Week 2: Potato Bowl 2012 - UND vs. Portland State

[KBH2010]

I can't figure out why a boat load of students still left at half though. The student section in the 4th was absolutely embarrassing, but props to the students that stayed and still made some noise.

[Oxbow6]

My thoughts

Positives

I am glad that we got punched in the mouth right away when PSU scored a touchdown after we went 3 and out. I also like the fact we responded back right away.

Special teams were huge for us and really made the difference of the game. Blocked Punt, Blocked FG, Blocked Extra Point. Zeb looked good, expect for the last FG try.

Hendrickson... what can I say, he really answered the call. He won this game for us with his arm. His numbers could have been even better if it weren't for a few drops. Hope he keeps it up next week vs San Diego State.

Hardin, wow he was an absolute beast and if he could have just extended his arms a little more he could have had 200+ receiving yards.

Golladay: I can see why his shirt was lifted, he is the real deal.

Negatives

Too many penalties. I know a few of them were awful, but we need to get better

Sloppy tackling. We cannot do that week after week, need to get better

Miller: Didn't have it, credit PSU for shutting that down. Loved the direct snaps however.

Overall, that was a very fun game. Crowd was a little better both noise wise and attendance wise, but still got some work left to do to really get it rocking. 2-0 feels nice and makes me feel a lot better in how we can really do in the Big Sky this year. Hopefully by the time Poly rolls around we will be 3-1 or 4-0. Can you imagine the buzz for that game if we are 4-0?

I'll add a few thoughts...to getting punched in the mouth, that's all on the coaching staff. In our section, a play of that kind was being called well before the ball was snapped. You could smell that coming.

Didn't see our new QB in week 1, but I have no issue with Marcus playing from here on out if needed. He was more than solid.

Our 4 WRs are best combo outside of what I'll watch today when the Packers take the field. Wow! Hardin is great but Golladay has "it". Will be the best ever to come thru UND IMO if he plays all 4 years. He has "special" written all over him.

Having been in Missoula last week, we pass the "eyeball" test with the Griz, but if our run D doesn't improve alot a team like the Griz will run for 300+ yards on us. Need better QB pressure too. Our DBs look solid but anyone will get picked apart if no QB pressure. Very suprised at our inability to establish the run.

Penalties...come down to discipline, especially all the dead ball fouls.

Atmosphere 1-10...Griz game: 10+. Last night: 2...poor attendence as usual. No excitement and students pulled their usual halftime mass exodus.

Overall, good win. Offensively this team could be extremely good. Defensively, need to shore up some things.

Welcome the the Big Sky!

[darell1976]

Via twitter

Greg Hardin sighting on ESPNs Top 10 plays ... No. 2 with his sick grab on one of his non-three touchdown catches tonight!

Anyone have a vid link to this??

[UNDColorado]

I have been looking as well...

[Smoggy]

Anyone have a vid link to this??

I would think still see this morning even maybe on espnnews. Recorded a bunch of SportsCenters overnight. Sad that they didn't grab Midco's HD feed. We were only one without so that looked cheesy. I think 4 Big Sky teams were used. Wash St kicking 60 yarder on Eastern. Montana kick returner fumbling after getting drilled. Us. Then SUU half time hail mary catch at #1.

[bincitysioux]

Very entertaining game to watch, but very concerning as well.

Lot's of weapons on offense, which is great to know for when the run game gets taken away like it did last night. Greg Hardin could end up leading the Big Sky in receiving at the end of the season, and may not even be the best receiver on the team. Hardin, Jackson, and Golladay are going to be a nightmare for opposing secondarys.

Special teams were again very good, save for Merserau's fumble and a shank by Cameron. Two blocks, a 50 yard FG, and good field position pretty much all night.

Aside from a few stand-out individual performances and two opportunistic plays, the defense played poorly. PSU was able to pretty much do what ever they wanted in both the run and pass games. PSU was second to last in passing in the Big Sky last season and their true freshman QB threw for over 300 yards. Lots of big plays and poor tackling. Plenty to get better at.

The refs stunk, but at least they were consistently bad throughout.

Kind of concerning that North Dakota's running game was completely shut down.

9,210 for attendance....................that must be among one of the lowest turn-outs for Potato-Bowl in recent memory.

[gfhockey]

There was a lot of things going on in GF like the big Seitz Memorial race.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Anyone know why Jer Garman didn't play?

Edit: Watching the replay now and he did play at least one play in the 3rd quarter.

[geaux_sioux]

Anyone know why Jer Garman didn't play?

Edit: Watching the replay now and he did play at least one play in the 3rd quarter.

He returned punts after the fumble

[UNDColorado]

Anyone have a vid link to this??

I just saw it on ESPN News "Highlight express" show about 10 minutes ago. Catch was amazing...can't say the same for the production value in comparison to every other team in the top 10.

