UMD at SAS

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

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..

Angelo State - Central Washington game both teams had multiple offensive starters missing hence the low score.

ASU has corrected the issues that caused them to lose against WT and Midwestern. Blowing out Commerce and Duluth are evidence of that.

To a certain extent it annoys me and multiple people have made the comment about Central Washington getting run off the field by Northwest Missouri. NW Missouri would run 99% of the playoff participants off their home field in a playoff game (maybe not Ferris St. or Valdosta St.). A better indicator would be how they would fare against a 3-6 seed. Central Washington had a playoff caliber but not elite team.

I agree with the 5 game series comment. A couple of windy cold snowy days up in Duluth would even up things a bit.

Angelo State will be favored to win SR4. My take is whoever wins SR4 will likely get destroyed by Ferris St. if they win their region in the semi-finals.

[Umdfan35]

The players stated before the game, we come to UMD to make the playoffs and win a Championship, the playoff goal was accomplished, I think we lose only 10-11 players, many key, but we had very satisfying season, and look foward to next season. to come back after the terrible loss to BSU, and then to beat beat 2 very good teams was stellar.

[Matt Witwicki]

The players stated before the game, we come to UMD to make the playoffs and win a Championship, the playoff goal was accomplished, I think we lose only 10-11 players, many key, but we had very satisfying season, and look foward to next season. to come back after the terrible loss to BSU, and then to beat beat 2 very good teams was stellar.

Agreed. I think the QB competition will be worth watching. In this offense, ideally I think they want a QB who can make plays with their feet and run 8-10x a game if called upon in big games. Some other key spots like WR, RB, and LB will need to be addressed. While you probably know the roster plenty better than I do, I was thinking there's more than just 10-11 to replace.

[Umdfan35]

At the last home fame in Duluth v Northern State, 11 seniors were introduced before the game, I asked some of the other seniors and they said they were coming back, including Armani, Wade S (RB) Cole R (LB) so if we retain the current roster and we already have 12 commits we could be in good shape, 7 all conference players return, OLBs will be very had to replace, and a couple of OL, especially Laing (he may be back if he does not sign as a free agent) agree the QB race will be interesting, Olson, Logan (broke thumb) v BSU will be back, watch for Kyle W from WI, (offensive POY in the state) he can run, much like Bauer, Vogler did, another QB on the roster is big and actually played some RB in high school, QB commit from Mankato East also looks good. Some WR with great potential are coming up, including Cade Kramer (brother of Gopher QB) hoping nobody hits the transfer portal. NSIC will be balanced again next year.

[BulldogFan]

At the last home fame in Duluth v Northern State, 11 seniors were introduced before the game, I asked some of the other seniors and they said they were coming back, including Armani, Wade S (RB) Cole R (LB) so if we retain the current roster and we already have 12 commits we could be in good shape, 7 all conference players return, OLBs will be very had to replace, and a couple of OL, especially Laing (he may be back if he does not sign as a free agent) agree the QB race will be interesting, Olson, Logan (broke thumb) v BSU will be back, watch for Kyle W from WI, (offensive POY in the state) he can run, much like Bauer, Vogler did, another QB on the roster is big and actually played some RB in high school, QB commit from Mankato East also looks good. Some WR with great potential are coming up, including Cade Kramer (brother of Gopher QB) hoping nobody hits the transfer portal. NSIC will be balanced again next year.

I agree that they are setup to be even better next year. Looking at how UMD has been in the past they seem to like 4 year starters at QB so this spring should be interesting as they look to establish the depth chart for next year. My guess is either Kyle W out of WI (kid played on same team as Badger RB Braelon Allen and had better #'s as WI POY), Nate E who played FB as a SR in HS, or incoming freshman Jacob E who seems to be more of a traditional QB will be at the top of the depth chart. Olson, who I believe is coming back, did an admirable job coming off the bench this year but its clear the coaches do not see him as the QB1. Wild card to me is Logan and how he comes back from injury and performs in the spring. If he earns QB1 going into the fall I could see Wiese moving either Kyle or Nate to another position as they are both too good of athletes to keep off the field. Looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out.