siouxfan512

Once you've moved up like UND has, it gets tough to move up further without some help. Here are the teams ahead of UND in the FCS Rankings and their upcoming games this weekend. It would be great to see a few upsets to go along with a dominant UND win. #1 NDSU (8-0) vs #18 Youngstown (5-3) Can NDSU contain Beau Brungard? Does it matter? The Penguins QB is a one man show putting up video game numbers. It will take more than one man to put down the Bison, especially after the throttling we saw them give the bunnies last weekend. Is it possible? Sure. But I wouldn’t bet my own money on the upset here. As much as I would love to see UND beat SU as the #1 team, I’d rather see us move up the rankings and get a better position as we move towards the playoffs. Go Penguins! #2 Tarleton (9-0) @ #24 ACU (4-4) Tarleton is undefeated, while the teams they have played have gone a whopping 35-60 … woof! They have beat one team with a winning record, which was a 45-10 thumping over 6-3 West Georgia. They did beat Army 30-27, who happened to beat K State 24-21. The only other close game they have had this season was 52-42 over Southern Utah. Hoping to see a loss here, but Austin Peay may have a better shot of giving these guys an L in their last game. I get they are undefeated and have put up a ton of points, but they also haven’t played anyone. #3 Montana (8-0) @ Weber State (3-5) This has a Grizz win all over it, but a road game in the Big Sky … ya never know. Go Weber! #4 Montana St. (6-2) @ Northern Colorado (3-5) UNC may be 3-5, but they have showed improvement and come close in several games (Colorado State, South Dakota, Sac State, even UC Davis). A home game against the Cats seems like a great opportunity for an upset. Go Bears! #5 SDSU (7-1) vs Indiana State (2-6) I’m assuming Chase Mason won’t play in this one. I’m also assuming the bunnies don’t need Chase Mason to win. Though SDSU didn’t look like they could beat anyone last week. I’m assuming you will see a frustrated and angry SDSU team this week and they will take it out on the trees. SDSU defense looked awful last week, so I bet we see ISUblue score some points, but I’m sure SDSU will settle in and get the win. #6 UC Davis (6-1) vs Idaho State (2-6) Nothing to see here folks. While Davis hasn’t done anything to overly impress me, its ISU at home. Davis’s only loss is getting smoked 70-10 at Washington. It would have been nice to see how they would have finished against Mercer (15), but that game was cancelled. They have beat who they should beat but have done so by putting up points while also allowing a fair amount. Davis still has Montana State (4) and Sac State (RV) on their schedule. #7 Lehigh (8-0) vs Georgetown (5-3) Lehigh has won where they should, but I’m not sold based on my limited reading. Georgetown and Lafayette (RV) will be their toughest opponents left. It would be nice to see them get an L somewhere. It’s hard to take much away from an undefeated team, but SOS still doesn’t look to be anything compared to Valley teams. Personally, I’d have loved to see how they handle a team like Youngstown, because I think Beau would expose, but maybe I’m wrong and put on the MVFC glasses today.

Almost zero. I'd love it, but if they didn't go to Brookings, I don't see them going to GF. Though I do think UND and NDSU will be a better matchup than NDSU and SDSU was. I'm also not confident there is anyone with the college gameday space that would be willing to push for an FCS gameday. I know NDSU has had a few, but I would be surprised to see it happen, especially since it is in GF and not Fargo AND given some of the other options. That being said, I would LOVE to see it happen and it would certainly be great exposure. From what I can see the last FCS Gameday was #16 MT vs #3 MT ST in 2022. This would be a higher ranked interstate matchup, so who knows.

mid-week struggles during a great football season. Fortunately, by tomorrow there will be a new podcast to entertain me. Let's keep it going! haha

