RD17

Just in the last few days UND has added itself to the open dates on D2football.com: The only D-II school that apparently has a matching open date is the University of Incarnate Word (San Antonio, TX) which has a brand new program opening play this fall. Probably not the best option.

Agreed... what a foolish move. Couldn't some other NAIA opponent be scheduled (if necessary) two years from now for a game in 2011?

2005 was a blown opportunity. UND had the best team in the country that year but it all fell apart after that loss to Omaha. For all the other years that Lennon did a great job getting more that he should have out of the talent at hand, I thought 2005 was his poorest coaching job with the way that team fell apart at the end of the year.

For UND's 3-4 to be really effective they have to have a great pass rusher at OLB coming off the edge and I'm not sure if anyone in the program fits that mold right now. UND needs another Stroup/Dahlen/Schmidt type player that can both rush the passer and make plays in space. I'm guessing that this is the type of JUCO LB they are looking at.

I think UMD is a poor man's version of the 2001 UND championship team. They aren't nearly as talented but play a similar style with an obvious reliance on defense to win games for them against the other good teams. I also think they have a great shot at winning again this week and advancing to the title game. The team they play is talented with a bunch of D-I transfers but isn't great defensively so I think UMD can move the ball on them and score some points.

The transition to D-I may have cost him a year of eligibility because he had the one medical redshirt year and D-II and D-I have different rules. If it turns out that UND can't get him another year, he most likely would be eligible to play one more year at a D-II school if he wanted to transfer.

I guess my proclamation that UMD would have won the NCC this year doesn't look quite so ridiculous now.

This was a huge win for the program going into the offseason. A loss would have meant an 0-3 record in the Great West and that would have been used against UND in recruiting. Plus with the way the SE Lousiana and SUU games went, another gut wrenching loss would have been devastating. USD is now 27-3 in its last 30 home games... all three losses have been to UND.

Part of the reason the score got so out of hand is that West Texas started doing onside kicks in the 3rd quarter to try to catch up so ACU only had to go 35 yards for points instead of 70. But still, ACU had over 800 yards of offense and averaged 14.5 yards per play. I will be very surprised if another D-II defense can slow them down.

I don't know if UND ever recruited Winfield, but he sure would look good in a Sioux uniform. Same thing with UMD's transfer RB, Odim. Duluth was more dominant today than the score indicated against Chadron and I really do believe that UMD has what it takes to go to Grand Valley next week and compete with them. I'm not saying the Bulldogs will win, but I expect a game similar to UND's last three trips out there.

UND could compete in the Big 12 this year.

Well Dave, you're going to have to wait another year... UNO got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round yesterday.

St. Cloud was 4-7 in 2001 then went 9-2 in 2002 beating both UND and NDSU. UND was 5-6 in 2002, then reached the national title game in 2003. NDSU was 2-8 in 2002, 8-3 in 2003. USD was 5-6 in 2003, 9-2 in 2004 UMD was 4-7 in 2004, won a share of the NCC title and reached the playoffs in 2005. I'm just trying to point out that teams having a great year immediately following a down year isn't all that uncommon and usually doesn't take a complete overhaul of the team to pull off. UMD had a RS freshman receiver that was lost to injury in the first game last year have over 1000 receiving yards and 13 TDs this year and they added a JC running back that is averaging 8.1 yards a carry to go along with 21 TDs. They added those two guys to an offense with a 4 year starter at QB and an OL that is intact from last year and defensively they start 7 seniors. Plus, Nielsen can coach and everything just came together perfectly for Duluth this year. I will agree though that the four NCC teams that have joined the NSIC will drop off in the near future unless scholarship numbers go up. They are still playing with guys recruited into the NCC when there was more money to throw around and once those players cycle out the level of play will go down.

Yes, I think ACU is probably the favorite but they'll have some very tough games just to get out of the region. I've seen ACU play live and I don't know if I've ever seen another D2 team with the talent they have at the skill positions on offense... the QB, RB, and top WR may all get drafted.

I'll stick with what I said... I think UMD would have won the NCC this year. I have talked to two different coaches on other teams- people that watch game film and assess these teams- and they have said the same thing. Plus, UNO and UND are obviously down this year and I don't think Central Washington is nearly as good as UMD on defense. Keep in mind that that UMD completely dominated everyone they played this year including St. Cloud, Augie, and Missouri Western- all on the road.

