NSIC - Week 5 Chat

[HumRsky]

Everything is setting up well for MSU Mavs, tough home games left include USF, AU and WSC, road game to to WSU.

Even better for UMD Dogs, NSU, BSU and AU at home. Mary on the road.

UMD has the most attractive home schedule I’ve seen in years. It’s far from a sure thing that they’ll win out though. It’s pretty clear that anything can happen this season, it’s not 2010 when all but a game or two of the regular season is 56-10. The game recap makes no mention of Larson, but he clearly didn’t play. Still haven’t seen anything anywhere about what’s happening there.

[Swisher]

d line looking terrible without Tambe. Got to move Jacob Howard back to the d line.

[BIGvikingFan]

Saddler lost game for Vikings. When he is off, he is off and should have been replaced earlier. Also AU punter bobbles a good snap a give USF ball on Viks 10.

Or did Saddler do what he could and appropriately throw the ball away because the Coo had everyone covered? The throws into the dirt was because DF had 9 guys playing screen perfectly and there was no way or point to trying to throw the pass. The throws into the sideline he was running for his life and appropriately avoiding coverage sacks. SF coaches did a great job scouting and knew our every move. Later in the game they figured out how to read our run game too and had 3 guys on our RB at every hand off. We need to work on more variety.

And I wonder if the same thing happened to our defense. SF scouting found all our weaknesses in the pass game and knew we would focus to much on the run game.

[Tundra_Man]

...

And I wonder if the same thing happened to our defense. SF scouting found all our weaknesses in the pass game and knew we would focus to much on the run game.

When Reisdorfer went down I actually wondered if it messed with Augie's gameplan as I'm sure most of their strategy had been molded around stopping him and his running style.

[laker]

Did anyone find out why Bobby Houk of Montana called out Bemidji State after the Griz beat Washington? There must be come connection. Anyway, Eastern Washington beat Montana late last night and someone posted "Tell Bobby Houk that he wasn't playing Bemidji!"

At least Bemidji won yesterday.

[vikingfaithful]

Or did Saddler do what he could and appropriately throw the ball away because the Coo had everyone covered? The throws into the dirt was because DF had 9 guys playing screen perfectly and there was no way or point to trying to throw the pass. The throws into the sideline he was running for his life and appropriately avoiding coverage sacks. SF coaches did a great job scouting and knew our every move. Later in the game they figured out how to read our run game too and had 3 guys on our RB at every hand off. We need to work on more variety.

And I wonder if the same thing happened to our defense. SF scouting found all our weaknesses in the pass game and knew we would focus to much on the run game.

Cannot share your sentiment, there were open receivers and accuracy was off. I would expect a 4 year starter to be more aware in big games. Saddler was not under a great deal of pressure. Vikings ran the ball well so it wasn't like AU was 1 dimensional.

The Cougars are a better team then record would suggest. They played well on Defense and will finish season strong. It was Mullen who played like a 4 year starter. USF got a gem in him.

[MrMustang]

The NSIC is drunk this year and it’s fantastic.

much more fun than predictable

[MrMustang]

mustangs just seem to have Upper's #. Thank God. we needed that win

[vikingfaithful]

mustangs just seem to have Upper's #. Thank God. we needed that win

With SMSU huge recruiting class they have already surpassed my expectations for wins. Just think what the Mustangs could do next season!

[SW_Mustang]

With SMSU huge recruiting class they have already surpassed my expectations for wins. Just think what the Mustangs could do next season!

I'm cautiously excited for the next couple of years. I like this group of guys.

[Matt Witwicki]

Here are a few thoughts I shared on the twitter machine after the game....moving them here as there's discussion..(USF vs Augie)

Coo offense couldn’t get a first down in the 2nd half until 4 mins left when they went hurry up and strung some passes together.

Kyle Saddler started off decent for Augie but progressively got a bit flustered with pass rush and ended the day with a pick as the Vikings were marching with about a minute left. He finished 20 of 44 on the day.

In retrospect, Augie played with the weight of expectation..being the favorite in this high pressure matchup. It’s much easier being the hunter than the hunted..all the more pressure being unbeaten. AU will be fine, but this felt like the one time Augie was the clear favorite.

Addtl thoughts..Augie outgains USF but has two massive turnovers while the Cougars did not. I thought the USF offense was dead in the water, as Matt Zimmer stated, in the 2nd half until they went 2 min drill late. Coo had about 80 yards of offense in the back half of the game..60 on the drive they scored with 4 mins left.

I do agree that USF was starting to sniff out the screens (good coaching) and create some dead plays for AU..putting them behind the sticks in those instances.

I thought Mullen was good on the cross routes to his wideouts but over-threw Ty Smith on 2 go-routes that would've both been scores. Saddler was short on a deep route for 6 himself..and yes, the Vikings need him to have a better game in these big matchups.

Epperson is a terrific player. USF seemed to key on him in the passing game but he got loose a few times in the running game.

To some extent this was a flip of the 2019 contest. Augie was fortunate in that game, being outgained by 200 yards but had some massive turnovers shape the outcome. Same this time around, but flipped.

The Augie fans filled the visitors side for the first time at USF. Zim mentioned likely because they expected to win..and I'd tend to agree there as local oddsmakers had the Vikings -13. Yes, that is a large number for a rivalry game in which the team who's only won the game twice is the one giving up 13 points.

A lot of credit needs to be given to the USF coaching staff as they got their group prepared to battle in this one and seemingly devised a very good defensive game plan. (obviously having 2 losses after 4 games wasn't part of their bigger plan, but they really had the kids prepared for Augie today, I think) I felt the USF offensive gameplan was tremendous in the first half and kept Augie on their heels with the flow between run and pass (even with Thuro out) but became very conservative and predictable in the 2nd....until the 2 min drill.

Very well-contested game and there was a ton of energy at the Bob. There isn't quite another game in the conference like this one..but it sounds like MSU at UMD was similar. As a person who covers this league, I live for stuff like this.

Wild year in the conference yes....and I think we kinda saw it coming.

[UMary1]

I'm cautiously excited for the next couple of years. I like this group of guys.

It looks like SMSU and UMary will be battling the Arizona area for recruiting. It seems like there is a lot of talent coming out of there as of late. Obviously Kittner was a great get. Azusa Pacific folding their program really helped out UMary as Azusa had a nice pipeline there before.

[SW_Mustang]

It looks like SMSU and UMary will be battling the Arizona area for recruiting. It seems like there is a lot of talent coming out of there as of late. Obviously Kittner was a great get. Azusa Pacific folding their program really helped out UMary as Azusa had a nice pipeline there before.

Our DC was at Dixie State in Utah before joining us. I've heard that's the reason why we recruit so heavily out of there. He had a lot of connections and carried a good reputation with HS coaches in the area.

It should be fun to see how it transforms both teams in the coming few years.

[simple as a $3 bill]

I see a kid by the name of sam quick is no longer on the Sioux Falls roster. Did his pot selling finally catch up with him?

[Twincitiesmav]

It looks like SMSU and UMary will be battling the Arizona area for recruiting. It seems like there is a lot of talent coming out of there as of late. Obviously Kittner was a great get. Azusa Pacific folding their program really helped out UMary as Azusa had a nice pipeline there before.

I didn’t realize Mary got transfers from there..