UND92,96

Jody Norstedt just tweeted this:

UND will be playing Minot State in Minot on October 30 with the proceeds going for flood relief: http://www.fightings...TCLID=205312231 The game can be seen on the Midcontinent Sports Network.

Here's a prospectus for the upcoming season: http://www.fightingsioux.com/fls/13500/pdf/2011-12/2011_und_wbb_prospectus.pdf I'm a little surprised that Roehrich is only listed at 5'8". I don't recall a forward that short at UND in a long time.

In the past, UND would automatically get over 10,000 for the Potato Bowl even though the opponent was often very weak. This year, it didn't happen. The reason? Disappointing 2009 and 2010 seasons. NDSU had a good average attendance in 2009 based upon the previous few seasons. I'm not saying the caliber of the home schedule is irrelevant, but it's much easier to overlook when the team is doing well. UND lost its momentum in 2009 and 2010. It can, and probably will be regained, but it will take a few more good wins, and then we'll probably see the fruits next season. If by chance UND goes into the tank the rest of this season, then I suspect attendance still won't be back to 2008 levels next year even with an excellent home schedule.

I agree that attendance is based on both winning and the caliber of opponents. For a time, you can probably get by on one or the other, as we saw in 2008 (record attendance despite a terrible home schedule). But eventually, people will find other things to do on Saturdays if the product on the field isn't a good one. If the type of football we saw at Fresno and SUU continues, I believe the vastly improved home schedule next year will translate into much larger crowds.

Last year's game was totally dominated by SUU, as Sorensen threw for 413 yards, and the UND offense did almost nothing after the first drive. But on the bright side, 317 of those yards were by Poots and Sitake, who are no longer on the team. I also find it somewhat encouraging that SDSU had a lot of success moving the ball against them earlier this season, gaining over 400 yards despite not having a very good quarterback. I don't believe the SUU run defense is all that great (giving up 150 yards per game), but Bradley will need to be accurate when called upon so as to discourage SUU from putting eight or nine in the box to stop the run. As others have mentioned, the keys are: 1. avoid turning the ball over, as SUU has made a living off defensive scores; 2. run the ball well to control the clock, and mix in some shots down the field to keep the defense somewhat honest. Give Hardin and McGill a chance to make some plays; 3. learn from the mistakes of last year, and from the Idaho game this year with regard to pass defense. SUU is going to throw the ball 40-plus times, and chances are a few will be potential int's. Take advantage when the opportunity arises, and don't give huge cushions or Sorensen will complete the 5 to 10 yard passes all day long. Be aggressive and let the chips fall where they may.

Just curious--do people think that the fact that a kid once red-shirted automatically means that he/she will be invited back for a fifth year on scholarship? I don't believe so, and that's likely where Jones will make a couple of scholarships available to recruit some size.

In FCS football I believe the scholarships can be divided so that a maximum of 85 players can be on some form of scholarship. With regard to basketball, I believe you are correct. Or maybe you were just referring to FBS football?

Prior to the season, I thought this would probably be the second-most difficult game on the schedule, after Fresno State. And right now, SUU is ahead of Idaho in both computer polls. We've been waiting for three-plus years for a signature dI win. Here is a golden opportunity.

For those waiting for some sort of "official" announcement of the Mollberg commitment, a Tom Miller tweet confirms:

Yes, the Morman issue was what I meant by SUU having handicaps we don't. I agree that it likely makes it difficult to recruit non-Mormans.

Over the past seven games, UND quarterbacks have combined for one td pass.

Just read that Kill suffered another seizure today, and is now at the Mayo.

Just some food for thought--USD parlayed its win vs. the Goofs last year to a stellar 4-7 season. I certainly don't expect NDSU to follow suit, but it just goes to show that it doesn't take an FCS national championship contender--or even a team with a .500 record--to beat Minnesota these days.

It WAS an easy win, until about 2008. DII UND went to Cedar City in 2007 and dominated the game (I believe final was 37-10). They turned things around quickly, though. In fact, that program is the example I like to point to as proof that if a successful FCS program can be built there, it surely can be done here. SUU is closer to major population centers than the Dakota schools, but there are some major handicaps there that we don't face which probably more than negate that advantage.

Looking at the SUU-UNLV box score, it looks like turnovers were the difference. SUU had just 256 yards of offense, but had five takeaways. I don't especially like the matchup of UND against a good passing team, but if the Sioux can control the clock with the running game, not turn the ball over more than once, and win the special teams battle, this game is winnable. We've seen three years in a row of poor performances against SUU. It's time to actually play well against them.

So is Mollberg the most highly-touted quarterback prospect to come out of this region (ND/NW Minn.) since Bollinger? IMO, yes. I know Mertens got a lot of awards his senior year, but he was relatively slow-footed and didn't have an especially strong arm.

The Cal Poly win seemed a lot bigger at the time than it ended up being, since Poly went into the tank after that game and finished below .500. To the best of my knowledge, since the start of the dI transition UND has one road win over a team that finished above .500, and that was at USD in 2008 (who finished 6-5 but had 5 non-dI wins). This will be a tough game, but SUU is not as good as Fresno State, so let's hope for a similar performance to that game and let the chips fall where they may.

From the Herald:

It would appear he's got a ways to go in order to push Bradley, as he's only fourth on the depth chart at present. I"m not writing him off or anything, but that doesn't seem like a very good sign that he's close to being ready to seriously compete for the starting job.

Garman was interviewed after the game and seemed to think he'd be ready for next week.

Every commitment is unofficial until signing day. But usually, once a kid gives a verbal commitment, it's solid. I would say it's even more so when the kid is from the area. My guess is that there will be something in the local media this weekend or early next week to confirm that he has indeed verbally committed.

They played really well in the 2003 playoff game, when they had that receiver (Samp?) who UND had trouble covering. After that season, it was all down hill.

I think Winona is glad UND left dII.

Excellent!