tnt

It looks to me like you are comparing scores. I wouldn't say South Dakota has come farther because they have been ahead of us for years. We'll see when we play them if the Sioux have made any progress in cutting that gap. I think the basketball program is where the football program is at this point. They have a year or two with the young players, then the expectation for major improvement will definitely be there.

Agree, it seems like they are setting a precedent that if you fall into the goalie and the puck goes in, you will be rewarded. True it didn't cost us the game this time, but again they can't seem to figure out this call because they took away a goal from Minnesota against Mankato for the same type of play. Maybe they will have to create a separate stat goals after goalie contact, because Dell hasn't given the opposition much when he doesn't get run over.

Don't know if they are or not, but they probably wouldn't have a lot of scholarship money to give. Right now there is the possibility of MacMillan, O'Donnell, St. Clair, Mattson, J.T. Miller and Rocco Grimaldi for next year. Unless they lose 2 players early, they might need to send one or two back to their respective teams. Sometimes older players don't have the upside that younger players would, but then again they might do anything through hard work to earn their way. Be interesting to see which teams have offered.

http://www.thescoutingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33259:nick-schmaltz&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=54 Sounds like Jordan Schmaltz has a brother that has crazy skills at his young age.

While I am happy they support the Sioux nickname, I can't help but wonder what things would be like now if they would have taken the initiative to tell the NCAA their feelings and support when the whole thing came up in the first place. Working on the NCAA deadline doesn't give much wiggle room. A lot of people were silent for too long, but in the end the Standing Rock leaders are the ones that should be absolutely ashamed for not letting their people's voice to be heard.

Colten St. Clair with 2 goals, one assist and six shots in Force win tonight. Gothberg got the win. Anybody know what's up with Danny Mattson? He's missed the last handful of games.

So you're saying that a redshirt freshman came into a pressure packed situation and performed, and we have a sophomore and junior that don't seem to be able to find a wide open receiver in games that at this point are essentially meaningless to this season? I don't want to degrade the players too much, but being in the program for a few years should result in at least being able to move the offense in spurts.

I don't know if Idaho is really a more recognizable name than many of the Big Sky teams. In fact if we wouldn't have played them in the opening game, I would have assumed they were an FCS team.

Seems strange there still hasn't been anything on defensemen for the next few years. Are they waiting to hear from big names before they pull the trigger? I see Nolan Zajac is the second leading scorer for defensemen in the USHL.

I just see football fans as more apathetic to the point where even if they are winning, they don't show up. Even playoff games are conditional. Really? Looks like NDSU has the same problem, even when they are winning. I don't know if I buy the "build it and they will come" philosophy for football.

You look at all those attendance figures and you come away more convinced that the Alerus will do just fine for the next 20 years. You don't build a new stadium for a game here or there that may draw well.

Don't have all the figures, but attendance has not always been great at Sioux football playoff games even. What were there 5000 against Duluth?

Yeah, I also saw that Leah Jensen has a hat trick in every game she's played this year.

Brendan O'Donnell had been 2nd star of the game his last two games with 1 goal, 4 assists total in the two games.

Yes, remember the Ignite the Spirit rumors? Would be great if something came about, but let's get the Alerus packed first. If you look at the trend of students not supporting football like they used to in both Fargo and Grand Forks, it would be foolish to start on such a project without evidence that they can support the present facility. To be quite honest it bothers me that people need to see the Montana's, NDSU's, etc. in order to want to attend football at the Alerus. I can understand out of town people looking at what games they might want to attend, but there should be more people in town that attend, no matter the opponent. If the hockey team can just about sell out for exhibition games against Manitoba, I see no reason why they can't sustain attendance of at least 10,000 at football games. Maybe they could create a priority points system for students that would allow them better seating at hockey if they have points from attendance at other sporting events. I know they pay the money for activity fees, and they have different priorities, but a points system worked for the general public in transitioning to the new arena, which included points for holding tickets in other sports besides hockey. Hopefully moving to the Big Sky will spark the excitement without the need to coerce people into supporting other sports.

That seems to be the logic. It's the same kind of logic that bothers me about gopher fans. If Michaelson would have commited here and got a major penalty, or just a penalty period, he would automatically become a cheap hack.

I don't think we should cut down the kid after the fact like certain gopher fans do. The kid made the decision for whatever reason, but it doesn't make him any worse of a player or his dad an idiot. Rumors say that his dad thought Hakstol was an idiot. Do I believe them? No! Would we be calling his dad a "douche" if he commited here? I highly doubt it.

If that is in fact where we are at in our program, that we would rather not have our offense on the field, and hoping and praying for a turnover, then we are not where we should be at in our transition. It seems to me if the defense was playing that well, then you go for it, simply because you are on their side of the field already.

Wasn't Solum the top running back going into fall camp the year Murray had to sit out? Don't know why you couldn't makeshift formations for one game, especially since you only needed a series from that person every once in a while. How many rushing attempts did Miller have in that game and a half?

I too thought the team would have troubles this year being so young, which makes it all the more odd that he chose to pull the redshirt off of Jake Miller for spot duty in a few games. Knowing how Weston Dressler wasn't utilized much until his sophomore season and how great it would have been to have him one more year after the learning curve, why would you waste a year of eligibility for Jake Miller when you know a couple of years down the road is what you are building for. I don't particularly like responding with a negative comment, especially when I don't agree with the premise of this thread. Every coach makes mistakes, and he should have the opportunity to correct those, especially when most people understood that there would be growing pains.

My concern is that with young players you expect inconsistency, not stats like 56 yards passing. Yikes! If you've got playmakers, you should be able to throw for a big play every now and again. We have been told over the past 3 years that at this level of football you are not going to be able to shut down a team because of the sophistication of offenses. This was in regards to our defense giving up huge numbers in total yards. This should be able to work both ways, and even with young players the offense should have some sort of advantage. Although I'm not into moral victories, the fact that we could hang with them with virtually no passing game, gives me hope for the first year of the Big Sky when we will have a ton of upperclassmen.

I don't think anybody is going to pull the trigger on a firing when the team is so young. I'm sure he's got a year or more to turn it around.

He talks about not being into moral victories, but his actions speak otherwise. What do you have to lose? You're on Montana's side of the field, yet you don't go for it on 4th down.

If Cochran is in on the next series, I will be very disappointed in the staff. There has to be consequences for continually putting the team in bad circumstances because of undisciplined behavior.

... I hope UND fans know that the Bison are doing o.k. in a game with Oregon!! Obsession, it truly is the greatest form of flattery.