Wilbur

TD Portland. 45-34. The offense needs to put together a time consuming drive. Don't snap it until under five on the play clock Marcus.

Dear Marcus, I'm the first to admit when I should eat some crow, and I am doing so now. Tremendous performance in one of the biggest football games in your school's history. I was hoping for you to play like you'd been there before, and you did and more. Helluva job son, helluva job. Signed, Wilbur

Haven't been this excited for a UND football game in years. I hope the Alerus is rocking, and the boys come out of the gates flying. Gameday prediction: UND 27 Portland 17 Go Sio....UND

Very workable lines. I don't think Parks and McMillan are separated though. Flip Parks and O'Donnell around and that is a very likely lineup. PS: A Gleason-Rodwell-Gaarder would make a good energy line. Not really a true center of that group, but its a line that could match up with a lot of second and third lines of UND opponents.

I don't think that Dillon Simpson has had a bad career, but I had a bit higher expectations for the kid as far as running the powerplay and having more offensive output. Only two powerplay goals so far....It'd be nice to see him get to around the 30 point mark this season. I think its possible.

So I don't know if its been said in this forum or not, but I heard that these individuals were paid by an organization to collect signatures for a cause, and they decided to just go into phone books and write names down. Anybody know the cause behind the charges?

Nice to see UND has a bit of running back depth. I'm comfortable giving the ball to a handful of guys on 4th and 1. Best option would be Sutton though.

Do not believe one has been announced. But normally around the beginning to middle of September they'll come out with a press release. When I was in college in Grand Forks I always enjoyed watching the team scrimmage to see some of the new players, and how the kids around the rink were just in awe during the autograph session.

I'll say 27-24 UND, with the Alerus Center crowd playing a huge role in a UND win.

For my money Keith Ballard probably had the best one timer from the point that I've ever seen in college hockey. You knew it was coming, but teams still couldn't prevent him from finding space on the point and letting his howitzer go. I think you bring up a great point with the fact that the gophers consistently had good QBs of their powerplays which equalled great success for their powerplays. Thats one thing I think UND has kind of been missing a bit. I guess you could argue Frattin and Genoway a couple years ago, but it'd be nice to see someone step up this year and have the powerplay get up to the 25% conversion area. Although last year I think UND finished ranked 11th in the country at near 22%, can't complain about that with the cards that team was dealt.

Yeah.....You'd think Northern Colorado would be able to handle Mesa....but who knows with that program. I took App State over the Griz based on the travel distance for them, and Washington State over EWU, even though EWU wouldn't surprise anyone by winning that one.

Hey, I'm in first place! With like 100 others....

Welcome to the Big Sky. I think the toughest part for UND will be adapting to the overall team speed of these teams. Looks like Portland has some guys that can fly, but the same can be said for UND. Get that Freshman QB for Portland in front of a loud and rambunctious Alerus Center crowd and it could give the kid some issues. Looks like Portland struggled a bit on third down, and only completed 50% of their passes. Carroll is a great football team though.

I hope you're right. But honestly, last year he got into the games as the holder. If Bradley was still around would we be talking about Bradley vs. Portland or Marcus vs. Portland? And of course I remember the Montana game....but is that his only start during his time at UND?

I think I may have underestimated South Dakota. I thought replacing Warren would be tough, but it seems like they always find another guy to step in and do the job at QB. Montana is tough at home. That stadium is just a bee hive.

Hhhhyeah.....What a unit that would be. You could even throw different looks in like Rowney for Schmaltz to have a body with good hands in front of the net. Or add in Rodwell as your net front presence. I remember that Grimaldi saw a little bit of action on the point last year. That adds another interesting wrinkle.

I hope he's full of surprises. Was pretty green the last time he was thrown into the fire. At least this time he'll have the home crowd behind him. Got to be able to run the ball......got to be able to run the ball....

Hanson going down leaves the season in a bit of jeopardy. I think that this team has a fighting chance of getting into the postseason, but now it all comes back to "what about the QB position"? I agree that Marcus is a tremendous athlete, and its nice to have a fifth year senior at the helm, but when it comes to the conference games, he has as much experience behind center as a Freshman. Glad next week is at home, gives UND a great chance to win the game.

Not sure on the Hanson redshirt question. I would assume its a no with all the time he spent in Chapel Hill. But someone with more knowledge than I can answer that question. One thing I've seen that makes me more interested in this football team is athleticism. Never can have too much of that. PS: Kind of started watching late. Did Jer Garman get many/any touches?

Efff........... Six weeks......maybe he's a quick healer.......depends on surgery........yah that sucks.

Joey Bradley.....Joe Mollberg.....I can see the confusion.

I'm sick to my stomach about the Hanson thing......talk about unlucky....wait how long to start a game, and be out before halftime. If his ankle is broken does that mean Joe comes into serious contention to be the starting QB? Or do you let Hendrickson run the show until Hanson comes back? Remember, Hendrickson is looking good against a horrible team.

Hanson waits however long to start a football game and he gets hurt. Hopefully its minor.....

If Chyzyk has a year like Parks did last year I'd take it in a heartbeat.

I really don't see there being a ton of difference between UND's second and third line. Wherever he's at Rocco will get time on the number one or two unit of the powerplay, likely the top unit. Wherever he's at he'll likely contribute as well. It'd be nice to see them keep Rocco and Rowney separate so they can have that scoring possibility from lines 1-3. Whether you have Rowney or Rocco centering the third line you're still going to likely roll three lines 5X5 (maybe four if that unit comes together well). IMHO with the forward depth that UND will have this season I think any of the top three lines could match up with a top line of any team that they play, with the top defensive pairing on the ice at the same time of course. I think yzerman has it pretty close, but we differ just a tad bit.... Kristo-Knight-O'Donnell MacMillan-Grimaldi-Parks Rodwell-Rowney-Chyzyk Cagguila-Pattyn-St. Clair (Gaarder) Poor Jimmer....poor poor Jimmer....