UND92,96

McNeill and Miller have combined for just 59 rushing yards today!

It's now 17-7 UNO.

Here's the UND-GVSU box score. The rushing and rushing defense numbers are really ugly for the Sioux. And remember, GVSU was giving up more than 150 yards per game on the ground on average.

Well, I guess it IS the playoffs, and UNO is still coached by Pat "Regular Season" Behrns...

Here's a link for the "live stats" for the UNO-CWU game.

UNO is up just 14-7 early in the 4th.

Barring injuries to Miller or McNeill, or new injuries to the UNO o-line, I don't think it will be that close. UNO will control the clock and the game running the ball, and I don't think Iciek (sp?) is a good enough passer to really burn the UNO pass defense.

We need to go out and find some impact players for the front seven. We were neither effective stopping any decent running team this year, nor did we have much of a pass rush in most games. I am proud of the way the team battled back today, and the secondary played well I thought, but our front seven needs upgrading.

Maybe Murray can't play anymore due to injury, because that's the only possible reason I can think of as to why we seemed to completely abandon the running game in the second quarter. Running between the tackles seemed like the only way we were going to be able move the ball. I can't help but think this isn't really a case of the GVSU defense just being that good. Their defensive numbers are basically the same as ours.

I don't believe he is, at least at this point in his career. He didn't seem to hit the hole very hard last week IMO, despite decent numbers overall. Lennon spoke of options A, B and C this week, without naming them. Obviously Chappell and Murray are options A and B, but I still think Dressler would get a look before Battle. If we're going to give GVSU our best shot today, we need our best player to touch the ball as much as possible.

According to the UND media guide, Chappell was timed at 4.42, and Dressler 4.44. I suspect those are hand times rather than electronic times, but I don't really know exactly how they do their testing in the spring.

A win is a win I guess, but this is the same UMC team that lost by 46 to Augie, and who lost by 15 AT HOME against Valley City State.

Geez, don't get your panties in a bunch. Obviously I was referring to kids like Matt Veldman, Landon Smith and Matt Anderson, who many feel may have gone to UND had all else been equal in terms of scholarship money and post season eligibility. I never insinuated that UND was going to get everybody they want. It stands to reason to think UND may have a good chance at kids with a family history with UND, e.g. Veldman and Smith, or from towns close to GF who have sent a lot of players to UND over the years, e.g. Cavalier or Stephen-Argyle. Congratulations--that's one of the dumbest statements I've ever seen posted here.

Yes.

It sounds like Cal Poly WILL be on the schedule next year. Also, one of the Texas FCS schools will apparently be on the schedule, as well. Not sure which one.

This is unconfirmed, but according to posts on the ndpreps board, both UND and NDSU have offered scholarships to Seth Nichols.

Northwood, which finished 5-5, rushed for nearly 300 yards against GVSU a few weeks ago. Granted, they run a different kind of offense (wishbone, I think) but still, they actually exceeded their season rushing average against the Lakers. Whether it's Chappell or Dressler or whomever running the ball, it appears UND may have more luck running the ball than in the past few meetings between the teams.

This game had disaster written all over it considering UND was just coming off a rather difficult road trip this past weekend. Still, 0-3 is tough to stomach.

The list of finalists is down to seven. [url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=57893

I quickly checked their roster, and the only Big Ten transfer I could find at db was Samad Cain (Minnesota). I believe they do have a pretty experienced secondary, though.

Bakken blog.

Technically, Dressler has made first team all-NCC seven times. He made it as a return specialist for four years; a wide receiver for two years; and a "utility" player this year. I'd be very surprised if anybody has ever had that many all-conference honors in NCC football history.

Yes, but UND lost to Mesa State in non-conference play.

I will go out on a limb and say that if GVSU has to go to UNO this year, not only will they lose, but I don't believe it will be close. Whether or not that would have been the case if the game were in Grand Valley, I don't know, but the fact of the matter is that the game would have been there had UNO not gone unbeaten--something an NCC team hadn't done in quite some time. So long as an NCC team doesn't buck the odds and go unbeaten, a great team playing in a weak conference has a big advantage because they're practically guaranteed home field throughout the playoffs whether they're truly the best team or not. I respect what GVSU has done immensely, and I'm not trying to say that they haven't been the best team the past few years (although I don't believe they are this year). I'm simply saying that home field is huge, and going unbeaten in the GLIAC isn't that impressive to me personally.

It's a bigger issue than just UND. Before UNO this year, when was the last time an NCC team went through the regular season unbeaten? NDSU in 1990? I guess no NCC team deserved a number one seed between 1990 and 2007, huh? An undefeated record is all well and good, but pardon me if I'm not all that impressed with it if not a single ranked team was on the unbeaten team's schedule.