What a Game

[SiouxG]

Well we sure did give it to crookston. Riza Mahmoud was in my mind the player of the week . Simply electrifying. Those punt returns have cleared up any running back dispute in my mind. He will be waisting his time if they dont start him by atleast mid season. Klosterman looked sharp as did Smith, though I am concerned about him using all of his weapons at reciever. I was happy to see Hermes back and in full Schmidt fashion blocking punts, though I wasnt happy with his back ups. Dahlen did nothing in my mind and neither did Mayer. WIth only two I wonder if that is a depth concern. I saw the scrimmage in East Grand and that true Freshman Zachariah Babington-Johnson 2# looked quicker than Schmidt off of the ball. Though Im sure they would love to hold him for a year, I wonder if they would take the shirt off of him. He weighs as much if not more than Dahlen and is quicker, and faster. Does any one know why he was in the stands? Hopefully he isnt academically ineligible!!But then again I would love to see how he looked as a fifth year senior. I guess coach Lennon is the real visionary, he held Mahmoud and look what he did his first game out. The sioux will be young and I think might struggle early against omaha and ndsu but will win and then roll into the playoffs with no more than 2 losses.

[The Sicatoka]

Mr. Mahmoud had a very nice game. The nine yard TD run was good. The catch it on the dead run 45 yard punt return for TD was very nice. (This return was his first touch of a ball in a college game.) The let it drop, grab it after the second bounce, go to the sideline, cut back left, juke right, eeeeennnn-gage, ain't nobody in maroon got that gear, 87 yard punt return for touchdown was mindblowing. (First Sioux player ever to bring back two punts for TD in a single game.)

However, people are impressed with the offensive numbers because they are easily spotted in the paper.

Taking nothing away from Mr. Mahmoud, I'd argue that Digger Anderson (the new number 40) gave flashbacks of last year's number 40, Eric Schmidt and was at least special teams player of the game if not defensive player of the game. He had three or four special teams tackles plus a couple of good tackles on defense.

Now having a smile about these things on my face I'm still forced to remind myself: It was only Minnesota-Crookston.

[dbarker]

I have been looking forward to seeing what Mahmoud could do ever since he was recruited a year and a half ago, and he's definitely a talent. If he stays healthy, he will do some great things.

Another player who really looked good last night were freshman linebacker Digger Anderson. He was all over the field on both special teams and defense. Also, you had to be impressed with Jeff Glas's accuracy on his field goals. I'm not sure why he kept kicking those high, short kickoffs, but he looks to be as big of a weapon as Peterka was for field goals. Plus, he gets a lot more trajectory than Peterka so hopefully blocks won't be a problem as they were for Cameron at times.

My biggest concern for the season is depth on the o-line. Last night, I believe there were only 8 healthy non-red shirt offensive linemen as Chris Kuper did not suit up. I believe Kuper, Matt Buisker and Andy Hendrickson will be capable backups, and Ben Murphy could always move back to the line if necessary, but I would have liked there to be a few more bodies there. It hurt a little when two guys who red-shirted last year chose not to come back.

[TheSiouxFan]

I don't know, but UNO might be overrated. UNK won 35-17.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg...38&u_sid=488645

[OETKB]

The fact that UNO got beat at home by a lower-ranked team says something, although UNK was the #25 team and it was the 1st game of the year. Let's hope the Sioux can get a couple crucial wins on the road, including N. Colorado, NDSU, and UNO. It's payback time! No fingers to the crowd required.

I think next weeks' game vs C. Washington will be a much better indicator of just how talented guys like Anderson and Mahmoud really are. Some very encouraging numbers, however, were:

Klosterman = 9 for 9 passing

Smith = 108 yds on 8 catches

Mahmoud = set school record with 2 TD's from Punt Returns.

Anderson = 7 solo tackles

Glas = tied school record with 5 FG's (5 for 5; longest = 47 yds)

[U2Bad1]

. Also, you had to be impressed with Jeff Glas's accuracy on his field goals. I'm not sure why he kept kicking those high, short kickoffs, but he looks to be as big of a weapon as Peterka was for field goals. Plus, he gets a lot more trajectory than Peterka so hopefully blocks won't be a problem as they were for Cameron at times.

Probably cuz if you kick high short kick offs they are less likely to be returned far because it allows your coverage to get down the field.