Westside

Kinda like the ol' "Hey coach, wrong ball..." play

Belmore is a Jr, he'll be back next year.

But... does Kolpack reach the NCAA minimum height requirement for cheerleading participation?

IF Sutton does miss the rest of the season, is there any opportunity for a Medical Redshirt? Being he's only played in 2 games this year.

Exactly... It's hard to argue w/ 18 Sioux victories in the last 20 contests against USD. Including 4 in a row & both FCS games. UND's offense is starting to click & I like our running game against the Yotes defense. Murray will be hard to stop. Added bonus if Sutton is back on the field. Close game as always in Vermillon, but the Sioux will earn #19 outta 21.

Do they run the University buses to The Alerus from campus on game days? This could be a pretty easy way to increase student attendance, if it's not being done already. Make it easy for them to get to the Alerus. (and don't search their backpacks when they get on the bus ) It was great just walking over to Memorial back in the day. Granted, we ended up at Judy's mid 3rd quarter, but we still made every game. I was pretty disappointed to walk through the Alerus tailgate lot last year's homecoming game & see so few students. Bottom line is you gotta make it an "event" & entertaining for the students to show up now. Winning always helps too...

USD opens the game w/ a 7+min TD drive. 7-0 Yotes.

Hardin 3rec for 161yds. 3 td's. Wow!

Well, this should stop all the talk of the SBoHE bias towards UND. I can't imagine there are too many Fighting Sioux or Bison fans that are too happy w/ the SBoHE the past few months.

Is there a link? I looked on the Herald & Bismarck Tribune & didn't see anything. What is the "source"?

Yeah, Hellevang will be missed. UND has been pretty fortunate with the position the last few years (Peterka, Glas & Hellevang). Go ask a Bison fan what happens when you don't have a reliable kicker. Hopefully Cameron can continue the tradition of great Sioux kickers.

Sac St. actually has both Oct 16 & Nov 20 open. It would be good to get a series going against a Big Sky team & obviously the Wanless connection could help. I'm guessing since UND has 5 home & 5 away games schedule, we'd really like to get that 6th home game.

Highly unlikely that UND would go after any players from either school. Both teams get the majority of their players from the East Coast (with some CA & FL) and I really don't see alot of the players wanting to transfer to any school in the upper Midwest. It might be possible to pick up a non-conference game with one of their opponents. We'd have to see what open dates work.

Thanks for clarifying the transition rule... I should've read back in the thread a bit to see that. I like where UND is going w/ the FBS games we have in the next few years. Obviously, Faison is using his WAC connections. Hopefully we can also get some Mountain West games outta it as well, as most of them are former WAC members, along w/ a few Conference USA teams that were in the WAC. UND should be able to compete w/ many of these teams. I don't like the idea of going to "body bag" games against upper level SEC, Big 10, Big 12 teams, just yet. Maybe after our transition is over. I do understand the big paychecks always are enticing & we did hold our own against TT. But I'd like to see these kept to a minimum for the next few years. Although some of the lower teams from FBS-bid Conferences would be great. But, the Alabama's, Ohio State's, etc just don't seem realistic right now to me. If it's true that SDSU & UND both have Nov. 20th open next yr, then let's make it happen. 2 for 1, 1 & done, I don't care as long as we get a 2011 game.

No way in hell UND ever faces Alabama, especially in 2010. For one, GSU's head coach Bill Curry was the head coach at Bama in the late 80's. The only reason GSU got the game & the $400k payout is because of him. Curry has ties w/ the Bama AD from his days there & at Georgia Tech. Secondly, isn't UND still considered a transitioning FCS so a victory over us wouldn't count towards Bama's bowl eligibility or BCS #'s, just like a victory over GSU??? Not that Bama has to worry about bowl-eligiblity but I'd think the BCS #'s would be very important being they should be a top 3 team next yr, if not the preseason#1. Bama is expected to return at least 11 starters next yr. I'm not sure the beatdown they would put on us is even worth the $400k paycheck. I'm all for a GSU game though.

I like the idea of all 4 playing each other... Great rivalries, bordering states, all similiar universities. Plus, short travel (helps w/ expenses)& can generate a lot of regional insterest. Hopefully this can all happen in a few years if UND & USD can get into the MVFC eventually. Or even playing non-conf games between the 4. Obviously, playing for the Nickel is very important. Seems like the Dakota Marker trophy has also helped increase the rivalry between the SU's. UND & USD played for the Sitting Bull trophy until 1999, when it was retired for PC reasons. I'd like to see a new trophy started for the SIoux-Yotes game. I'm not sure a traveling trophy between the 4 is too feasible, but if it could happen I'm all for it... anything to get these rivalries renewed again.

