UND92,96

We definitely need to play better than today, but UNO needs to do something on the road before they convince me they're back. They've had just three road games this year, and in two of them they've absolutely laid an egg. I think they've got the worst secondary in the league. Hopefully being at home will rejuvenate our passing game, because that's probably where we need to really make them pay.

You're probably right. Notwithstanding our shaky offensive performance today, I think we're substantially better than UNO this year, particularly considering all their offensive injuries. I'm really glad this one is at home though, since we never seem to play well in Omaha.

UNO wins today in a must-win situation to keep their playoff hopes alive and to set up a huge matchup next week at the Alerus. If UND can pull it out, I believe it would assure us of no worse than a 2 seed. Needless to say, the Sioux will need to play considerably better than today, but I like our chances in the friendly confines of the Al.

You're right. I hate all these Minnesota schools changing their names, e.g. Southwest State becoming Southwest Minnesota State, and of course Moorhead State becoming Minnesota State-Moorhead.

The MSU defense is pretty good, but geez, even UMD was able to run on these guys! And USD ran for over 300 against them.

Again, please run the ball!

Now please, let's run the ball!

A backup fullback for MSU returns kick for td. The biggest, and only UND special teams shortcoming rears its ugly head again. What is the deal with our kick coverage this year?

The offense seems to have reverted back to its 2004 form, where it struggled so badly to score points on the road. I think Manke needs to get a shot in the 4th quarter to try jumpstart things.

Although I like Beck and think she's going to be a good player, I think she was forced into playing as a true freshman due to Guinn's injury. This year, with the return of Jahner and hopefully Maffin at the wings, plus the additions of Guinn and Bagaason, I think Beck might be well-served taking the red-shirt she ideally would have had last year. Maybe Roebuck feels that her defense is needed too much this year for that to happen, and that's fine, but I just hate to see anybody needlessly use a year of eligibility if they're only going to be the 5th or 6th player off the bench. I think Bagaason's outside shooting is going to be too important for her to red-shirt since most teams are going to have to play zone against UND. I would tend to agree about Ledger being a red-shirt candidate as well due to the fact that there seems to be excellent interior depth even without her (Langen, Kimbrough, Sannes and, if necessary, Boese), but I also think she's probably physically ready to play and play well right now.

Weather forecast for Mankato tomorrow sounds like pretty good football weather:

If Maffin can play this year, I wonder if that would mean that somebody may red-shirt, specifically Beck? I can't really see an 11-person rotation (Langen, Boese, Kimbrough, Maffin, Jahner, Mahlum, Guinn, Sannes, Bagaason, Ledger and Beck). I think Beck would have red-shirted last year had the depth been a little better.

Hopefully no news is good news, as this Herald article on the start of the men's and women's basketball seasons specifically mentions Koenig's knee injuries, but doesn't mention anything about any women's player injuries--not even Maffin.

I think Augie and UNO are the only two NCC schools who actually do use the Fighting Sioux name in their releases. SCSU, UMD and MSU-M don't, and I'm almost positive that USD doesn't, either.

Mankato has apparently played pretty well at times this year, but it's also hard to ignore that they've lost to Bemidji State and Concordia-St. Paul, and they somehow managed to give up 166 yards rushing to Duluth, which seems impossible to believe given how anemic the Bulldog ground game is. USD rushed for over 300 yards against them. I hope Beatty is ready for another game of over 30 carries, because I think he'll be a workhorse again. They do have some quick defensive linemen who are pretty good pass rushers, so given our relative difficulties with pass protection of late, I suspect the running game will take center stage on Saturday.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the link I posted earlier, but after awhile, it seems to change from a link to the UND page to a link to the NDSU page. I've changed it twice already, and it has eventually changed back to the NDSU page each time. So I guess instead of changing it again, I'll just give a heads-up that this is an ongoing problem. Sorry for any confusion this has caused. EDIT: The link seems to be working again now, but don't be surprised if it isn't later in the day.

I just looked at the reported gross revenue of $10,021,643 compared to the reported gross expenses of $9,958,728. It's on the yellow highlighted portion of the linked page.

Here's the new information for the fiscal year ending in June of 2005: link. I'm not quite sure what to make of this since the minutes from the May IAC meeting indicated there was an expected budget shortfall of over $250,000 for fiscal year 2005. Maybe more money than expected came from REA?

Central Washington would have to get into the top 6 to get in. The GNAC doesn't quality as a conference for earned access purposes.

Next week's poll should really be interesting considering 3 of the top 5 teams lost today. UND will almost certainly remain 1, and Grand Valley will move to 2, but after those two it's anyone's guess.

With today's 4 of 4 performance, Glas has now hit 22 of 26 field goal attempts on the year. The kicker with the second-most field goals in the NCC has 7. What an amazing season Jeff is having.

This win gives UND three road wins over teams with a .700 or better winning percentage, which give the highest strength of schedule point total possible. I doubt any other dII team in the country can make a similar claim. Now we just need UMD and Central Washington to finish with no more than three losses. I'm pretty sure Winona State won't lose more than one more, so that one seems safe. That fact that West Chester keeps winning is also a nice bonus.