UND92,96

My understanding is that Gagner was not seriously injured last week, which obviously is very good news. He apparently had some kind of a heat exhaustion-type situation. He should play today.

Certainly NDSU football enjoyed more success prior to the opening of the Fargodome than since, but just as it's unprovable what role the Alerus has played in UND football's tremendous success in 2001 and 2003, it's unprovable that the Fargodome really had anything to do with the fact that NDSU hasn't won a title since 1990. I just can't buy the argument that the Alerus hasn't helped UND football, even if it's just as a recruiting tool. In today's Herald, for example, in an article on the hogs, Mitch Braegelmann from St. Cloud said that he chose UND over St. Cloud St. due in part to facilities. And before anyone says anything about Selke, I believe that plans for the new stadium in St. Cloud were already known when Braegelmann was a senior in high school in 2002-03 so it's not like it was simply a case of anything seeming better than Selke was. While the more sentimental of us UND fans may very well miss Memorial, I really don't think it was going to be impressive to some 18 year old kid who hadn't grown up going to games there. At least to an outsider, it just looked like kind of a dump. Not to say I didn't like it, but objectively I can see how somebody else would not have seen its charm. And considering the competition for players, especially as you get farther away from eastern ND (the Cities and Wisconsin especially), you need every advantage you can get. EDIT: I just found this quote which further supports that even opposing players are pretty impressed with the Alerus:

There's probably not much of a point to this debate since the proverbial train has left the station and UND football will likely be playing in the Alerus for the remainder of our lifetimes. However, a couple of points in response to your post. First, it's not like the money that paid for the Alerus could have been used for something else. Money to refurbish Memorial would have to have come from either the state (highly unlikely) or through donations. It was unlikely in either case. As for what role the Alerus had in the 2001 and 2003 seasons, it's really unprovable either way whether it greatly helped or helped very little. However, especially as it pertains to last year, there were probably some key players who would not necessarily have come to UND had the Sioux still played at Memorial. Facilities do make a difference in many cases, and Memorial really was not a recruiting asset. The best source of information on this would, of course, be Dale Lennon, and I believe he's on record as saying that the Alerus has helped recruiting.

Although I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for Memorial, I don't miss the metal and wood bench bleachers and decrepit bathrooms. The Alerus isn't perfect, but I think Dale Lennon would be the first to acknowledge that it has helped recruiting, and there's no denying that two of the three seasons played there have been the two most successful in UND football history.

According to today's Herald, Kimbrough is planning on taking official visits to UND, Iowa St., Northwestern and possibly Minnesota. However, she did say that at this point, she's leaning towards going division I.

Hypothetically speaking, IF UND were actively seeking membership in a dI/I-AA conference, and IF it stands to reason that the Carr Report NDSU commissioned would similarly apply to UND, then it would stand to reason that conceivably, UND would send a letter of interest to the Big Sky prior to announcing any formal move to division I/I-AA.

I'm pretty sure it's Weston's brother, but at least at this point, he's not anywhere near the player or as fast. I think he's a junior.

I'm sure we all remember what happened in this game last year in Grand Junction. Three UND turnovers in the first three possession, including one returned for a touchdown, put the Sioux in an early hole from which they could never completely recover. This year, I look for a completely different game. Primarily because Mesa wants to run the ball roughly 80% of the time (probably 100% if they could get away with it), and I don't believe that the Sioux defense is going to be giving up many rushing yards this year. Plus, there's going to be the revenge factor and the fact that it's no secret that the Sioux seem to play far better on turf. Frankly, if UND doesn't win this game rather handily, I'm going to be pretty disappointed. Hopefully Bowenkamp and the passing game can do far better this week. The receivers--other than Johnson--and the tight ends were almost complete non-factors last week and that needs to change.

Isn't there enough UND vs. NDSU smack already without you injecting it into a thread in which the acronym "NDSU" had yet to be written?

I have heard that UND is very interested in Chappell. He may be this year's version of Dressler in terms of what kinds of numbers he'll put up barring injury. He's got some serious wheels as he's already the overall state record holder in the 300 hurdles and is also one of the best 110 hurdlers ever in the state. He's definitely not big, but he's an excellent prospect nevertheless. There's no question in my mind that he's the best skill position kid in ND this year. It's actually a pretty good year for area prospects. The Mertens kid from EGF is very talented, along with Wahlin from Crookston, Oksendahl from Cavalier and Lee, the 6'5", 315 pound all-state lineman from Park River. I'm sure there are probably others but those are the ones I'm aware of off the top of my head.

I agree that a t-shirt isn't really a big deal one way or the other. What I find disappointing, however, is the stuff I referenced in the earlier post about the Green Mill and the flood. Just as I would find it appalling if UND fans heckled Amy Ruley about her health problems a few years back (not saying anybody did--just an example of something similarly crass). Some things are just going over the line, and reveling in someone else's non-sports-related misfortune is very immature.