I don't think they would have gone undefeated, but I do think UMD would have won the NCC this year if it had existed. They have a very good team and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see UMD give Grand Valley quite a battle in a couple of weeks.

Impressive turnout from Sioux fans. I'd guess there were 75-100 in the area behind the UND bench. I had a couple of different UMKC supporters come up to me wondering where all of these UND people were coming from, if they were all locals or had made the trip down. The second half was not nearly as pretty, but a win is a win. UMKC was much more active defensively and used their athleticism to challenge UND's shooters and take away the open 3-pointers. The turnovers and several key misses from the free throw line nearly cost UND the game. UND played a box and one or triangle and two defense for most of the game and UMKC could never establish any rhythm on offense. The freshman Pat Mitchell is going to be a player. He's long and athletic with a nice shooting stroke from the outside. Mertens isn't all that big but he did a heck of a job of holding his own on the boards and he was able to alter some shots. The one big problem I saw is that Mertens and the other posts don't handle the ball well at all and it led to a bunch of turnovers. I know the writer that was covering the game for the Kansas City Star and I talked to him after the game. He is not writing nice things about UMKC after this loss.

Posting from the game. Some great 3 point shooting by the Sioux particularly Harkins and Bledsoe. UND is also doing a great job on the boards. I think this team might be better than expected this year.

As a KC area resident, I've been looking forward to this game since the schedule was announced. Unfortunately, the game is not being played in historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown KC but will be played in the on-campus gym. If any UND fans will be in the area and want tips on where to stay/eat etc. just send me a PM.

There is no sugarcoating it... this is a bad loss. UND's struggles this year have nothing to do with playing D-I teams, because some of these D-I teams they are losing to wouldn't even be playoff type teams in D-II. UND just plain isn't very good right now and what's really alarming is the way the offense that should be the strength of the team has gone in the tank the last three weeks. I do think it will eventually get turned back in the right direction, but I also believe next year is going to be rough. Mussman needs to be very wise on the recruiting trail this year and mix in enough guys that can immediately shore some things up with freshmen that they can build for the future with.

The Alerus Center is not big enough long-term for D-I football... with only 12,500 permanent seats there simply isn't enough room. Now before anyone jumps down my throat and says "the games aren't selling out now" keep in mind that the building was only 1,000 short of capacity in the opener against TAMUK and if the attendance patterns of neighboring schools that have moved up are any indicator, the demand for 15,000+ seats will be there within 3-4 years. Commiting to anything long-term with the Alerus would be a mistake IMO, unless the facility is looking at expansion. If you ask me, the University must commit itself to finding a solution to the football seating problem or risk handicapping itself during the D-I move.

Dale Lennon was a great coach, but I think one improvement we will see with Mussman is that he will be more aggressive than Dale was in attempting to land transfers that will immediately help the program. Obviously, this year there is more money to throw around than in years past, but I can think of several instances over the past five years where landing one or two key transfers might have made the difference between being a very good team and a national championship team.

Sounds like former UND assistant and current Jamestown College head coach Tom Dosch may also be joining the staff at SIU: link

The thing to remember with Tibesar is that Kansas State is not a stable situation right now. Ron Prince is quickly wearing out his welcome with KSU supporters (I live in Kansas City and have seen it first hand) and assistant coaches have been leaving at an alarming rate. Plus, Prince is even under more pressure because Kansas and Missouri had unprecedented success in football this year. Unless KSU has a major turnaround next season, it will likely be Prince's last year in Manhattan, IMO. Yes, Tibesar would make more money next year at Kansas State, but the opportunity to be a head coach and the chance to get into a more stable environment at UND might be too good to pass up. One year from now Tibesar could easily be out of a job if he stays at KSU.

I agree... I think it is now apparent that Blais is the best man for the AD job. UND is in dire need of some leadership at this point and Blais has the type of personality and rapport with supporters to garner universal support for the move forward as an athletic department. Plus, I've always loved his no nonsense style which is another quality the school badly needs in its leadership right now.