fightingsioux4life

Well, it looks like a repeat of last year's playoff setup for our squad. A first round game at home, then a trip to Allendale to end the season (unless Omaha or GVSU lose a game down the stretch). And if the season ended today, South Dakota would probably get bumped out in favor of Winona State because of that "earned access" crap. But a lot of things could happen between now and playoff selection time.

Good points, but let's not forget the history of this program under Behrns. After a big win like this, the Mavs will sometimes go on to lose a game that they absolutely should not lose. In 2004, they lost to Mankato on the last day of the regular season and missed the playoffs. In 2001, they beat UND in the Alerus Center and then proceeded to lose their last two regular season games. They limped into the playoffs and lost at Pittsburg State. I don't know if they have won a single playoff game during the Behrns era. Pat Behrns has become the Denny Green of D-II football! Do they have the talent this year to change that? Yes. But I will believe it when I see it. And I wouldn't count out our squad just yet. I wrote us off in 2004 after we lost to UNO in Omaha and look what we accomplished after that. If UND can win their last three games (@ UMD, St. Cloud, @ USD) they will have at least one home game (more if UNO or GVSU get knocked off during the next couple of weeks). The road will be tough, but not impossible.

On Saturday, it was the offense not cashing in on golden opportunities. But over most of 2007, its been the defense that hasn't lived up to its usual high standards of excellence. If the defense could just cut out the big plays, the numbers would look a lot better.

I think this statement is a little more accurate if you replace 2005 with 2004. The 2004 team had the defense and special teams to win it all, but (outside of Dressler) didn't have enough offensive talent to pull it off. The 2005 team had a little of everything until that devestating loss to Omaha in the Alerus. They never recovered from that mentally or emotionally. I am not really a fan of adding JUCOs unless they are used to fill obvious, glaring holes. And you have to be careful of which JUCO kids you add. Some of them are JUCOs because of character issues or academic issues or because they quit their original school of choice because they didn't want to earn their playing time. Lennon won't put up with any of that garbage. If you can find good JUCO kids, then it can be a benefit. I think with the move up to DI FCS, Lennon will look more closely at JUCO talent.

I have had some of the same thoughts concerning the defense. I am not buying this argument that we are young and therefore will struggle all season long because of it. We have had young defenses before and performed much better than this (1993: 10 out of 11 new starters and our defense carried the team to the NCAA Semifinals). I also find it hard to believe that our recruiting of defensive talent has suddenly gone bad after years of landing top talent. Teams used to fear our defense. Now all they have to do is bide their time and wait for the inevitable big play (run or pass). On Saturday, we were solid 95% of the time, but it was the other 5% that ruined an otherwise solid performance. I don't think it's a coincidence that as soon as we went to this Co-Defensive Coordinator arrangement that the defense has gotten more vanilla than it used to be. I felt that the gameplan against Mankato was too conservative and too passive against a really good QB and receivers. Rushing three and putting eight into coverage just doesn't work if you have an accurate QB who can move in the pocket and find someone open almost every time. In football (just like the military), having two leaders at the same position just doesn't work very well. As the Bible verse goes, you can only serve one master. Lennon should pick one of these guys to be defensive coordinator and reassign the other one. I am sure they are doing the best they can, but I just don't think having co-coaches of anything works very well.

I don't know if I agree with this statement. In 2001, we lost to Behrns and company at home and went on to win the national title. In 2002, we lost to them again but that whole season was a disaster anyway. In 2003, the Sioux won in the Alerus Center and made it to the NCAA Title Game. In 2004, we lost in Omaha but made it to the National Semifinals. In 2005, Omaha basically ruined our season with that come-from-behind win at the Alerus. 2006 featured a loss to Omaha in the regular season and a win in the playoffs, both on the road. And in the years before 2001, our teams really weren't good enough in some key areas to win a national title or go deep into the playoffs, whether we beat Omaha in those years or not. With the exception of 2005, I don't think Omaha has single-handedly ruined our conference and/or NCAA title hopes. We have had much, much more success in the postseason over the past 6 years or so than Omaha has ever had under Behrns. Our annual war is the Super Bowl for Omaha. Our Super Bowl happens much, much later in the season. Maybe this year will be different, but it's probably too soon to tell.

LET'S GO SIOUX! I need to try and forget the football game today!

