UND92,96

There was a short feature in the Herald today recapping the season, and identifying some key newcomers for next year. Listed as newcomers to watch are offensive linemen Brett Bauer (not really a newcomer since he was a backup this year) and Brian Troen; receivers Rick Presthus, Alex Nicholas, Jake Caufield and transfer Martin Tatom; running back Mike Rohde; quarterback Danny Freund; linebackers Matt Bodoh and Brett Holinka; and defensive backs Rory Manke, Drake Otto and transfer Anthony Longe. I should clarify that in my original post in this thread, when I mentioned receivers and I said "Franklin," I actually meant Nicholas. To the extent this list is accurate, UND did very well recruiting in Wisconsin last year as Troen, Nicholas, Rohde, Freund, Bodoh and Otto are all from that state.

It's on the east side of South Washington in a little strip mall, just south of Campbell Drive. This is an example of a true "mom and pop" business. It's run by a couple from NYC whose son is stationed at the GFAFB. WDAZ did a feature on the restaurant shortly after it opened, and I think business kind of exploded from there.

UND handles a team they should beat on the road (Moorhead), so hopefully that's a good sign. I didn't get a chance to listen to much of the game--what was the deal with Nobles? I see he only played 15 minutes and didn't score.

Have you heard anything about any of the red-shirts that would suggest that they'll be able to contribute next season? I heard a lot of good things about Presthus last year, but he was either injured this year or just not ready to play since he never saw the field. I would echo the sentiment that it would be really nice to get a Lueck (or Jeff McElroy) type transfer.

I hope he stays for many years, but UND will be fine when Dale Lennon eventually does leave. As an example of a possible potential successor, I think this guy has the makings of an outstanding head coach in a few years.

Yes, that's all I was saying. I'd call them respectable in the same sense that Augie usually is. It was never easy to win in Brookings, and it's very rarely easy to win in Sioux Falls. But obviously SDSU has far more resources than does Augie, or some other NCC schools, which makes it all the more puzzling how they managed to go roughly 40 years without an NCC title, and 24 years without a playoff appearance. Being an alum, you probably know far more about SDSU than most of us. Any theories? Has their administration just historically placed a lower importance on football than some other similarly situated schools?

The biggest thing for the northwest region next season is that it will be matched up with by far the weakest region--the northest--in the semi finals. That obviously means that the northwest won't have to travel to Pitt St. or a southeast region team and will play them on a neutral field in Florence (unless North Alabama is in it, of course).

Kimbrough's latest game: BADGER-G-MR 65, KITTSON CO. NORTH 29 KCN 0 7 16 6 29 BGMR 14 20 15 16 65 Kittson Co. North - Ashley Nordin 2, Ashley Matthew 4, Chelsi Nelson 13, Brandi Sele 2, Whitney Coffield 6, Lacey Swenson 2 Badger-Greenbush-MR - Katie Hamness 2, Missy Bruggeman 11, Kayla Agre 1, Lynsey Roppe 6, Kierah Kimbrough 37, Kaley Mekash 8 I believe she's been over 30 points in each game thus far.

Isn't it more or less a foregone conclusion that you have to win the Big Sky tournament to get an NCAA basketball tournament bid? It may have happened in the past, but I honestly don't recall the BSC ever getting an at-large bid. With that in mind, does the RPI really mean all that much in a conference like the Big Sky?

I have been extremely impressed with the play of Ashley Langen. To provide a little perspective, she currently has 152 points (15.2 ppg). Last year's starting center, Cara Demaine, scored 142 points the entire season. I'm not trying to bash Demaine because she was an excellent defender and passer, but Langen has been the kind of dominating low-block scorer that UND hasn't had in awhile, and for the most part she's held her own defensively.

Greenwood had kind of a tough game. He was also the player whom that punt may or may not have touched in the first quarter.

Was that call on Brandsted or Greenwood? I had thought it was Greenwood.

This was UND's second possession of the third quarter. UND drove all the way down the field on its first possession of the second half, but settled for a field goal. Pitt St. then went 3-and-out on its first possession of the second half. On its second possession of the half, UND was driving and had a lot of momentum. There was about 5 and half minutes left in the 3rd quarter when UND punted on 4-and-1 from the Pitt St. 41 yard line. The score was 14-13 at that time.

My recollection is that coming out of high school, Phillip was about 6'0" and around 170 pounds, at most. I don't recall for certain but I don't think he ever got much above 180 during his five years at UND.

I agree, but I really think Dressler could be the guy. His speed, shiftiness and high school rushing numbers (2100 yards and 40 td's as a sr.), not to mention his punt return success this year, can't be ignored. His size is nearly identical to Logan, so I'm not sure that would be as huge of a drawback as originally thought when he was recruited. As a true freshman, and with a reliable senior in Adam Roland, his playing much running back this year wasn't in the cards. But I really think he could be a much bigger offensive weapon next season if given a chance. He's far more of a running back than a receiver in my opinion. Many of us have been looking for a big-play back for several years now, and clearly based on athletic ability, Dressler fits that mold. I wouldn't want him to carry the ball 25 times a game, but I think he could handle 15 or so.

I just saw the replay on the Lennon show, and although the angle wasn't the best, it certainly looked like a highly questionable call. It did not appear that DeSautel (the player on whom the penalty was called) landed on anybody at all.

