UND92,96

Pretty pathetic defensive performance. It's not like they're doing anything surprising.

Why even rush the punter? Stupid! Too risky.

Yes, but you'd think it was far tougher to stop Logan. Apples and oranges maybe, but it's not like we've never faced a running quarterback before.

If you go to the scoreboard at d2football.com, they have a link.

Agreed. It can't be easy to mold this many new players into a team, especially since even the returnees had to learn a new system. Nice job so far by Jones and staff.

Unfortunately, it appears that this year's team has some major issues defensively. I couldn't figure out what they were trying to do tonight, but whatever it was, it clearly wasn't working. Lewis didn't have a ton of talent by any means, but they had open looks nearly every possession. On the bright side, Langen was back to her old self offensively, and Beck had another excellent game.

What remains to be seen is whether anyone can step forward to be the go-to player. It probably won't work for that player to be Langen, because it's too easy to double and triple team a post player. Over the past decade, it seems like there's always been either a guard or an inside-outside player who could create her own shot--the Pudenz's, Richards, Arndtson, Moen, LeCuyer, Leighton and Boese. Who can step up to fill that role? The most likely candidate is probably Maffin, if she can regain her form from the Disney tournament. Thoughts?

Bruce Veldman from Becker (MN) is someone to watch as a potential recruit.

Actually, I'm 99% positive McNeil and Chappell were both 2005 grads. I specifically remember both playing in the shrine and mon-dak bowls, and McNeil played corner because Chappell was the primary running back. I just assumed he would end up playing defense in college, so it really surprised me when I heard recently that not only was he playing running back, but that he was potentially going to get a scholarship to a I-A school.

It's kind of interesting that Brian McNeil, who played at West Fargo a couple of years ago and is just finishing up his second year at NDSCS, is getting a lot of attention as a potential I-A running back recruit. He was nowhere near Chappell's level in high school (both were 2005 grads) in terms of either speed or production. It kind of makes me wonder who'd be recruiting Chappell now had he gone the juco route?

Is there any chance UND could put together a webcast on this short of notice? I have no idea how difficult that is, but presumably it's far easier, cheaper and less labor intensive than putting together a tv broadcast.

That's what I heard.

I think you know that the reason people are upset is because on the surface, this doesn't appear to be any different from 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2005--all seasons in which road playoff games were televised. I assume the athletic department would pick up at least most of the tab for advertising if that were the difference between it being on tv or not. If there's more to the story this year, fine. Sweeney can let us know that. I just don't think it's realistic to expect people to just accept the fact that it's not going to be televised without being somewhat skeptical as to the reasons.

I agree. If this is a matter of making a choice, you're going to tick off a lot more people by failing to televise the football game than you would by failing to televise ONE home hockey game or series.

That's why I asked what their excuse is. Between not televising the UNI game (like WDAY did in 2003 when NDSU played @ Montana), and apparently not televising a road playoff game for the first time in memory, something doesn't seem to add up when it comes to WDAZ and UND football. Sweeney needs to explain the situation tonight if he expects to be cut any slack by the viewers on this one.

I understand that it may not be feasible for UND to completely drop WDAZ, but I'd like to think there would be some ramification to DAZ breaking the precedent set years ago that road playoff football games are televised, period.

So has anybody heard of what WDAZ's excuse is? I guarantee that if it was NDSU in the playoffs, whether dII or I-AA, WDAY/Forum Communications would have it on. To the extent it's possible to find a new station to partner with for the FSSN, I think it's time to explore that possibility.

I'm pretty sure the Nebraska-Colorado game is on Friday.

Did they give a reason?

If WDAZ doesn't do everything within their power to get this on tv, it's going to be a huge public relations black eye for them. I know KVLY attempted to get the UC-Davis game back in 2001. I don't know whether they'd ever be willing to travel to Omaha, but I suspect there's a chance if DAZ drops the ball.

According to the Kolpack/Hallstrom blog, both UND and NDSU are recruiting Bismarck linebacker Luke Senger, but UND is offering more scholarship money. Be sure to read the "comments". Somebody rips our ol' buddy Jerome Hattlewick a new one. Funny stuff!

I agree that there were some real positives to be taken from last night's game. I can't help but think what UND could be if the team was actually healthy--Koenig, Bledsoe, Gutter, Dryburgh and Harkins all being either out or coming off a serious injury. The team is definitely more fun to watch than it's been in awhile, and some of the new guys are very talented.

O.K., now I'm worried!

Just to clarify, the walkon I was referring to Holthuson (sp?). She played the final eight minutes of the game. No matter how poorly Langen played in the first half, I would still prefer to have her in the game at crunch time over somebody who has seldom ever played, UNLESS the decision was made that it was more important to teach a lesson rather than win a game. Hence, my comment about how I don't believe Gene necessarily was going all-out to win that game. As for the zone issue, I stand by that opinion. A zone has a place in basketball, although there are still a few oldschool coaches who flat-out refuse to play one. Another prime example of when it was needed was the regional loss to Concordia-St. Paul two years ago. When you're getting killed on penetration and one-on-one play, a zone can limit that.

I didn't even recognize the UND team I saw last night. It was absolutely brutal to watch. I thought Beck and Bergan played well, but most of the rest of the team was terrible. And I honestly don't think Gene was all that interested in winning after the first half performance. I'm not sure how else one would explain why his best player sat the entire second half, while a walk-on played eight minutes in the second half of a close game? I've said it before and I'll say it again, Gene is a great coach, but it would be nice if he'd be willing to actually play zone once in awhile when the situation calls for it. UND was absolutely killed on backdoor plays last night. I think a zone would have stopped a lot of those easy baskets. It's just frustrating that every team UND plays will play zone against the Sioux--and it works when the outside shots aren't falling--but Gene refuses to play anything but man, even when the matchups are a problem.