Sioux94

Gotta love that. Man wasn't that long ago when we were desperately looking forward to getting better and earning some respect and wanting to be considered one of the top teams in the Big Sky. We still have a lot to prove out on the field this year though, and it would be awesome to beat EWU at home this year for the title after their fans were yapping last year about how they were the true conference champs. Who would have thought a couple years ago also, that neither Montana team would be picked in the top 6. Granted this is just one guys predictions, but still.

How about Harris with a pick 6 against an FBS school to start the year and back up some of the high praise and projections from some of the national FCS columnists!

Agreed!!

I agree.....it would totally add to the atmosphere to have people down there and help make the place look and feel more full. Not a great view as others suggested, but also as others suggested good tickets between the 20-50 are hard to come by, if there is a bar down there some people/businesses may find that attractive. Hopefully as the team continues to improve, tailgating outside continues to improve etc.......UND football will be an event and the place to be Saturday afternoons. Plus it is just wasted space, doesn't seem like it could hurt to try it.

Winning a playoff game is a must to be considered a successful season, preferably a second round win at home like you suggest. If we had to play in the first round and won, and then lost in the second round though.....that would be disappointing. While getting a playoff win would be nice....not advancing past the second round wouldn't be able to be considered a success. Winning a third round playoff game, that would definitely be considered a success. If our OL comes together though, we'll all hope for even more than that though.

Kind of wish they didn't change their offensive coordinator and still were more of a running team since stopping the run is where we generally excel. And with their OL having 4 new starters we could possibly give them some fits running the ball, however our ILB's are a little inexperienced as well so we might not be as good against the run this year early in the year as we normally are. But our defensive line can still hopefully cause some havoc and get some pressure on the QB and make him make some poor choices which lead to INT's. Sounds like he was a little inconsistent last year, and with a new offense hopefully they won't be clicking right out of the gate, we'll need to capitalize on those situations when they occur.

For me personally I'd way rather sit anywhere between the 20 - 50 than at ground level in the end zone, just for viewing purposes. But something to consider going forward if we continue to build crowds that are at capacity. And sounds like they are selling well at UCF...and that is some good extra easy money if they sell! Having suite type perks can offset the view.

I would rather have us catch them, pass them, and have them slip.

The fact that he chose UND, and if that's true he was willing to pay his own first year.......means he must really see good things in our school and program. That is great news in general as we continue recruiting battles in the future. Our program is certainly seen in such a better light than it was just 4 years ago.....great job Bubba and staff!

Ok that is what I couldn't remember, if Zimmerman had 2 or 3 years left, thanks. Well that will work out perfect then with Nate sitting out this year and then have 18 & 19 to play.

Yep I know Nate is sitting out this year, just trying to remember if Zimmerman has 2 or 3 years of eligibility left. So Zimmerman is on roster this year, both him and Nate have two years left....18 and 19, or does Zimmerman only have two years of eligibility.....2017 and 2018.

Are you talking about Zimmerman? I thought he was going to be active this year and probably be our #2, I don't think he is sitting out this year is he??

Nice! Finally we are really building some good quality, depth, and competition at the most important position in sports. I can't remember now....does Zimmerman have 2 years left to play....or 3? If he has 3 left they will be battling it out, along with the Boltman the next couple of years to be the starter.

58.7% Completion percentage isn't exactly tearing it up for Stick. But when you have a 20-2 record as a starter you are going to get some recognition even if it's due to having a great team around you.

Although ILB is a concern, I also have confidence in the coaches that they will work to get them ready......although there is nothing like having game experience. Having a strong D line will help, particularly Tank up the middle to plug things up. Honestly I don't think anybody can say how it will work out over the course of the whole season and playoffs, we'll just have to see.

It's a good thing stopping the run up the gut isn't that important in football.

Yep, inexperienced and somewhat under sized for the position. Hopefully they are able to hold their own.

This probably doesn't hold true at ILB, I believe we have only one guy on the team with a Division I snap under his belt at ILB, we will have to hope they will be as good as last year by mid season but I'd say starting the year they won't be as good as last year.

Didn't Bollant have the fasted 40 time on the team last year? Seems like a guy with that much speed would make his way onto the field somehow.

I figured somebody was going to bring that one up lol. There is always that fine line of being creative.....and being too creative. And yes the situation of things and when those plays are called is huge. Nobody complained about the flea flicker that went for a TD against Richmond However you know if that pass got picked off it would have been the dumbest call ever.

Gordon kind of seemed like a mini secret weapon, the other teams so focused on Santiago and Brady that when Gordon gets in the game he got some really good yards......almost like the defense wasn't expecting it. So many offensive weapons this year, will be interesting to see how Rudy tries to take advantage of that.

With Grady back I am looking forward to the Utah game even more. I was pretty worried about our OL in the first game to be honest. Yes we were returning guys who would have a year more experience, but we had also lost Coe who was a very very good lineman and i think the loss of Coe verses the additional experience of the other guys would have maybe netted to a wash at the OL for 2017. With Grady back I think the OL has the ability to take the next step. Although Grady may be a little rusty his first game or two, but even so I think he'll help us get a better push than we would have gotten and open up some holes against Utah. The last 3 years the OL has struggled the first few games, however they did well against Wyoming.....hopefully there is a repeat against Utah!

Yeah, he could. And to think Nevermann would be in that group too if he didn't change to LB. We didn't get to see much of Nevermann but he did look good from what we saw.....so would have been 5 legit starters. It's too bad he got hurt last year, he could have gotten some reps and RB and even if he switched to LB this year I'm sure he would have enjoyed getting some reps at RB. Even though he really wanted to play RB, his potential to see the field so much more at LB will hopefully get him excited about that.

Is it safe to say that our group of RB's for 2017 is the best group of RB's we've ever had on one team? I feel pretty darn good when any of them are in the game. Gordon as the #4 could have been a starter on many of our teams.

I think his height and 3 INT's returned for TD's are hyping up higher than he maybe should be right now. Hopefully this is only making him work harder to try and be the best he can be to reach that potential. I think realistically if he could get drafted between rounds 3-5 that would still be pretty impressive. Great to see a UND player get that much attention though. With both him and Reyes highly thought of I'm sure they'll be scouts at a few games, maybe a guy like Santiago gets on the radar then too if he has a monster game like he is capable of when our OL is on it's game.