2006 offense

[UND92,96]

Without regard to statistics, I think this may be the best UND offense I've seen, although I've "only" been following UND football since the late 70's/early 80's. I definitely haven't seen a better quarterback/running back/wide receiver combo than Manke, Chappell and Dressler. I also really like the dimension Grover brings at tight end. He's one of the more athletic tight ends UND has had in awhile. Despite some injuries, the line has been solid all year. It's definitely been nice not having to always rely so much on the defense to hold down the opponent like in some past years, and to not settle for field goals so often (although Hellevang has been very good, as well).

[bincitysioux]

I think it is a tale of two offenses, one with Manke and one with Belmore. Had Manke been healthy all season, I do think that this offense could have went down in history as one of the most prolific the Sioux have ever fielded. But with suffling of QB's, we were lucky to get 20 points during the middle games of the season.

[UND92,96]

I think it is a tale of two offenses, one with Manke and one with Belmore. Had Manke been healthy all season, I do think that this offense could have went down in history as one of the most prolific the Sioux have ever fielded. But with suffling of QB's, we were lucky to get 20 points during the middle games of the season.

For the purposes of this discussion, I was only referring to the Manke-led offense.

[Irish]

When they let them play like they did Saturday, this is one of the best I have seen in the past 15 years. When the play calling gets conservative, they are only slightly above average. Strangely, the more we think our defense can hold the opposition, the more restricted we become on offense. When we know we have to score points like vs Northern Iowa or South Dakota we can light it up. We are definately mulit-dimensional when we want to be. I hope we pull out all of the stops for the playoffs.

[UND92,96]

When they let them play like they did Saturday, this is one of the best I have seen in the past 15 years. When the play calling gets conservative, they are only slightly above average. Strangely, the more we think our defense can hold the opposition, the more restricted we become on offense. When we know we have to score points like vs Northern Iowa or South Dakota we can light it up. We are definately mulit-dimensional when we want to be. I hope we pull out all of the stops for the playoffs.

The thing is, besides perhaps a few series in the second half of the UNO game, I really don't think conservative play-calling has been a problem when Manke has played. And the reality is that ultra-conservative playcalling is unnecessary when Manke plays because he takes such good care of the ball. If UND is going to have a good chance to make some noise in the playoffs, the offense needs to be super aggressive, and I think it will be.

[sprig]

The 70's trio of Gustafson (Jay), Gustafson (Ron aka "magic"), and B. Deutsch were very good also.

[gabe01]

It's tough to say because the competition is so different now. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

In the past, the Sioux would compete against a dominant NCC that included teams like NDSU, Northern Colorado, and SDSU. It was the toughest D2 conference on the planet and every game was tough. They have been replaced by much weaker teams like Winona State, Crookston, Minnesota Duluth, Western and Central Washington.

Obvioulsy this is a good offensive team. They could move the ball against Northern Iowa. But the games against Winona and the other soft teams padded the stats. They only played 3 tough teams all year, UNI, UNO, and SD and came out of it with a 2-1 record and won both games by a combined 11 points.

The fact that Winona actually made the playoffs shows the quality of play has dropped off BIG TIME! Man, those old NCC days were tough. You will never see a D2 Conference that strong again.

[BigGame]

It's tough to say because the competition is so different now. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

In the past, the Sioux would compete against a dominant NCC that included teams like NDSU, Northern Colorado, and SDSU. It was the toughest D2 conference on the planet and every game was tough. They have been replaced by much weaker teams like Winona State, Crookston, Minnesota Duluth, Western and Central Washington.

Obvioulsy this is a good offensive team. They could move the ball against Northern Iowa. But the games against Winona and the other soft teams padded the stats. They only played 3 tough teams all year, UNI, UNO, and SD and came out of it with a 2-1 record and won both games by a combined 11 points.

The fact that Winona actually made the playoffs shows the quality of play has dropped off BIG TIME! Man, those old NCC days were tough. You will never see a D2 Conference that strong again.

They certainly played more than 3 tough teams this year, but you are correct tht the overall strength of the schedule is down. Also stats don't typically get padded playing blowout games because the starters are out pretty early and UND has shared the carries most of the season.

Chappel has only attempted 151 carries this season, that's about 15 carries a game which isn't a lot. I say 15 a game because he really didn't play much in the first game if I remember correctly. Woodhead and Race have the padded stats in D2 do to the # of carries they get and playing in games that require there offensive production in order to win.