2017 Season

[UND-FB-FAN]

13 hours ago, MoSiouxFan said:

I wonder if the staff is giving any thought to Nate Ketteringham being available.  With Studs graduating next year and Ketteringham having three years left in which to complete his two remaining years of eligibility, I would think that he would be a great get.  I believe he was a three star recruit and had good numbers for a lowly Sacramento squad.

Timing is proabably wrong, but I think Bubba and his staff should definitely discuss bringing Ketteringham in. The QB room needs added competition because, in my opinion, the quarterback position - along with the offensive line - are the two spots keeping UND at good and not great. Ketteringham would add competition (beyond that of the two ND kids, sorry) and he's familiar with the Big Sky Conference. I'm sure UND made a good impression talent-wise with the a** whooping they put on Sac State out at their place in 2016. 

Of course, as far as positions in need of upgrades, we'll have to wait and see how the defense does after losing all starting linebackers. My gut feeling tells me UND's defense will be even better this season (more depth and experience in secondary and defensive line is very good). 

[UND1983]

3 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Timing is proabably wrong, but I think Bubba and his staff should definitely discuss bringing Ketteringham in. The QB room needs added competition because, in my opinion, the quarterback position - along with the offensive line - are the two spots keeping UND at good and not great. Ketteringham would add competition (beyond that of the two ND kids, sorry) and he's familiar with the Big Sky Conference. I'm sure UND made a good impression talent-wise with the a** whooping they put on Sac State out at their place in 2016. 

Of course, we'll have to wait and see how the defense does after losing all starting linebackers but my gut feeling tells me UND's defense will be even better this season (more depth and experience in secondary). 

IMO, if he is leaving Sac State at this age he isn't looking to go to UND.  He is a spread, shotgun QB.  Plus, he may be looking higher.

[UND-FB-FAN]

4 minutes ago, UND1983 said:

  Plus, he may be looking higher.

I would be quite surprised if he gets that "higher" opportunity, considering he hasn't done anything special at the FCS level.

You never know, I suppose. 

EDIT: One could argue that UND is "higher" after the 40-7 thrashing they put on Sac State in 2016. 

[AJS]

https://siouxfb.areavoices.com/2017/04/19/spring-2017-what-we-learned/

1. Our biggest concern, the offensive line, has a ways to go.  Youth emerged in Ryan Tobin, Noah Mortel, and Nate Nguon.  Tobin is by far the most developed of the freshmen OL.  The incumbents held serve for the most part but that won’t be good enough come fall.  This spring was great for reps but this summer could be huge for whoever wants to step up and win one the open offensive line jobs.  Which is ALL FIVE of them.
2. We have heard that RG Demon Taylor has lost weight through better training/diet and it has helped him on the field.  That is good news as Taylor has the tools but needs to still put it all together.
3. The offensive tackle position will be an open battle, as we stated above, throughout fall camp.  A.J. Stockwell, Mat Cox, Bryce Blair, Adam Stiner, Noah Mortel, Sean Russo, and Bennett Helgren (the last three are freshmen) are all battling but it is far from clear who will be where on August 31st at Utah.  Simply put, the tackle position was not good enough in 2016.

I want to take a closer look at the offensive line. The unit was atrocious for about 1/2 the 2016 season, but I thought by the end, it was a pretty solid unit. This year they return all but one offensive lineman, with the addition of a talented RS Freshman class. I'm trying to read between the lines with the word "concern". I'd say there's absolutely no doubt they'll be better this year than last, right? Is the concern they won't be a great unit, but only a good, or more they'll be terrible?

[MoSiouxFan]

26 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

I think Bubba and his staff should definitely discuss bringing Ketteringham in. The QB room needs added competition because, in my opinion, the quarterback position - along with the offensive line - are the two spots keeping UND at good and not great. Ketteringham would add competition (beyond that of the two ND kids, sorry) and he's familiar with the Big Sky Conference.

