Drake at North Dakota---GAME DAY!!!!

[darell1976]

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/214330/group/UND%20sports/


85-29-1

UND’s record in season-opening games, dating back to 1894. Thirty-nine of the wins have been shutouts.


GO SIOUX!!!!!!!!!

[darell1976]

3-0 Sioux 1st Qtr

[darell1976]

TD SIOUX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UND 10
Drake 0 12:36 2nd Qtr

[bojeta]

TD SIOUX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UND 10
Drake 0 12:36 2nd Qtr

Yep, and then the live play by play DIED!! Have and update?

[darell1976]

:02 2nd

Sioux 13
Drake 0

UND 22 yd FG!!!

[darell1976]

UND 200 yards of offense to Drake's 75 in the first half.

[darell1976]

Drake 3rd and goal at the 5...FUMBLE!!!!!!!!!!! SIOUX FOOTBALL!!!!

UND 13
Drake 0 8:42 3rd Qtr

[darell1976]

6:36 4th

UND 16
Drake 0

Drake 1 turnover UND ZERO!! (last year UND -10 in turnovers)

[frozennorth]

What was attendance? I wanted to go, but had to do hw instead.

I was expecting a score more along the lines 30 15 souix.

[darell1976]

What was attendance? I wanted to go, but had to do hw instead.

I was expecting a score more along the lines 30 15 souix.

8484

[darell1976]

FINAL

Sioux 16
Drake 0

Defense impressive, Offense needs more work on the line. Too many penalties and sacks allowed.

[FloridaDog]

Good game Sioux. Your typical sloppy first game. Our passing game is in decent shape, but man do we need a running back...

[darell1976]

Good game Sioux. Your typical sloppy first game. Our passing game is in decent shape, but man do we need a running back...

Your defense did good getting to our QB.

[Twentysix]

I don't have TV, how did the game look? the score isnt really impressive.

[Franks Tanks]

I don't have TV, how did the game look? the score isnt really impressive.

I actually got this game in PA. The Sioux were in control the whole time, but were a bit sloppy and squandered some scoring opportunities. Drake played tough however.

[coover]

Watching the game here in So Cal. I just took a look at the ND schedule and I forsee 5 wins for ND (including this game).

Strengths: QB, Running Backs, two or three interior offensive linemen, kicker.

Weaknesses: Discipline, an offensive lineman or two, defensive line.

Pass Defense was very average and is neither a strength or a weakness, but may have some trouble with other Great Western teams.

Drake is a non-scholarship team in a league that has NEVER had a team enter the FCS playoffs. THE LEAGUE HAS NEVER HAD ANY TEAM IN THE PLAYOFFS. I'm not sure how the league could be in the Football CHAMPIONSHIP Subsection if they do not have to talent to compete for a championship. The reason, of course, that they do not have the talent is that the whole league is non-scholarship. I would expect a Pioneer league team to probably be a bit better than most non-scholarship DIII teams.

ND should have killed them. Drake will be optimistic for the rest of the season after the loss today.

I certainly expected and hoped for more from ND, but am disappointed See you in October.

[Franks Tanks]

Watching the game here in So Cal. I just took a look at the ND schedule and I forsee 5 wins for ND (including this game).

Strengths: QB, Running Backs, two or three interior offensive linemen, kicker.

Weaknesses: Discipline, an offensive lineman or two, defensive line.

Pass Defense was very average and is neither a strength or a weakness, but may have some trouble with other Great Western teams.

Drake is a non-scholarship team in a league that has NEVER had a team enter the FCS playoffs. THE LEAGUE HAS NEVER HAD ANY TEAM IN THE PLAYOFFS. I'm not sure how the league could be in the Football CHAMPIONSHIP Subsection if they do not have to talent to compete for a championship. The reason, of course, that they do not have the talent is that the whole league is non-scholarship. I would expect a Pioneer league team to probably be a bit better than most non-scholarship DIII teams.

