UND92,96

Hey, when did CWU change their nickname? I just heard a radio ad promoting the game against the Central Washington "Huskies."

Per the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, USD coach Chad Lavin will be retiring at the end of this season. He's only 52, but apparently wasn't thrilled about all the extra travel the move to dI will necessitate.

Coach Lennon mentioned on the coaches' show last night that it was possible that all the injured players (presumably Wayne, Dombrovski and Meek) could be back for the CWU game.

In a somewhat similar matchup to the UND-SUU game, Chadron State, ranked 6th in dII, is beating Northern Colorado 28-0 at the half in Greeley. Chadron is the same team that beat Montana State last year.

The new roster has been posted at fightingioux.com, and the one notable absence is Harry Boyce. Was his departure expected?

Bakken picks the Sioux to lose. IMO, just as giving too much credit for a 59-0 win over a weak opponent would be a mistake, so too would thinking that a team must be pretty good because they "only" lost by 20 at Montana in the first game of the season. True, maybe SUU is pretty decent, but it's too early to make that call, yet. As far a I know, there's not much recent history to suggest that a top five dII program should lose at a (probably) average scholarship I-FCS team.

He mentioned that Eric Schmidt was doing a good job contacting prospective opponents, but I didn't get a sense of exactly how much freedom the coaches have to actually choose opponents/dates.

Only the four Great West teams (USD, SUU, UCD and Cal Poly).

A couple things from the coaches' show tonight: * UND and West Texas A & M were very close to an agreement to play a game in Grand Forks, which would have been this past weekend. Instead, USD swooped in at the last minute and agreed to play at WTAMU, in exchange for a return trip to Vermillion next year, even though USD had to bus all the way to Texas. I'm sure Meierkort and company are now regretting that decision. *scheduling for next year is going well. There are nine games so far that are either confirmed or close to it, and Lennon is optimistic that there will be a 12-game schedule with six home and six on the road.

True. I just have a lot of faith in the UND offense to outscore most teams if there's a shootout. True again. However, it almost seems there are more problems against "lesser" opponents such as Augie or SCSU, rather than UNO (two pretty good performances) or Northern Iowa. That could be a problem. UND rarely seemed to play well in Greeley, either, although generally UNC was pretty good whenever the Sioux lost there. On the bright side, depth on offense is good, particularly with the offensive line depth being as good as it's been in many years. We may see more rotating than normal.

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With all the examples of dII's beating FCS/I-AA's in recent years, it's hard for me not to believe a top-5 dII team like UND shouldn't handle an unranked FCS team. If Freund's play in any way resembles the way it was against Humboldt, I see the Sioux winning quite handily. If he struggles, it could be a nailbiter.

Nobody honestly thinks UND has a guaranteed win in Vermillion. It was just a tongue-in-cheek comment. It is rather amazing how predictable USD has been the past three-plus seasons, though. The pass defense always seems to be terrible, at least on the road, regardless of whether it's a spread offense or not. Didn't option team Northwood even throw the ball all over the field against the Yotes in the playoffs? On the road, against a quality opponent, USD still has a major monkey on its back. Not to the same extent as UNO's playoff ineptitude, but it's still a huge problem.

Certainly Winona's team last year was significantly better than UND's. Probably, this year will be the same, although UND should be much-improved.

Bakken blog on Sioux football.

Some very complimentary words about UND from a Humboldt State fan on the d2football.com board:

We could also conceivably have an all-North Dakota lineup at the offensive skill positions for the first time in many, many years, with Landry, Chappell, Sorbo, Dressler, Trenbeath and Ott.

I'm sorry I even brought up that stupid Valley Dairy "promotion," which may or may not have even been in effect for the first game, but let's say for the sake of argument that it was. Since one ticket goes for about $21.00, a 2-for-1 hardly results in anybody getting in for "free." I'd be willing to venture that $10.00 or $11.00 will get you at least a nosebleed general admission ticket to virtually any other dII venue in the country, and probably most FCS ones, too.

I think it's safe to say that this promotion didn't really have much of an impact since there was no marketing whatsoever. I only saw a poster in a Valley Dairy store, but didn't bother to read the details because it didn't impact me as a season ticketholder. From what I could gather, it involved purchasing some particular item (Coke Zero or something), and getting a voucher which could be redeemed at the Al for a 2-for-1. For all I know, it wasn't even in effect yet. In any event, even if it was, with no marketing, it's highly unlikely to have drawn in many people.

Meek's backup, Ryan Kasowski, was the victim of a cheap shot late in the second half and also had to leave the game. Hopefully his injury wasn't severe or else that position could be quite thin. I also noticed that starting outside linebacker Noah Dombrovski didn't play last night.

I think that's a smart move, particularly given the fact that Brady has been a bit injury-plagued throughout his brief UND career. Dungy is available as well, but he's probably just too small to be more than a situational back.

No true freshmen were listed on the 2-deep depth chart published in Sunday's Herald. It will be interesting to see whether a different depth chart is included in the press release for the Humboldt St. game that will likely be posted on fightingsioux.com later today. In terms of red-shirt freshmen, Jake Landry (quarterback), Creighton Schroyer (guard) and Joel Schwenzfeier (strong safety) are currently listed as being second on the depth chart.

It looks like my number 3 suggestion is being addressed somewhat. I heard a radio commercial this morning that said that on any Tuesday preceding a home game this season, you can purchase a UND football ticket for $10. Also, I believe Valley Dairy is running some sort of promotion for a 2-for-1 deal, although I don't know the details on that.

Not to rag on the Herald too much, but it seems that Kolpack/Hallstrom update their blogs nearly daily with NDSU football reports. Brian MacPherson does the same for St. Cloud State. Thus far, there hasn't been a single blog entry by the Herald staff on Sioux football. If Schlossman can continue to faithfully update his hockey blog regularly during the off-season, is it too much to expect an occasional football update now that the season has started? An example would be an entry on the scrimmage last night, with comments from players and coaches. Or which freshmen are being considered to have their red-shirts lifted. Or what injuries have been suffered so far in camp (if not naming individual players, at least positions). There doesn't seem to be any shortage of potential topics. EDIT: Ironically enough, Kevin Fee had a new blog entry within minutes of my post...on local players at NDSU.

You have to be impressed with the athleticism Jones and staff have brought in the past year, although I have to admit I thought for sure one more big guy would be added before the season. There certainly looks to be a lot of talent on the perimeter, though.