[homer]

Any word on Daryl Brown's injury. Portland St. got very aggressive in the passing department when he went out. I'm not saying they would have had less than 300 yards passing if he played the entire game, but his absense was very noticeable.

[Big10Sioux]

Best game I've been to in the last 4 years. Amazing what a conference and something to play for elevates the excitement. Also, first game in three years where I didn't cringe at the QB play for 4 quarters. Kudos to the team and staff on their "first" Big Sky win against a very good opponent (too bad this one doesn't go in the conference standings).

Great crowd for the 1st half, very loud. But, let's get out of the embarassing habit of leaving at half and sucking the air and atmosphere out of the game with you. It may have cut it during the transition, when games were usually in hand one way or the other. Almost every game will now be a tight 4 quarter contest.

I am not too worried about the defense. They will come around. For the most part, they were in position to make the play and they were opportunistic with the 2 picks. We do need much more pressure on the quarterback, which was the thing I was most disappointing thing I saw out of our D line and linebackers.

I will be out in San Diego and am ecstatic for our chances. Because of our stupid non counter to begin with and the tough conference games ahead, it would be huge to sneak out with a W. Overall, I am fired up for the rest of the season...

[homer]

Best game I've been to in the last 4 years. Amazing what a conference and something to play for elevates the excitement. Also, first game in three years where I didn't cringe at the QB play for 4 quarters. Kudos to the team and staff on their "first" Big Sky win against a very good opponent (too bad this one doesn't go in the conference standings).

Great crowd for the 1st half, very loud. But, let's get out of the embarassing habit of leaving at half and sucking the air and atmosphere out of the game with you. It may have cut it during the transition, when games were usually in hand one way or the other. Almost every game will now be a tight 4 quarter contest.

I am not too worried about the defense. They will come around. For the most part, they were in position to make the play and they were opportunistic with the 2 picks. We do need much more pressure on the quarterback, which was the thing I was most disappointing thing I saw out of our D line and linebackers.

I will be out in San Diego and am ecstatic for our chances. Because of our stupid non counter to begin with and the tough conference games ahead, it would be huge to sneak out with a W. Overall, I am fired up for the rest of the season...

Great post. If the team keeps playing offense like last night, it will give fans a reason to stick around. Just my opinion. It will take fans a little time to realize this is not the offense from the transition and it is so much fun to watch.

[FSSD]

UND has some talent on the field and I think it is up to all of us to spread the word around town to get more people to the games. I don't think that they will be disappointed by the talent on the field.

[Teeder11]

Very entertaining game to watch, but very concerning as well.

Lot's of weapons on offense, which is great to know for when the run game gets taken away like it did last night. Greg Hardin could end up leading the Big Sky in receiving at the end of the season, and may not even be the best receiver on the team. Hardin, Jackson, and Golladay are going to be a nightmare for opposing secondarys.

Special teams were again very good, save for Merserau's fumble and a shank by Cameron. Two blocks, a 50 yard FG, and good field position pretty much all night.

Aside from a few stand-out individual performances and two opportunistic plays, the defense played poorly. PSU was able to pretty much do what ever they wanted in both the run and pass games. PSU was second to last in passing in the Big Sky last season and their true freshman QB threw for over 300 yards. Lots of big plays and poor tackling. Plenty to get better at.

The refs stunk, but at least they were consistently bad throughout.

Kind of concerning that North Dakota's running game was completely shut down.

9,210 for attendance....................that must be among one of the lowest turn-outs for Potato-Bowl in recent memory.

You are correct.

9,200 = 2012-13 v. Portland State

8,500 = 2011-12 v. Black Hills State

9,700 = 2010-11 v. Northeastern State

8,400 = 2009-10 v. Stony Brook

10,200 = 2008-09 v. Wisc. La Crosse

10,700 = 2007-08 v. Central Wash.

10,300 = 2006-07 v. Winona State

10,600 = 2005-06 v. Western Washington

[Let'sGoHawks!]

You are correct.

9,200 = 2012-13 v. Portland State

8,500 = 2011-12 v. Black Hills State

9,700 = 2010-11 v. Northeastern State

8,400 = 2009-10 v. Stony Brook

10,200 = 2008-09 v. Wisc. La Crosse

10,700 = 2007-08 v. Central Wash.

10,300 = 2006-07 v. Winona State

10,600 = 2005-06 v. Western Washington

The transition has killed us, it will get better, I really do believe this.

[darell1976]

Best game I've been to in the last 4 years. Amazing what a conference and something to play for elevates the excitement. Also, first game in three years where I didn't cringe at the QB play for 4 quarters. Kudos to the team and staff on their "first" Big Sky win against a very good opponent (too bad this one doesn't go in the conference standings).

Great crowd for the 1st half, very loud. But, let's get out of the embarassing habit of leaving at half and sucking the air and atmosphere out of the game with you. It may have cut it during the transition, when games were usually in hand one way or the other. Almost every game will now be a tight 4 quarter contest.