As it pertains to UND going division I or not, I think the fortunes, both competitively and financially, of UNC, SDSU and NDSU are very germane to the issue. Throwing football out of the equation, since I have no doubt that ANY strong dII program would do fine in I-AA with a full or nearly full complement of scholarships, if the aforementioned schools really struggle in basketball, etc., have difficulty getting home games against dI opponents and in particular, can't find a conference, then obviously it would or should make UND think twice about moving to dI across the board. If UND simply announced that it was going dI, then it would be doing the same thing that NDSU and SDSU did--disregarding the recommendation of its consultant that a conference should be lined up BEFORE a move is made. To simply dismiss this advice as being unrealistic would be to claim that Carr didn't know what it was talking about, and I don't believe that's true. It's a bit risky to simply follow that part of the advice that supports what you wanted to hear in the first place.

Frankly, that's a good example of why I would never visit the bisonville board. I know full well in advance that much of the stuff posted there would irritate the hell out of me, so I don't go there. Making light of a building and business burning down (owned by a Fargo resident, by the way) is just sad. It reminds me a bit of the 1997 Sioux-Bison game in GF when I had the misfortune of witnessing a group of NDSU students laughing about and making light of the flood in GF. That may have been the closest I've come in my adult life to actually punching somebody out. Fortunately, I had some restraint. I'm not going to impugn an entire university based upon the actions of a few, but there are some people out there (on both sides) who need to get some class.

One interesting aspect of yesterday's game that I don't believe anyone has mentioned yet is that Tony Hermes is actually one of the kick returners this year. It seems surprising since he's a 230 pound-plus 5th-year senior linebacker who probably hasn't carried the ball at all since high school, but he actually did a pretty nice job. Travis Lueck he's not, but he's not bad. I'm not sold on Groeschl yet, though. I know he did some returning duty last year, but I haven't really seen the kind of burst from him yet that you'd like to see from a returner. I had thought Strouth may be one of the primary returners this year, but perhaps he's just too valuable as a running back to chance injury on special teams. Grossman would seem to be another candidate. Presumably, we're not seeing Alexander doing returns yet due to possibly suspect hands? From a speed perspective, I have to think that eventually he could be a very effective kick/punt returner.

Just to clarify my previous post regarding play-calling, I did not intend to criticize Lennon. It's Mussman who calls the plays, and he was who I was questioning. However, upon further review, I suppose it's at least conceivable that Bowenkamp audibled out of a running play on one or more plays during the possession in question. I just think it's ironic that many of us criticize the usual ultra-conservative approach to play-calling, and yesterday it was a case of getting away from the ultra-conservative stuff (which was working) too much. Anyway, I was very impressed with the offensive line yesterday, as well as Roland and Strouth. Defensively, the pass rush was good, and the performance was pretty solid for the most part. Yes, too many passing yards were allowed, but it was the first game of the year and that was a pretty good passing team. In reality, the defense only gave up 16 points since the first three were the result of that horrible call giving them a long pass completion on the play in which the receiver clearly dropped the ball. I agree with the idea that UND needs to get that killer instinct. This game was very similar to the Winona St. game last year in which the Sioux dominated the first half and it looked like the game would be a blow-out. For whatever reason, it's as though UND has to play in a close game against every decent opponent. If they jump out to a big lead, they will inevitably allow the opponent to come back. If they fall way behind, they will inevitably come back themselves.

I know it irritates certain people on this board to criticize play-calling, but what was the deal with UND's first possession of the 4th quarter? The Sioux had been running well most of the game, and in that possession had moved the ball almost exclusively on the ground to Delta's 37. With a 2nd down and 3, two consecutive pass plays were called and of course, Bowenkamp doesn't complete either so UND has to punt. Why in the world wouldn't you continue to run the ball in that situation? There was almost no way Delta was going to be able to stop the Sioux from getting at least three yards with a couple of runs. Roland and the hogs were doing the job, and Bowenkamp was struggling badly nearly every time he tried to pass. I had really hoped that Bowenkamp had gotten these types of performances out of his system early last year, but apparently that's not the case. He was truly horrific today, and could easily have had two or three more picks. I don't know if Bellmore or Manke would have done better, but there's little chance they could have done worse.

For anyone who's interested, here's the Delta St. press release. With a couple of exceptions, their offensive line is fairly small. Also, the quarterback must be really skinny since he's listed as 6'3", 175. It will be interesting to see if he can take a hit. Defensively, they have a fairly good sized d-line, and one pretty big linebacker, but the rest of the linebackers and db's are REALLY small. They average around 170 pounds in the secondary. As with games in the past against unfamiliar opponents with high-powered offenses, i.e. UC-Davis and North Alabama, I would think the key is to shut down the running game, make them throw and get after the quarterback in a big way. I'm sure their receivers are good enough that if the qb has time, they'll get some plays. However, if the front seven can get to the quarterback and knock him around, I would think the Sioux defense can hold them to somewhere around 20 points. If the Sioux offense doesn't have any costly turnovers and the o-line plays relatively well, Bowenkamp and co. should be able to score more than 20. UND 31, Delta St. 20

It appears that the portion of the Forum article in question was actually a McFeely column. I'm not sure why the Forum printed it in such a way that it appears to all have been written by Kolpack, with a strange jump from an article on which NDSU players may come back for a 6th year to an opinion piece on UND. Look at the very bottom of the article/column and both Kolpack's and McFeely's names appear.

