UMD at SAS

[BulldogFan]

Looks to me like the NSIC is over hyped and over matched. San Angelo bigger faster stronger across the board and Larson at QB is ineffective. Will be curious to see how the winner of Auggie and BSU fair when they go outside the league.

honestly the sideline was out of it from the snap and they are playing like it. My guess is a 50+ point loss for UMD.

[BulldogFan]

Turning off the stream. Outcoached, outplayed, overmatched.

[Umdfan35]

Terrible showing, Why wait so long to replace Larson? Top D in the conference or not, I do no think much of the DC

[HumRsky]

[Umdfan35]

Larson started, Olson came in threw an INT last play of the first half, came back in at end of the 3rd period. the outcome would have been the same, but clearly Olson earned the start with his performance v Augie and Northern State. hard to figure.

[BulldogFan]

Larson started, Olson came in threw an INT last play of the first half, came back in at end of the 3rd period. the outcome would have been the same, but clearly Olson earned the start with his performance v Augie and Northern State. hard to figure.

[Thunder]

I only watched one Duluth game this year, but it seemed pretty clear to me that playing Larson was not the best option at this point.

[D2_Danger13]

Apparently, Duluth HC said that Duluth would win 7/10 games against Angelo St.... After watching the replay of the game I'm baffled he thinks that. Angelo could've put up
60-70 points that game on the Bulldogs. Duluth was flat-out outmatched.

Angelo Offense: (Starters played 3 1/2 Quarters)
Rushing- 227
Passing- 214

Duluth led NSIC in total defense letting up 322 avg/g. Let up 441.

Duluth never wins this game. Good team just not to the level of Angelo. This shows how good the LSC is and begins to question the level of competition in the NSIC. Interested to see Bemidji vs Mines.

[Tundra_Man]

Apparently, Duluth HC said that Duluth would win 7/10 games against Angelo St.... After watching the replay of the game I'm baffled he thinks that. Angelo could've put up
60-70 points that game on the Bulldogs. Duluth was flat-out outmatched.

Angelo Offense: (Starters played 3 1/2 Quarters)
Rushing- 227
Passing- 214

Duluth led NSIC in total defense letting up 322 avg/g. Let up 441.

Duluth never wins this game. Good team just not to the level of Angelo. This shows how good the LSC is and begins to question the level of competition in the NSIC. Interested to see Bemidji vs Mines.

Duluth plays in the much weaker NSIC north division, and as a result that tends to make their stats look better than they actually are each season. Their stats would be less impressive if they were in the south division.

Not saying that the NSIC is better than the LSC right now, just that Duluth isn't always the most accurate gauge of the whole conference.

Overall the NSIC was in turmoil this season. Losing the year to covid was pretty impactful to almost every team.

[D2_Danger13]

Duluth plays in the much weaker NSIC north division, and as a result that tends to make their stats look better than they actually are each season. Their stats would be less impressive if they were in the south division.

Not saying that the NSIC is better than the LSC right now, just that Duluth isn't always the most accurate gauge of the whole conference.

Overall the NSIC was in turmoil this season. Losing the year to covid was pretty impactful to almost every team.

Agreed that Duluth does play in a weaker north division. Duluth still went 4-1 in the south, beating Mankato, Winona, and Augie, losing to wayne.

I think Duluth is still a good gauge of the whole conference since they are the shared overall champs.

[CoachSalscheider]

Duluth plays in the much weaker NSIC north division, and as a result that tends to make their stats look better than they actually are each season. Their stats would be less impressive if they were in the south division.

My semi-informed opinion:

The NSIC South has historically outplayed and in some years, dominated the NSIC North (UMD the consistent exception and BSU the intermittent exception). Duluth won national championships in 2008 and 2010 propelling the NSIC on to the national map. Mankato won it all in 2017, so the conference continues to send regional contenders. The NSIC South was still better, but not by much. BSU, UMD, and Northern were all very good teams and capable of beating the normally solid Mankato, Augie, SF, Winona and often Wayne teams. But I would still give the nod to the South.

Regionally, since Mankato and Duluth are not up to their normal skill sets, one could legitimately say the NSIC is down. I would agree, BUT, BSU is an emerging entity with Texas-style speed in several positions. Alt can throw it and his receivers go get it. Their offense can be very explosive. And the Gang Green Defense have their moments too. Certainly, the Beavers are an underdog against Mines BUT they may have enough swagger and skills to force Mines to play their B-game, and then, anything can happen.

Who knows? Food for Thought. :-)

[Tundra_Man]

My semi-informed opinion:

The NSIC South has historically outplayed and in some years, dominated the NSIC North (UMD the consistent exception and BSU the intermittent exception). Duluth won national championships in 2008 and 2010 propelling the NSIC on to the national map. Mankato won it all in 2017, so the conference continues to send regional contenders. The NSIC South was still better, but not by much. BSU, UMD, and Northern were all very good teams and capable of beating the normally solid Mankato, Augie, SF, Winona and often Wayne teams. But I would still give the nod to the South.