There may be some truth to this, I don't know. But, I really don't think NDSU would enter a 4-game contract w/ USD though, especially playing 2 in Vermillion. It probably won't be for a few years anyways. I'd like to see UND start playing some MVFC teams as well. It doesn't have to be NDSU right away. Aside from the top 3 in the MVFC, the rest of the conference seems pretty mediocre this yr. UND could definitely compete against any of them. Whats stopping us from getting future games against the SDSU Bunnies & renewing that series?

I think getting Miller would be huge. He absolutely tore up ND AAA the last 2 yrs. I'd like to see him stay at RB... he has great moves & really follows his blocks well. Hopefully, if he ends up here, he'll put on 20+ lbs during the redshirt yr. Depending on position needs, he could be a great WR. The kid is a playmaker whenever he touches the ball.

Ouch, SDSU's O'Brien fumbles Gophers with ball at SDSU 10.

Man, Weber is terrible!!! This is a terrible offensive football game on both sides. I'd like to see the Bunnies pull this out though... their D is impressive.

I agree that there are lots of factors causing the low attendance this year... The poor performances, no-name opponents, only 2 conference home games & only 1 "rivalry" game (USD) have definetly hurt. I think the marketing efforts definetly need to be stepped up across all the region. I'd say a 100 mile radius of GF in ND & MN. I live in Fargo & try to make it up for all the football games I can. A few years ago, there were Sioux billboards for football, m & w basketball & hockey all over Fargo. I haven't seen any the last couple of years. I also remember seeing the UND pocket schedules in various businesses across town & those aren't around anymore either. There are alot of Sioux alum & fans here, so I definitely think a bigger marketing presence would help, especially football... I'm not saying people from Fargo are going fill the Alerus every game, but there are enough Sioux fans here that it couldn't hurt. Plus, UND marketing in Fargo really pisses off the Bison faithful, so it's a double win! I think the Athletic Dept needs to reach out to the alumni more as well. I receive the Alumni Review & various other info from the Alumni Association all the time. But, I have never received anything from the Atheltic Dept or the Fighting Sioux Club. I would think they could send out season schedules, season ticket order forms, Fighting Sioux Club membership/donation forms, etc to alum in a 100 mile radius. These are the people that can make a quick day-trip to a football game. More than anything, I think the poor perfomances & non-recognizable opponents is what really has hurt attendance this year. We weren't worried about attendance in the past. So hopefully, this is just 1 down year. And what is up w/ the tailgating??? That was the worst homecoming tailgate I've seen in the last 10 years. I've been to 3 games this yr & the tailgate is dead... The students don't even show, something is definetly wrong when the students won't even show up to drink beer.

I've heard that UND has interest in or offered Jake Miller (RB Bismarck)... Anyone know if this is true? Any details?

Great post RD17... I had been wondering how SDSU got to where they are this year based on their mediocre past. I've said all year that if the Bunnies can do it, there is absolutely no reason why UND can't. We all knew there would be ups & downs with the transition. The program just needs to ride everything out & stay committed to their long-term plan. Yes, there have been a couple disappointing performances this yr, but I also really like what I saw in an inspired performance against USD & a come back win against a good Cal Poly team. I think that team showed alot of heart against CP, bouncing back after 2 disappointing games. We have to remember that this is a very young football team, playing an increased level of competition. Since the early/mid 90's UND has produced a tradition of excellence... We became accustomed to conference championships, deep playoff runs, contending for Nat'l Championships, minimum of 8-9 win seasons, etc. We never saw 20+ pt losses & .500 teams (exception of '02). I think the fans just need to realize that FCS is quite a step up & we weren't guaranteed the success of D2 just by stepping on the field. Now if the .500 seasons & disappointing losses continue to happen for 2 more years, then we'll have cause for concern. Do you I wish we were undefeated this year??? Hell yes!!! But, everyone needs to be realistic through the transition. In this 2nd yr of transition, I'd much rather be in UND's position than USD's. I think the Sioux have definitely played a better schedule, had more quality wins & I feel the program in just in a better state than Coyotes... Better campus, facilties, tradition. I saw USD lost to Northern Colorado on Saturday... Ouch!!! Plus, we've pretty much owned them the last 15 years!