bambinobliss

Just got back from PSU practice and Brown back in brace - looks like he may not play.

Brown back at practice today - kicking

Article in this morning's paper on Viks Freshman QB http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2012/09/portland_state_football_lineba.html

You're right geaux sioux, it was true freshman Kieran McDonagh. This game was about getting out the jitters. None of the four QBs competing for the starting role has had the luxury yet of taking all the snaps at practice, so the timing with his receivers will improve going forward. I really like him because he's a bruiser, fabulous arm, very patient and calm under duress, and is deceptively fast (not necessarily quick, but has good speed). Another few weeks of getting consistent snaps with the starting offense will really benefit his progress. As far as the JUCO QB (Ramirez), he has struggled a bit this early season grasping the Pistol, but it appears he may be #2 on the depth chart at this point. Our defense also showed a little first game jitters, but showed glimpses of what could be a very, very good DL , which was one the bigger concerns after last year. Carroll is indeed a very good football team, and were they pumped to be playing a Big Sky school ! My son has a good friend on the team, and he told me this morning that the Viks were upset that they didn't play as well as they know they can, and they know that they will have to really bring it to have a chance in Grand Forks. Don't you just love this game ?

Atta boy (or not) Cratter. That's the kind of spirit that every fan should bring to the table. ND's game against us (the Viks) will be a good measure of where ND's chances are of running the table in the Big Sky, because that is probably what you will need to do to win it. Hope everybody stays healthy and is up for the challenge. P.S. I don't know if I've mentioned this in another post somewhere, but I really respect and enjoy this forum - your contributors are informed, and though passionate, are also practical. I also enjoy the banter between ND & NDS. It's healthier than what I see on a few of the other forums, and I think your moderators know when to draw the line. Good luck this season and into the future (except against us, of course) !

The post regarding the Vikings was fairly accurate, but yes did not really provide much insight. A few points: Offense - PSU did not lose a starting WR, in fact there is a great deal of experience and skill at this position returning, as well as TE. The offensive line returns almost entirely intact. The QB situation is very interesting in that much attention has been given to the loss of Kavanaugh, who was a leading rusher in the BSC, not by design but more out of necessity and opportunities presented. After losing the leading RB (McCaffery) five games into the season, and losing the services of an already thin backfield by having Shaquille Richard go down, the team was using defensive backs by the end of the season. The pistol offense utilizes a great deal of misdirection, options and roll outs, and fortunately Kavanaugh was able to pick up a great deal of the slack as far as the ground game is concerned. He was an accurate and composed passer but didn't have the arm strength to be a deep threat. He was however very nimble. The current cadre of quarterbacks, while mixed in their exposure to the pistol, possess some outstanding skills, some in the air and some on the ground. It remains to be seen who will put them altogether by this fall. The entire backfield (minus McCaffery) is back healthy, along with a bruiser transfer from Maryland. Defense - Aside from PSU's linebacking corp (one of the Big Sky's best) and interior defensive line, the Vikings were thin going into this season. Burton had an incredible recruiting class this last year (rated by some as the 2nd best in the nation at the FCS level), but he decided to bolster the DL by signing some outstanding DE transfers from Texas Southern, Boise State, and Fresno State. The DL and LB groups are now quite deep, but the big question marks are going to be replacing the safety positions and developing the corners. It appears that this year Burton is going to move one of the quicker LBs to the SS slot and hope that the returning corners pick up their game as the younger group of DBs get their feet wet. I believe that the Viks are hoping to apply a great deal of pressure on opposing QBs from an aggressive DL and LB unit to take some pressure off the corners - we'll see. Special Teams - Probably the best in the BSC. By far the best kicker and one of the best punters. I believe they also led the BSC in blocked punts/kicks. An area in need of improvement was punt returns. So there you go - a quick and dirty assessment of the current state of the Vikings from a fan ( ha - the coaches might have something to say about it though)

Does this start out as a gimmick and catches on. Is punting a turnover? Well, if there was not a rule that allowed you to punt, and the rule makers then decided that they would give the offense an opportunity to give the ball to the opposition 30 or 40 yards downfield in order to avoid turning the ball over at the point of attack, then yes, you could call it a "voluntary" turnover.

