Matt

http://www.soconspor...Poll/index.html FCS Coaches Poll September 2nd 2013 North Dakota State Unanimous No. 1 Following Win Over Kansas State SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The North Dakota State Bison remain the top team in the FCS and received all 26 first-place votes after stunning defending Big 12 champion Kansas State on the road 24-21. With 28 seconds left in the contest, Bison quarterback Brock Jensen punched in the game-winning touchdown from one yard out to give NDSU a victory over an FBS opponent for the fourth straight season. Eastern Washington moved up one spot in the poll to No. 2 after its 49-46 upset win over No. 25 Oregon State. The Eagles used 518 total yards from quarterback Vernon Adams to become first FCS team to knock off a ranked FBS opponent since James Madison defeated Virginia Tech 21-16 in 2010. Montana State received 587 points to take the third-place spot in the rankings, followed by Sam Houston State (570) and Central Arkansas (508) rounding out the top five. Towson jumps six spots to No. 6 following a 33-18 win over Connecticut. New Hampshire remains in the eighth spot, while Northern Iowa jumps to No. 9 after being ranked 16th in the preseason poll. Cal Poly comes in at No. 10, moving up one spot. Villanova (360) and Richmond (311) are ranked 11th and 12h respectively, followed by Stony Brook at No. 13 with 298 points. The Wofford Terriers (279) fell nine spots to No. 14 after falling on the road to Baylor 69-3. James Madison stays at No. 15 followed by Eastern Illinois (256), which move up seven spots from their preseason ranking. Illinois State (255), Montana (239)and Lehigh (203) rounded out the top 20, with McNeese State entering the poll at No. 21. The Cowboys are coming off a 53-21 victory over South Florida, and are the only new team to enter the top 25. Eastern Kentucky, Coastal Carolina, Bethune-Cookman, Northern Arizona and Youngstown State rounded out the poll. Chattanooga dropped out of the poll following its 31-21 loss to UT Martin. The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference. Full Poll Results - Week 1- September 2, 2013 Team (No. 1 Votes) Record Points Previous Rank Team (No. 1 Votes) Record Points Previous Rank 1. North Dakota State (26) 11-0 650 1 2. Eastern Washington 1-0 616 3 3. Montana State 1-0 587 2 4. Sam Houston State 1-0 570 4 5. Central Arkansas 1-0 508 6 6. Towson 1-0 490 12 7. South Dakota State 1-0 486 7 8. New Hampshire 0-0 430 8 9. Northern Iowa 1-0 424 16 10. Cal Poly 1-0 376 11 11. Villanova 0-1 360 9 12. Richmond 1-0 311 14 13. Stony Brook 0-0 298 13 14. Wofford 0-1 279 5 15. James Madison 1-0 270 15 16. Eastern Illinois 1-0 256 23 17. Illinois State 0-1 255 10 18. Montana 1-0 239 22 19. Lehigh 0-0 203 17 20. McNeese State 1-0 186 NR 21. Eastern Kentucky 1-0 144 19 22. Coastal Carolina 1-0 117 21 23. Bethune-Cookman 1-0 98 20 24. Northern Arizona 0-1 76 18 25. Youngstown State 1-0 73 24 Others receiving votes: Weber State 18, Southern Utah 17, Delaware 14, UT Martin 13, Wagner 10, Samford 9, William & Mary 8, Chattanooga 6, Charleston Southern 4, Penn 3, Colgate 2, Harvard 2, Indiana State 2, Maine 2, South Dakota 2, Duquesne 1, Jacksonville State 1, Bryant 1, Jacksonville 1

