UND92,96

Coach Mussman mentioned on the post-game interview that they really need to get Bamba more involved. Today was the first time he's touched the ball in a game at the college level, and obviously he has some serious speed. I'm sure he's pretty raw, and it's a big adjustment going from Canadian rules to American football, but he could definitely be a playmaker in the not-too-distant future. I was also very pleased that Murray finally got the majority of the carries. No offense to the other backs, but I'm a big fan of his and he really showed today what he's cabable of doing given 20-plus carries.

30 USD 31 SE Louisiana 10 Southern Utah 46 Montana 7 Southern Illinois 33 Northwestern 17 Wayne St. (Neb.) 31 St. Cloud St. 6 Central Oklahoma 31 TAMUK

True, but after the New Mexico State thing, I'm not getting my hopes up too high. I can't imagine there are going to be many teams other than UND who are anxious to add another road game against a high-quality opponent at this late date, though. I wonder whether Cal Poly may simply opt to play a 10-game schedule and take their chances that the NCAA will give them a break at playoff selection time since the cancellation was through no fault of their own?

Early indications aren't good: link

Both schools now have 10-game schedules, and both have October 11 open.

I just realized that the game at Idaho State is a Thursday night game--one week from tonight. Not much time for the Sioux to prepare for the first FCS opponent of the year. And Idaho State is off this week.

Regarding the schedule, it's kind of interesting to go back and read the "UND 2008 schedule" thread to see what may have been this year. We should have hosted USD. We should be playing at Cal Poly. We apparently had agreements (per Dale Lennon on the coaches' show last season) to play McNeese State and one of the Texas FCS schools. Granted, had some of those games not fallen through we probably wouldn't be playing Southern Illinois, and the home schedule still would have included some not-go-great opponents, but had things not fallen apart for various reasons, this could have been an extremely respectable first year FCS schedule. We just need to be a little patient. Things will get better soon.

Several walk-ons have been added to the roster.

Here's a complete listing of UW-L's games vs. dII/FCS opponents since 2001: 2001 37 UW-L 18 Washburn 31 Winona St. (dII playoff team) 22 UW-L 2002 31 UW-L 17 Washburn 35 Drake 17 UW-L 2003 28 UW-L 24 USD 2004 34 UW-L 13 UMD 45 USD 44 UW-L 2005 42 SDSU 13 UW-L 2006 17 UW-L 3 SDSU

I agree. Everybody knew this year was going to be very tough in terms of scheduling. This season is the aberration, and not the rule in terms of what to expect from future schedules.

I just looked at LaCrosse's roster, and it includes a former UND player--running back Jordan Armentrout.

It's Thursday. The Potato Bowl web site can be found here.

I'm guessing it's the USD game. FSSN picked up the feed from the USD telecast last year (although we missed a quarter or so due to technical difficulties).

Two things that have really stood out to me as positive's this season: just 7 penalties for 48 yards; and just one turnover.

For comparison's sake, I looked back at NDSU's second home game of their first dI season. They drew 11,030 for a game against Montana Tech, and that was a night game. So there is some precedent for a big drop in attendance when the second game is against a non-dI opponent. Had this been a night game today, I suspect there would have been over 10,000, FWIW.

37 Southern Illinois 31 Hampton (final) 34 Miss. St. 10 SE Louisiana (final)

Not Great West of course, but another score of interest: Southern Illinois 27, Hampton 24, early in the fourth quarter.

Through two games, UND has no sacks, and has given up six. Not good. The lack of a pass rush today was very frustrating. Rushing for just 90 yards is also disappointing.

I can't help but wonder whether a team like New Hampshire, with legitimate playoff aspirations, would want to add another FBS game (they already play at Army), the week before a conference game, for what will probably be a fairly modest payday?

Thanks for the link. Obviously we have to take these things with a grain of salt, but it's interesting that Southern Illinois is the only 2008 opponent currently ranked ahead of UND.

Not that it's an either/or proposition, but I guess I'd prefer to take on a low-level FBS program this year, considering we have an experienced quarterback, an outstanding receiver and our two best offensive linemen who all won't be around next year, rather than playing a top-25 FBS team next year with a new quarterback, and little experience at receiver and the o-line.

Helling didn't pick on Klosterman. You can read the whole story here. To sum it up, Klosterman says Helling was i) arrogant; ii) a ball hog; and iii) too ultra-competitive. As a 15-year-old in 1985. Put him in jail and throw away the key!

Apparently the radio coaches' show will now be available via the internet: link

I'm pretty sure another one-time UND athlete, Rick Helling, feels the same way about Klosterman, considering how much mileage ol' Chuck has gotten out of ripping him in print: link

Game notes.