AJS

Thoughts on LB core this year?

@SiouxFanatic How old he was when it happened I'm guessing has a lot to do with it. Or am I off with that line of thinking?

NDSU's combination of high end starters and incredible depth has had them on a different level than every other FCS team not named James Madison for years. Looking strictly offensively, having your 1st Round / All-American LT & QB both opt out of Spring Football is such a huge blow. It's outrageous really. Depth Depth Depth, so as the roster stands now, they'll be fine offensively, but I do think this might be one of the 1st years where potential depth issues might arise if the injury bug hits certain positions.

We've been on different sides of the coin with the should UND have played this Fall along with NDSU scheduling this one game. I'll admit that after the fact, this was not a net gain for NDSU. Far from it really. I do think there's a positive psychological value of getting up for (even if it's one) game. Extra practice / game reps. Break up a "never-ending offseason". Those were always a constant though. My expectations when they scheduled the game were most likely far fetched (Expected them to parlay into more than one Game / Thought there was a National TV audience chance). Neither of those happened. The biggest backfire though was not being able to have fans (outside of parents). That single-handily made the event not worth it. Far from crippling, more of a minor speed bump, but still losing $ on this event hurts.

Watching the NDSU game yesterday, it appears kind of a mixed bad as far as their Seniors playing next Spring. Some will, some are choosing not to. Two questions: Can we expect the same from UND? Does anyone know of any Seniors that will not be playing next Spring? As it stands now, every person is Granted an extra year of eligibility. Has UND discussed yet if they are going to take advantage of that, if a player so chooses to? Excited for Camp to start next week.

I'll be very interested to see the breakdown of those that are strictly Online vs those that are actually in person. As long as both of those are following the same trajectory, then it's all good.

Would much rather be playing right now, but I'm slowly starting to come around to the Spring format. Actually seeing the dates, although not much different than anyone thought, doesn't make the turnaround to the 2021 Season seem as grueling as I originally thought.

@siouxfan512 Without any inside information, I don't really have any thoughts on how the race is going, outside of I do think moving the season to Spring has mitigated the "experience" angle for Schuster. Could still very well be the starting QB, but do remember him having a year with the program as one of the highlights people used when thinking he would be the starter.

Developments that have taken place since your last post Mountain West "aggressively exploring" options to play 8-game fall season, culminating w/ Dec. 19 MW title game (via Brett McMurphy) Wheels in motion in the Pac-12 It's now looking likely that the MAC will be the only FBS conference to not be playing this Fall (who knows if that'll change either). Long story short of this post is you'd think there is at least discussions right now going on at the FCS level.

It comes down to there's a fair amount of teams that are playing this Fall, far from impossible (fully realizing your lackadaisical approach comment). I don't think UND's situation was/is unique.

Potentially, absolutely.

I think this is pretty fair. Playing this Fall had huge upside for the program, potential "shot in the arm" type of situation that it really needs. I don't think they would have won, but if they were competitive (on the better than people expected side of the outcome), $, practices, and maybe most importantly of all, for the players / fans the attitude of we want to play (i.e. really want Football to be successful). I'll go one step further, with the K-State game on the schedule you look for other opportunities. While almost every other FCS school is being complacent, there was ground that could have been made.

Chicago Tribune - Malachi McNeal Headline: Warren senior Malachi McNeal’s commitment gives North Dakota a ball hawk who might be ‘an inch away from being a legitimate Power Five linebacker’

McNeal is the highest rated UND recruit, according to 247.

Extremely disappointing. Great get for Notre Dame.

Jackson Blake will be participating in the Chicago Steel camp.

Based on how the past decade has gone, deciding to play this Fall will turn into absolute gold for NDSU.

Am I off with the thinking that this could really be the great equalizer? I see it as such an advantage that FCS from 2021 to 2026 you'll clearly see the split between schools that did and those that did not take advantage of the extra year. Knowing that most FCS schools would not, there's a real opportunity to position UND moving forward.

Given the recent news that all Fall athletes were given an additional year of eligibility. How do we think this is going to work at UND? Will everyone be given the opportunity if they so chose? Will nobody? Will they be selective? I really do think that depending on how schools play this, some could really benefit some schools more than others. I look at UND, I would say their #1 issue in the Bubba era has been depth at specific positions (only a couple), but every year it's something. It comes down to $ and scholarships, because it would be expensive. This is the time to invest in the program, it's a cheat code for those schools willing to spend the $. I hope they are selective, any starter push them to return, any depth guy they don't. Side note: Also, I hope that the Spring season is cancelled. I don't like it at all.

Bowden Singleton (04) will be joining Dylan James (03) and Louis Jamernik (00) on the Okotoks Oilers (AJHL) next year. Will definitely be a team to watch. Dylan James, who's a late '03 had a really solid 1st year of Juniors last year, putting up 20 G 23 A for 43 points in 51 games. I dug into the AJHL scoring leaders and here are some of the higlights. James finished 43rd overall in the league in scoring 1st among '03 Birthdays Five '02 Birthdays that finished ahead of him Two being Carter Savoie and Michael Benning (High end Denver recruits), both January 2002 DOB What does this mean? Just that he had a great benchmark for year one. He's kind of under the radar as he hasn't been talked about much on here, but so far so good. Could turn out to be a very good player.

Guess we can take any recruiting information PuckPreps posts with a large grain of salt.

@nodak651 Great post. I am a big believer that the line play on both sides will be better. By how much is going to go a long way in this teams success. Digging into the roster I knew the SR class was pretty small, but didn't realize the JR class was the same. Looking at non-specialists the count is 14 for both. Young, but talented. Excited to start getting some reports from Fall camp.

Wanted to get some thoughts down before Fall camp starts. As someone who is usually optimistic before the year, my expectations are as tempered as they've ever been while Bubba has been head coach. Combination of the inconsistency of last year, along with losing a large number to graduation. If there's a season it will make it more enjoyable to watch for me, as I see this year as a springboard to 2021. I'm not punting on this year at all, but this will be a pretty young team. Extremely young, but extremely talented in the skill positions on Offense, which is really exciting. That might not be conducive for this year racking up the wins, but can really set this team up going forward. There's some really talented Seniors, but I also like how the class is relatively small 15 and really evenly spread out (7 Offense / 7 Defense / 1 ST). Hope they surprise, because if they can compete and exceed expectations (I'll put at 6th in the MVFC), then they will set themselves up for a really fun 2021.

https://fightinghawks.com/documents/2020/2/26/2020_Spring_Prospectus.pdf