WeAreNorthDakota

That's huge. Our chances of an upset just skyrocketed. Obviously a win over MSU without McGhee would be discounted a good amount but it would certainly be better than a loss. I don't mean to sound like I'm cheering an injury but this changes the dynamic of this season significantly in our favor.

Two solid FBS teams which is tough but to not even score a point in garbage time? That's brutal.

UND - 27 SDSU - 31 Not quite enough to pull off the win but enough to show us we've got a shot at one of UM, MSU, and EWU.

Just stocked up at L&M. Can they just open the tailgating lot now?

A&M handled us pretty well last year but I imagine we'll put up more of a fight with everybody back and in front of what will hopefully be a nice crowd.

Not only do we need a signature win, we need to win a game that we're not supposed to. We need to knock somebody off their horse and since we don't have a FBS game this year this is our shot. A win would build some serious momentum for the rest of the season and would take a little pressure off in the big games following but also give us some confidence. I'm really excited for this game and I think it might finally be time for the Alerus to be back to where we were before the transition. Hopefully SDSU rolls Butler and we both go into this one riding high and we have ourselves a good old-fashioned NCC dog fight.

A UND player has possessed the ball twice. 14 points. Decent start.

I don't fault NDSU for hyping that game as their first D1 game but hyping the opponent as much as they did was maybe ill-advised. I still have friends with posters and what not from that season and EVERYTHING said Valparaiso on it. Hyping the schedule as a whole would have been a better plan as I believe there was a road game against Montana that season. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 but that poster looks pretty foolish now that I know how big of a joke Valpo is.

Not to go all "transitive property" here but that Drake team beat Valpo 50-0. Drake and San Diego have been occasionally competitive as non-scholarship programs but Valpo has not. They might be the worst program in the FCS. I'll be very worried if this isn't a big blowout.

I don't think the running game was any worse last year than it was in prior years but we saw such a huge jump in the passing game's effectiveness that there was a perceived drop off in the running game. We certainly need to improve our running game but that's not a new thing. We've needed to improve our running game for the last several years.

Happened to walk into the Sioux Shop today 5 minutes after someone returned one of the shirts in my size. Pure dumb luck but I got the last one for sale in town!

In the last 3 seasons they've won 2 games combined. Those include a 45-0 loss to Western Illinois and two losses to Youngstown 77-13 and 59-0. They've hardly managed to stay within two touchdowns of any Pioneer League team and have been blown out when playing good FCS teams. This game should not be a contest.

UND 49 Valpo 10

Hoping to make a trip to Flagstaff. Family has a place in Phoenix so I'm gonna try to make a little long weekend out of it.

I think the risk is lessened by the fact that they also own two of the bars where their loud college party crowd will likely go. They'll go from having three party bars that aren't living up to their traffic potential to having two party bars that should see traffic increases and a new concept with potential if it's run well. I like the strategy.

I picked all the home teams with the exception of SFA over Weber and Davis over South Dakota.

Right. If it's a complete disaster you can pull the plug but I don't expect that to be the case.

That actually is the case. No memorabilia can be made with the new interlocking ND standing alone. Before the nickname was retired you could put "Sioux" underneath it but now it can only be printed with "North Dakota" underneath. The only time the interlocking ND stands alone is when the athletic department uses it itself.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this. If a starter is named he should only be displaced because of injury. If the staff isn't confident in a quarterback choice by the end of this week they should let them know that the competition is still open regardless of who "starts" the Valpo game. If they tell Joe he's the starter and then pull him after a few games it could be devastating to his confidence, especially in just his 2nd year in the program. The staff shouldn't name a starter until they are sure of their choice and if it takes until after the Valpo game to do it then so be it but they shouldn't take the risk of scarring one of these guys when they could both potentially have bright futures with the program.

New place opening downtown replacing Gilly's. The Brick & Barley. 48 beers on tap and a more traditional restaurant setting than Gilly's. I live downtown so I'm really hoping this place is solid. http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/270957

Sounds about right. Let the team know who's got the lead after fall camp and use Valpo as a final audition.

I'm guessing we won't have a full decision until Potato Bowl week. Normally I think they'd announce the starter by game week (one week from today) but with a weak first opponent I think they'll use that as an extension of the fall camp quarterback battle. I expect both Mollberg and Bartels will get plenty of reps against Valpo then we'll go into the SDSU game with a clear starter.

I didn't watch any of our home football games on Big Sky TV last year but the games I did see were TV feeds from the local broadcast if there was one. If Big Sky TV simply uses the Midco feed I imagine the quality will be much improved for the HD broadcasts.

Definitely makes a difference. I understand the argument that a potential dynamic pricing profit isn't in itself a reason to schedule UND but if we do end up on the schedule and they don't do it, that would be foolish. Totally hypothetical at this point though and kudos to SDSU for realizing the extra revenue based on demand for the game in Brookings and and also from traveling Bison fans.

With another big year he'll definitely have a shot at the draft but he'll have to put up a pretty low number in the 40 at the combine if he's invited.