Regionally, since Mankato and Duluth are not up to their normal skill sets, one could legitimately say the NSIC is down. I would agree, BUT, BSU is an emerging entity with Texas-style speed in several positions. Alt can throw it and his receivers go get it. Their offense can be very explosive. And the Gang Green Defense have their moments too. Certainly, the Beavers are an underdog against Mines BUT they may have enough swagger and skills to force Mines to play their B-game, and then, anything can happen.

Who knows? Food for Thought. :-)

When I said the north division was weaker, in my head I was thinking in total since I started following the NSIC about a decade ago, not just this season. I agree that this year the two divisions have been the closest they've been during this span of time.

[Matt Witwicki]

Apparently, Duluth HC said that Duluth would win 7/10 games against Angelo St.... After watching the replay of the game I'm baffled he thinks that. Angelo could've put up
60-70 points that game on the Bulldogs. Duluth was flat-out outmatched.

Angelo Offense: (Starters played 3 1/2 Quarters)
Rushing- 227
Passing- 214

Duluth led NSIC in total defense letting up 322 avg/g. Let up 441.

Duluth never wins this game. Good team just not to the level of Angelo. This shows how good the LSC is and begins to question the level of competition in the NSIC. Interested to see Bemidji vs Mines.

When did Curt say this?

[Umdfan35]

Apparently, Duluth HC said that Duluth would win 7/10 games against Angelo St.... After watching the replay of the game I'm baffled he thinks that. Angelo could've put up
60-70 points that game on the Bulldogs. Duluth was flat-out outmatched.

Angelo Offense: (Starters played 3 1/2 Quarters)
Rushing- 227
Passing- 214

Duluth led NSIC in total defense letting up 322 avg/g. Let up 441.

Duluth never wins this game. Good team just not to the level of Angelo. This shows how good the LSC is and begins to question the level of competition in the NSIC. Interested to see Bemidji vs Mines.

apparently is NOT fact, does not sound like something Coach Weise would say.

[Matt Witwicki]

Some thoughts on UMD....straight talk here..

I never felt Duluth was going to have a strong year once John Larson got hurt (Wayne game). I've said it numerous times that they are not the same ballclub without him fully healthy..and the past has proved that true. That said, I cannot give enough credit to their staff for patching a dinged up group with duck tape and super glue in weeks 10 and 11 to beat Augie and Northern....both huge wins for them. I figured they'd end 7-4, honestly. Garrett Olson did an outstanding job in spot duty as a 3rd stringer. But, he's still a 3rd stringer and not the starter for a reason.

In speaking yesterday afternoon before our show with Chase Vogler (OC) I inquired about the Larson injury. Without going into detail about the specific injury, he stated that John was able to throw better this week in practice and was hitting on post routes and such..giving them more confidence in his ability to throw the ball around the yard as needed.

That said, why wouldn't you play him if he's clearly the emotional leader of the squad and your dude for the last four years. If he can go (even at 80%), you play him instead of a 3rd stringer who's last two games were in Duluth....not on the road against a fast and aggressive ASU defense. So I don't knock them at all for playing the guy who's been your guy.

The game itself....it wasn't the outcome it was because of the QB spot. UMD just looked slow on the field compared to Angelo and couldn't have started worse with the opening kickoff going back for a score..and then mins later Larson did hit on a go route to Carmickle..a nice throw by Larson..right at the start of their possession. However, after that ASU didn't give them much room to breathe in the running game and also stayed close on routes down the field. This UMD offense was good but not prolific like Augie or Bemjidji....truth be told. The passing numbers this year show that. UMD has gotten huge turnovers that've helped him win games and the Augie game is a great example of that..Mankato game also. Their D could get sacks..but there wasn't a defense in the NSIC that was a great defense..instead..a handful of good ones. Giving up 20ppg isn't a great D. In this specific season, NSIC teams would need to outscore teams from other regions in the playoffs....and UMD just had a snowball game and got punched in the mouth immediately and didn't get off the canvas quickly enough.

Larson didn't look himself but he was getting heavy pressures and ASU was very quick to the spot. A better/faster D than we'd seen in the NSIC this year.

Let's keep in mind this Angelo squad lost 2 games to not awesome teams....one was a 4-4 WT squad..and almost lost to CWU who got run off the field in their playoff game. So....UMD took the best punch from the Rams. We will see in future weeks just how good ASU looks. If they play this well in future weeks they are a threat to make the championship. That said, I think the Bulldogs got their best game..and while I expect Angelo to beat UNK..I'm guessing it'll be closer and not THIS strong an effort in two consecutive weeks..keeping in mind I have Angelo making the final 4....I think UMD would play them better in a 5 game series..and we saw the blowout game unfortunately.

If I'm a UMD fan....I'm pretty pleased they made the playoffs considering the injuries they had to overcome at key spots like QB, TE (who they use a lot), WR, OL, etc. While I still contend that Augie was the best team in the league this year..looking at their entire resume..there wasn't a fire breathing dragon in the NSIC in 2021. We all had a feeling that'd show in the postseason and it has.

Let's cheer BSU on from here..and see if they can keep riding this 8 game winning streak..