Dustin

UND down 2-0 vs NDSU at the Summit tournament. We had leads in both sets but could not hold on to them. This team is just not built to put away the opponent. I am betting that changes as the Tupac era continues.

https://www.argusleader.com/story/sports/college/south-dakota-state-university/2022/11/21/tucker-kraft-south-dakota-state-tight-end-declares-for-nfl-draft/69666671007/ No Kraft (NFL draft) or Jankes (graduation) for SDSU after this year.

Agreed. My other thought was get them to Grand Forks.

A little surprised there hasn’t been a new DC thread yet. But maybe everyone’s thinking the same as me and don’t want to start it??

A receiver pulling away from the D-backs a la 1998 Jim Kleinsasser would be good.

Will this be the game Kelly finally gets his fake punt??!! Only if we need to make a game changing play, I’m assuming. It’d be nice not to be in that position.

I agree. I would think they would be weary of letting us have the ball for too long. Interestingly, that would also be our key strategy as well.

BTW, the 35 we put up on SDSU was their highest points allowed of the season.

In terms of offense, SDSU > NDSU, right? Is their running game similar, but SDSU has a better passing game? I know UND can't let NDSU score 49 (like SDSU did) and expect to win. Maybe holding them to under 35 In terms of defense, would SDSU = NDSU be a fair statement? UND put up 35 on SDSU. Will need at least a repeat of that. I've said it before, but 35 points is kind of where I see the tipping point of this game. UND will likely need to score 35 just to keep pace, and NDSU will need to be held to less than 35. I could see a tight game where each team is within a score of 35. Hopefully we are the team with more points.

Good call.

I agree. UND wins this game by getting to 35+ and hope the defense gets a couple of keys stops.

Has the O/U been set? I’m guessing you are close with your prediction and we will be about 10 point underdogs. I guess I didn’t follow directions

What have other teams done to keep games close against the Bison? Indiana State only lost by 5. Southern Illinois only lost by 3.

Ok, Thanks. I usually see those tweets, but I didn’t catch that one.

I'm on your side here. Who knows, maybe all the tickets were sold to NDSU fans. We'll see on Saturday.

After our game with SDSU this year, I would say they are our #2 rival in football. That targeting play and subsequent unsportsmanlike conduct were the declaration of war for me.

Absolutely! Things will take care of themselves then.

I am not so certain "care" equals butts in a rival school's stadium (though, certainly "not caring" would definitely not equal butts in a rival's stadium), but think about this from a geographical standpoint. Where do most UND fans live? Grand Forks and Fargo, primarily. That's an easy game to attend. You probably have friends/family that went to the other school and it's a fun activity for both sides. Where do SDSU fans live? Certainly some in Brookings, but I'm guessing many more in Sioux Falls. Probably not many friends/family with connections to both of those schools. Either way, Brookings and Sioux Falls are lot further from Fargo than Grand Forks and Fargo itself.

The pass was caught at where the end zone ref is standing with the "defender" either staying put or moving the other way.

Was our defense just flat-out bad on South Dakota's third TD? Or did we get tricked in some way?

It's possible. If we are the victorious team, I think the score will be very similar to this.

Not trying to diminish your argument, but I think part of a logical explanation is that there would be more UND fans wanting to go to this game than SDSU fans wanting to go to their game in Fargo. But I totally agree with AJS that NDSU would rather lose to SDSU than UND.

Really? It seems like the UND faithful are concerned about our D, especially in the run game. Are you talking rushing yards? Or just offense in general? We do have a nicely balanced offensive attack; definitely not been one dimensional - so far. Not sure how much push we will get against your D-line, though. Not sure we could beat you purely with a passing-only attack.

So, do we have a clear picture of which players will be here in '23 and which ones won't? Or is it still a lot of speculation?

Even if he does play, it would be easier for us to limit his damage with a gimp arm/shoulder, would it not?