UND92,96

I don't believe Dressler's commitment should signify that UND is not actively pursuing other running backs such as DesCamps. Dressler is likely not going to be an every-down running back. He'll probably play more of a 3rd-down back/receiver/returner role.

I'm pretty sure that any big-name dII opponents on UND's schedule would be part of a home-and-home, so there wouldn't be any huge guarantees involved. In this day and age, I don't believe it's even possible to entice an elite dII program to agree to a one-game contract for a road game unless the guarantee is so large that there's basically nothing left from the ticket proceeds for the home team. It's not worth it financially.

And yet another article about the whole "will they or won't they play next year" saga. I am so sick of this issue. To the extent there was any question about where the game would be played in the unlikely event it occurs, this quote from Gene Taylor removes any lingering doubt: I know what NDSU's motivation is: one big gate since their home schedule is likely going to be poor. From UND's perspective, the benefits--to the extent there are any--are a bit more difficult to discern.

A link to the Bismarck Tribune article on Dressler's commitment.

Three more Canadians, all from Toronto, whom UND may be recruiting per a post on the allcanadagridiron.com message board: Ricky Clarke, wr, 6'0", 180 Allistair Blair, rb, 5'10", 225 Tristan Black, lb, 6'2", 228

A summary of recruiting so far (NOTE: I can't vouch for the 100% accuracy of these names as they have come from various internet sources, recollection from area newspaper articles and/or my own speculation): verbal commitments Jake Caufield, wr, 6'2", 190, Minot Weston Dressler, rb/wr/returns, 5'6"?, 150?, Bismarck probably have either visited or will visit, or at least have been contacted Zach Harrington, dl, 6'2", 270, Carrington Tyson DesCamps, rb, 5'9", 190, Aberdeen Rory Manke, qb/db, 6'1", 195, Detroit Lakes Jared Bardon, te, 6'3", 225, Deforest (WI) Brandon Jordan, wr/db, Winnipeg Tyler Morrow, lb, 6'3", 232, NDSCS (formerly Wahpeton High and NDSU) Jordan Armentrout, rb, Madison Memorial (WI) Jordan Meier, qb, Madison Memorial (WI) Mike Klepatz, te/de, 6'6", 225, New Berlin (WI) Bobby Coy, rb, 5'10", 175, Heritage (CO) Brady Trenbeath, wr, 6'0", 175, Cavalier Wayne Samson, ol/dl, 6'4", 275, Cavalier Trevor Dally, ol, 6'4", 285, Fosston Kole Heckendorf, wr, 6'1", 175, Mosinee (WI) other possibilities from the area Dustin Timmersman, fb, 6'2", 210, Roseau Jesse Vote, fb/db, 5'10", 200, Cando Jerry Netland, fb/punter, Bagley Josh Karch, lb, 6'2", 195, Moorhead Nolan Oliver, lb, 6'1", 205, Moorhead Ryan Brathwaite, db, 6'2", 175, Grand Forks Central Wade Haugland, dl, 6'0", 285, Grand Forks Central Eric Schaumberg, db, 6'1", 165, Mahnomen

After watching the Cal-Virginia Tech game last night, I'm more confident than ever that a kid the size of Dressler can play at this level. Cal had a quick little guy who was about 5'7", 150 who was able to contribute as a receiver and even scored a touchdown on a reverse against one of the most athletic teams in the country. Dressler certainly has the speed and quickness, and if he's as tough as people say, he has a pretty good chance to contribute in a few years.

The ex-UND quarterback was named MVP of the Blue-Gray game yesterday. link

It would be interesting to know the inside scoop on this (from the Forum):

This is from allcanadagridiron.com regarding Jordan:

Thanks to Jim Dahl for providing us with this forum! I can't even begin to imagine the time and money such an endeavor must require.

I assume you meant Schweigert--not Mussman. My understanding is that the UMD assistants will keep their jobs assuming they want to stay. It's probably not much of a surprise considering that Neilson hired them in the first place and wouldn't want to leave them out in the cold. But from Schweigert's perspective, it must be kind of weird not being able to assemble his own staff. I am glad personally since there's not much of a chance that any other UND assistants will be able to follow him to Duluth like Underwood did when Hedberg took the St. Cloud job. With regard to the prospective game between NDSU and UMD, it surprises me that UMD agreed to that game unless they really need the money. They typically haven't played the strongest of non-conference schedules anyway, and with the way the strength of schedule index penalizes games against I-AA's, it would seem a strange time for them to do an about-face. I know UND has very much wanted to schedule them in the past and even offered to travel to Duluth but UMD refused--probably because they preferred to take their chances against the weaker NCC teams like Mankato and USD.

