UND-FB-FAN

Apparently QB Johnson is going to make a huge difference this season. And their defense must be quite improved also. Looks like Montana is back to their old self, which isn't good for UND.

Winning the Big Sky is going to be one heck of a feat this season. Montana State is darn good like we already knew, but Montana is evidently back as their victory over Appalachian State proved and Eastern Washington downed a ranked FBS team to prove they're no joke either. It's very possible UND could be 2-4 going into week 8 of the season (Week 4 of the Big Sky conference schedule). Hope Mussman and Co. prove me wrong!

If UND wins: 1) Offense has big day through the air connecting to Hardin, Golladay, Jackson and company, and forces SDSU to play catch-up 2) Defense contains Zenner and forces SDSU to throw If SDSU wins: 1) Zenner goes off for another big game on the ground 2) UND's young QBs struggle with turnovers and the UND running game can't get going Those are the simple keys to the game in my opinion: UND's passing game and SDSU's running game

Congratulations to NDSU and their football team - they have a darn good one. Not only are the players talented, but they are also extremely well coached, which I find to be the most impressive component of their team. As far as FCS football goes in the Dakotas, NDSU has set the bar very high. If UND football wants to make progress and start climbing the stairs so to speak, they could help out their fan base with a win against South Dakota State this weekend. No more moral victories along with stagnant seasons; time to produce! Since moving up to DI, UND football has yet to have a season or a signature victory that truthfully can make their supporters/alumni proud. I find that to be quite concerning, but I'm hopeful this is the season we break through.

Well, nothing but respect for NDSU's program and coach Bohl. As a realist, a football fan, and a lifelong native of North Dakota, what NDSU just did and has recently done is quite spectacular.

Intro was spot on. Crowd was really into it when the team hit the field. No complaints here. Now just need to have a good turnout and a lot of volume DURING the game next week vs. the bunny rabbits.

Thoughts on game: 1) I thought Bartels looked better than Mollberg. Of course, Bartels played longer with the first team offense. Bartels should be the starter going into the South Dakota St. game and if he plays well, I think he should be named the starter for the rest of the season. 2) Running game looked okay against inferior competition but I just can't get over how small and light-weight Miller and Garmin are. Just like I thought last year, I think Sparks and Shaugabay should play a lot more. 3) Defense still needs to improve against the run. Too many long runs right up the middle tonight. Right now, I'd predict Zenner goes off for well over 150 yds next weekend. 4) Special teams looked very weak. On the one long snap for a punt, it was low and bobbled. And Garmin produced the only turnover of the game with an all to characteristic muff on a punt return. Golladay or someone else needs to be a punt returner full time and Larson needs work on his snaps. Even ol' reliable Zeb Miller missed a field goal. In a more positive note, Hardin and Golladay were awesome returning kicks and punts, respectively. Next weekend, with the hopeful return of Jameer Jackson, I feel our only chance to pull out the upset vs. SDSU is to pass all over their defense and "contain" their running game. Tonight didn't prove to me we can consistently stop the run and run the ball on offense. Bartels did look good though. I'm still hopeful though that we can get a big win on Sept. 7th.

Update: Jackson wasn't running routes with the team in the Alerus so it looks like he won't be playing tonight. Hope he's still on the team...

They won't have the homecoming game against Eastern Washington in HD either because hockey is at home against Vermont. That's cute I guess...

Umm, yeah, builds excitement in the building for both the fans and the players. If the fans get excited then the players get excited also. Last year's entrance video barely got the fans off their feet. It was just too quiet and the song (Back in Black) didn't fit as a "build-up" song.