I am not too worried about the defense. They will come around. For the most part, they were in position to make the play and they were opportunistic with the 2 picks. We do need much more pressure on the quarterback, which was the thing I was most disappointing thing I saw out of our D line and linebackers.

I will be out in San Diego and am ecstatic for our chances. Because of our stupid non counter to begin with and the tough conference games ahead, it would be huge to sneak out with a W. Overall, I am fired up for the rest of the season...

I noticed that too. I was sitting on the sides with the suites and looking across the field I couldn't believe how empty the seats got in the second half. Then when we needed crowd noise it got more and more quiet than the first half. My throat is still very sore from screaming and yelling. QB play really got me believing in this team. OL helped a lot with that plus receivers (minus the drops early on) got open and made great catches. Tailgating was great (ate some great food), I think the crowd was small for Potato Bowl standards but with every win the crowd will grow we are gaining excitement back, but is it me or is the audio getting worse in the Alerus. I couldn't understand what they were saying on the tv.

[UND92,96]

The transition has killed us, it will get better, I really do believe this.

I still struggle with the question of whether it was the transition in general, or specifically the Sioux Falls game from 2009. I tend to think it was primarily the latter, and unfortunately we haven't completely recovered yet in terms of interest by the casual fan.

[SWSiouxMN]

To play the comparison game of attendance from last few years of the transition to this year

2008: 20,577

2009: 20.925

2010: 17.685

2011: 17,029

2012: 18,057

Final attendance for all those home games and averages

2008: 50,837 (5 games, 10,167 Avg)

2009: 42,696 (5 games, 8,539 Avg

2010: 40,771 (5 games, 8,154 Avg)

2011: 47,045 (6 games, 7,840 Avg)

2012: 18,057+ (9,029 avg) " 2 games out of 6 home games"

I couldn't believe when doing this how bad this really got. The good news appears that for the next 3 home games, according to ticketmaster, looks to be very well attendend.

[darell1976]

To play the comparison game of attendance from last few years of the transition to this year

2008: 20,577

2009: 20.925

2010: 17.685

2011: 17,029

2012: 18,057

Final attendance for all those home games and averages

2008: 50,837 (5 games, 10,167 Avg)

2009: 42,696 (5 games, 8,539 Avg

2010: 40,771 (5 games, 8,154 Avg)

2011: 47,045 (6 games, 7,840 Avg)

2012: 18,057+ (9,029 avg) " 2 games out of 6 home games"

I couldn't believe when doing this how bad this really got. The good news appears that for the next 3 home games, according to ticketmaster, looks to be very well attendend.

I will contribute 3 to the attendance at the Montana game. At least we are climbing out of the attendance hole.

[Teeder11]

I still struggle with the question of whether it was the transition in general, or specifically the Sioux Falls game from 2009. I tend to think it was primarily the latter, and unfortunately we haven't completely recovered yet in terms of interest by the casual fan.

I think that and the inability to get a real signature FBS "upset" that we could hang our hat on. All those things plus the doldrums of lackluster patchwork scheduling that all transition teams go through.

[MadScout03]

I noticed that too. I was sitting on the sides with the suites and looking across the field I couldn't believe how empty the seats got in the second half. Then when we needed crowd noise it got more and more quiet than the first half. My throat is still very sore from screaming and yelling. QB play really got me believing in this team. OL helped a lot with that plus receivers (minus the drops early on) got open and made great catches. Tailgating was great (ate some great food), I think the crowd was small for Potato Bowl standards but with every win the crowd will grow we are gaining excitement back, but is it me or is the audio getting worse in the Alerus. I couldn't understand what they were saying on the tv.

I was sitting on the student side around the 20 yard line, and unfortunately I could say the same about the home side crowd. It was maybe half the size it was at the beginning of the game. It's not just the students who are leaving early.

[darell1976]

I was sitting on the student side around the 20 yard line, and unfortunately I could say the same about the home side crowd. It was maybe half the size it was at the beginning of the game. It's not just the students who are leaving early.

I couldn't tell on the home side. Everyone needs to stay, plus whats with the tons of people on the walkway behind the endzones? My son wanted to know if people had to pay to stand there, I said yeah they pay for a seat but stand on the walkway. I think the Alerus should call that General Admission and charge a cheap rate for the endzone SRO.

[Sioux_FF]

Does it bother anyone else how they show the replays on the big screens? After a TD they almost always ended up showing the TD replay during the extra point attempt. I missed the 2 point conversion attempt by PSU while watching the replay. (Then, they also did not have a replay of the 2 point conversion, having their replay equipment tied up showing the TD)

I'm guessing it's an "in-house" thing, rather than Midco's TV coverage. I wouldn't think TV would miss the extra point while showing the TD replay.

[sioux24/7]

This is no excuse for people to leave but that was a really long game. I stayed for the whole thing.