I really like the fact that UND is getting back into Canada for recruiting. There was a dry spell between the signings of Lotysz, Schultz and Juhasz until last year's signing of Alexander. The Sioux have had many great Canadian players over the years (Milson Jones, the Robson's, Tim Prinsen, etc.) There is more and more talent being developed north of the border, and while there are several division I schools who recruit there, I think UND's proximity to Canada and the history of developing Canadian players will still result in UND signing our fair share of them.

I guess that's in the eye of the beholder, but the way I look at it, it's an inevitability when it comes to assistant coaches in a successful program. At any level of football, a successful program is going to lose assistant coaches on occasion because most of them aspire to eventually be head coaches. It's a small miracle that it took this long for Bubba to get a good head coaching job. As we all know, Lennon was a very successful defensive coordinator, left to be a head coach at Mary, and Schweigert was promoted and proved to be outstanding in his own right. I am confident that if Tibesar is given the same opportunity that Bubba got back in '97, he'll prove to be just as good.

I tend to agree with you on this one. This seems to be more of a personal thing on the parts of Glas and Roebuck, and I don't think it's playing very well in the North Dakota media--even outside of Fargo--or with the public. I can understand it to a degree with Roebuck after the debacle in Fargo last year, and I don't think it's any secret that he and Ruley don't really like each other. But with Rich, I don't really understand it. To the best of my knowledge, there's not any real conflict between he and Miles. And in terms of competitiveness, I personally don't think NDSU will ever get to the level in mens basketball where their talent would be even at a high dII level, let alone be even a marginally strong dI program. It's going to be virtually impossible to recruit legitimate dI basketball talent to the frozen tundra of ND.

Bubba has earned this opportunity and although I'm sure we're all going to miss him, I'm also sure none of us can blame him for wanting the chance to be a head coach. Best of luck, Coach Schweigert, except for when you play UND! I really hope Tim Tibesar is promoted, and I wouldn't mind seeing somebody like Eric Schmidt or some other ex-UND linebacker take over Tibesar's current job.

Minot receiver Jake Caufield has verbally committed to UND according to this link. This kid is an outstanding prospect. Dressler and Caufield were probably the two best skill position players in western ND.

I ran across this article from the Madison (WI) paper about UND's signing of Daniel Harkins.

That would be good news if it is true. I don't think his size would by any real drawback as a returner, and it's always good to sign as many of the top North Dakotans as possible. Regardless of his size or lack thereof, he was definitely one of the top--and many say THE top--North Dakota high school players this year. That's not to say he's necessarily the top college prospect, but he certainly has a chance to do well.

Who said anything about assuming he is coming to UND just because his brothers are here? Nobody that I'm aware of. What I was told by somebody who knows the family is that there is a very good chance he'll come here IF he isn't offered by a I-A school. No guarantees, of course, but I wouldn't bet against it, either.

Having watched all three NCAA national championship games this year (II, III and I-AA), it was interesting that all three games were played in freezing or near-freezing temperatures. For the UNA fans who frequent this site, how much colder than average was it for this year's game?

Here is Kolpack's response to Sunday's Herald article regarding basketball scheduling. I believe you have to be a registered Forum web site user to access it.

While I realize full well that we don't have too much to brag about in terms of our mens basketball team this year, I can't understand how NDSU can go for several years in a row now without anything resembling a decent post player. The last decent post player I can recall is Brian Sand back in the mid-90's. They can generally find some pretty good perimeter players, and obviously had an outstanding player in Tenbroek, but they never seem to have anybody decent over about 6'5" who can consistently score in double figures. Is it really that hard to recruit a 6'7" or taller guy who can score and rebound? UND has had at least one player who fits that mold pretty much every year for as long as I can remember, from Vonesh to Gardner to Johnson to Ehrp to Mustard to Behrens to Beasley to Rypkema and Lindahl. Not all of them have been or are superstars, but compared to Andy Kelchen or John Banks or Jack May they all have been.

When you consider how few home non-conference games there were this year, there should be far more home games than road games next year. This was one of the worst years I can remember for home non-conference games for both men and women. UND even travelled for two games against NAIA teams (Mary and Minot St.) for some unknown reason.