ND should have killed them. Drake will be optimistic for the rest of the season after the loss today.

I certainly expected and hoped for more from ND, but am disappointed See you in October.

At least half the teams in FBS have absolutely no chance at winning a NC.

[coover]

At least half the teams in FBS have absolutely no chance at winning a NC.
Actually, it's worse than that. Off the top of my head, there are about 125 FCS teams. No more than, maybe, 35 are decent. Most years there are NO decent Pioneer League teams, though occasionally you might hear somebody trying to get a 11-0 or a 10-1 Pioneer League team into the playoffs. Unfortunately, they do not belong there. Fortunately, the good folks that actually select the playoff teams know that.

[darell1976]

Offensive line: D- (lots of penalties and poor pass blocking)
WR: F (dropped balls including 1 in the end zone)
RB: B (good running by both RB's)
QB: B+ (Bradley is our answer!! Passing very acurate, good read to either eat the ball or get rid of it; where Landry last year would force it)
DL: B (Pretty good getting to Drake's QB, forced a Blocked FG and a Fumble)
LB: C+ (need to blitz more, good job stopping the run)
DB: C- (still giving up the short passes for 5 yards a pop, need work on it, did have 1 INT)
K: A+ (Miller 3-3 on FG's can't go wrong with that)
P: A (Cameron did punt one out at the Drake 6, pretty good job)

Not impressive, but a good win and confidence booster. Need some work on disipline before the Idaho game (hopefully its first game jitters). 5 wins should not be a problem with 1 in the books, 3 against NAIA/DII teams, and maybe a win over Northern Colorado or South Dakota but if things come together I see wins against Cal Poly at home and maybe an upset against SUU or UC Davis on the road, but a lot to work on before that is a possibility.

[THE HERD]

Offensive line: D- (lots of penalties and poor pass blocking)
WR: F (dropped balls including 1 in the end zone)
RB: B (good running by both RB's)
QB: B+ (Bradley is our answer!! Passing very acurate, good read to either eat the ball or get rid of it; where Landry last year would force it)
DL: B (Pretty good getting to Drake's QB, forced a Blocked FG and a Fumble)
LB: C+ (need to blitz more, good job stopping the run)
DB: C- (still giving up the short passes for 5 yards a pop, need work on it, did have 1 INT)
K: A+ (Miller 3-3 on FG's can't go wrong with that)
P: A (Cameron did punt one out at the Drake 6, pretty good job)

Not impressive, but a good win and confidence booster. Need some work on disipline before the Idaho game (hopefully its first game jitters). 5 wins should not be a problem with 1 in the books, 3 against NAIA/DII teams, and maybe a win over Northern Colorado or South Dakota but if things come together I see wins against Cal Poly at home and maybe an upset against SUU or UC Davis on the road, but a lot to work on before that is a possibility.

You think Bradley is your answer after beating a non-scholarship team and putting up 16 points? I am not saying he isn't the answer for you guys, but you defitnitely need a few more games against some real competition before you can say that. Congrats on the first win.

[Yote 53]

Heard the score on the way to work, 16-0? That was it? Not very impressive. I remember when Drake came to the Dome two years ago USD put up over 50 on them and half the offensive players came out of the locker room at half with street clothes on, their day was done because it was already a blowout. If I'm a UND fan I'm not very thrilled with this outcome. Drake is a non-scholly school as it's been pointed out. They aren't that good. From a USD fan's perspective I'm very pleased with this score. Looks like there is not much to fear in Grand Forks this season.

[biggame]

I thought Bradley looked pretty good throwing the ball but several times he tried to roll out of the pocket when he should have stepped up. That caused at least one sack and Drake was blitzing a lot.

It was a sloppy game which I think will improve dramatically next game but my biggest problem was with a couple WR's that continue to drop the ball. When you get to be a senior WR and your still can't catch a ball maybe the coaches should stop putting you on the field. Especially when you have some young talented WR that could be getting experience.

