A number of articles (including Bleacher Report) lately have pegged NDSU and ISU as a game to watch in week 1 of the coming NCAA season. What you'll find below is exactly why this game should and will be a "non-event".
1) It comes down to who will have the biggest chip on their shoulder. ISU players have been abandoned on by the last staff. They weren't given the chance to play to their potential and they know it. CPR will be at the helm for the first time ever. Tom Herman will want to prove that last season at Rice wasn't a fluke and that he can coach and win against the big boys. Wally is going to want to prove that he can take the challenge and succeed at taking ISU's sub-par defense and turn it into what it was earlier this decade. Our guys come out and roll NDSU.
2) Offense: ISU produced a nationally ranked 42nd offense last season with 4 games of QB's splitting time. That is nothing to shrug off nor anything the Bison have yet to see. The Bison lost their "star" safety from last year, and 5 players to some form of suspension and arrest so far this year. ISU OC Herman better go 5 wide, all on some form of corner, post or streak routes early, and tire their dbacks. ISU has way more depth, and can turn it into a foot race, every down.
3) Defense: Wally Burnham. Have you heard of South Florida? It's because of his defenses that that school was put on the map.
4) Special teams: Leonard Johnson. That boy can run. Pair him with incoming Darius Reynolds, and you will not catch these guys if they get a few blocks as was seen in last year's Oklahoma State game
5) Head Coach Paul Rhoads. Everything is on the line in his first performance. Ask any that have heard him speak, he's a wonderful motivational speaker. Most ISU fans want to suit up for this guy. He's been in Ames before, on VERY successful bowl teams. He knows what it takes to win at ISU and knows he cannot overlook or even come out flat against NDSU
I'll be in the stands September 3rd, but I won't be holding my breath, I'll be screaming along with 40 thousand of my closest friends. Another thing NDSU has no experience with.
"Offense: ISU produced a nationally ranked 42nd offense last season with 4 games of QB's splitting time. That is nothing to shrug off nor anything the Bison have yet to see."
ReplyDeleteJust about every Big XII team has a highly ranked offense! When you're going against those terrible defenses it's nothing to brag about.
And yes we have experienced big atmopshere's before, we had 30,000 of our own fans when we took down Minnesota in the dome two years ago.
Sorry, but as a former Minnesotan, the Dome is NOTHING compared to Jack Trice for atmosphere and crowd for college football.
ReplyDeleteThe Dome struggled to attract college fans, and always looked half empty even with a good crowd. The Gophers used to count on Hawks, Buckeyes, Badgers and Wolverine fans to fill out their numbers (they've built their own, more appropriate stadium now, so their atmosphere should go up.) so 30,000 ND fans making the drive over was part of their plan.
Jack Trice, as we saw last night, had a palpable effect on the overmatched Bison. NDSU was down after the first series, and struggled to get the offense going. It was pretty obvious they were more than a little disoriented at first. They recovered, but please don't make comparisons to the empty roam dome in the Twin Cities where opposing teams took down their goal posts and the crowd at Jack Trice.
Two different worlds. And I wouldn't go on about terrible defenses, when the Big 12's worst just held the Bison under 20.