UND92,96

We'll have to see what becomes of the current group of South seniors, but other than Roehl, I don't think anybody from that West Fargo team has gone on to play college football at a level higher than perhaps the DAC (and I don't know if any are playing there). I think this South team is quite a bit better than any West Fargo teams since the days of Ross Brennan. The WF team when Ross Brennan and Caleb Johnson were seniors was very, very good, however.

I don't think it's worth arguing about, but how about this: Chris Beatty is a 6th-year senior, gained over a 1000 yards last year, and isn't getting any time this year. If Strouth is as hobbled as it appears he might be, what's wrong with letting Beatty play more? In the scheme of things, is Beatty any less of a "major piece of the puzzle" than is Strouth?

35 carries for 82 yards. I think it's important to keep in mind that UND still has Beatty, who was a 1000 yard rusher last year but has just three carries so far this year, and Brady, who was number one on the depth chart until a few days before the opener. Even though I like Strouth, I feel like if he's not 100% healthy, or if he's not producing at or near the level of his 2004 season, then Beatty and/or Brady should be getting more carries. I like the constrasting styles of Chappell with more of a power back, rather than two smaller, speedy backs sharing the carries.

I don't necessarily want to bury Strouth on the depth chart, but I really have to question whether he's healthy. Through four games, his per carry average is roughly half of his career average. I could dismiss it after a game or two, but we're now nearly halfway through the regular season. The line seems to be opening holes for Chappell, which would seem to suggest that perhaps the problem lies with Strouth having lost a step or two since his surgery?

I haven't seen any of the pickup games, but I hear that the captain's practices have been extremely intense and demanding. It sounds like the work ethic is very good. I'm looking for huge things out of Kimbrough this year. With teams having to collapse on her and Langen inside, it should provide for a ton of open looks by the perimeter players.

Press release for the UND-Augie game. Looking at the depth chart, I'm assuming it's just a matter of nobody bothering to update it since last week. Is it really possible that Strouth is still ahead of Chappell given the huge disparity between their numbers so far this year?

Besides Richard and Solum, do you know what other South players are being recruited by dII or above schools? Does UND have any chance of getting Solum?

In kind of an interesting coincidence, for the second week in a row UND plays a team who UNO ran for over 400 yards against the week before. Hopefully the same mistake won't be made this week by waiting until the second half to turn Chappell loose. I'd love to see a steady dose of Chappell/Beatty, with an occasional deep ball to Dressler to keep the defense somewhat honest. Belmore does generally throw a nice deep ball. Giving Dressler a few carries might not be a bad idea, either. Defensively, I would look for Augie to do much of what Western Washington did, as Flyger is a pretty good quarterback and they have a nice group of receivers.

I know Krusenstjerna and Cochran have both gotten scout player of the week honors.

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!