Teeder11

6-6, 275... made several visits to FBS programs. Just keep him out of any Wisco all-star games and we're golden.

Internet polls aren't a good gauge of popularity, so I have been told.

Hmmmmm? Does this add anything to the discussion? http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/late-night-0912/best-late-night-food?src=soc_fcbks#slide-1

It was a joke, Einstein, hence the wink.

Sorry, Vandals would have killed the Goofs last year for their first home game at the Kibby shed.

What happened to Kaci Miller? She was listed as a junior last year. I thought, at 6'3" tall, she might get a real shot to contribute this year.

Jer Garman has been taking reps with Jake Miller, Sutton, P.J. Sparks, etc., but his carries are mostly 2-3 yards and a cloud of dust. He has a difficult time breaking through the middle or getting around the ends. Where he's been most effective in practice has been, as was said, in a slot receiver role. He's also been putting in a ton of time on special teams as a punt return guy, if I recall correctly. I said a few days ago that he looks like he bulked up a bit compared with last year, and he has not lost any speed.

I think mg has explained before that he/she is more of a "double agent" (my words) than a troll. mg, I think, went to both UND and NDSU and is from Fargo. Thus, he/she tends to have bit more of an allegiance to Scream Yellow having grown up in that environment. I do agree his/her assessments do tend to be a little glass half empty for UND and half full for SU, or, in other words, mg tends to be more pragmatic when it comes to comments on UND and more optimistic when it comes to NDSU. But that could be a product of one team just coming out of transition with a lot to prove and the other coming off a NC season in their most important sport.

There was an R.J. McGill sighting this morning, in full pads, on the practice turf running drills. Casey Young was absent, though, presumably with some sort of injury.

On a related note, I was talking to a Forum Communication reporter recently, and the reporter relayed an interesting story that I had always had a hunch was true but it was verfied by the reporter's account of things. Seems that a few weeks back the bosses at Forum Comm in Fargo wanted to do a comparison piece about UND hockey vs. NDSU football for king of popularity in the state. It was a joint project headed up by Herald and Forum sports guys. One of the big metrics that they were going to use to measure popularity was the annual hits to Schlossman's hockey blog and hits to Izzo/Kolpack's Bison Media Blog (or whatever it is called). Seems that the direction of the story took a decidedly different tone and was deliberatley downplayed a bit once the Fargo big wigs took a gander at the respective blog stats. The reporter was not privvy to the exact number of hits-per-blog, but, in round numbers, it was something like 600,000 to 2.4 million -- as in 600,000 for NDSU's Media Blog and 2.4 million for Schloss. What the reporter was definitley sure about was that whatever the actual numbers were it was a 4 to 1 ratio favoring Schloss' blog. Interesting.

Thanks, geaux_sioux!

I'm told that they will be in green today at media day. The suspense thickens.

Thoughts and happenings from the weekend practices: Saturday: Zach Oliver showed amazing hands and feet on a one-handed snag on an out pattern. Baylee Carr was back on the field practicing after sitting out on Friday opening day practice. This is not a dig on Hendrickson as much as it is a comment on Mollberg's abilties: But there appears to be less of a drop-off in skill between Hanson and Mollberg than between Hanson and Hendrickson. Still Hendrickson is improving his play each practice. He's a better runnner than Hanson, so it should not surprise that he has a tendency to get happier feet, tuck the ball in and head north. Hanson and Hardin are developing good chemistry, but Hanson and Tyree seem to have an even better comfort level in the making. That connection could be one to watch this year. For the future: "Mollberg to Golladay" is something you could be hearing a lot of. One gig on Mollberg is that, at this point, he tends to telegraph his passes. He'll learn. Jake Miller is fast as ever. Mitch Sutton looks leaner than I remember from past years. Still a bruiser. The middle linebacker play has been exceptional so far, highlighted by Garrison Goodman with an INT and batted down pass on Saturday. Big Ben Peters had an INT as well. McGill will be ready for first game. Despite a bum hammy, he was doing conditioning drills like running up and down the stadium steps and sprinting in place and pivoting. The offense has not done much for deep passing plays so far, sticking with a lot of screen stuff to receivers and full backs. Saturday was capped off by a 35-yard connection from Hanson to J. Jackson for a TD. Don't know if you'll be seeing this one too much on Saturdays, or who knows, but there was a double-hook-and lateral sighting involving Hanson-Harden-Tyree-Jake Miller on Saturday. It went for 6. Sunday: Teams donned shells for the first time this year. It's looking more and more like #1 passing offense is Hanson, Hardin, Jameer Jackson and Tyree. #2 is Hendrickson, Casey Young, Jon Heimler, Pat Brown. #3/4 is Mollberg, Z. Oliver, Golladay, Fletcher. McGill will have to fit in there somewhere eventually. Holy Cow! I forgot about Blair Townsend... he fits in there somwhere in the #1 or #2 offense. Can you say embarrassment of riches at receiver? Hanson's ball is straight, crisp with not much arc. Sometimes it appears too low for the receiver, like it's going to hit their feet, but it gets to them with such velocity that it hits them in a spot where only they can catch it. He has, however, shown the ability to put it in the air on rare deep routes. Mollberg's ball is more finesse, though equally crisp, with a tight spiral and a little more arc. Offensive star: Jameer Jackson had a great receiving day.. he has good hands, he's strong and racks up the YAC. Defensive star: Daryl Brown showed flashes of why the CBs could be much improved this year. His break on the ball is the quickest I've ever seen at UND. He had a pick 6 on Sunday that was so fast he was half way to the end zone before the receiver knew what was going on. Spencer Cummings fell to the turf on one of the the final plays of practice on Sunday after some heavy contact along the sidelines on a pass play. Don't know if it was cramps or something a little more serious. Coach Muss was aubibly irate at some of the un-smart overly physical contact that was happening toward the end of Sunday practice. The Cummings ordeal was a product of some of this kind of play. That's it. I am excited for Media Day!