[bincitysioux]

Nice to get a win to start the season, especially before back to back FBS games. Would have rather seen a more convincing win against a non-scholarship program, but we were mostly limited by our own mistakes, not because of what the opponent was doing. Bradley looks to be a huge upgrade over last season. Throws a good ball, and made good decisions. At times, almost felt he was too cautious though. He looks like a quarterback, rather than an athlete playing the quarterback position. Depth at wideout may continue to be a problem behind Hardin and McGill. Love the new "vanilla" offense. Balanced, with no gimmicks. Keep it simple, stupid. No reason to go away from the run when it is working. Defense was superb. Other than a couple coverage breakdowns, they harassed the QB, stuffed the running game, had an INT, and held Drake scoreless.

I would have rather seen North Dakota come out and blow this team away, but what I did see is a team that looks improved from last year, but still has alot of room for more improvement.

[bincitysioux]

You think Bradley is your answer after beating a non-scholarship team and putting up 16 points? I am not saying he isn't the answer for you guys, but you defitnitely need a few more games against some real competition before you can say that. Congrats on the first win.

I agree with all that...................the silver lining is that North Dakota was really in control of the game throughout. They weren't limited by what Drake was doing, rather by silly penalties and some dropped balls. They need to improve alot, but the good thing is that they look much better than the team that took the field in the last game of the year last season against South Daktoa St.

[darell1976]

You think Bradley is your answer after beating a non-scholarship team and putting up 16 points? I am not saying he isn't the answer for you guys, but you defitnitely need a few more games against some real competition before you can say that. Congrats on the first win.

I would rather have a guy throw the ball to the receiver than throw it behind or over the head of the guy. He took a sack instead of forcing a ball into traffic and getting a pick. We lived with that the last couple years with Jake Landry, and now we have a guy with accuracy and since he is only a sophomore he will surely mature before we start Big Sky play next year. And yeah 16 points against a non-schollie team is not that great but its a win. Look at it this way Nebraska scored only 17 on FCS South Dakota State and they still had a great year. One game doesn't make a season so we will see what happens next weekend against a tougher opponent.

[ChooChoo]

I watched this game last night in south Georgia. It was the first ND game I've seen. Pretty cool seeing college football in a region normally not available. Was attendence off for an opening game? No jabs intended, just saw a good many seats from the cameras perspective.

[danefan]

Watching the game here in So Cal. I just took a look at the ND schedule and I forsee 5 wins for ND (including this game).

Strengths: QB, Running Backs, two or three interior offensive linemen, kicker.

Weaknesses: Discipline, an offensive lineman or two, defensive line.

Pass Defense was very average and is neither a strength or a weakness, but may have some trouble with other Great Western teams.

Drake is a non-scholarship team in a league that has NEVER had a team enter the FCS playoffs. THE LEAGUE HAS NEVER HAD ANY TEAM IN THE PLAYOFFS. I'm not sure how the league could be in the Football CHAMPIONSHIP Subsection if they do not have to talent to compete for a championship. The reason, of course, that they do not have the talent is that the whole league is non-scholarship. I would expect a Pioneer league team to probably be a bit better than most non-scholarship DIII teams.

ND should have killed them. Drake will be optimistic for the rest of the season after the loss today.

I certainly expected and hoped for more from ND, but am disappointed See you in October.

A couple points you should consider here:

1. The top PFL teams are very good teams that would compete in they playoffs just as well as the OVC, Big South, MEAC, NEC, and Patriot teams do - that assumes of course they are given the same chance the OVC, Big South, MEAC, NEC and PL teams get - an AQ.
2. The bottom feeders and middle of the PFL are pretty bad, but don't forget most of them are forced to play DI football and would be very happy to play DIII instead. They can't - get over it.
3. FCS football is first and foremost a cost-containment subdivision.