I would like to hear more from ND fans about Rocky Long adopting the no punt philosophy, and also implementing only onside kicks. The coach from the Arkansas high school who has been utilizing this kind of program for several years has been in the top 5 nationally on a consistent basis. Oregon has gone for it a number of times since Kelly took over, and statistically the numbers bare out over time. It just seems that regardless of field position it puts a great deal more pressure on the defense (especially on third down), and allows your offense a great deal more flexibility and room for mistakes (since you are increasing your play opportunities by 33%). How do you suppose ND will prepare for that? Interesting reading : http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2011-09-30/perception-of-craziness-or-flat-out-football-genius

Where is this poll published? I can only find #20-#40 on his site.

http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2012/7/10/FB_0710120925.aspx Media Poll 1. Montana State (30), 502 2. Eastern Washington (3), 453 3. Montana (5), 442 4. Portland State, 334 5. Cal Poly (1), 323 6. North Dakota, 295 7. Weber State (1), 284 8. Southern Utah, 258 9. Northern Arizona, 242 10. Sacramento State, 191 11. UC Davis, 135 12. Idaho State, 115 13. Northern Colorado, 63 Coaches' Poll 1. Montana State (7), 136 2. Eastern Washington (4), 131 3. Montana (1), 126 4. Portland State, 90 5. Cal Poly, 86 6. Weber State, 81 7. Northern Arizona, 75 8. Southern Utah (1), 74 9. Sacramento State, 71 10. North Dakota, 68 11. Idaho State, 31 12. UC Davis, 30 13. Northern Colorado, 14

Couldn't find any link to such poll, but did find these two http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2012/07/02/athlon-magazine-s-2012-preseason?blog=2 http://www.championshipsubdivision.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30487

Matt, could you provide a link to this poll? - Thanks

This is great stuff. It only goes to show that given an opportunity we usually dream big. Johnboy, in my opinion you are both right on and misdirected. 'Right on' in that yes, the Griz probably do look at MSU & EWU as their rivals because for year in and year out those programs have ruled the BSC in football. But FSSD's comment suggests that UND pick the Griz as a rival, or rather make the Griz a focal point in achieving success. The bad part about moving onto the Griz this early in the game is that none of us has proven worthy yet to gain that respect. Case in point - my beloved Blazer fans see the Lakers as our despicable rivals, when in fact the Lakers could give a rat's ass about us. That's not a rivalry, that's like the Kansas City Royals calling out the Yankees! Before we pick a dastardly villain to measure ourselves against, we need to strap it on game after game, season after season, and recreate the scenario. We want those teams looking at us as rivals. Having said that, and getting back to the heart of this thread, Buy or Sell, the game against the Vikings will be a wake up call to UND

Supposed to be upper 70's to lower 80's with a few puffy clouds for tomorrow night's fireworks. P.S. Largest display of fireworks west of the Mississippi takes place right here across the Columbia river in Vancouver, Wa. Just sayin'

How does this story affect JJ's status ? http://missoulian.com/news/local/judge-unseals-dismisses-student-s-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-um/article_5dade526-c0d1-11e1-a473-001a4bcf887a.html

We have a beautiful newly reconstructed stadium but haven't had the success on the field for some time that's needed to generate a great deal of excitement from PDX fans. It's great though to see large crowds when UM & MSU come to town - hopefully we can fan the flame when UND visits in a couple of years. The Portland State Athletic Dept. has ended up on the short end of the stick for decades, but has recently found resources to build a new Basketball arena (tentatively called the Viking Palace) which will finally give the program needed visibility and revenue from community events, etc. Lord knows we all need as much help as possible!