If NDSU can sell out the Fargodome for a game against the likes of Valpo, more power to them. I only hope the the 5000 to 6000 people who show up on Saturday who DIDN'T go to games last year against far superior teams than Valpo, i.e. UNO, aren't really dumb enough to think that they're going to see a better brand of football from the opponent than what they've seen in the past. NDSU's m.o. in recent years is to draw really well early in the season (and against UND when that game was in Fargo), but then the crowds diminish pretty steadily. In terms of a core group of loyal fans, the two programs seem to have a pretty comparable number, but with the much larger metro area, NDSU has a larger pool from which to draw the casual fan. Those are the extra people who will probably be in the Fargodome on Saturday, but who probably won't still be there later in the season.

It's just speculation on my part, but I'd be very surprised if Ross Brennan or Andy Hendrickson play. If Hendrickson is indeed out for an extended period of time, it will be interesting to see how the offensive line will be shuffled. Will Storhaug be inserted into the starting lineup at center, or will there be some position changes, i.e. Braegelmann or Kuper to center and somebody else into their departed guard position, so that whomever is considered the top reserve lineman moves into the starting lineup?

I don't doubt that Behrns feels he got the shaft, but of course, he'd be wrong. Looking at the situation objectively, it wasn't a case of simply having one really bad year (1985) and then being fired. Rather, one only has to look at how bare the cupboard was when Roger Thomas took the job in 1986 to see that the problems ran far deeper than what happened in '85. RT certainly showed that he was a good coach by what he accomplished at UND, so I think it speaks volumes that it took him roughly four years to get UND back to being one of the elite programs in the NCC after taking over for Behrns. It's hard to imagine now considering the dII power UND has been since the early 90's, but from '85 to '89, UND was an average to below average dII program. If that wasn't Behrns' fault, I don't know whose fault it was. It's clear that Behrns is a very different coach now from what he was in the early to mid-80's. He's done a good job at UNO, even though I think UNO's post-season struggles are also his responsibility. In any event, UND and Pat Behrns were not a good match, and although I'm sure it hurt his ego to have been fired, it worked out for both parties in the long run.

It was really hard to make any judgments in a format like this scrimmage was since everybody (even the red-shirts) played so there wasn't any continuity. I thought Strouth again showed some real speed and quickness. Roland really looks like he's put on some weight (not sure whether that will be a positive or negative) and left the scrimmage with an apparent hamstring problem. Glas hit a 50 yard field goal that looked like it would have been good from at least 60. Halfmann punted very well. The biggest negative from my perspective were the injuries--both those that occurred in the scrimmage and those that apparently had already happened. Ross Brennan, Jeff Richter and Demetrious Charles, among others, didn't play, and in addition to Roland, Andy Hendrickson suffered what looked like might be a serious knee or lower leg injury. A few true freshmen, including Weston Dressler and Jake Caufield, were also banged up in the scrimmage. I'm a little concerned about depth at running back early in the season if neither Roland nor Charles are available. That leaves Strouth and Beatty and the true freshmen. Obviously Strouth is not the type of back you want to give 20-plus carries to due to his size, and Beatty just hasn't ever shown the ability to be a play-maker since the Mesa St. game two years ago. Hopefully Roland's hamstring problem isn't serious.

It looks like the Sioux have picked up a potential impact transfer. New to the roster is Anthony Longe, formerly of St. Agnes in the Cities and an ex-Illinois player. Here was his bio when he signed with the Illini in 2002: Anthony Longe 5-11, 170, DB St. Paul, Minn./St. Agnes Coach Ron Rice High School: SuperPrep All-Midwest team ...Two-time all-conference selection ... Earned first-team all-state honors from the Associated Press and the Pioneer Press ... Named the Tri-Metro Defensive Back of the Year ... Has been a starter since his freshman season ... As a senior, he picked off four passes and knocked down 12 others ... Also rushed for over 700 yards ... Garnered third-team all-Metro accolades by the Star-Tribune ... Earned 11 varsity letters in football, basketball and track at St. Agnes High School ... Was part of the state champion 4x100-meter relay team ... Holds the school record in the triple jump, 4x100 and 4x200 relays ... High school football coach was Ron Rice. Personal: Full given name is Anthony Olowaseyi Longe ... Born Nov. 4, 1983 in Minneapolis, Minn. ... The son of Tony and Debra Longe ... Cousin, Maurice Hargrow, is a freshman on the University of Minnesota basketball team ... Earned three academic varsity letters. Turner on Longe: "Anthony was a very versatile athlete who played running back and defensive back in high school. He was a great point guard on the basketball team. Anthony has very good quickness and explosiveness. We look for him to be an outstanding man-to-man cover corner."