We had our chances in the first half (two or three potential touchdowns) and we didn't convert. UNO left Dressler open way too often in the first half, but we didn't take full advantage of it. In a game like this, you will only get "X" number of chances to score points and we didn't take advantage. UNO always saves their best game for us, so you have to be clicking on all cylinders to win. Today, we weren't. The defense played well in the second half, but once again gave up some big plays that ultimately made a difference in the outcome. The 80+ yard touchdown we gave up on the second play of the game set the tone for the entire game. Some of the missed tackles cost us time and field position in the second half. You have to play solid and fundamentally sound for 60 minutes in games like this and we had some breakdowns that cost us. I don't think anyone fears the Sioux defense anymore (man, I never thought I would say those words and mean it! ). All the injuries we have to the linebackers right now don't help either. Special teams was pretty good for the most part, but we gave up that one kickoff that set up Omaha's third touchdown. Kickoff coverage has been a little spotty this season. I know that the season isn't over and that if we run the table during our next three games (at Duluth, St. Cloud, at South Dakota) we will get a good playoff seed and at least one home game. But I just don't know if this defense is good enough to make a run in the postseason. We have to cut out the big plays that we have been giving up this season. If we don't, any future playoff matchup with Omaha will end up being The Brian McNeil and Zach Miller Show once again. On to Duluth (in two weeks). GO SIOUX, DOWN BUT NOT OUT!

I've heard this before and I am not buying it as an excuse. Both the teams playing in the Alerus today could kick butt on a lot of DI FCS teams. So could Grand Valley State. So could Northwest Missouri State. So could some of those Gulf South Conference teams (North Alabama). The problems of attendance at our home games are related to poor marketing and lack of TV coverage (today is an exception). If those things don't improve, the same problems will persist next year and beyond.

Alum (class of 1998 and 2000) living in Grand Forks and working at UND. Member of Fighting Sioux Club (Coaches Club Level) and season ticket holder for hockey and football. Not a bad situation to be in!

The situation with Bobby Stroup is an interesting one. Lennon says he is "borderline", which means he is close to coming back but might not be back for Saturday. So this begs the question: With Saturday's game being as big as it is, do you play Stroup with the chance he could hurt himself all over again and be out for the year or do you rest him and take your chances with your other linebackers? My answer is that you should rest him. As big as the Omaha game is, it isn't the last game of the year. We could lose and still be in the hunt for a good playoff seed. We have a bye next week, then we are off to Duluth for another tough conference road game. Then it's back to Grand Forks for a tilt with St. Cloud, who is down this year but always gives us a battle. Then we close the regular season at South Dakota in what looks to be a high scoring game in the Dakotadome. If you give Stroup another two weeks of rest, there's a good chance he will be back at full strength (or close to it) for the Duluth game. If you play him and he gets hurt again, you may never get him back this season. And if we don't have Stroup for the stretch drive, I think our NCAA title hopes are sunk. What does everyone else think?

There really is no excuse for the Alerus Center not to be sold out for this game. The top regional ranking is on the line. Playoff positioning is on the line. The NCC Championship is probably on the line as well. I don't care if it's the hunting opener or if it's on TV..... GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE ALERUS CENTER AND CHEER AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!!! Thank you.

I for one am glad that our team has a tough schedule. You get better by playing better teams. You get complacent by playing creampuffs week after week. The Lakers had better hope they don't get knocked off (by Saginaw Valley State for example) or they will take a hit in the rankings because their conference is so soft. Conference games are dangerous because conference teams know your systems and your players better than non-conference opponents. Look at what happened to Southern California vs. Stanford this past Saturday (at home, no less ). UND has a game like that on their schedule in a couple of weeks (St. Cloud State). Bottom line: A lot of things could happen between now and playoff time. I am just happy that our team is in good shape in the region and controls its own destiny.

I will be there on Satuday and then back to Grand Forks Sunday for hockey vs. Manitoba. A full weekend of Sioux sports!

I will be traveling to the football game in Mankato on Saturday, but will be driving back to Grand Forks early Sunday morning. I might be able to make some sort of tailgating function, if someone is willing to set it up.

Alex: And the question is, "What is a one-word description of the BCS?"

No problem, always happy to help!

I think you had better watch it with the threats and/or implication of threats against other posters. I don't think Mr. Dahl is going to tolerate that. I certainly wouldn't. I agree with you, that we should treat people with respect if we want to get the same treatment in return. But I don't agree with making it personal like you are doing right now. Just let it go, for Pete's Sake. You can disagree with people without making threatening comments. I can get a little hot under the collar myself, but I don't resort to stuff like this. Now, can we get back to the thread topic please? GO SIOUX!!!

By saying this, are you are suggesting that home field advantage for the playoffs doesn't really matter? Because a big part of home field advantage is the atmosphere the fans give the home team; ask UC-Davis if you don't believe me. Otherwise, it's a neutral site game (which is what REA is sometimes, but that is another topic). If we neutralize the student section effect, home field becomes less of an advantage. And in the playoffs, you need every advantage you can get.

