UND92,96

I always thought that UND coaches were typically on one-year contracts, with Lennon's extension last year being the exception? Anyone know for sure?

It looks like Augie can be run upon, and that UNO seems to have righted the ship the past two weeks, especially offensively. link.

Western Washington has some talent, but they lost to Humboldt State (who is by no means an NCC-caliber team), and got hammered AT HOME last week by UNO. I would have far less of a problem with today's game had it been on the road. At home, the fact that Western Washington was in a position to win the game in the final minute is a big concern to me.

I would agree that they are clearly better than last year, but to struggle against them as UND did is a concern, because improved or not, they're still going to finish at or near the bottom of the conference. Traditionally, that's not the type of team that should hang with UND until the last minute in the Alerus. I think the defense will get itself straightened out in short order, but the offense without Manke is a concern. I can almost guarantee that teams are going to sell out to stop the run, and dare Belmore to beat them throwing the ball. Given the way that he's played since his troubles really began in the MSU-Mankato game last year, that makes me very nervous.

Is Strouth healthy? On the season, he has 35 carries for just 82 yards. By way of comparison, Chappell has 35 carries for 261 yards.

Honestly, I don't think any team in ND this year has a realistic chance to beat them, barring a slew of injuries to key FS players. I believe Bismarck High is clearly the second-best team in the state, but if they couldn't come within 21 points on their home field, it's difficult to believe they'll fare much better at the Alerus, should they reach the championship.

Definitely offensive lineman Austin Richard. I'd be surprised if any others go I-A.

South has scored at least 40 points in every game, and their closest game was 42-21, on the road against probably the second-best team in the state (Bismarck High). I don't think they'll be seriously challenged the rest of the year, or in the playoffs.

If I'm not mistaken, the rule is that you have 10 semesters to complete your eligibility. In Mustard's case, he played four years of basketball (never red-shirted), so he still had two semesters of eligibility for another sport. He played football in the fall of 2000, presumably wasn't in school the spring semester, and then played again in 2001. At least, I think that's how it worked. Another weird case is current USD football Desmond Allison, who played basketball at Kentucky for a couple of years in the late 90's. He was kicked off the team in 2000, and then I believe attended an NAIA school for basketball for a year. Somehow, 4-5 years later, he ended up at USD, where he played football last fall. Almost unbelievably, he is playing again this year. It's obviously very rare that you see somebody stretch out their 10 semesters of eligibility over 8 years!

I assume only those very close to the volleyball program can answer this, and evidently none of them are regulars on this board.

Stecher evidently quit. His name was removed from the roster a week or two ago.

Herald [url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=10620

Here is the response to my e-mail:

I've been wondering about this for some time. I e-mailed Charlie Jeske to ask what the true football capacity is, why it was apparently changed this year, and how confident he is the accuracy of the attendance figure for yesterday's game. If he responds, I'll let you know.

I guess what I'm having some trouble understanding is, if the fact that UND wouldn't be a dI counter in 2008 is such a big deal, does that mean that Cal-Poly and Southern Utah were just that desperate for games in 2004 that they agreed to form a conference with two schools who were in the exact same situation that year as UND will be in 2008? Why didn't they request that the formation of the conference be delayed until 2005 so that NDSU and SDSU would be dI counters?

I'm not complaining about the playcalling per se. I love to see Mussman be aggressive with the playcalling, which he generally has been this year. I just thought the lack of running yesterday was surprising because: 1. We saw last week against a team physically superior to Winona that UND can run the ball very effectively; 2. UND ran for over 200 yards last year at Winona; 3. When you get a big early lead, you would kind of expect to start pounding the ball at what should be an overmatched defense to keep the clock moving; 4. After Chappell's monster game vs. UNI, I thought he would get more than two offensive touches; 5. It seems bizarre that the leading rusher among running backs had four carries, which was the same as Manke and Belmore!

I look for much bigger rushing numbers next week. UNO rushed for 414 yards against Western Washington today! And the UNO offensive line isn't particularly good after having been decimated by injuries and other defections.

I'd have to see a tape of the game to comment on the line's play today, but I do know they played exceptionally well vs. UNI. It must have been the game plan today to focus on the pass, because UND really never tried to just pound the ball down Winona's throat like I thought they would. I'm also not convinced that using 3-4 backs is the ideal situation. The depth at running back is very good, but I feel like they should pick a guy, and go with him. My personal pick would be Chappell because of his big-play ability, but I would have no problems with Strouth, Beatty or Brady, either.

Great game by the Sioux today. On the negative side, I was a bit surprised that UND didn't run the ball all that often, or that well. I thought Chappell would get a lot more than two carries today. At least his punt return was electric. I love how Manke is playing, and the Dressler-Trenbeath duo. So long as Manke and Dressler in particular stay healthy, I think the offense is going to score some serious points this year. And I think the record for sacks in a season is in serious jeopardy.

Again, I ask, isn't it LIKELY that UND and NDSU will play in 2008 due to the fact that both will LIKELY be in the Great West? If the Great West wants to survive and eventually become an autobid conference, it needs more members, doesn't it?

I've just heard rumors that Amundson and Roebuck don't see eye to eye. When you consider all the good players that have gone through Mandan, that only one has ever come to UND (Mary Perrizo), and that was only after transferring from NDSU, it appears there's fire to go along with the smoke. Exactly what their issues are, I don't know.

I wish Ms. Kielpinski well at New Mexico. In terms of being disappointed she's not coming to UND, I'm really not, because I never thought there was any real chance she would. As long as Amundson is coaching, I don't expect that any Mandan players will sign with UND.

A 2-for-1 isn't going to happen. Also, I'm not sure how you figure UND "owes" NDSU a game. Because UND hosted the last one in 2003? That's why the first game in what presumably would be a home-and-home will be in Fargo. EDIT: Actually, it just occurred to me, isn't this game likely to happen in 2008 (regardless of whatever negotiations are ongoing) due to the strong possibility of UND joining the Great West starting in 2008?

Yes.

[url="http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=10077