http://www.sportsnet...oot225poll.aspx The Sports Network FCS Top 25 College Football Poll Team (First-place votes) 2013 Record Points Previous Rank 1. North Dakota State Bison (145) 1-0 3793 1 2. Eastern Washington Eagles (7) 1-0 3564 4 3. Montana State Bobcats 1-0 3319 2 4. Sam Houston State Bearkats 1-0 3267 3 5. Towson Tigers 1-0 2874 11 6. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 1-0 2744 6 7. Central Arkansas Bears 1-0 2557 7 8. Villanova Wildcats 0-1 2470 5 9. Northern Iowa Panthers 1-0 2357 17 10. Georgia Southern Eagles 1-0 2191 9 11. New Hampshire Wildcats 0-0 2112 10 12. Cal Poly Mustangs 1-0 1857 14 13. Montana Grizzlies 1-0 1842 20 14. Eastern Illinois Panthers 1-0 1717 21 15. Richmond Spiders 1-0 1690 15 16. Wofford Terriers 0-1 1527 8 17. Stony Brook Seawolves 0-0 1235 16 18. McNeese State Cowboys 1-0 1213 NR 19. Illinois State Redbirds 0-1 1164 13 20. James Madison Dukes 1-0 1147 19 21. Appalachian State Mountaineers 0-1 841 12 22. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 0-1 583 18 23. Lehigh Mountain Hawks 0-0 557 22 24. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 1-0 484 25 25. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 1-0 420 23 Others receiving votes: Eastern Kentucky 374, Youngstown State 338, Samford 226, Delaware 179, UT Martin 108, Southern Utah 106, Southern Illinois 89, William & Mary 71, Wagner 51, Penn 42, Southeastern Louisiana 41, Colgate 34, Chattanooga 27, Jacksonville State 21, South Dakota 19, Tennessee State 19, Sacramento State 15, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 14, Indiana State 14, Harvard 13, Gardner-Webb 10, The Citadel 10, Albany 9, Tennessee Tech 8, Liberty 7, Weber State 5, Western Illinois 5, Northwestern State 5, Duquesne 5, South Carolina State 4, Prairie View A&M 3, Charleston Southern 2, Florida A&M 1

It's way too early for me to tell how they will do in conference play since they are the only Big 12 team I've seen this year. I hesitate to make such a generalization based on such a small sample size. As for Bohl's dismissal from Nebraska: there's no doubt you are correct in that. However, I'd wager if the Nebraska admin could go back in time to the point where they fired Solich and his staff, I'd bet a paycheck they would not do that again. Although, I'm told Bohl had his own issues there.

A more interesting question to me is not their overall record at the end of the season, but what other teams will be able to accomplish what ndsu did...go into that stadium and win. They don't lose at home often. Bohl lost there 3 out of 4 times while coaching at Nebraska.

Right on. I'm not optimistic about this facet of the game. For the green and white to win this game, they must make it a track meet.

The EWU-OSU is a bigger upset than ndsu-kstate. Problem is, there is a ton of big names playing today so there's no way that game will be the lead story on sportscenter. ndsu hit the absolute jackpot when that game was moved to Friday and they win the game. I couldn't begin to calculate the value of the media hits they received yesterday.

Guess we will have to scrub the good feelings from the Texas Tech thread. Mods?

hooray.

Criminals or no...watching this KState game, I want no part of this team. It would be embarrassing.

That's not a good sign.

I don't think this is a criticism of the students in this situation. By all accounts they were great. It seems this is more of a general crowd noise/involvement thing. In my opinion, the place to start is third down. Every opponent third down, the crowd needs to be on their feet screaming.

For anyone at the game-it seemed like the Valpo QB had no problem being heard signal calling. Not sure if that was a TV effect or if the crowd noise needs to improve?

Game thoughts: -Great to see the specialists are picking up where they left off last year-making big plays. -Bartels surpassed expectations. Not only did he make the read, and completed the throws, but he showed poise and a bit extra. -Scoring defense met expectations, but somehow it didn't look as good as I expected. Don't know if that makes sense. -Valpo just completely outmatched. And they should be. Looking to next week: -Jacks will bring a new level of athletes and complex coverage looks/blitz packages. How will Bartels handle that will be a big key. -Very worried about run defense for next week. I don't think the Jacks have enough weapons on O to win in a shootout. They need Zenner to grind. This is an opportunity to prove something. No more talk about an improved D-time to show it.

They want to establish something on the ground. I'm thinking something off tackle.

