GoAgs72

Well, Northern Colorado is losing to Weber State 10-0 right now so we will be putting all of our eggs in one basket.

You definitely deserved the win. Congrats!

The Aggie are handing this game to you. Poor time management, mental mistakes, etc. I would not base the rest of your season on winning this game. The Aggies are just not very good. You do have some good defensive players, though, and that will win some games.

On the Aggie board I asked if I should mow the lawn or wash the car. Others suggested Lowe's or Bed, Bath and Beyond since there's no Aggie football being played.

Now you see why almost no Aggies were predicting a win. Still looking at a 0-11 or 1-10 season.

I don't think this will be a blow-out in either direction. Massey rates North Dakota as 45 and the Aggies as 67 with a predicted score of UND 27, UC Davis 24. Sagarin ranks UND at 186 and UC Davis at 173. Both teams need a win and UND was one of our must wins for even a half-way decent season but then so was South Dakota and we blew that one.

Offense: The offense is led by Junior QB Ben Scott who, for the season so far, has completed 63.6% of his passes for 705 yards (235 per game). He looked good in his two outings against FBS opponents (Nevada-Reno and Hawaii) but struggled against South Dakota, where he threw all 3 of his interceptions. He performed very well when he took over half way through last season and Aggie fans are excited about his development. Since the departure of star RB Gabe Manzanares, the position has switched to a committee format. Our lead back is Jumior Manusamoa Luuga who is averaging 3.2 per carry, but only averages 51.7 yards per game. Luuga is also prominent in the receiving game. Our other main RB that is getting playing time is Freshman Josh Kelley. He is looking very promising as a future featured RB. He's averaging near 5 yards per carry and has had several impressive runs so far this season. We have a couple of receivers that have the ability to be nightmares for DBs, but they haven't been as consistent as Aggies fans would like. Our leading receiver right now is Junior Chris Martin who has posted back to back 100 yard games. He is a burner and has the ability to get separation down field for huge gains. Our other guy is Junior Ramon Vargas. Last season he took the field by storm mid season, posting several 100 yard games in the second half of the season. He hasn't been as productive this season so far, but he'll put some yards on you if coverage isn't there. Defense: The defense doesn't really have any superstars to speak of, but they are looking to improve. Our leading tackler right now is Junior LB Russell Reeder. Freshman Safety Ryan Parenteau has broken into the lineup and got his first start of the season against Hawaii, where he had 6 tackles and a forced fumble. We have been able to force 5 sacks in 3 games led by Senior DT Kyle DeVaughn with 2. We seem to be struggling overall with forcing turnovers as we have only been able to get 1 interception and recover 2 fumbles. Our most glaring weakness right now is our ability to stop the run, opponents are averaging 222.7 yards per game against us. One of our up and coming CBs, Sophomore Isiah Olave, was injured pretty badly against Hawaii. Special Teams: Our special teamers have been doing a pretty decent job so far this year. Our FG kicker is Senior Brady Stuart. Last year he was absolutely abysmal, bad enough to the point where we just started going for it on 4th downs instead of even attempting kicks. So far this year, he is 100%, making 4/4 kicks but he has not really been tested with crazy long kicks. Our guy handling kick offs is Junior Eric Kreitz who is averaging about 62 yards a boot. Our Punter is Junior Colby Wadman who has been handling the position ever since star Colton Schmidt (now with the Buffalo Bills) graduated. He can really boom them if necessary; his long is right around the 60 yard mark, but his touch is also top notch. We don't really have anything much of a punt return game, but we do decently well in kick returns which is headed by the aforementioned Freshman RB Josh Kelley and Junior CB Nate Walker. Here's to a good game Saturday!

I will work on the overview. Two FBS games - must only be for money because we could have scheduled some FCS teams. Even other Big Sky teams as part of the non-conference schedule. Many of us question playing FBS if we ever want to get in the FCS playoffs.