So, what do you do when you are at work and there is no new reading material leading up to a Saturday game against USD. You sift stats and come up with your own stuff. I think there is always some apprehension with USD because it is a familiar foe. There is a lot of history between these teams and history states the location and venue will play a factor in this matchup. Though the same could have been said last year and the bottom line is that UND was not a good enough football team last year. I think that will be the same case for USD this year. The biggest offensive factors to look at are RB and QB. QB - Aidan Bouman has shown what he is capable of in the past but has not played up to that level this season. He gets it done, but we have the far greater QB based on play this season. Defense needs to limit big passing plays, avoid PI penalties and create some turnovers. QB threw several interceptions to start the season but has not thrown one in a few weeks. RB - LJ Phillips has stepped in to the starting role and played at a very high level; currently #2 in the FCS for rushing yards (2 spots ahead of Beau Brungard). That being said, lets add some context to the numbers. In 9 games, Phillips has gone over 100 yards 5 times (with some real monster games). Of those 5 opponents 3 rank at the very bottom of the FCS in rushing D (#116 UNC, #123 Indiana St, #126 Murray St), Illinois St. is at #59 in rushing D and gave up 123 yards to Phillips but no TDs, while Drake comes in at a respectable #18 but has only played 7 games and plays in the Pioneer League which must be considered. Other notable stats: Scoring Offense: #9 UND (40 PPG) / #81 USD (21.9 PPG) Scoring Defense: #17 UND (18.62 PPG) / #53 USD (26.33 PPG) 3rd Down Conversion %: Slight edge to USD, but both teams about 40-41% 4th Down Conversion %: UND at 67% on 12 attempts / USD at 33% on 9 attempts Fewest Penalties: #7 UND (32 for 296 yds) / #75 USD (51 for 477 yds) *USD has played 1 extra game Turnover Margin: UND is +7 / USD is -2 (UND has more interceptions, but USD has fewer fumbles lost) Redzone efficiency: UND is #78 with .795 (44 Att; 35 Scores; 14 Rush TD; 17 Pass TD; 4 FGM) / USD is #11 with .926 (27 Att; 25 Scores; 10 Rush TD; 6 Pass TD; 9 FGM) Redzone Defense: #58 UND / #91 USD KO Returns: #4 UND (13 for 367 yds and 1 TD) / #67 USD (17 for 333 and 0 TD) To win the game you follow a similar formula to what we have already seen. Shut down their key playmaker in Phillips. Get an early lead and force them to throw the ball. I don't trust that Bouman is going to win this game for them with his arm. Philips has been dominant, but more so against terrible run D teams. We know NDSU is elite, but they held him to 38 yards and 0 TDs. Continue to spread the ball around ... they cannot cover everyone. Get SS going early, use X on passing plays but limit touches ... I'd rather see Langama get the ball and a healthy dose of Brunell in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Let Jerry do his thing ... take your shots on short yardage situations. Can we put together 4 full quarters? Can we capitalize in the red zone? Can we limit big plays? If you showed me stats, rankings, scores, opponents, etc. (without telling me the team) I would say that this should be a dominant win by the boys in green, comparable to UNI, but certainly not as difficult as Southern Illinois. That being said, it is USD on the road and we can all attest that there have been some strange matchups in the past. Even so, this is a new team under new leadership. They have shown they can compete consistently on the road and have bucked the road loss issue; so why not roll into Vermillion and dominate? I really do expect to see backups playing back the 4th quarter, but hopefully we see them in the mid to late 3rd. Should be a fun game to watch ... WIN BIG and STAY HEALTHY!!! JYD!!!

You do have to wonder if UND will give up some more points in one of these games. We have only given up 24 points twice this season. K State and Montana. South Dakota isn't in the neighborhood of either. Doesn't mean they couldn't click on a few big plays though.

Agreed. I think I'd be more willing to listed to using Romfo if we didn't have so many other tools. The fact is this team finally has a number of weapons, so there just isn't a need to work in gimmicks.