Just a little message to AGRIZ1

I've been a season ticket holder for 22 years (since the Div 2 Pokey Allen days) and I haven't felt as encouraged by the direction of the program as I am now. The last three years have been an amazing journey, and the work that Nigel Burton and his staff has done to resurrect this program is nothing short of amazing. Losing Conner Kavanaugh at QB will not be as painful as we expected because of a couple of things: We will be deeper in the backfield than we've ever been, and yes it appears that DJ Adams, the transfer you mentioned, is the real deal - not only as a power back but he also has very good hands as a receiver. QB this year will be connecting in the air considerably more with the transfer of Colin Ramirez, the kid that broke Aaron Rodgers' records at his JUCO. The Pistol offense will be tweaked to accommodate the skills these kids possess. Add what was considered one of the top recruiting classes at the FCS level, and Viking fans are pumped. As far as playing on the road, we've been inconsistent for some time. Last year we lost to TCU (of course) and Montana by 6 on the road, but handed EWU a pretty sound thumping. We'll see. I'm just really glad ND is in the mix now - I think it's where you guys belong. Good luck this year!

The ND season starts Sept. 8 against the Vikings. Enough said. (and the Viks thank you for hosting us early in September)

Who gets to choose the new name to replace Sioux? Is it a contest, does the admin choose, the legislature, the rally squad, who?

1) Cal Poly - 6.5 wins Under 2) Cal State Sacramento - 3.5 wins Under 3) Cal Davis - 3.5 wins Under 4) Eastern Washington - 6.5 wins Under 5) Idaho State - 2.5 wins Under 6) Montana - 8.5 wins Under 7) Montana State - 9.5 wins Under 8) North Dakota - 5.5 wins Under 9) Northern Arizona - 3.5 wins Under 10) Northern Colorado - 3.5 wins Under 11) Portland State - 8.5 wins Over 12) Southern Utah - 5.5 wins Under 12) Weber State - 6.5 wins Under This just made me feel good. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!

Help me out here - i'm new to this forum. What is AGS? thanks

Aside from this Sacramento writer's concern with UND's nickname, his other reason for dismissing UND's entrance into the Big Sky apparently is the distance traveled between contests. Let me get this straight - UND is the one that has to travel long distances for nearly every away game, while the other members only have to travel to UND occasionally . And as far as Sac State being the furthest away (see article's quote below), the last time I checked both Cal Davis and Cal Poly were further from UND. Regardless, I can assure you that us Viking fans welcome you aboard and look forward to an occasional trip to the Dakota (preferably in September, not December!) and hope you enjoy your visits to the Rose City. "That’s 920 miles from Northern Colorado, the previous eastern-most member, and 821 miles from Bozeman, Mont. Oh, that’s 1,783 miles from Sacramento State, the furthest member from UND."

Geaux_sioux, without getting too wordy in this thread, a little background. This is Burton's third year as coach. He was at Nevada previously, where he was introduced to the 'Pistol' offense, which he brought to PSU. Before he arrived we suffered through a few years under Jerry Glanville, who nearly destroyed the program. The Viks had one of the biggest turnarounds at the FCS level last year and was a field goal away from sharing the conference title. We lost a very good QB in Conner Kavanaugh, great running back, and a dynamite SS. Having said that, we picked up some very promising transfers from FBS programs and have a recruiting class that was rated #2 in the nation at the FCS level. Offensive line is all returning (led Big Sky in rushing the last two years). The likely starter at QB is a transfer from a California JC that broke Aaron Rodgers record for completions. Ian Ruder, a beat writer here in the Rose City, put together a short piece recently outlining the current state of affairs. Here's the link if you're so inclined. Have a great Memorial Day weekend. http://ianruder.com/wp/?p=696

Well, all I can say is that UM & MSU have been running around in circles sniffing each other's behinds for way too long. It's time for someone to turn the hose on them. And if it's not the VIKS, then let's hope it's the SIOUX!