UND92,96

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.

I believe they have had rosters available for this scrimmage in the past.

D2football.com has UND at number 3 in their pre-season poll. link. Also, they have Dressler and Chappell on their pre-season all american team.

The Sioux will have a scrimmage in East Grand Forks at 5:30 on Thursday. link. It should be a good opportunity to see which of the true freshmen look like they may have a chance to contribute immediately.

Yeah, that December schedule is pretty bad. Fortunately, the women host a couple of interesting opponents that month in Glenville State (elite 8 team last year), and Montana State.

Based upon what I heard today, it sounds like the proposed game with East Stroudsburg is definitely not going to happen.

I haven't specifically heard anything in the past week or so, but you have to wonder about the logistics of potentially adding a game this late. I have to think season tickets will be mailed out very soon.

Per the Omaha World-Herald, UNO has picked up four transfers, including ex-West Fargo and NDSCS running back Brian McNeill.

I don't know what happened with Rambeck. I have to assume this wasn't expected since he was specifically mentioned in the 2007 football prospectus on fightingsioux.com. I think he had the ability to contribute so his apparent departure is unfortunate. I'm not aware of any receiver transfers other than the MSU-Mankato kid who sat out last year. At least, there aren't any listed on the new roster. It's kind of a shame when a 5th-year senior-to-be like White doesn't return for his last year since presumably this would have been the year he could have been a part of the regular rotation, but at least there's a lot of depth at defensive line.