UND @ Sac State

[Hambone]

On to the next week.  Watching the Bobcats @ Sac State game right now - assuming our line plays anywhere near how they did today we should be able to gain some yards and score some points.  Their offense doesn't look too bad - run a little read option but they pass more than you would think out of it.  

Depending on the diagnosis on Santiago, hopefully they can hold him out next weekend and he is ready for SUU the following - although it's completely possible that he is out a little longer.  I was really impressed with Gordon today, so Oliveira and Gordon will be a good 1-2 punch if Santiago's not ready to go.  Really starting to get worried about the depth - likely will see Norberg get a few more carries next week as well.  Really hope that Rooney is ready to go next week.  The OL play was great today - Coe is a lot more comfortable out at RT and everything just seemed to gel this week.

Onward and upward!

[MoSiouxFan]

Potentially a trap game, what with our coming off 5 consecutive emotionally-draining games, playing an 0-5 team, and the injuries starting to pile up on us.

[SWSiouxMN]

2 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

Potentially a trap game, what with our coming off 5 consecutive emotionally-draining games, playing an 0-5 team, and the injuries starting to pile up on us.

Perhaps

But all Bubba has to say is remember Idaho State last year. Same situation... but I expect a different result this time

[MoSiouxFan]

15 minutes ago, SWSiouxMN said:

Perhaps

But all Bubba has to say is remember Idaho State last year. Same situation... but I expect a different result this time

May have spoken too soon on the 0-5.

[SiouxVolley]

Sac St has gone ahead 41-38 with 15 ticks left.

Sac St was pummeled by a DII, but seems to be turning around.

[geaux_sioux]

Sac State wins.....

[Hambone]

Sounds like Sac had around 500 yards of offense.  They were slinging it pretty good at the end.  DBs need to be ready next weekend.

[geaux_sioux]

7 minutes ago, Hambone said:

Sounds like Sac had around 500 yards of offense.  They were slinging it pretty good at the end.  DBs need to be ready next weekend.

We cannot lose this game. This is Idaho State from last year all over again. We need to find a way to get up on them early and make them give up. 

[MoSiouxFan]

35 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

May have spoken too soon on the 0-5.

Make that a 1-4 team with momentum.

[UND-FB-FAN]

UND is the better team, even with the injuries. I'd imagine Santiago won't be playing, but if UND can protect the ball and consistently run it, the offense will be fine against Sac State. The defense needs to force Sac State to work for everything (no easy long pass plays) and force a coupe turnovers, too. Will this game be tougher than the records suggest? Probably, but UND *needs* to win this contest. 

[Oxbow6]

Last 3 games mean zero if UND loses at Sac St. Rudolph called his best game in a long long time yesterday. That needs to be repeated next Saturday. Really good FB teams win games they should win even on the road.

[geaux_sioux]

1 hour ago, Oxbow6 said:

Last 3 games mean zero if UND loses at Sac St. Rudolph called his best game in a long long time yesterday. That needs to be repeated next Saturday. Really good FB teams win games they should win even on the road.

PT for the backups should be the goal.

[Longtime fan]

1 hour ago, Oxbow6 said:

Last 3 games mean zero if UND loses at Sac St. Rudolph called his best game in a long long time yesterday. That needs to be repeated next Saturday. Really good FB teams win games they should win even on the road.

Exactly!  3-3 with a lose to sac st would be very detrimental.  Und is a much better team and I expect a win, but the injuries are adding up.  Wish we had a mid season bye week instead of a bye after our last game so we could heal up.  

 

[siouxfan512]

3 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

PT for the backups should be the goal.

Agreed, get up big if they can. (Meaning no red zone fumbles, and no keaton tripping out of the snap) I'd like to see heidelbaugh in the 4th.

[northernraider]

3 hours ago, Longtime fan said:

Exactly!  3-3 with a lose to sac st would be very detrimental.  Und is a much better team and I expect a win, but the injuries are adding up.  Wish we had a mid season bye week instead of a bye after our last game so we could heal up.  

 

At least the end of year bye week will set us up for a nice playoff run!

[siouxfan512]

On 10/1/2016 at 11:06 PM, MoSiouxFan said:

Potentially a trap game, what with our coming off 5 consecutive emotionally-draining games, playing an 0-5 team, and the injuries starting to pile up on us.

Could be a trap game for Sac St.

[siouxfan512]

This season is starting to get fun, isn’t it!?!?!

 

We’ve had some injuries, we’ve had some harsh/close losses, but the one thing this team has a ton of is resiliency. At no point in any game, even getting smoked by USD, have they quit playing. That attitude alone is extremely valuable for this program, and shows the kind of mentality Bubba has instilled in these kids. I was actually tailgating at the Fargodome with some family before driving up to GF for the game on Saturday, and everyone I spoke with had extremely high praise for Bubba and what he is doing for UND. Also spoke with one player’s uncle, who said his nephew would just rave about Bubba as a coach. Those are the kinds of things you want to hear.

 

Sac. St is coming off a big time win for their program. Yes, Mt St. is having a bit of a down year as they rebuild and adjust to the new coaching staff (something UND can certainly understand), but the stats don’t lie either and Sac St. had a pretty impressive offensive output on Saturday. This is kind of a tough game, and tough team, to gauge. They lose to D2 Western Oregon by 8. They lost pretty soundly to FBS Fresno St. Then they have 3 straight 1 score games against Big Sky opponents. Now Weber, Idaho St and Montana St are not E. Wash or Montana, but this appears to be a team that plays to the level of their competition, and find a way to stay relevant in their games. It has already been said elsewhere, or by another poster, but this will likely have a similar flavor Idaho St. last season; they will not be afraid to pass. I like our chances against this kind of offense more than last season. Our corners, especially Hunt and Holm, have been susceptible to giving up some big plays and they will likely get targeted again this weekend BUT as we will not be defending the triple option or a RB like Newell, I think we can trust our front 7 to handle the run d without much of a problem, maybe even allow our LBs to drop back into coverage more often. I also think we will utilize Arnell and Reyes more on pass defense to help with the young corners. Bottom line, our pass defense has, and continues, to take huge steps forward from the past few seasons. I’ll take another 2-3 interceptions this weekend (Reyes, Harris, Labatt).

