bincitysioux

The way that the rush defense has played the last two weeks, Cal Poly, Northern Arizona, and Montana could all be very long games........................

I think it is looking like he is making a case for it. Discuss.

I don't think there is one. I don't think there is any way that Mussman can sit Hendrickson down at this point.

It was 4th an 15 from Fresno's 42 yard line with over 3 minutes to go. UND had two time-outs left and a QB that had completed less than 50% of his passes for the day and was averaging 8 yards per completion. Up to that point, North Dakota's defense had held Fresno to less than 60 yard rushing for the whole game. They got pinned back to the 11 yard line to start the drive. They gained 30+ yards of field position by avoiding a likely unsuccessful 4th down conversion. That was the absolute best case scenario in that situation. But then Fresno ended up busting of an 18 yard run. They nearly got a quarter of their rushing yards for the entire game at the most inopportune time for the Sioux. Since UND had such great success running in that game, I suppose they could have handed it off to Miller on 4th and 15................ But then when he didn't convert, there still would have been many folks here saying Mussman is too conservative, and "playing not to lose". Mussman doesn't have a Playstation conroller in his hands when he is coaching. He is actually doing this for a living......................................

It was 14-10 at halftime......................................

It's still quite early, and the defensive play against PSU didn't give me alot of confidence. But I still think Montana is a better match-up for North Dakota than is Montana St. We play the Bocats on the road, and they have the type of QB that has given UND fits in recent years. However, Ash's teams have kind of had a history of fading at the end of the season, and we don't play the Cats until late October..................

I think the biggest thing is the transition. No playoffs is a big deal to alot of kids. When we started ours, the "backyard" kids of our recruiting area could choose from NDSU, SDSU, and Northern Iowa with a chance to win now, or come to North Dakota and set the "foundation". It also didn't help that Lennon moved on just as the transition started, taking key assistants and several recruits from the 1st transition year with him. Guys like Ty Boyle, Broc Bellmore, Dominique Hawkins..................they all came here knowing that the best they could ever hope for was Great West championship. I think overall, the talent at the skill positions on this years team is as good as it's been in looonnggg time.................

I think Mussman has come a long ways in 5 years. I remember before the Texas Tech game I just cringed at how he rolled his eyes and said "it'll be a nice experience for the players". Last night on the coach's show, he said SDSU may outmatch us, but we will not be intimidated. Hennessy asked if the players are looking forward to sunny San Diego and Muss said the only parts of San Diego they'll see is a hotel and a football field.

I think you are forgetting a key point that NDSU has had alot more talent on their teams in recent years than North Dakota has. Hate them all you want (as I do), but they won the national title last season, and nearly beat the eventual national champion on the road in the playoffs the year before. The talent on their roster is the biggest reason they beat Kansas, Minnesota, and Colorado St. the last 3 seasons. North Dakota is closing the gap. They were in position to win at Fresno and Northern Illinois with questionable play at the most important position in sports: Quarterback. And what you see as "wussing out", I see as smart coaching. You play the percentages. Punting on 4th and long from the opponents 47 yard line when the strength of your team is the defense, and the biggest weakness is the QB position is the smart play.

Here's another blurb.........................

Prairie Public TV has produced a new documentary focusing on the rivlary between North Dakota and NDSU, specifically in football and women's basketball. It will air on September 18 at 7:00, and replay on September 22 at 7:00 and 9:00. When They Were Kings

Aztecs extremely wary of FCS foe North Dakota

He was on the sidelines at the PSU game without crutches.................................

Getting 7 DI wins (which means at least an 8-3 season at this point) is a lofty goal, but an attainable one if everything falls into place. Winning the PSU game was key to reaching that goal. A loss to PSU would have made San Diego St. a "must win" game. Ironically, PSU finished 7-4 last season (5-3 Big Sky), and were left out of the playoffs, presumably because they had only 6 DI wins.....................

