UND92,96

I'm sorry to inform everybody that apparently, nobody cares that UND beat UNI. It must be true, since I read it here: link.

I'm just a bit disappointed in the fact that WDAZ/FSSN simply doesn't televise road football games, except for the playoffs. Last year, for example, it would have been very nice to have the USD game on. Two years ago, the game at SCSU should have been on given the fact that it's close, it was sold-out, it didn't conflict with a hockey broadcast, and it was kind of a rivalry game. If UNI wanted too much money for televising, I can't really blame WDAZ/FSSN, but I would find it far easier to give them the benefit of the doubt if they'd be a bit more aggressive in pursuing at least one road game per year for TV.

Jeff Kolpack weighs in on the Sioux win. link. Does anyone know for certain whether WDAZ seriously considered televising?

Winona's offense hasn't been explosive so far this year. They're averaging about 250 yards and 22 points per game. They don't seem to have the playmakers they've had in the past, and that's coming from posts by Winona fans on the d2football.com board. Their defense seems to be playing pretty well, though.

I would say NO. Maybe the mid-80's with Willis Jacox and Tracy Martin, but those teams weren't good, and I'm pretty sure Chappell is considerably faster than Jacox was. I think the speed of Chappell and Phillip Moore is comparable, but I don't ever recall Phillip ever playing with a receiver with Dressler's speed.

I've followed Ryan Chappell's football career since his sophomore year at Central, and although his ability is quite apparent to anyone who's seen him play, I honestly didn't think he'd see the field much this year except for on returns. Hopefully today was just a hint of what's to come. His speed out of the backfield could be such a big weapon.

I would certainly like to think the Al will be full next week. Potato Bowl usually almost guarantees 10,000, and the excitement and publicity of today's win, plus a pretty decent opponent, should be good for another 2000 or so.

In another dII vs. ranked I-AA matchup today, Chadron St. from the RMAC is up 14-0 on Montana State. I can't imagine that will last given how weak the RMAC typically is, but it's kind of interesting nevertheless.

According to a post on a different message board, Dryburgh is no longer with the team. Can anyone confirm or deny? He's listed on the roster that was posted this past week.

UNI kick returner/receiver Terrell Allen is getting a lot of ink in the Herald, but from what I've been able to gather, while he is a dangerous return man, he's not exactly a polished receiver. That's why he's not at Pitt anymore. He sounds similar to Richard Lewis from NDSU a few years back. And the USC transfer running back is not even a starter, and didn't put up particularly impressive numbers vs. Drake. I have a feeling the speed issue isn't going to be quite as significant as some people believe.

I don't think he played vs. CWU, and he's now listed as Kusler's backup at guard. I thought I read somewhere that he has a back problem, but I'm not sure.

The new men's basketball roster has been posted. It looks like Leikas and Seckar-Anderson are no longer on the team.

Per an A.P. article in the Fargo Forum today, UND suffered no new significant injuries in the CWU game. I noticed on the depth chart listed on this week's football press release that Chappell is listed at the number two running back, which may suggest that Brady and/or Beatty is injured. Or maybe Chappell has just been that impressive--I'm not sure.

He was listed as the nickel back/backup free safety. But I think he plays pretty much the whole game vs. passing teams like this.

Manke, Dressler, Troen, Trenbeath, etc.--you gotta love the recruiting class of 2004!

I never doubted him for a minute!

Which brings up the question again that I've had for years--is it a matter of Mussman doing what Lennon wants him to do with regard to playcalling, or is it mostly a Mussman decision to be so predictable? I don't know.

After reading many articles this week about the game today, it really reminds me of the buildup for last year's Winona State game. Winona looked at last year's game as arguably their biggest home game ever, and were very optimistic due to the close game they had played in GF the year before. CWU is really building this one up due to it being their first-ever NCC game, and are very optimistic due to their 8-2 record last year and their return of a lot of starters (although just six on offense). I just hope the results are similar to the Winona game. There can be a danger in being too "up" for a game, and hopefully that happens today with CWU.

Excerpt from the Herald today regarding the offensive line: I guess I don't understand why Kusler is supposedly slated to start at guard, given that Taylor Murray was listed as the starter in the press release earlier this week, and isn't mentioned as being injured in the article?

I believe the guy who created that poll (tdutch) got the idea for that choice from the same WDAZ story I saw. Outside of the people in the program, I'm not sure anybody really knows exactly what the injury situation is. Wayne Nelson hasn't written anything about it. I suppose it could be worse. At least Kusler has a whole year of experience starting at guard. UNO's so thin on the line that a guy who entered camp as a backup tight end and who has never played on the line is now their starting center!

Mid-Con has announced the addition of IPFW. link. Supposedly they'll decide the fate of the SU's within a couple of days. It seems a little odd that they wouldn't have announced their decision one way or the other with regard to the SU's the same day as the IPFW announcement.

It's hard to compare the programs due to the doubleheaders or lack thereof, the differing schedules, and the vastly different seating capacities of the Betty vs. the BSA. However, IMO UND holds the advantage in women's basketball at present, while NDSU holds the advantage on the men's side. I believe historically it's probably the opposite, however.

According the WDAZ sports last night, it sounds like the offensive line is having some injury problems. Again. No names were mentioned, but Kusler has apparently moved back to guard, so I assume either Murray or Troen, or both, is injured.

Thanks, Jim. I'm now pretty excited about Youmans' potential. I would, however, be interested to know why he didn't end up at Mercer?

Actually, they didn't beat Omaha--they lost 28-21, and UNO was without Day and Denney in that game. They did beat a pretty good Washburn team in Ellensburg (44-41, I think), but that was their lone win which I would consider to be high quality. Their other wins were over Montana-Western, and two each over Western Washington (who we all saw was terrible last year), Western Oregon and Humboldt State. CWU's defense isn't very good, and they have no running game, but they will throw the ball well. However, as UND showed in the two games vs. UMD last year, that's not necessarily a recipe for success against the Sioux. I predict Reilly will throw for a lot of yards with short passes, but it won't result in more than 20 points. Barring a bunch of turnovers, I have confidence that the Manke-led offense, with some help from a defensive/special teams score, will score more than that.