I certainly agree. NDSU is a "football university" whereas UND is a "hockey university"; there's really no way around that. Now, with that said, I am a bigger football fan than hockey fan and I most certainly would love to see UND just win a single FCS national championship in the next decade. Unfortunately, I will have to see it to believe it. UND has been nothing but mediocrity ever since they moved up to DI; NDSU showed signs of dominance early on in their transition. In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure what the exact reason for that is. Perhaps NDSU's Bohl is that great of a coach, or maybe the emphasis on football down there makes the difference, I don't know. But one thing is certain, NDSU has their sh*t together and UND is working on doing that. I'm a realist and for that reason I'll be the first one, even as a die-hard UND fan/alumni, to admit that. Now, getting to this season, given the 2013 schedule with those 7 home games, it should be playoffs or bust for the UND football team. I don't care if we have a redshirt freshman QB, we have quite possibly the best receiving corps in all of FCS football and 7 home games!! All we need to do it go 2-2 against SDSU, Montana, Montana State, and Eastern Washington - if we do that, we're in the driver seat. If we go 1-3, I'll be one of the first people on here to voice my displeasure. A short while back, possibly last spring, Faison even voiced his opinion in that we, as fans and supporters, should be seeing results this season given the schedule the athletic department came up with for the football team. If we go 2-2 against SDSU, Montana, Montana State, and EWU, we would be 4-2 with presumed wins against Valpo and Idaho St.; furthermore, we would be allowed to lose only one or two more games to still have a shot at the playoffs. Bottom line: I expect 7-4 or 8-3 this season along with playoffs. If those two wins during the "grind stretch" are against MSU and EWU, we have a chance to win the Big Sky due to the fact Montana is a non-conference game. Now, as you can see, there are so many scenarios here but they all end up the same: get into the playoffs! I'm tired of mediocrity and Mussman and crew should be looking to change that. I'll refrain from mentioning the word "remove" or "fire" or "relived of duties" until after we've played Eastern Washington - I, as well as everyone else, will have a very good idea where this season is going at that time. GO UND Hopeful 2013 FCS Playoff Participant

Just need a song that builds excitement in the building, not only for the fans but also the players. It shouldn't be that hard to come up with. By this time, the intro video is likely already revised and solidly in place for tomorrow nights game; I just hope they fixed what they needed to and got it right. Personally, I think Enter Sandman or Boom would nicely. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J_P7o10EBk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqWZqQXk_Ao

Valpo is good for the schedule because they are a lower-tier team that will allow UND to ease into the major grind that is this season's schedule. Four of the next five games are against ranked teams, so playing a non-scholarship FCS team will allow the young players to get into a rhythm and see how game day goes while also working out the kinks on the overall units (offense, defense, special teams). Not to mention, Valpo is still an FCS team and not a pitiful D2 team like we have scheduled in the past, so a win against Valpo still counts towards the FCS playoffs. I believe a single lower-tier FCS team to start the year is perfectly fine for the aforementioned reasons, especially this year considering the strength of our schedule after the Valpo game (SDSU, Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, NAU, and Sacramento State are darn good teams).

Both QBs will see considerable playing time. Whoever plays the best, should be named the starter for the rest of the season. If the SDSU game is set-up as a QB audition and both are rotating, neither player will get into a rhythm and SDSU will win handily. Also, it's important either Bartels or Mollberg plays the majority/all of the SDSU and Montana games so that they are best prepared for the conference schedule. So, nobody should be alarmed when both QBs play a ton in this game vs. Valpo, but if Mollberg and Bartels are still splitting time against SDSU, UND will lose.

Pick a QB and go with it. If UND is playing musical chairs with the QBs during the SDSU game, they will lose handily. If Bartels is the guy, then let him prepare and lead the offense like he's the guy. Playing SDSU, Montana, and Montana State in a row after Valpo does not allow UND to be complacent - they must allow one guy to grow and gain experience so that when the conference schedule begins with MSU, UND has put themselves in the best position. I just hope that Mollberg realizes his importance on this team and still stays with UND despite Bartels winning the job. Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling that we might see both QBs play considerable time against SDSU and neither will be given the chance to get into a rhythm. Result: Interceptions and a loss See 2012 Eastern Washington game

I know many kids from eastern North Dakota within the age group of 18 to 25, and like most competitive kids at that age, they are largely attracted to winners. I'd estimate that 9 out of 10 of those kids would have NDSU football as their number one choice before UND football. The only way I could see a football recruit from eastern North Dakota choosing UND over NDSU is if the kid has connections to UND, through possibly their family, or they wish to pursue a degree that NDSU does not offer. When you've won the last two FCS national championships, you rightfully will get a lot of support. That is the case right now in eastern North Dakota; most kids like the winning side of things and are largely convinced NDSU has the "better" program. Personally, I'm a large supporter of UND academics and athletics and could never see myself having that mindset, but most North Dakota kids I know going through the recruiting process have a different mindset. Once UND is again consistently making playoff appearances and NDSU falls back to mediocrity, recruit preferences will likely change also.

