(Photo credit: Argus Leader - bottom Left, The Wayne Stater - bottom right)
(Bob Young Stadium - Sioux Falls, Trey Heid - Augustana, Zach Osborn - Wayne State)


Saturday, September 5

Mary at Sioux Falls (Noon)
UMary comes into this game with QB Zach Roberson ready to play (missed most of 2014), but the Marauders will be young and inexperienced in 2015. This wont be a good recipe for success as they travel a long drive into Sioux Falls to take on a Cougar team that seems to be foaming at the mouth to further prove themselves after being snubbed last year after a 10-1 regular season. To further compound Mary's challenges, VaShawn Pope is academically ineligible and he was expected to be a major play-maker for this Marauder squad. 2014 Stand-in QB Ben Jolliffe has now been slotted over to wideout, likely to get the best Marauder athletes on the field.

Sioux Falls graduated fan favorite and star Nephi Garcia and will need to replace his production with a host of smaller halfbacks in Max Mickey, Jason Towns (moved from CB), and Justin Fulks (xfer from NWMSU). Many thought that Fulks might come in and emerge as the main guy, but migraines have slowed down his development with the Coo in camp. Mickey should be the main guy but I'd expect that USF will share the wealth a fair amount as none of these backs have every-down size.

It seems that Mary is going to be searching a bit for their identity entering the 2015 campaign, while USF is replacing only a few players from a team NSIC last season. I'm expecting USF to be very pumped for this one and having their new playing surface making it's debut should further create a buzz the stadium. USF gets out to a fast start in this one and to get a defensive score from their secondary as well.
USF 48-14


Northern State at Upper Iowa (Noon)
Both teams enter this game with their longtime star quarterback graduated a fresh start ahead. UIU loses far more than that however. The Peacocks lose stars as running back, wideout, and tight end. With nearly all the offensive productivity of the last few seasons now gone, they have pretty much a full reboot occurring.

Northern on the other hands brings back most of their weapons from an opportune 8-win squad in 2014. While many figured that juco transfer Christian McAlvain would be the starter, Kyle Lavand has been named the starter. Coach Dosch indicated to me that there's a real chance both will play Saturday in Fayette. True freshman Jake Comeaux looked good in scrimmaging, but will redshirted.

Neither team defended very well last season, so I will call that side of the ball a wash. On offense it's fairly apparent that the Wolves return a lot more production than the Peacocks. While I don't think this game will look crisp due to new quarterbacks making their debut, I do have the Wolves getting a road win to start the year.
NSU 34-20


Minnesota-Crookston at Wayne State (1pm)
Crookston is trying to create a new football culture and notch some victories after a winless 2014 season. Starting their year at Wayne State isn't going to be an easy task. WSC returns star quarterback Zach Osborn who averaged 300ypg in the air, while also being able to make plays with his feet. While I see Crookston being improved this year, Wayne should be too much at home.
Wayne State 55-14


Augustana at Bemidji State (6pm)
It's always good to see a night game on the schedule for NSIC fans who like to catch a game other than their own. This week we have the Vikings and the Beavers in what should be a competitive tilt. Augie brings back Trey Heid, CJ Ham, and an improved OLine, while BSU will be a year more experienced on offense after having some of their better players cut their teeth on NSIC football last fall.

That brings us to the question of who will be the starting quarterback for the home team. On the 2-deep sheet Ryan Shields is listed as the #1. However, as reported by Jack Hittinger (Bemidji Pioneer Sports) a true starter has not been named yet by head coach Jeff Tesch. Shields has shown to be a better throwing qb, while Jordan Hein is more of a rushing qb. While this is certainly a little bit of gamesmanship, I think Tesch probably prefers Shields but with the Vikings returning only a few players on their front 7, the Beavers might want to try and pound the football instead of trying to attack a more seasoned Augie secondary. It would seem that BSU was a more explosive offense once they opened things up last season. Furthermore their new OC is Craig Bagnell who was a gunslinger just a few years ago when he played for UMary.
Augie on the road has been hard to figure for years now. Last season they laid an egg at Concordia, then went to SMSU and destroyed the Mustangs. Given how good Trey Heid can be at quarterback I like the Vikings to get out fast and have BSU chase them for the rest of the night.
Augustana 41-24