iramurphy

That is a rumor. It depends on what we mean by $50,000. If you mean in addition to the extra expense money allowed by the NCAA and Alston/701 initiatives, I would bet that isn’t accurate. If you consider these athletes can obtain around $3000 for expenses, which UND gives, and whatever the Alston max is ($8-10000?) each year, that is around $10,000-$12,000 per year. The Alston money is dependent on grades, leadership, community service. That can be around $50,000 or a bit more for a 4 or 5 yr college career. JTJ and a select few may get a bit more. UND’s philosophy at this time is to provide enough for athletes to be able to pay for the usual extras for college students and enough money to help their parents get to games. I golf occasionally with one one NDSU’s biggest and wealthiest boosters. He hates the NIL and portal. He said they don’t give NIL money to incoming freshmen. He said they have a year to prove themselves as athletes and students. He said that includes their incoming star qb whom he had met.

All of what money? How much do you think he is getting?

Good question. I’m not sure my answer will be any better than yours or anyone else’s. As you and most here know 3-4 def needs 3 down linemen to occupy 3 and hopefully 4 offensive linemen to keep them off of the 4 LB’s. They also need to plug up the middle against the run and create gaps against pass defenders to allow blitzing LBS or DBs to pressure the QB. The LBS need to plug gaps against the run and the outside guys may often have outside contain. Those LBS need to cover TEs RBs and slot receivers depending on your secondary coverage. As far as Cover 1 vs Tampa or Tampa 2 I didn’t pay close enough attention to comment much on how Bubba typically deployed them. The big concern was our DBs didn’t seem to close on receivers as they crossed into their areas of responsibility as well as we would hope. the 4-2 obviously has 4 linemen with DEs who are playing the edge position. Our edge guys can hopefully put pressure on the qb or shutdown the outside game against the run. They may also need to cover the TE or slot receivers depending on where our 5th DB is. I would guess if we can do some twists on the LOS and bring pressure from one of our 5 DBs and disguise our schemes we can be a tough defense to adjust to. I don’t know how they will deploy our secondary but they will all need to tackle. Their work in the film room and meetings is so whatever the coaches are seeing from the box is what the players are seeing on the field. We have a couple of guys on this forum who played DB around the time Bubba coached defense and Schmidt played/coached who could probably give a better answer. If I had to guess, I think we will tackle better and be quicker this year. Offensively, so much depends on QB and whether or not we can protect the ball. We certainly have weapons. But that wasn’t your question.

Beating KState would be a major upset. I think I can summarize some of the obvious things we need to stay in the game. Special teams must have solid kick and punt coverage and avoid any long returns. No missed tackles. Hopefully our kicker can put KO’s in the end zone. No roughing punter or kicker penalties. No blocked punts. Hang onto FB on all punt and KO returns. No mental errors. Defensively, figure out how to cover KState TEs and backs out of backfield in passing game. Keep receivers in front of our defenders. That means our zone coverage guys need to get on receivers as they enter their zone. That is a tough challenge for most teams at all levels if opposing qb’s have time to throw. Defenders need to stay home on defense and not over pursue/run themselves out of the play. We can’t miss tackles and we can’t drop potential interceptions. We can’t have missed tackles. We have to avoid mental errors and we need to avoid personal fouls, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Our new defense has to maintain outside contain while still getting pressure on the qb. Offensively, we want to run themselves FB but we will also need our short passing game. It’s tough to protect our qb against good FBS teams cuz even their big guys tend to be fast. Deng Deng can be a weapon with his size and athletic ability wherever he is on the field. Hoskins has the speed and quickness to make guys miss and can break tackles. He and Seidel can be tough to cover on wheel routes. We need to involve our TE’s especially as safety valves. If we have time to throw we have receivers who can get downfield. No fumbles, no dropped passes. No mental errors including personal fouls, unsportsmanlike, and delay of game penalties. The running game is expected to be our bread and butter. I think we have 5-6 guys who can be effective RBs but the key in addition to QB is our oline going to be a dominant force for us this year. I don’t know who will be the qb and, like last year, I don’t care. The QB who plays is obviously the guy the staff thinks will give us the best chance to win. Whoever it is needs to protect the ball and move the chains. New Year, new era, Go Hawks!

Nice start to the season for our soccer team. Beat Eastern Washington 4-0 today. They are now 3-0. Play Jamestown Sunday at home.

Jayden Sonnenberg is a 2026 recruit from Frazee, Mn, so she can’t sign yet. I believe she is the commitment Hutter referred to in his Monday.

I don’t think that if you sat down with the coaches, you would listen to them explain how decisions are made. Believe what you wish. If it makes you feel better, the head coach is responsible for all team decisions and subsequent results.

Some of us may know who chose the starting QB. You can think what you wish. Where did you get the idea that it was the decision of only one guy? Whoever starts at KState, means that is the guy this staff decided will give them the best chance to win. It has nothing to do with last year’s decision.

Sonnenberg?

I would agree that if Simon starts it it would be because of dramatic improvement from last year. I think the same could be said about JK. It seems none of them have yet shown the consistency needed to clearly grab the lead, it will be a “work in progress “ and I would include SR. I considered his entire season last year as a “work in progress “. Just my opinion.

I believe Rudy made the comment to another player. Either way, it was a reflection on Rudy. Regardless of anything else, you don’t do that to a player who ruptured his Achilles playing for you, without giving him a chance to return. Although I have heard (second hand) that JK is leading the competition to be the starter this fall, this staff is giving SR a chance to compete. Mollberg should have been given the same chance after his injury. That ship has long sailed so it no longer matters. I don’t care which of the 4 guys they choose, it will be whomever the coaches think gives this team the best chance to win. I believe it’s a “work in progress” no matter who starts.

If you don’t know who made the decision by now, I doubt you ever will. It wasn’t one guy. At this point it no longer matters.

Feb. 2025 Article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reported the University of Wisconsin study comparing high school football players who wore the guardian caps vs those that didn’t during practice. Over 2600 players from 41 schools were involved. 33 kids who wore the caps suffered concussions vs 31 kids who suffered concussions but weren’t wearing guardian caps. What has been shown is that wearing the caps can decrease the impact force but doesn’t decrease concussions. There was no statistically significant difference in concussions in those 2 groups. Because of the increased size and speed in college and professional football players it can’t be assumed results would be the same. There is some early evidence that the caps may decrease concussions in NFL players. However, there is still no conclusive evidence whether or not guardian caps decrease concussions in college or professional players.

Add to list of 2026 offers: Jayden Sonnenberg 5’11” C/G from Frazee Mn. (She was offered before start of her junior year) Very athletic, plays guard but also plays center. Decent 3 point shooter.

On paper, that would be a great option. Maybe a little early for that decision. I would guess coaches are still evaluating which lines are developing a chemistry with each other, which guys have the ability to make teammates better and what combos give this team the best chance to win.