Thank god for this rule. Prior to this year, the number of players seriously injured on field goal and extra point attempts due to being landed on by a leaping defender was just out of control. My next suggestion would be to ban leaping by receivers and defenders on high passes.

I noticed tonight that Sannes went through pre-game warm-ups and didn't exhibit any apparent problems. I would think she must be close to being able to play in games, or else there would be no point in suiting her up and having her go through warm-ups. I think she'd be able to provide more offensive ability than some of the other interior bench players can.

I agree that the better team won, but any talk of this Pitt St. team being one of the all-time best in dII should be put to rest, IMO. Let's not forget that this UND offense was statistically one of the least effective in many, many years, and UND still racked up very nearly as many yards as Pitt St. did yesterday. In order to be the greatest of all-time, I think you need to be exceptional on both sides of the ball, and I'd have a hard time calling Pitt St.'s defense or special teams exceptional. UND did about as well as possible this year considering the lack of offensive output throughout most of the season and the playoffs. Making it all the way to the semi-finals in a season in which we didn't win the NCC is a nice accomplishment. It's the odd-numbered years that UND typically does its best, so this season was kind of a nice bonus.

UND should return a very good nucleus next season. Here's a brief position-by-position break-down: quarterback: Chris Bellmore was obviously erratic at times, but he did greatly improve as the season went on. He runs very well and throws a nice deep ball. He definitely has to improve his accuracy on the screens and some of the shorter passes, and make better decisions (how many times did he hit a defender in the numbers only to have a sure int dropped?) He should be pushed hard by Reid Manke and freshman Danny Freund. Depth should be a strength. running back: Adam Roland and David Wisthoff both had very good careers, and will have to be replaced. Brandon Strouth showed flashes of brilliance, and has excellent speed. Whether he can physically withstand the pounding of an every-down back remains to be seen. He could be pushed by Chris Beatty, Demetrius Charles, Weston Dressler, Mike Rhode, and possibly a transfer. At fullback, Trent Christensen would appear to be the heir apparent as he's the only fullback besides Wisthoff to see any significant action this year. offensive line: Barry Smith and Andy Hendrickson will be lost, but a lot of experience will return. NCC most valuable o-lineman Chris Kuper will anchor the line again, and Andy Hoffelt, Mitch Braegelmann and Matt Buisker all return will starting experience. Andy Soll and Brett Bauer, among others, should be in the mix. My early guess would be for Braegelmann to move from guard to center, with Kuper and Soll at guard, and Hoffelt and Buisker at tackle. receivers/tight end: Go-to receiver Caleb Johnson will be greatly missed after an excellent career, and Jeff Weber also departs. Dan Grossman had a bit of a propensity for dropping passes, but showed signs of being capable of being the number-one option. There's a lot of young talent that must step-up here. Dressler, Groeschl, Loegering, Van Dyke, Presthus, Hegg, Caufield, Franklin, Trenbeath and possibly one or more transfers could all be in the mix. This may be the biggest question mark coming into spring ball. At tight end, Kussler and Mielke both return, along with Troy Ott and Drew Thomas so there's a lot of depth there. special teams: Both Jeff Glas and Brent Halfmann return after all-conference seasons. Weston Dressler is a huge weapon as a returner, and possibly look for transfer Anthony Longe to be a factor here. defensive line: Troy Newhouse is the biggest loss. All-conference players Shane Duchscher and Jason Peterson will anchor, with Adam Wolff, Ross Brennan, Jared Enger and Alex Cadwell all returning with considerable experience. linebacker: Tony Hermes and Jake Nordick are the primary losses here. All-conference Digger Anderson leads a large group of returnees. Former all-conference Tyler Dahlen, Brook Maier, Zach Babington-Johnson and Steve Brennan all return at outside linebacker, and Anderson, Halstenson and Ullsperger return inside. Some younger players will need to step up here to maintain the tradition of playing 10-12 people at the four linebacker positions. defensive backs: Ryan Manke graduates after an outstanding senior year. But a lot returns. NCC most valuable db Danny Gagner leads a group of returnees including all-conference Josh Brandsted, Jason Hoffschneider, Jamaal Franklin, Donovan Alexander, Tom DeSautel and Michael Greenwood. If he doesn't play running back, Anthony Longe could also be a factor here. The defense returns a lot, so it should be better than this year. They will need to play better against the better rushing teams, but it will probably help to have UNO and SCSU in the Alerus. Offensively, the keys will be what receivers will step up as go-to guys, who will complement Strouth at running back, and how the one or two new offensive linemen will fit in. Special teams should again be a big strength.

All in all, it was an outstanding season. After the UNO loss, I didn't think the team would be able to win a playoff game, and obviously they won three which is by no means an easy task. In order to get back to the title game next year, I think the run defense needs to tighten up. Even though it was at times great this year, the Sioux did give up over 200 yards to UNO and USD, and over 300 yards to Pitt St., and that can't happen. The bar was set so high by the 2001 team, but I think giving up anything over 150 yards, even to the best rushing offenses, is unacceptable. Also, the offense needs to be more efficient. Today, for example, it really looked like we should have been able to score at least 27 points considering how Pitt's defense was on its heels for much of the game. Instead, it took a last minute td to even get to 19.