Your snarky characterization of a non-conference opponent to open the season tells me a few things are possible here: a) you lack a basic understanding of collegiate scheduling. I don't think this is the case by virtue of the fact you have over 6k posts on this site, which tells me you are an above average observer of collegiate athletics. b) you don't understand UND plays in one of the most difficult football conferences in the nation. Here again, even a cursory observation by a poster with over 6k entries on this site would know the national standing of the Big Sky Conference. c) You don't know the football team has been playoff eligible for one season. This may be a possibility, as I have to believe that an avid college hockey fan as yourself would understand that not only making the playoffs, but a national championship, would be the "big dream coming true". But even so, that wouldn't explain why you would choose to characterize what should be a time of excitement and energy for the program, in a negative way. It must be... d) You didn't agree with moving the entire athletics department to division 1 in the first place, and think you see an opportunity to criticize the schedule. I'm gonna go with "d" on this one. You have to try REALLY freaking hard to criticize this schedule, since it just may be the best one in the entire country. Which begs the question, what kind of UND "fan", has to try so hard to be critical of another program in the UND athletic department at a time when the excitement for UND football is so high? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe after beating Montana last year you posted in the football forum a slew of "atta boys" for the team and the program after they achieved one of their season goals in knocking off a Montana. Since you yourself stated you aren't much of a football poster, I guess I won't hold my breath.

On that we definitely agree. History shows us that.

They certainly have power, and are quick to wield it when you want to expand facilities or programs, or build the president a house. In the context of athletics...if the mission statements of these universities intend on wielding their power, the crickets are chirping. I've no doubt there will be another athlete(s) that gets a minor, or a dui, or a drunk and disorderly, or whatever. But I don't believe for a second that level of offense will affect the administrator's jobs. There's gotta be BIG offense to set off the powder keg like a Reggie Scott rape charge. I'll put my money on promotions for Bohl, GT, or Bresciani long before they get fired. My advice to you is don't hold your breath waiting for them to get fired.

There's some discussion around here about the benefit to UND of playing both QBs will force the Jacks to prepare for different styles. I'm thinking the Jacks may already have packages in place for athletic QBs that make plays with their legs. What teams do the Jacks play the mvfc where Stig would already have a package in place for that?

It's name the score. Valpo will have the combination of no pass rush with no one that can cover the UND receiving corps. To me, develop timing between Bartels and the receivers, and make a statement with the run game. Show them the O and D line are the physically superior groups that they are.

I agree. Playing live vs your own D will give you a better test than what they will see against Valpo. Whomever is starting needs nearly all the practice reps with the entire first team O to prep for the Jacks game.

Against an opponent like Valpo that would work out just fine. The Jacks game is where we will really find something out.

Not unless the #1 guy plays less well (pardon the grammar), than the number #2 guy. Therefore, by definition, he does not control his destiny. This is why being #2 is not an advantage. You can play very well, but that's not enough. It must surpass the level of play of the #1 guy. And even then, the questions come up in the coaches' mind-was the #2 playing in mop up duty? Had the opponent mailed it in by that time? 1's and 2's rarely get an apples-apples comparison. Take a look at how many QBs that start the season as the #1 guy end up losing their job. The #1 guy really has to play his way out of the job vs a #2 guy playing his way in. If Molberg couldn't do it in camp, I really doubt we will see something vs an opponent like Valpo which will prevent Bartels from starting in week 2. Now, the Jacks' D certainly has the ability to make anyone look bad, so what happens going into week 3 is anyone's guess. I could certainly see Bartels struggling against the Jacks and Molberg getting the nod in week 3. But again, that would be due to Bartels leaving the door open through a weak performance, and Molberg taking advantage of that with a good performance vs the Jacks.

That is quality spin. The only way Mollberg is in a "pretty good position" as the #2 QB on the depth chart, is that he isn't the #3. When you are the #2 QB, the #1 has to play his way out of the job. That isn't a "pretty good position" to be in because, congratulations, you have lost control over your destiny.

This statement tells me you have no idea what is actually going on at the AC. The occasional Forum article aside, the prez/AD take very little criticism in Fargo already. Forget a 3rd straight title (even one of Jeff Bentrim's teams lost in the championship game), another deep run in the playoffs and it would take something happening on campus which is a lot worse than the types of things we've seen to this point for the focus to move from the offending student athlete and onto the prez/AD. Until then, those two are in no danger. If anything I see the opposite. If they choose it, I see Bresciani, Bohl, and GT taking a job at the next level long before they get shown the door.

That used to be true. These days a big selling point for prized recruits is they will have a shot to play.