It certainly CAN be confused with the Notre Dame logo, but I think it is differentiated enough to stand on its own. I mean, there are different colors, one is old school whereas another is certainly a newer font, and one is interlocking whereas the other isn't. Its like saying it is common to get mixed up between the Grambling, University of Georgia, and Green Bay logos. [ If youre not color blind, you can easily distinguish those logos! Color, font, and style all distinguish UND's logo from Notre Dames. There are several situations where only color is the distinguisher. I think the interlocking ND is fine and perfectly separable.

Discussing NDSU's situations should certainly be something we CAN discuss, considering they are the other North Dakota FCS football team and the reigning FCS National Champion. Maybe I'm mistaken, but since we can create multiple threads, shouldn't we be able to still discuss NDSU football issues, being that 90 percent of North Dakota kids would rather play football for NDSU right now than UND. I find that to be an issue. If NDSU falters, UND will benefit some from that. Ultimately, UND and NDSU are connected since they both are based in the state of North Dakota and compete for the same recruits and local support. Pretending that UND and NDSU are now completely disconnected and no longer competing in ways off the field is extreme ignorance.

Mollberg has been performing better in practice and he's the local kid - just give him the reins and move forward! Using the first game as an audition is very unconventional. Mollberg should get the opportunity to prepare for a game as the starter before going into the SDSU week. The more this QB situation goes in circles and no decision is made, the more I worry the SDSU game could be an ugly one.

He can throw the ball well, but I'm sure Kotelnicki would rather force SDSU to throw the ball with Sumner than have Zenner consistently break off huge gains on the ground like we saw last year's UND defense give up.

SDSU played NDSU tough last year in the FargoDome, so I expect them to handle the Alerus Center crowd/noise with little to no problems; not to mention, UND's run defense is porous relative to NDSU's run defense. This game will be a great early indication of how the season will go. If UND can pull off this game, or even just play the Jacks tough, then this season could be a decent to good one. I predict UND will need to hit a lot of big plays through the air in order to pull off this game; fortunately, with G. Hardin, J. Jackson, K. Golladay and company, that is certainly possible. Put up over 35 points on the board and a running team, even one as good as SDSU, will have trouble putting up enough points to win.

What I remember from attending practices in years past (haven't been able to attend one this year), Kotelnicki always seemed to have that fire to him and would let players know, quite aggressively if needed, what he was thinking. I think all great coaches need to have that kind of attitude or at least be able to show some fire when it's necessary.

Football >>>> Hockey.

I think there are several players that could develop into big time defenders. Last year, Garrison Goodman showed glimpses of excellence against the run but he just couldn't stay healthy. If can stay on the field this year, #53 could easily lead the team in tackles. A few younger players who could make an impact and help the defense take a step forward this year are LB Brian Labat, LB Taj Rich, and S Javen Butler. A defensive recruit to look out for is LB Kyle Norberg, the kid who could've walked-on and played fullback at Iowa.

I like to see consistency, and because these away jerseys are the same style and colors as the home jerseys, I give these jerseys an A grade. No team, pro or DI college, has a different jersey style for their home and away. The only team in the Big Sky last year that did that was UND, and it just screamed "cheap, cheap, cheap!". I was hoping for the same style and the black to be white (for away obviously), green to remain green, and the white trim to now be black trim. I see all that I expected happened, and because of that I am very happy with these jerseys. The team will now APPEAR like a top FCS football team, now lets just see them PLAY like one too!!