The Aggies played well in losing to Nevada-Reno and Hawaii. They played very poorly with no game plan and zero energy against South Dakota. I have very little confidence in this team right now - the quality of players is pretty good but the coaching staff is not up to par. Coach Gould even said he was "befuddled" - in fact twice (after both South Dakota and Hawaii). If the coach doesn't know what's happening who does? Right now, many of us are picking Northern Colorado as our only win. However, some individual players are top-notch so they may shine in any one game.

I voted annually. You're natural rivals. UC Davis and Sac State play every year even though for many years we were in different conferences. The same for Cal Poly. Attracts a larger crowd and increases interest in both teams. What other rivalry on your board would create 157 pages of responses?

Well at least you could enjoy the weather and the Aggie Band-uh. Manzanares, our RB, some nice special teams play and some turnovers made the difference. Good luck on your coaching search - we just went through that and hopefully we're turning the corner.

In the past, there has been a good turn-out of UND fans at Davis. I hope that's the case because we really need to boost attendance which has been to 6000 even after school started. The forecast is for our usual California football weather - it will be sunny and about 70 degrees.

Randy Wright, the Aggies four-year starter at QB is setting a number of Aggie passing records but you will find him the most inconsistent record-setter you've ever seen. If the Aggies win, it will probably get down to rushing and defense. If Wright plays the good game is capable of, it will be a long day for UND. If Wright has a terrible day, which he is also capable of, you will have two INT's and four sacks and see a lot of passes over- or under-thrown. Watch Manzanares at RB - he is monster who came out of nowhere this year as a walk-on.

UC Davis, Cal Poly and Sac State all have reduced attendance this year, probably due to the less than stellar on-field results. Of the teams that moved up about the same time, I think UNC has suffered the most. UC Davis and North Dakota are about in the same boat. The Bison are a different story, but they did have at least one terrible year. South Dakota State has made progress and South Dakota is starting to make some noise. The Big Sky is a tough conference and to move into the top 3 or 4 takes time. The Aggies have started the process by getting a new coach this year with FBS experience and our rushing game (a traditional weak point) has improved tremendously.

Having seen the Aggie/North Dakota in person, neither team deserved to win the game but the Aggies tried harder to lose it so they deserve the loss. It at least meant something for North Dakota to win. If this is the best the Great West can come up with, and I'm talking about all five teams- then I fear for next year. The four of us in the Big Sky are going to be to fighting with Weber State, Northern Arizona, Portland State and Sac State for the also-ran title. We can at least hope to beat Northern Colorado and Idaho State. A number of us were beginning to hope that the game didn't go into overtime because it was BORING.

We have actually done worse since getting the new stadium. Our old Toomey Field which was a glorified high school stadium was much kinder to us.

This will probably spark some discussion, but how in the heck did NDSU get to #1 in the FCS when UC Davis, South Dakota State and Northern Colorado moved up about the same time and haven't done so well? They were all good D2 teams. Even Cal Poly hasn't gotten close to being #1. I'm sure you have more insight than we do on the Pacific Coast. Is it coaching, funding or what?

The threat of rain has backed off - looks like cloudy with a high of 60 degrees and light wind in Davis.

UC Davis played as a team in D2. Sometimes it feels like we're not a team but a bunch of individuals now. I think it all starts with coaching - attitude, motivation, conditioning, playbook. We have the people to get the job done - witness Cal Poly game, but not the consistency - as at SUU. The game this weekend really rests upon which Davis team shows up and even we can't predict that. You are sandwiched in between Cal Poly and Sac State so that may be in your favor. All in all, at least we're not Northern Colorado.

I envy North Dakota having another game left. Put a fork in us - we are done at 6-5. I did post my first predictions for 2010 and I have North Dakota beating the Aggies just because of your home-field advantage.

There were quite a few Sioux fans last year - more than I would have expected. The visitors section is about the ten yard line. Most diehard Aggie fans who aren't current students sit in section 120 which is near the visitor's section. Many of us are along about rows P and Q.

The weather for Saturday is still predicted to be 60 deg high and sunny but with the added complication of wind gusts up to 22 mph. It might impact the Aggies' passing game.

Sometimes it's not the quality of the opponent, but whether you're mentally prepared with this game being sandwiched between Cal Poly and UC Davis. We overlooked Western Washington a few years ago and lost at home.