Moving up to D-I FBS is something that Phil Harmeson has mentioned several times and I believe he is still pushing for it behind the scenes. I am totally opposed to this for several reasons: 1) I want nothing to do with the Bull Crap Series: Anyone who thinks we will ever get in anything other than a lower-level, meaningless bowl game is kidding themselves. The cigar-smoking, whiskey-drinking power brokers that control D-I FBS football will never give our program the benefit of the doubt when it comes to bowl bids, whether or not we deserve it. Some BCS-ites think that a team going 6-6 and squeezing into a lower-level bowl game (the Rodents every year) is a great accomplishment. I don't. 2) We can win on a regular basis at the D-I FCS level: We have the facilities, the tradition, the coaching staff and the players to win at the FCS level now. Just wait until we get our scholoarships up to the FCS level and add a new practice facility to boot. We'll contend for national championships on a regular basis, just like we do now at the D-II level. That will never happen at the FBS level. I believe that one of the reasons we are moving up is because of the benefits to football. If we move up to the FBS level, a lot of those benefits will vanish. 3) Playing outside again would kill attendance: Remember what it was like in the 1990's when our program was starting to take off on a national level? Our home game attendance (minus the Bison games) would plunge along with the temperatures in October and November. We would get 2 to 3,000 for home playoff games! Moving into the Alerus Center in 2001 helped us get more season ticket holders who no longer had to worry about the cold and snow of late season games. This has helped make the atmosphere at home games something other teams don't like to deal with. The playoff games in 2001 are a great example of this. If we had been outside during that championship season, attendance would have been probably half of what it was since a good chunk of our fans won't show up if the temperature is below 40F. Moving back to Memorial Stadium (which needs a lot of work if we did it) would set back all the progress we've made in the past 6 years. Bottom line: A move to FBS football would be a disaster for our program. We would have a better chance to become the next University of Buffalo Bulls than we would the next Boise State Broncos. I also believe the reasons I laid out above apply to NDSU as well.

I am a bit concerned about this weekend for the following reasons: 1. We weren't tested in our first game. Sure it was great to get the backups some quality playing time and Freund showed he can lead the offense, but the game was out of reach by the end of the first quarter. This weekend will be much, much different. 2. Rust is another concern. Lennon mentioned on Wednesday about "losing it" in practice on Wednesday and "saying some things I probably shouldn't have", which suggests that the players might have some bye week rust and might not be prepared for a long road trip like this, which is a bad sign for a team going on the road for the first time with a young defense and quarterback. 3. SUU looks like a team that is finally learning how to win games and is probably tired of losing after a 3-8 season in 2006. And they will have the home field advantage and the experience of having to deal with the heat and elevation on a regular basis. This game has a lot of potential pitfalls and forks in the road that we will have to navigate if we are going to win. Having said all of that, I think UND has a better team on paper, more and better athletes and the depth to handle the long road trip, the heat and the elevation. So much has been written about our defense being young and inexperienced that I think SUU might take them lightly. And no matter how "salty" the Thunderhawk's defense was against Montana last week, it won't be enough to shut down all of our weapons. If we don't turn the ball over and our young defense plays with energy and passion, I think we walk out of this weekend with a win. SUU will test us, but we will pass the test: PREDICTION: UND 35 SUU 24 And I wouldn't put much stock in Ryan Bakken picking us to lose, he does that all the time. If Bakken was psychic and therefore right all the time, our football program would be .500 at best every season!

Ever since 2001, the goal of this program is to win the National Championship, not finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th or anything else. I believe that is the goal of the team this year as well. Having the chance to have home field (thanks Judge Janke! ) for the playoffs is always important, and it becomes more important the deeper you go in the playoffs because the teams get better and better. I like what we have this year; an offense with depth at every position, a defense with a lot of young talent that will improve with each game and special teams to complement them both. It is WAY too early to speculate on playoff matchups. Too many things can happen to all the potential playoff teams to predict who will play where in what round. A lot of people are simply giving the National Championship to the Lakers and assuming everyone else is playing for second place, but I think that every season is different and we should let the season play itself out first. Omaha and South Dakota are our biggest stumbling blocks on the schedule and we had better not overlook either of those teams. I would like nothing more than to get GVSU in the Alerus again and beat them in front of our fans, but if we don't take care of business during the season there won't be much chance of it happening. No wonder Coach Lennon tells his players to keep off of forums like this, there is WAY too much speculation! Bottom Line: Home field will be crucial, like it always is.

I've done rush seating, I've done SRO and I've decided that it's more comfortable to watch it at home on TV (with the sound muted and the radio on, of course). I also am not willing to pay for scalped tickets. If I can get tickets from friends or on a ticket-exchange site, I'll go for it. But my wallet can take only so much fun, especially with gas at around $3.00/gallon.

I am in the Coach's Club ($1,100/year). I get 35-yard-line seats in the lower deck for football and lower-bowl seats in the corner for hockey. I enjoy the perks of being a club member and I consider it money well spent. That being said, I do think there should be a certain number of general admission seats available for people who cannot afford to be in "The Club". There are some pretty good seats on either side of the student section in the Alerus for people not in "The Club". The Ralph is pretty much all FSC-controlled (adbeit at lower prices in the upper deck). As long as we maintain a balance between the FSC-members, the students and the general public, we'll be okay. It's tough to maintain the balance, but it's necessary for the future of our programs.

I plan on going to Mankato for sure and possibly Duluth as well. This looks like a great year for our football team and I want to soak in as much as I can.