it's nice others are starting to see some positive progress made defensively. I am in a love/hate process right now with the UND defense – LOL. They look good, fit stuff up, tackle well for a drive. Then the next drive the opposing offense goes right down the field with little resistance. They will give up a few drives like that in a row before suddenly buckling down again. But, what I am seeing is this defense seems to gel and gain confidence as games go on into the 4th quarter. They came up with a 3-and-out early in the fourth, gave up a long TD drive to make it 35-30, but then got the BIG stop on the final drive of the game to seal it. This tells me they are a work in progress, which we all know to be true. It’s getting there.

Heading into the off week UND currently sits at 4-2 overall (3-1 in MVFC). I would call their remaining schedule fairly favorable. Three home games > two road. On paper I would still call @ Indiana State your highest % chance of a win on the road out of any this year. I won't spend much time discussing this team offensively (very solid) or special teams (pretty good). Let's all concentrate on the defensive side of the ball. My question would be, can that side of the ball take a step and just be average? My hope is that this week off is just what the defense needs. Time to regroup and really study the film. There are some positives recently, they've given up 10 and 9 points in the second half's of the last two games. Which is respectable. Opponents 3rd down % has been again, respectable the last two weeks. Still high on the year 50.68%, but that's down 8% from where they were at after the SIU game. In general, they've had really good red zone defense. Given up TD's on only 55% of the time. I agree with @The Sicatoka, I think Ocansey is fine opposite of Siegel. The CB position is not my #1 worry anymore on the defensive side of the ball. I'm still convinced the overall talent is there, just get better week by week.

I thought the exact same thing. It reminds me going into the Northern Iowa game as well, I felt good about UND's chances until I listened to the 360 podcast. Both times, after listening I felt like there was no way UND had a chance. Sounds to me like Youngstown will be the best team in every facet that UND has faced so far. Outside of their passing offense. Hoping like UNI, UND can pull off the win against a borderline flawless opponent. Some more thoughts (non-360 related). Good: Like where UND's offense is right now. Multi-faceted. I feel good about the unit in general. Youngstown is a run first offense. Feel much better going up against that then a pass happy offense. Bad: This is a game that a Bubba coached team has routinely lost. This is the chance for UND to completely redeem themselves from the SIU debacle. Like against SIU, this is another opportunity game. Win and you're right in the mix of all FCS discussions. Both locally and nationally. UND's program could really use this one.

Kudos to the defense in the 2nd half! For the first time since Week 1 (first half), they actually played well. Hoping this is the turning point!