 

A few key stats below. Offense and Defense aren’t really much of a surprise, but our 10 Interceptions really makes this defense exciting to watch. Also a shout out to Dussold for stepping in to punt this season, and being very effective. Also worth noting that Sac. St.’s punting is in the basement with Cal Poly, and we saw what happened their last weekend. A terrible punt, translating into great field position and points. Special teams could be a factor this weekend.

 

Altogether, UND may not have more passing yard than Sac St (though if Keaton plays like last weekend, may we will), UND will significantly out rush Sacramento, UND will own the TOP, UND will win the turnover battle, and UND (now has a flavor for 1^st quarter points) will score early and limit the mistakes that hindered them in the red zone against Poly. Barring any major injuries that we haven’t heard about yet, I’ll go 38-20 UND to wreck yet another homecoming. It may seem bold, and it could end up being a closer game, like the rest of our games, and most of their games. Though, at some point, this team needs to get a convincing win, and I think building off of our momentum from last week is the perfect time to do it. I nailed the score last week (so so lucky), let’s see if I can do it again!

 

 

SCORING OFFENSE		G	TD	FG	XPT	2XP	DXP	Saf	Points	Avg/G
10.	North Dakota	5	16	6	14	0	0	1	130	26.0
13.	Sacramento State	5	15	3	10	2	0	1	115	23.0

 

 

SCORING DEFENSE		G	TD	FG	XPT	2XP	DXP	Saf	Points	Avg/G
2.	North Dakota	5	15	7	12	0	0	0	123	24.6
7.	Sacramento State	5	22	3	22	0	0	0	163	32.6

 

TOTAL OFFENSE		G	Rush	Pass	Plays	Yards	Avg/P	TD	Avg/G
9.	Sacramento State	5	710	1267	405	1977	4.9	15	395.4
13.	North Dakota	5	874	880	342	1754	5.1	13	350.8

 

TOTAL DEFENSE		G	Rush	Pass	Plays	Yards	Avg/P	TD	Avg/G
3.	North Dakota	5	657	1206	359	1863	5.2	14	372.6
7.	Sacramento State	5	1075	1213	356	2288	6.4	20	457.6

 

INTERCEPTIONS		G	No.	Yards	TD	Avg.
1.	North Dakota	5	10	163	3	16.3
8.	Sacramento State	5	2	6	0	3.0

 

PUNTING		G	No.	Yards	Avg/P	Ret.	Avg.	TB	Net/P
5.	North Dakota	5	31	1288	41.5	56	1.8	4	37.2
12.	Sacramento State	5	44	1662	37.8	122	2.8	0	35.0
13.	Cal Poly	5	16	631	39.4	69	4.3	2	32.6

 

 

[sioux#1fan]

Reyes and Arnell were both injured for that game last year. You can totally tell the difference with them out on the field in the pass game. Arnell seemed rusty the first couple games but who wouldnt? that was a gruesome injury. The kids had 3 ints the last 2 games but one of them got called back due to a d lineman jumping off sides and getting a personal foul. 

[SWSiouxMN]

I'd love to see a similar result the last time UND went out to Sac State.  But the main points are this

1) Win and get to 3-0 for the first time in Big Sky play, avoid the trap, and come home for a homecoming showdown with SUU.

2) Stay healthy

3) See 1 and 2

Wonder if Seibel will see the field on offense this week, or will that be a another week or so and will still be on punt duty. 

[Longtime fan]

Game notes is out:

santiago is shown as starting rb?  Hmmm?  Interesting 

Rooney isn't on the injury list- good news! 

 

[MoSiouxFan]

No notable changes on the two-deep.  Rooney and O'Brien both listed as starters and aren't on the injury status report, so hopefully both are good to go.  Santiago, Greer, Engwall, and Murray all listed as questionable.  I doubt we see Santiago, but hope I'm wrong.

[nodak651]

14 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

No notable changes on the two-deep.  Rooney and O'Brien both listed as starters and aren't on the injury status report, so hopefully both are good to go.  Santiago, Greer, Engwall, and Murray all listed as questionable.  I doubt we see Santiago, but hope I'm wrong.

I kinda hope he doesn't play.  Would like to see him rest up completely, and I also want to see Gordon again!  That guy was fun to watch!

[siouxfan512]

2 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

I kinda hope he doesn't play.  Would like to see him rest up completely, and I also want to see Gordon again!  That guy was fun to watch!

Agreed, want to make sure he is fully health and ready to go, but I'll trust the medical staff. If he travels, maybe they intend to use him as more of a decoy. I wouldn't think they would want to risk re-aggravating the injury, especially when we have other very capable RBs.

[UNDColorado]

I also wouldn't be against holding out Santiago, or using him as a decoy. We dont have a bye until after NAU so I think it is wise to be cautious. That said, I think they have done a good job of this as we have seen Reyes being held out of a couple second halves. There is a lot of football left to be played and we need to keep rolling.

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

It would be nice to blow this one open and get the backups some playing time.