Agreed, I've been over the Caden Dennis thing for a while. I'm sure he is a great kid and works hard but I'd rather see a younger receiver get more looks. More Deng Deng, more Kristen Hoskins, more Kory Tai, more tight ends. I'm not big on Romfo lining up under center anymore either. He isn't the same type of player Brockstar was. I'm still not saying they couldn't find some sort of role for him, but it should be few and far between. Maybe I'll eat my words, and he will come up with a huge play at the right time, but who knows.

I want a lot of points, but more importantly I'd like to see 4 consistent quarters. If you play a full game, the points will happen. It would nice to see our backups play ALOT, and hopefully play well! Loved what I read about Schmidt wanting to build depth with experience and reps.

Has there been any word on how Higgins has looked? Any future potential with that kid? Wouldn't expect him to get any looks, just curious if he may have some potential to get snaps in the next year or so. Especially since Romfo is a Senior and we don't know what JTJ will do heading into next year.

100% Agreed! .....but why not number 6? He has some big fans on SS. (I'm just here to stir the pot! ) 😁

Have they said anything? Broken collarbone?

Yeah, Lou is ok to listen to on the radio at times, but he isn't my favorite. The amount of arrogance he exudes just rubs me the wrong way.

I think I asked this somewhere else, but I don't believe I ever saw an answer .... What happened to Hromadka? Started the season on fire and then I haven't heard his name. Is he injured, or are they trying to limit snaps to retain his redshirt?

To be fair, the only Minnesota thing was pretty darn awesome and only helped fuel rivalries and fan bases. But that was then and this is now. The recruiting landscape has changed so much, it just isn't feasible anymore. They can still load up with Minnesotans, but they shouldn't be afraid to look outside of the state or dip into Canada. For fans who don't like it ... winning solves a lot of problems.

Maybe so, but I've seen nothing from Dennis to justify keeping him out there over some of these other guys. He has had a few flashes over the years, and I'll give this to the kid, he can take a hit and bounce back, but I'd rather see Deng Deng get some more jump balls or back should passes. Also hoping we start seeing more out of Hoskins. I think either of them have more upside. I'm not opposed to a few special packages to include Romfo, but I wouldn't want to lean too heavy on it.

"Good game!" .... That awkward moment where you have to shake the hand of the guy you just fired.

NDSU has made a lot of right decisions on coaching over the years. Hard to hate on most of them with the exception of Entz. Absolutely could not stand that guy! The rest seem likeable enough, but Entz always came across like an arrogant jerk.

Glad to see hockey back on TV for the year! UND played well and without going into X's and O's, they definitely passed the eye test for me. Plenty to work on and clean up for sure, but with the number of new players, the number of young players, a new coach, and a variety of other changes .... I liked what I saw. This could certainly change and I'm far from ready to crown us, or anyone, champs ... but over the years there have been plenty of teams that have talent but still don't pass the eye test. I was impressed with what I saw on Saturday (granted it was against Manitoba), but there already seems to be some good chemistry on this team and it is soooo early. Plenty of time to build more and grow as a group.

One of the best articles I have read! Great stuff!

Practice jerseys should still have a Sioux logo on them. Just my opinion.

Isn't Fleck 6-0 in bowl games? Granted most of them are garbage bowl games.

..... BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!! oh, actually that's about it.

Couldn't agree more. I suppose it just comes down to what the kid is looking for. Maybe location plays a factor. MN is a lot closer for family than ND is. Also agree on Fleck. I'm not the biggest fan. Not that he has done horrible, but apart from 1 year, he hasn't done a lot either. Comes across as too much of a cheap car salesman, but to each their own.

A road win is required here, but I'd like to see them go in and absolutely piss pound UNI. Leave no doubt and keep climbing the polls. After two close losses, we can't squeak by here. I think this needs to be a bit of a show of dominance to set the tone for Valley play and for road games going forward.

How's our injury report this week? Are we getting some people back? I thought I hear that all TEs should be back for UNI. Has Hromadka been hurt? Or are they just not playing him to retain redshirt eligibility? I just haven't heard his name called or read anything.