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Next up: WSU Warriors


jimdahl

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So, WSUWarrior, where's our scouting report? (We promise not to pass it on to Dale Lennon).

I really don't know much about the Warriors. In their only interaction with the NCC this year, they had a close win over a decent SDSU team (which UND also defeated in a nailbiter). Though it's a different team, I'm sure the Warriors remember the 28-42 loss to UND in their only other playoff appearance and don't plan to make it that easy again.

From the articles I've read, it sounds like WSU had a really good defensive showing against ESU, and Pitt. St. has shown that it's possible to contain the Sioux passing game. It makes me wonder if this will be the wide open game I would have expected, or if it's going to be another closely fought battle settled by special teams/turnovers.

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Like UND, it appears that Winona was the beneficiary of a pretty favorable home schedule. Their only road challenges were at Concordia-SP, and a quasi road game against Northern St. in the Metrodome.

I am very happy that the Sioux were able to run the ball effectively yesterday against a very solid defense. Pitt St. basically sold-out to stop the pass, but it was at the expense of stopping the run. I know Duluth ran the ball quite effectively against Winona a few weeks back, so I would expect to see a heavy dose of Adam Roland on Saturday. I have to think that the Sioux offensive line is pretty confident in their run-blocking right now. I also doubt very much that Winona will be able to generate anywhere near as much of a pass rush as Pitt St. was able to do. Whether it's Bowenkamp or Wilson, I think the passing game will bounce back next week.

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It's Winona's offense that scares me. Pitt St. had over 400 yards of offense. Pitt St. also is new to this passing thing that fb has. However, Winona isn't. They were the only offensive that made our defense look silly in 2001 and I'd expect more of the same.

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It's Winona's offense that scares me.  Pitt St. had over 400 yards of offense.  Pitt St. also is new to this passing thing that fb has.  However, Winona isn't.  They were the only offensive that made our defense look silly in 2001 and I'd expect more of the same.

I certainly respect Winona's offense and their team, but in reality Pitt St. averaged more points per game and more yards per game this season playing a far more difficult schedule. Winona averages about 230 yards per game passing, but those numbers may be a bit misleading considering there are a number of very poor defenses in the NSIC this year.

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I think the sioux defense should be fine this time around. They dont have Craig Riendeau playing cornerback in this year's game. He got beat twice against Winona St. for TD's. That was the worst game of his career. Hopefully the 2 corners this year will be better against the Winona WR's. It will definitely be a tough game, Winona is a very good FB team. GO SIOUX!!!!

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In 2001, Winona was a completely unknown commodity, and I think there was a certain amount of over-confidence on the part of the Sioux since everybody outside of Winona was saying how the game was going to be a complete blowout. Winona did some unconventional things offensively and it did cause some problems for the Sioux. We must remember, however, that it wasn't only the Sioux defense who struggled that day. The Winona defense provided very little resistance to the UND offense in that game which sometimes gets overlooked in retrospect. It seems everybody remembers the 28 points we gave up instead of how the UND receivers were running free for most of the game without a db anywhere in sight.

This time around, there won't be any over-confidence and I fully expect that Bubba Schweigert will have the defense ready for anything Winona will throw at them. He's one of the best defensive coordinators around and he will have them ready to go. I also think it has been beneficial to UND that there are so many teams in the NCC who throw the ball a lot.

Winona hasn't had many difficult road games the past few years, and the ones they have had have often been struggles, i.e. Concordia-SP this year and NDSU and UMD last year. I have to believe that UND will be deeper and a little more talented and physical overall, which along with the home field advantage should give the Sioux a good chance to win. The team has worked too hard all year long to give anything less than their best when a trip to the national semi-finals is on the line.

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Winona also hasn't played against our fans (or many at all) in two years. Even the smaller crowd we had this past weekend made plenty of noise. I think the Al is gaining the moniker of a place a visiting team doesn't want to play at. At least in the playoffs.

There were so many false starts by opposing teams in 2001 that the chain gang might as well have started 5 yards back. How many false starts did Pitt St. have this past weekend?

Edited by cheeringsiouxfromsmoggycali
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Pitt St. started the game with two false starts and more than a few times could not hear each other changing a play or something at the line of scrimmage..even with only 7,000 bison hating fans in the Al....the crowd was and is a factor...just like the cold weather used to be at the old Memorial Stadium....keep it up Sioux fans...its 3rd down and LONG.......

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Even though I am an NSIC fan, I don't believe that they are at the same level as the top NCC teams. The gap is narrowing a little more each year. It seems that 2 or 3 of the NSIC teams can compete on the offensive side of the ball but are not up to NCC standards on the defensive side of the ball.

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Even though I am an NSIC fan, I don't believe that they are at the same level as the top NCC teams.  The gap is narrowing a little more each year.  It seems that 2 or 3 of the NSIC teams can compete on the offensive side of the ball but are not up to NCC standards on the defensive side of the ball.

I agree that the gap is narrowing. However, I think the obvious factor that will keep the top football teams from the NSIC from being able to compete year in and year out with the top of the NCC is the large scholarship differential. I believe it said in the Fargo Forum today that Winona is funding 11 scholarships, or less than one-third of what the NCC is funding. Obviously, they're doing quite well with what they have, but in the long run I don't believe you can recruit competitively in the same geographic regions as the NCC schools while only able to offer a fraction of the scholarship money. Certainly you will find the occasional diamond in the rough or get lucky with a guy who was overlooked for whatever reason and turns out to be a star, but it's tough to do that consistently.

If it is at all feasible financially, Winona should consider fully funding its football program and joining the NCC as UMD is doing. There's obviously an open slot right now in the league, and they would be very competitive. I'm sure it's easier said than done to go from 11 to 36 scholarships, but I can't believe it's impossible for them, either.

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Lets get into some of the specifics in this #1 vs. #2 match-up…

What I’m interested in is where does everyone view the edge come from for either team. From what I see this game is a pretty even, here’s my view:

Coaches: both are very talented and take shots when they need to.

RB: Roland (consistent solid runner, but is he good or is it that huge OL) vs. Curtin (speed but a little chipped up).

WR: Stattelman/Ahlers (seems to be the go to guys) vs. Samp (explosive) Hynes (good hands)

OL: UND 6’5 1/2” 295 (this group is a good as they get) vs. WSU 6’3” 287 (play well together)

DL: UND 6’ 3” 242 vs. WSU 6’ 3” 252

LB: UND 6’1

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UND92,96

Thanks for the update on your WR and DL. I was only going off the roster and what I heard via the last web cast.

I was not at the Concordia game, but it sounds as though Winona played horrible and Concordia had a ton of breaks go their way. Winona really is a much better team than Concordia. It was a huge upset (last year we won like 50 - 10) but that as we all know is way we play the games. Its probably like NDSU beating Montana this year, you line the same two teams up ten times and Montana (Winona) wins nine if not all ten. The point being upsets happen. Would Winona beating UND be an upset yes, but I just don't see the huge gap between UND/WSU. Upset yes, no question, but would it be considered the shock of the century

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UND is the quiet giant this year, not a ton of fan postings on other sites or news article talking about winning it all. Simply a lunch box mentality, lets just get it done attitude and that scares me.

I think UND has that mentality every year, which is a direct reflection of their head coach and AD.

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