UND92,96

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!

I haven't heard anything. Would really love to see what Wilmer could do if healthy. If nothing else, he would be a nice backup to Brekke, who as we saw last year has a tendency to get into foul trouble.

Will be very interested to see what kind of regular rotation Jones uses this year, i.e. eight, nine or even ten players? Seems likely that some players who either did, or would have started two years ago may have a very tough time getting minutes.

You have to wade through some nonsense, but I would encourage people to read all the comments to the "Mollberg Update" posting at SFI. This is where I'm basing my opinion that UND has a good shot.

On the other hand, SFI referenced their DL sources in the tweet, and there are a lot of UND alums very close to the football program there. At least one has already speculated that UND will ultimately be his choice. With the transition finally over, the start of Big Sky play next year, the strong UND history with DL players and the decent possibility he could play very early, I'm thinking UND has a good chance here.

SFI just tweeted that it sounds like Mollberg's decision could come as early as this weekend.

UND lands major recruit: http://undhockey.areavoices.com/?p=88377

One interesting factoid about this matchup is that UND radio analyst Mike Berg is a member of the Black Hills State athletic hall of fame for his high school coaching career: http://www.bhsu.edu/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Print.aspx?tabid=3454&tabmoduleid=30538&articleId=518&moduleId=5092&PortalID=0 Also, former UND football player Matt Field is a starting OL for BHSU.

This is their second year of a two-year transition. Next year, they will be a provisional dII member (and will join the RMAC). I believe they are playoff eligible starting in the 2013-14 season. Not sure if they are up to the 28-scholarship RMAC limit yet, but I doubt they are.

He's investigating as we speak. Dan Barreiro's got his "Pat Fitzgerald" schtick. We've now got the Kolpack one.

Per a Schlossman tweet, Karvinen has been cleared to play this season.

I have no problem cheering for the Yotes. Good luck on Saturday. I hope someday UND gets to play in Madison again.

If his coaching ability even comes close to matching his playing ability, this was a great hire.

I would too. But Minnesota won't schedule us in football. With that said, I still think UND's actual performance against Fresno (and Northern Illinois last year, who dominated the Goofs) was more impressive in the scheme of things than a close win over a Brewster-coached team. I also think NDSU's near-win over a Mason Gopher team was far more impressive than beating the Brewster version (not talking about "what you'd rather have"--just talking about what's more impressive), but you apparently disagree and that's fine.

If you're talking about two comparable teams, yes. But we're talking about Pat Hill vs. Tim Brewster. Big difference there too, don't you think?