I totally agree.  I don't think that you can have enough depth at the QB position.  Where will we be if both Studs and Zimmerman do down?  If just Studs goes down?  I think Ketteringham's stats were very good, especially considering that he spent half of the time on his back at Sac St.  Ideally, he would redshirt next season, then come in after Studs graduates, but would be ready to step in in case of injury.  If we're lucky and Studs doesn't get injured this season, then we're ready to go against U of W the following season with a good, experienced QB that has had a year to learn our offensive system.

[gundy1124]

17 minutes ago, AJS said:

https://siouxfb.areavoices.com/2017/04/19/spring-2017-what-we-learned/

1. Our biggest concern, the offensive line, has a ways to go.  Youth emerged in Ryan Tobin, Noah Mortel, and Nate Nguon.  Tobin is by far the most developed of the freshmen OL.  The incumbents held serve for the most part but that won’t be good enough come fall.  This spring was great for reps but this summer could be huge for whoever wants to step up and win one the open offensive line jobs.  Which is ALL FIVE of them.
2. We have heard that RG Demon Taylor has lost weight through better training/diet and it has helped him on the field.  That is good news as Taylor has the tools but needs to still put it all together.
3. The offensive tackle position will be an open battle, as we stated above, throughout fall camp.  A.J. Stockwell, Mat Cox, Bryce Blair, Adam Stiner, Noah Mortel, Sean Russo, and Bennett Helgren (the last three are freshmen) are all battling but it is far from clear who will be where on August 31st at Utah.  Simply put, the tackle position was not good enough in 2016.

I want to take a closer look at the offensive line. The unit was atrocious for about 1/2 the 2016 season, but I thought by the end, it was a pretty solid unit. This year they return all but one offensive lineman, with the addition of a talented RS Freshman class. I'm trying to read between the lines with the word "concern". I'd say there's absolutely no doubt they'll be better this year than last, right? Is the concern they won't be a great unit, but only a good, or more they'll be terrible?

It's all about perspective.  This isn't an O-Line or team that's going to get their tits lit by 50 points by Montana or Eastern like in the dark days.  My read, the 'concern' is can this unit bring us through a deep play-off run.  And that is questionable, but is a better concern to have than can this O-Line even win us a game.

[UNDvince97-01]

There is mutual interest in Ketteringham, who would have to redshirt this season and then would have 2 years of eligibility remaining.  Scholarships are the issue and he may have to pay his own way for a year until Studsrud graduates because we have no money left at QB this year.

This would be very smart of the staff to do and if they could pull it off, would have Zimmerman and Ketteringham as juniors, and Heidlebaugh, Bolinske and Boltmann behind them in fall of 2018.  A much more quality depth chart at QB that UND has never seen.

Landing Ketteringham would be huge.  I really like that kid, especially if he's running our offense with a solid running game to take the pressure off.  He's got tools.

[Ozzie82]

I'm cautiously optimistic about the OL based on their experience and depth.  I expect they will be better in 2017.

 

The guys over on SFI do an outstanding job, but in this instance I think they do the OL somewhat of a disservice by being dramatic.  I agree with gundy, it's all about perspective.  Does the OL need to improve from last year?  For sure they do. No question about it.   But you could say that about all of the returning starters, too.  Is the OL ready to play Utah today?  Absolutely not, but the D is always ahead of the O in spring ball, especially against this defensive line.  So by that metric SFI is correct that the OL has a "ways to go."  As the OL goes so will the team - so all eyes will be on them - but as AJS said they were a pretty solid unit by the end of the year and all but one player returns.  Seven of eight guys who played enough to letter are back.  That experience will most likely pay off.  And if it doesn't there is enough depth - both old and young - to be there to pick up the slack.  The depth is the best it's been in Bubba's tenure.