[darell1976]

I watched this game last night in south Georgia. It was the first ND game I've seen. Pretty cool seeing college football in a region normally not available. Was attendence off for an opening game? No jabs intended, just saw a good many seats from the cameras perspective.

It may have been a little better if the game was not on a Thursday night, and of course if we were not still in transition. 8484 is about 65% of capacity. Glad you could see the game. Next Sioux televised game will be a conference game against Cal Poly. People should be filling up the dome for that one.

[frozennorth]

I watched this game last night in south Georgia. It was the first ND game I've seen. Pretty cool seeing college football in a region normally not available. Was attendence off for an opening game? No jabs intended, just saw a good many seats from the cameras perspective.
I beleve its the lowest attendence ever for an opener at the alerus. I think I'm the only actual student here, and I can't see any positive student feedback on fb or twitter, in fact the students seem pretty disinterested.

Based on this performance, I can see und dropping a game against one of the d2 schools, though I style like their odds against fresno st.

Calling a 4-7 season now.

[darell1976]

I beleve its the lowest attendence ever for an opener at the alerus. I think I'm the only actual student here, and I can't see any positive student feedback on fb or twitter, in fact the students seem pretty disinterested.

Based on this performance, I can see und dropping a game against one of the d2 schools, though I style like their odds against fresno st.

Calling a 4-7 season now.

According to some posters on siouxsports.com there was a strong student showing at the game which is nice to see. The low attendance isn't shocking since its the fact its not a strong FCS team, we are still in transition, and it was a Thursday night. And your thought makes no sense you like the odds against FBS Fresno State but see us losing to either Sioux Falls, Montana Western or Black Hills State?? I think the Idaho game is a good factor on how the season will go. Last year we put up 49 on NW St, 31 on Lamar and 55 on NE Okalahoma St and we won only 3 games. Does beating a team 16-0 or 60-0 really prove how your season will go, especially if its the first game?

[nmatsen]

A couple points you should consider here:

1. The top PFL teams are very good teams that would compete in they playoffs just as well as the OVC, Big South, MEAC, NEC, and Patriot teams do - that assumes of course they are given the same chance the OVC, Big South, MEAC, NEC and PL teams get - an AQ.
2. The bottom feeders and middle of the PFL are pretty bad, but don't forget most of them are forced to play DI football and would be very happy to play DIII instead. They can't - get over it.

3. FCS football is first and foremost a cost-containment subdivision.

There has been one PFL team ever that would have competed in the playoffs and that was Harbaughs SD squad 4 or 5 years back. And that is a maybe, they got relatively blown out of the water by I think it was UC Davis that year. Many said if they would have beaten them that year they get in. Years that Drake won the PFL were years that they would get 45 hung on them in the first half by Northern Iowa. At home, which will always make me scratch my head, why the F*** are we playing at Drake? How about a home and home with Wartburg while we are at it...

[coover]

There has been one PFL team ever that would have competed in the playoffs and that was Harbaughs SD squad 4 or 5 years back. And that is a maybe, they got relatively blown out of the water by I think it was UC Davis that year. Many said if they would have beaten them that year they get in. Years that Drake won the PFL were years that they would get 45 hung on them in the first half by Northern Iowa. At home, which will always make me scratch my head, why the F*** are we playing at Drake? How about a home and home with Wartburg while we are at it...

Unfortunately, the U San Diego vs. UC Davis was a regularly scheduled game that year, not a playoff game. San Diego did make some noise about being in the playoffs that year ... I think they were undefeated going into the Davis game ... but the loss to Davis in the last scheduled game of the year also lost them of any chance of being a playoff team. Additionally, Davis was not a playoff team that year. Davis was a very good team, I think 2nd in the Great Western to Cal Poly that year, but not selected.

