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Injuries hit Sioux.....


WYOBISONMAN

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I'd say the loss of Bellmore is quite substantial. He's been starting since he was a freshman I believe, and is a big reason that our run defense is so darn good, not to mention his knack for blocking kicks.

Hurts losing Lynch too, but I believe there is more depth at that position.

No denying the fact that when a team hangs its hat on running the ball and stopping the run, and you lose to key cogs to that formula, it is going to hurt...........

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I agree, Bellmore is a big loss. We are just not as deep on the defensive line as we are on the OL. We have some young kids, redshirt freshmen who will need to step up and are going to see some reps in both spots.

In my mind our offense is really going to have to step up now and move the ball. In the games we have lost our defense has been on the field waaaay to long and that won't be good now that we are one more guy short on the D-line.

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Football teams don't get better when defensive linemen go down. It is a position that by its nature requires depth to keep people fresh during games and throughout the season.

Jay Nelson is a pretty good player stepping in for Belmore, but he doesn't bring the same level of physicality against the run. Bellmore was special in that regard and not someone that can necessarily be replaced. Spencer Cummings could eventually end up being one of the best DEs UND has ever had and he will be asked to do a lot more as a RS Fr.

Caleb Gillson will get his shot to step in and start at RT and I think he is a pretty good player. Getting half a season to start at RT could actually end up being a huge benefit as five "starters" on the line will return next year.

That said, I think the OL is now down to six guys that are "game ready". The sixth is RS Fr. Shea Walker, who I have heard has very bright future as an interior lineman. I don't think we will suddenly see a major drop off in production as things stand now but one more major injury on the OL will make things very difficult.

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Jay Nelson is a pretty good player stepping in for Belmore, but he doesn't bring the same level of physicality against the run. Bellmore was special in that regard and not someone that can necessarily be replaced. Spencer Cummings could eventually end up being one of the best DEs UND has ever had and he will be asked to do a lot more as a RS Fr.

I agree the biggest impact will be what Belmore did against the run and short yardard situations. How many times have we seen Belmore on the bottom of the pile on a big third/four down and short play or the goalline stand. The guy was a beast and a leader in those situations. You could see the team rally around the fact that the middle of the line was going to hold its ground. In fact, USD tried to go wide after getting nothing on three or four straight plays a couple of years ago - that did not work either. Plus his special teams - I still remember the road game at UCA. Last game of the year, he blocked back to back 4th Q FG attempts as the Sioux held on for the win. After the game he said that he wanted to send the Seniors out on a winning note. I anyways enjoyed watching him play.

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Did we just get lucky with Bellmore being as good as he is? You would think that it would be harder to recruit good talent and depth at the beginning of the transition, compared with the end. I realize that experience plays a big role in the schemes and such, but you would think that there should be some talent with a lot of potential to fill that gap, even if it is kind of raw.

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  • 4 weeks later...

What is R.J. Magill's status for this weekend? We've been playing without him; if he's back.... maybe it might all be a wash, if he is healthy enough to compete.

He was in uniform for the Sioux Falls game, although never played. SFI just tweeted this:

#2 WR RJ McGill was out last week. He could be back this week, however. Time for Blair Townsend and Thyre Ivery to step up.
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