WeAreNorthDakota

Hardin is definitely the one who's drawing the attention but that doesn't mean they aren't looking for anybody who impresses. Several years ago when the Packers drafted Josh Sitton they only knew about him because they went to UCF to scout Kevin Smith. They took a late round flyer on Sitton and now he's one of the better guards in the league. You never know who's going to catch a scout's eye.

Noticed the same thing. He's got "the look" for sure.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/270056/group/homepage/ Nice article on Kotelnicki and some specifics on what he's doing to turn the defense around. No offense to Mannausau but I think it's gonna be a night and day difference on defense with Kotelnicki running the show.

I'm hoping the lack of Opening Drive is because they're planning on doing a season long insider show.

I believe they can have the same number as long as they're not on the field at the same time.

It's very much like the spring football game. They do it like a dress rehearsal for a home game with the current team playing the alums. For tournament tickets I believe students have to pay for the non-UND games but the UND games are free like normal home games. Don't quote me on that but I think that's how it goes.

Most likely won't be much of a crowd for the alum game. It's basically just a chance for the team to run through their game routine before the season starts. The tournament that takes place the Friday and Saturday after the first football game would be a great place to start getting loud. It's early in the semester and there are some very recognizable names coming to the Betty. I'm guessing the marketing department will be very vocal about students coming out to those games.

On that play, in particular, I think he outruns that guy now. He had a a yard or two on his pursuer but I think his speed gains this offseason give him the jets to outrun that defender and score on that play.

Hardin is one of the 3 best receivers in the country. Jackson was a Freshman All-American and a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award. Golladay was the only true freshman to get his shirt pulled and was productive and made a few ridiculous catches and by all accounts has made the most significant improvements in the weight room of anybody on the team. Plus Townsend and McGill have both been productive over their careers and are more than capable 4th and 5th options. Obviously fans of other teams know their own depth better than anyone but with Kaufman leaving EWU early I think we're unquestionably the top in the Big Sky and would be in the argument with anybody in the country.

I don't think they'll be late with any on purpose but I don't think it would necessarily be a bad business decision. At this point, football tickets are essentially an unlimited commodity. There are far more seats in the Alerus than there will be season tickets sold. Giving season tickets away for free to someone who otherwise may not have been in the building doesn't cost the Alerus or UND anything besides the cost of printing the tickets. Now, I'm not saying we should give away tickets at every street because that would piss off those who paid for tickets. In a promotion like this, however, any free tickets that are given away are more than worth it if it means 10 more people (or whatever the number is) are buying tickets and will be in the seats on gameday.

Got mine too. 4 seats in the 4th row of 215. Hoping to get a little regular tailgating group also. Can it be August 25th tomorrow instead of July?

Biggest one is standing and banging on the seat in front of you for third downs or other big plays on defense. A few died or are slowly dying with the nickname. Most notably raising your left hand after first downs them switching hands and yelling Sioux with the PA announcer similar to when the hockey team comes on the ice.

I agree that we're in about the right spot. I am surprised, however, that both polls agree on spots 1-10.

The Big Sky preseason polls have been announced at the Big Sky Football Kickoff Coaches: 1. Montana State 2. Eastern Washington 3. Montana 4. Cal Poly 5. Northern Arizona 6. Sacramento State 7. North Dakota 8. Northern Colorado 9. Southern Utah 10. Portland State 11. Weber State 12. UC Davis 13. Idaho State Media: 1. Montana State 2. Eastern Washington 3. Montana 4. Cal Poly 5. Northern Arizona 6. Sacramento State 7. North Dakota 8. Northern Colorado 9. Southern Utah 10. Portland State 11. UC Davis 12. Weber State 13. Idaho State

Radio ad sales and production are all UND's responsibility.

I'll choose SDSU with a gun to my head but I'm pumped for all 7. Tailgating for Valpo can't come soon enough! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKnG06-oYcg

Tailgating is free for students and is in the lot just south of where tailgate village was last year. Doors open an hour before kickoff.

Recently paid for my season tickets. Used the Champions Club's young alumni offer to get a pretty awesome. Hopefully four football tickets and some men's basketball tickets gets me some points so I can get some season hockey tickets in a few years. Really glad I got some awesome seats before UND Football gets back to it's D2 popularity when I'd be stuck up in a corner.

If Hardin's ratios held and we threw the ball 10 more times per game he'd have finished with 85 catches, around 1400 yards, and 17 touchdowns. That's still well short of Lora's production. His involvement in their offense is unreal. He catches the ball 1 out of every 4 times they drop back to pass.

I have no problem with the corners playing off the line if we're in a cover 3 zone but I'm sick of seeing corners 7-10 yards off of receivers when we have 2 safeties deep. Opposing receivers can do whatever they want from 5-15 yards at that point. That alignment is just begging to give up yards on the edge and right in the middle of the field. I

I'll hear an argument for Hardin over Price but Lora had twice as many catches as Hardin plus an extra 500 yards and he only had 2 fewer touchdowns.

All home games on Midco SN again. All away games on Big Sky TV again. I believe we were left off the Root Sports schedule this year.

When the nickname was originally retired we had a deal for Iowa to come to the Betty for a women's game. Haven't heard of any other major possibilities.

SDSU won't bring more fans than Montana did last year and they didn't have a significant impact. For a little perspective, the last time SDSU came up to Grand Forks we only drew 9100. That was in our first year in a brand new stadium and with a national championship team on the field. I'd be shocked if we get any more than 10,500 but that'd be a pretty solid number considering the state of our attendance the last few years.

That's a foolish estimate and you're just setting yourself up for disappointment if you actually expect 12,000 people to be there. I know SDSU is a good draw and all us die hards on a message board are really excited about it but we rarely broke 11,000 in our big D2 days. I'm optimistic that will be the first time we break 10,000 in far too long but 11-12k is absolutely a fantasy.