[danefan]

There has been one PFL team ever that would have competed in the playoffs and that was Harbaughs SD squad 4 or 5 years back. And that is a maybe, they got relatively blown out of the water by I think it was UC Davis that year. Many said if they would have beaten them that year they get in. Years that Drake won the PFL were years that they would get 45 hung on them in the first half by Northern Iowa. At home, which will always make me scratch my head, why the F*** are we playing at Drake? How about a home and home with Wartburg while we are at it...

UNI would have hung 45 on a lot of the Conference champs in those years.

Read my statement again. The winner of the PFL has the same shot at being competitive in the playoffs as any of the other mid to low level FCS conferences.

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

A win is a win but only 16-0 to a bad Drake team?

10 more games to go.

[dakotadan]

It is difficult to tell how the rest of our season will go based on this 1 game. First off, our QB is a true Sophomore that just transferred in. So it's not like he had a redshirt and freshman year to learn the entire playbook. Because of this the coaches kept the offense very simple. And as a true Sophomore QB, I'm sure he had plenty of nerves coming into the game and having never been in our dome to see what gameday atmosphere is like. Second, there were a couple of stupid penalties that our offense took like false starts and holding calls that killed a couple scoring drives. You clean up those few penalties and UND's score would have been much better. Hopefully these were just game 1 nerves.

I was hoping to see a cleaner game played by the Sioux. But after the lowpoint season our usually successful program had last year, it was nice to see some definate positives from this game. Our young QB showed he can be both athletic and pass efficient. Our O and D lines showed alot more depth. Both of these lines are the biggest they have been in a long time. And we have some young, talented WR and RB that should really step up and help out the depth at those positions.

As far as our attendance, it was pretty disappointing. But it was a 7:00 game on a Thursday that didn't get over until just after 10. UND usually draws a good number of its fans from out of town. With people having to work on Friday, we missed out on alot of our regular fans who didn't want to get home late on a work night. Had this game been on Saturday we likely would have had anywhere between 10-12,000. But the risk with that is that many students would be out of town for the long weekend.

It was the first game of the season. Hopefully our true Soph. QB has gained some confidence and now the team knows what it needs to work on this week in practice.

[darell1976]

It is difficult to tell how the rest of our season will go based on this 1 game. First off, our QB is a true Sophomore that just transferred in. So it's not like he had a redshirt and freshman year to learn the entire playbook. Because of this the coaches kept the offense very simple. And as a true Sophomore QB, I'm sure he had plenty of nerves coming into the game and having never been in our dome to see what gameday atmosphere is like. Second, there were a couple of stupid penalties that our offense took like false starts and holding calls that killed a couple scoring drives. You clean up those few penalties and UND's score would have been much better. Hopefully these were just game 1 nerves.

I was hoping to see a cleaner game played by the Sioux. But after the lowpoint season our usually successful program had last year, it was nice to see some definate positives from this game. Our young QB showed he can be both athletic and pass efficient. Our O and D lines showed alot more depth. Both of these lines are the biggest they have been in a long time. And we have some young, talented WR and RB that should really step up and help out the depth at those positions.

As far as our attendance, it was pretty disappointing. But it was a 7:00 game on a Thursday that didn't get over until just after 10. UND usually draws a good number of its fans from out of town. With people having to work on Friday, we missed out on alot of our regular fans who didn't want to get home late on a work night. Had this game been on Saturday we likely would have had anywhere between 10-12,000. But the risk with that is that many students would be out of town for the long weekend.

It was the first game of the season. Hopefully our true Soph. QB has gained some confidence and now the team knows what it needs to work on this week in practice.

Well said!! The first game of the year is not a season maker. Maybe if you are counting on the 7 wins for a playoff or in the BCS, but when all you can win is a conference title 16-0 win over an FCS opponent is a good start. We have 2 FBS teams back to back and if we can escape those without being embarrassed like we were last year at Idaho (we almost beat Northern Illinois), or without major injuries we should be looking good towards conference play Oct 1 at Southern Utah. Attendance will grow with success and without transition.