AGS Poll: 1 North Dakota State Bison 2838 (109) 2 Sam Houston State Bearkats 2634 (2) 3 Old Dominion Monarchs 2256 4 Northern Iowa Panthers 2221 5 Youngstown State Penguins 2211 (1) 6 Appalachian State Mountaineers 2189 7 Montana State Bobcats 2157 (1) 8 James Madison Dukes 2147 9 Wofford Terriers 1647 10 Eastern Washington Eagles 1565 11 Georgia Southern Eagles 1488 12 Montana Grizzlies 1394 13 Illinois State Redbirds 1390 14 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 1295 15 Stony Brook Seawolves 1253 16 Towson Tigers 1223 17 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 1098 18 New Hampshire Wildcats 958 19 McNeese State Cowboys 797 20 Maine Black Bears 722 21 Central Arkansas Bears 607 22 Indiana State Sycamores 448 23 Cal Poly Mustangs 424 24 The Citadel Bulldogs 364 (1) 25 Albany Great Danes 240 Most Significant Win: Appalachian State Mountaineers Most Significant Loss: Georgia Southern Eagles 26 Norfolk State Spartans 219 27 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 210 28 Sacramento State Hornets 116 29 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 115 30 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 109 31 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 94 32 North Dakota Fighting Sioux 86 33 Harvard Crimson 72 34T Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 49 34T Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 49 36 Lafayette Leopards 44 37 Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks 43 38 Samford Bulldogs 40 39 Georgetown Hoyas 30 40 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 22

I don't know what to make of this game. Obviously it will be an uphill battle. USA Today picked them to finish 2nd in the MWC this season. I don't know much about the Aztecs, but perusing their stats from the first two games, it appears that they want to run the ball. After the Portland St. game, I don't know if that is good or bad for North Dakota. It is definately a game that UND can win. But to do so, the O-Line absolutely has to create some openings for Jake Miller. To have a chance, he is going to have to bust off some big runs and surprise them like they did Fresno St. last year. And the whole team has to take less penalties in a game like this. I'm assuming the coaching staff is emphasising the importance of tackling this week. Reading their board, they are guessing a crowd anywhere from 15,000 to 28,000. Hardly an environment that should distract our guys at this point in their careers. I think it should be an entertaining game.

Kolpack was whining tonight on Dizzo's Den about Northern Arizona not cracking the Top 25 poll after beating UNLV. I really wanted to call in to tell him it was likely because many voters inadvertantly voted for North Dakota St., because they also have "North" in their name and also beat an FBS school.............

I doubt a win against an FBS team alone would do much for attendance/fan interest. The average Grand Forker/UND student doesn't care who the team is playing as long as they are winning. String together a few 0, 1, and 2 loss seasons and the fans will be there, regardless of who the opponent is.

Here is a link to the Aztecs message board.

On the bright side, North Dakota beat PSU, which is one of two Big Sky teams on our schedule (Cal Poly being the other) that will attempt to primarily run the ball as the focal point of their game plan. Montana also has a bruising running attack that will hurt us if we at minimum don't shore up the tackling technique.................

When the students show up, they impress me. I like what I have seen from them the last two weeks. The last two seasons were embarrassing. I hope they keep up the interest they have shown thus far this season. I certainly can't rag on the student turn-out thus far when it appears that 2,500+ have showed up for the first two games. There were a couple games in 2010 and 2011 that I question if 250 showed............................

Mackey got beat on one play, and it ticked me off. After that one, he tightened it up and played quite well...................

I basically agree with that PSU fan....................... If the pass defense "sucked because they only cared about stopping the run", then I'd feel better about it if they had actually stopped the run.......................... You have to admit, if the defense plays worse at any point during the rest of the season than they did last night, then it will be a very long season................. PSU was the #1 rushing team in the Big Sky last season, averaging nearly 250 yds/game. They gained over 200 yards on us last night, in our house, despite losing their leading rusher from last season.

New Big Sky website is up. Looks good.................. http://bigskyconf.com/

The cue by the PA announcer is nice. But one of my pet peeves since I've been going to games since 2003 is that the only time the place gets loud IS on 3rd down. It's OK to be loud at other times too............................