 

I think the three freshmen OLs mentioned most often have excellent potential, but because of how prominently SFI has mentioned them in numerous articles one might guess that it is likely that they'll be starting vs. Utah.  Anything can happen, but barring something unforeseen they won't - and we probably don't want them to.  As mentioned in the comment section of the "what we learned" piece that SFI did playing OL is difficult in UND's system and it takes a while to catch on to line calls and responsibilities (I would have preferred that observation be in the original article where more people would have seen it).  OL is a tough position to play as a young player.  There are always exceptions of course but I'm sure the staff would prefer to start guys with experience because they finally have a stable of guys who have played - and at times played well.  The new guys may play (and be really good) this year but they are not ready yet based on what I've seen.

 

I also don't agree that all five jobs are open.  AJ and Demon aren't going anywhere.  In all likelihood LG will be Aplin or Bell, center will be Rooney or Aplin, and RT will be Blair or Cox (Mortel is a wild card here).

 

I'm not saying there is nothing to worry about but there is experience, depth, and good coaching and I expect an improved OL in 2017.

 

 

[UND-1]

Stockwell is far from a lock at LT.  He regressed last year.  It will all depend if anybody is ready to push him yet.  Maybe not. 

 

[siouxfan512]

2 hours ago, UND-1 said:

Stockwell is far from a lock at LT.  He regressed last year.  It will all depend if anybody is ready to push him yet.  Maybe not. 

 

Wasn't he injured?

[Feff]

1 hour ago, siouxfan512 said:

Wasn't he injured?

Pretty sure he was nowhere close to 75% for a chunk of last season with injuries. He played through a lot but couldn't finish. Prior to that i thought he was solid  (minus the occasional bonehead penalty).

[GoHawks]

9 hours ago, siouxfan512 said:

Wasn't he injured?

Shoulder injury I think? Heard he could barely lift his arm up at times.

[UND-1]

9 hours ago, siouxfan512 said:

Wasn't he injured?

Yes he was towards the end.  But, he wasn't playing all that great before that.  

[Ozzie82]

44 minutes ago, UND-1 said:

Yes he was towards the end.  But, he wasn't playing all that great before that.  

He was injured for the majority of the season.  Shoulder and lower body injuries.  He barely practiced during the season because of it.  He gutted it out and IMO played well considering how injured he was.

[AJS]

Is he fully healthy now?

[MoSiouxFan]

18 hours ago, UNDvince97-01 said:

There is mutual interest in Ketteringham, who would have to redshirt this season and then would have 2 years of eligibility remaining.  Scholarships are the issue and he may have to pay his own way for a year until Studsrud graduates because we have no money left at QB this year.

This would be very smart of the staff to do and if they could pull it off, would have Zimmerman and Ketteringham as juniors, and Heidlebaugh, Bolinske and Boltmann behind them in fall of 2018.  A much more quality depth chart at QB that UND has never seen.

Landing Ketteringham would be huge.  I really like that kid, especially if he's running our offense with a solid running game to take the pressure off.  He's got tools.

Very encouraged that there's mutual interest.  I totally agree that landing him would be huge.  With our running game and receivers, our offense would be a juggernaut for at least the next three seasons.  And, as you say, it would give us some serious depth at that position that we haven't seen in a while.

[Ozzie82]

5 minutes ago, AJS said:

Is he fully healthy now?

To the best of my knowledge. 

[siouxfb]

[Teeder11]

4 minutes ago, siouxfb said:

Wait, what?????  Is this a joke?  Holy cow!!!!

[F'n Hawks]

Is this actually gonna happpen?

[homer]

On 4/26/2017 at 7:21 PM, gundy1124 said:

Ohhhh Really??

 

You were foreshadowing and we missed it. 

[AJS]

[Siouxperman8]

2 minutes ago, AJS said:

That would be great if it can work out for him (and UND).   I sure hope it does.

[sioux24/7]

Is this real life?

[Sioux94]

Holy Crap!!  Is this Christmas in April???