Coaches Show

[Shawn-O]

And if so, would someone within earshot of the Grand Spoons be so kind as to post the highlights for us rubes in the Cities and elsewhere? Thanks in advance for the help.

[RD17]

I listened to most of Lennon's part of the show. A few of the highlights that I remembered:

DL talked about UNA having good team speed, especially on defense. He noted that Carson-Newman moved the ball very well last week against UNA but 4 first half turnovers and other mistakes kept them off the scoreboard. DL also said that UNA is very aggressive defensively and that UND will have to be patient and try to hit some big plays on them.

On offense, DL said that UNA runs almost everything out of the shotgun and their QB is smart and plays mistake free. He also noted that the UND defense has seen alot of the shotgun/spread type offenses and some very talented individual players the last couple of seasons so the defense knows what must be done to contain UNA. DL noted that the Sioux defensive scheme is a difficult one for the younger players to perfect and that it only takes one or two guys a step out of position and the offense can make some plays against them.

Lennon said that the 2001 playoff experience should help UND. He noted that UCD came into that semifinal game with even better offensive stats than UNA has this year, but the Sioux were able to contain them by playing solid football.

Lennon said that UNA is probably the best team the Sioux have seen all year, but at the same time, DL seemed very confident that if UND plays solid in all three phases of the game the Sioux have a very good chance to win.

DL wasn't pleased about the team being flat in the 2nd half against Winona. He said that Winona did a nice job in the 2nd half, but that UND needs to learn to make the plays necessary to put teams away.

No significant injuries- a caller asked about the O-Line being banged up, but Lennon said everyone should be ready to go on Saturday.

There was some conversation about the game with UNA in '94 and the extra scholarship controversy down there, but I didn't catch much of that conversation.

[UNA]

When are you guys going to understand that there was NO scholarship incident when we won 3 straight championships. We actaully had fewer people on scholarship for those 3 years than we were allowed by NCAA DII rules. THe issue occured in the late 80's/early 90's and we self-corrected and the NCAA dropped the investigation and said that we did nothing wrong and that in fact had punished ourselves above and beyond what they felt was necesary.

SO for the final time we did not have any extra scholarship players the 3 years that we dominated DII. Sorry to break to you but we did nothing wrong expect win 3 in a row on the field with less scholarship players than everyone else.

[CoteauRinkRat]

Turnover margins are always key in the playoffs.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/7408856.htm

[Shawn-O]

Thanks, RD17.

[UND92,96]

When are you guys going to understand that there was NO scholarship incident when we won 3 straight championships.  We actaully had fewer people on scholarship for those 3 years than we were allowed by NCAA DII rules.  THe issue occured in the late 80's/early 90's and we self-corrected and the NCAA dropped the investigation and said that we did nothing wrong and that in fact had punished ourselves above and beyond what they felt was necesary.

SO for the final time we did not have any extra scholarship players the 3 years that we dominated DII.  Sorry to break to you but we did nothing wrong expect win 3 in a row on the field with less scholarship players than everyone else.

Quite frankly, I don't know exactly what transpired at UNA in the mid-90's, but I have heard some things from people I trust that do not jibe with the "official" version coming out of Florence. I believe there's a worst-case scenario, which is what I have heard, and a best-case scenario, which is what you are claiming. I wouldn't be surprised if the truth lies somewhere in between. In any event, it's all water under the bridge now.