A handful tops.... 5 or 6 people. Most were on the sidelines --about a dozen there, not counting AD staff.

I wish I would have. Could have been more accurate then, as far as who did what and to whom. I forgot my pen and paper. But then they would have probably mistaken me for one of the media guys! Wayne Nelson, Tom Miller, a Fargo TV station camera guy and Sweeney were all there. Even Jim Bollman and Coach Berg made an appearance.

You can walz right in sit in the stands, stand on the track, walk the sideline. I suppose if it got to be too much, the AD guys might say something. But the stands are definitley open to the public to watch.

Practice is set for Saturday and Sunday at 9:15 a.m. both days.

I am note sure. It looked like he had a soft cast on it. No good info on it as this point. All our best experienced OL need to be healthy now more than ever to protect the QBs with the lack of depth there. That goes without saying.

It's a pleasure to give my perspective. Be interesting to know if anyone else had a different take on things.

Congrats to true feshman Kodee Varner, running back from Baker, Mont., for winning the 2012-13 "Sioux Run." Don't have any more specifics other than he won it. Ok. First practice in the books. Some great. some ok. some not so good. QBs: Hanson was solid and really picked the DBs apart for the most part toward the last of the light contact drills with the defense. It wasn't the DBs' fault either. The #1 offense looked good. Hendrickson was shakey at the beginning, picked it up in the middle of practice, but then fell apart by the end of practice. The secondary had him baffled, forcing him to keep the ball too long so all he could do was tuck it in and run or take a sack (what would have been a sack on game day). He was inconsistent on throws, many way wide of target. Only first practice, though. Mollberg looks like the real deal. For a true freshman, he looks confident, poised in the pocket and can run an offense. His throws were good and he got the ball off in under three seconds of snap. Bartles looked like a true freshman should -- at first. He was off and seemed overwhelmed. But by the middle of practice he found his legs and his arm and was hitting recievers with much better consistency. Of note: he has got a booming distinctive voice under center -- unmistakable -- I can see him drawing many a DL offsides in the future. Jake Hanson -- got limited snaps which surprised me. He looked like someone who went from North Dakota Class B to NCAA Division I. Not a criticism. Just an observation. He will get a baptism by fire this fall. WR: The Good: Hardin, Jameer Jackson, Tyre Ivery and Townsend. The Bad: None The rookies: Golladay, though long, thin and a bit stringy, has excellent hands and runs good routes. He impressed. Needs to bulk up a bit. Fletcher and Oliver also were noticable and had very few, if any drops, that were their fault. Of Note: R.J. McGill did not practice (didn't appear injured, but may be nursing something minor) Hamstring injury per Tom Miller's excellent sideline reporting. DBs: All looked ok. new Juco transfers at safety were good and but did nothing spectacular to stand out -- maybe that's a good thing. Messaureau had the lick of the day ( as much contact as you can dish out without pads on) when he broke up a pass by leveling, I think it was Ivery, to the ground on a crossing pattern toward the end of the day. This group is still a work in progess. Still too early to give a real good assessment. RB: Nothing earth shattering. Jer Garman has bulked up noticeably but appears to have not lost speed. Shaugabay had some nice runs and looks to pick it up with the experience he got late in games last year. LBs: Miles Jablonski looks like he's in tip-top shape and ready to tear it up on Saturday. OL: Kleason was still on crutches at practice. Could miss first month of the season, according to Herald's Tom Miller. DL: Mike Edwards, E.J. Welch, Kyle Woodsmall are massive beasts on the line, especially Welch and Edwards. They will be players to keep an eye on, I think. It won't be hard to spot them. That's all for now.

Not sure about that one. I can check on that. I think I heard their first practice in full pads is Aug. 8 (Wednesday).

Maybe he thought he had a shot at a Montana Griz tansfer. No dice.

Anyone going to be out at Memorial this morning at 9:15 a.m. ish to watch the first practice? I think I am going take long morning break and check out some drills. #hardup-for-somefootball

Tom likes to get the masses buzzing with provocative opinions. I'd be surprised if he actually personally thought that it would be better to stay D II. That's typical of most opinion writers: write stuff that will get reactions; not stuff that the majority already believes.

An official link: http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205564147