AUGUSTANA VIKINGS 2023 VFND

[Purple Mav Man]

Is Northern State University a trap game? Undeniably Wolves have some talented players yet their season took a real blow last week losing to a capable Golden Bear team in St. Paul. I know many NSU fans have an intense dislike for Augustana for a variety of reasons. Do their players share that sentiment as many are from distant states? However, beating Augie and currently winless N. Michigan in Marquette would give them a winning season at 6-5. I'm sure coach Schmidt's sermon to his players will include that. Wolves found a way to beat WSC and why not the Vikings who just lost to WSC.

Augustana has to be kicking themselves for losing to Wayne in a blinding snowstorm. The lopsided statistics would suggest that Augie won, but it was a loss. When the regional rankings came out Monday they were #5 seed. With a win they could have been the #2 seed. The weather looks good in Aberdeen on Saturday and with pheasant season, the crowds are generally smaller late in the season. This seasons Vikings are a talented team and I have to believe want to right the ship. Sure wish I could be at the Bank for this in-state clash.

Based on all the chatter on the NSU thread, or most anyway, the question may be: are the players still listening to Schmidt?

Augie should/will win by 14+. It’s basically the playoffs now, and Augie’s staff is too solid to let them fall into a trap game when ALL games are big at this point.

[WPHB]

Augie should/will win by 14+. It’s basically the playoffs now, and Augie’s staff is too solid to let them fall into a trap game when ALL games are big at this point.

It is basically the playoffs and I agree on the stafff keeping them up, but I dont think it is 14 points. I imagine that IF augie wins it is no more than 6. I found out about the NSU/Augie rivalry this time last year and was surprised. Those Wolves dont play when it comes to Augie. And Augie does not seem to have the same fire for NSU. They better come out mad about the egg they laid in Wayne America and hit the throttle or the Wolves might pull off another one.

[CollegeFBGuy]

Time to move on to a good Northern State University team. They're itching to end a 13 game losing streak against Augustana.

TBH, this feels like a stretch. Augie will win by at least 10

[CollegeFBGuy]

So no shooting the puck from your side of the center line unless said team has a player in the penalty box?

Lots of good hockey info in this thread…as I read your question, I feel like we should clarify that “shooting the puck from your side of center” is fine, as long as it’s not down past the goal line, without being tipped or touched, in the process, from the other side of the centerline. Oftentimes you will see an offensive player, on the other team’s side of the red line deflect a pass into the zone and then go make a line change. Or, if the defensive team touches the puck or makes a play on it. Also, if the shot/pass is within the goal crease, that is not icing.

One thing that can be confusing is if a referee determines a defensive player could have made a play, but didn’t, and they wave off icing. That happens, but not nearly as often as icing actually happens.

As far as the original icing question, it is way easier for me to understand this than offsides in soccer

[WPHB]

As a relative newcomer to the NSIC, I am confused and maybe someone can tell me I am dumb, but in a nice way. I noticed (maybe on the d2 football home page) that schools are already posting their open dates. Including USF and a couple of other NSIC schools. I thought the schedule came out in the spring/summer. Are NSIC schedules two-year schedules or one-year? I just assumed there was a different schedule each year and teams would not know until the spring/summer. I am sure there is a thread somewhere on this board that would answer my question but cannot find it anywhere.

[Matt Witwicki]

As a relative newcomer to the NSIC, I am confused and maybe someone can tell me I am dumb, but in a nice way. I noticed (maybe on the d2 football home page) that schools are already posting their open dates. Including USF and a couple of other NSIC schools. I thought the schedule came out in the spring/summer. Are NSIC schedules two-year schedules or one-year? I just assumed there was a different schedule each year and teams would not know until the spring/summer. I am sure there is a thread somewhere on this board that would answer my question but cannot find it anywhere.

They created a 2 year model once UIU bolted. They just don't publish each year on the school webpages and all that = they live in the world of one year at a time, as does the NSIC site. All teams will have the same bye dates to find a game. Augie is likely hosting Chadron with theirs in W2 or whatever it was. USF and Pitt was just a 1 year thing as the MIAA is starting a new schedule of their own next year and will have diff open dates than this year = Pitt isn't W9. The schedule for all other games won't be the same as this year for all other weeks in the NSIC. Wait and see when they make it public.

[vikingfaithful]

HC, OJ shared an interesting story about todays star Jarod Epperson and all-round star Devon Jones. Epp played for Skutt Catholic in Gretna NE, while Devon at Kearney Digital media design HS in San Diego, CA. Those two committed late and all Scholarships were used up for the year, OJ promised they would get theirs next season. Imagine if they wouldn't have taken that leap of faith. Two special young men

[WPHB]

I have to preface this by saying that I am not throwing shade at any other school in NSIC. That being said, I have been following the different school threads pretty closely since the end of the season along with the Twitter chatter, and it appears there are a ton of kids entering the transfer portal around the NSIC. The fact that there is less attrition at Augie really says a lot about OJ and the staff as well as the AD and athletic department as a whole. I know some will say that it is because it is a "winning program" but I think that is a very small portion of it. Let us not forget that this year was, I believe, the first playoff win and only the second 11-win season in school history. I know from experience that winning makes things easier and hides lots of flaws, but this program has an amazing culture. The players that I have met really buy into the faith, family, and football mantra. I cannot imagine that there is any school that has zero transfers in this day and age, but the minimal amount that I see from Augustana really speaks to the culture.

I am not naive enough to think that there are no problems or that there are no flaws in the system, but the way it feels from the outside is that OJ's staff gets the best out of the kids that they recruit. Either they keep recruiting the kids they have or have done a good enough job with them that they do not need to keep recruiting them. In this day and age where the key component of a championship-caliber team is depth, it becomes increasingly hard to keep depth because every one of these players thinks (or should think) that they should be starting and it is insanely easy to abandon a program for greener grass in the transfer portal. As the years go by it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the status that has been built at Augie and I hope that the powers that be, know that OJ and his crew are the ones to keep us competitive moving forward.

In January of 2022 when we got out of the car and it was -6 and the high for the day was 0 with a low of -18, I thought to myself that it would not be necessary to make any more trips to Sioux Falls after that. But, to my kid's credit, he saw what was already built and he knew that he wanted to be a part of something bigger and successful. Glad he made his decision on more than the weather because I was freezing and ready to get back home to Texas! If he never plays another down for Augie, I feel comfortable knowing that he will return home a better man than when he left.

TL;DR- OJ has built a quality program with very few transferring out and that seems to be outside the norm in the NSIC. Great Job Coaches and today is the first day of next season and the hunt for another NSIC championship.

[Matt Witwicki]

I have to preface this by saying that I am not throwing shade at any other school in NSIC. That being said, I have been following the different school threads pretty closely since the end of the season along with the Twitter chatter, and it appears there are a ton of kids entering the transfer portal around the NSIC. The fact that there is less attrition at Augie really says a lot about OJ and the staff as well as the AD and athletic department as a whole. I know some will say that it is because it is a "winning program" but I think that is a very small portion of it. Let us not forget that this year was, I believe, the first playoff win and only the second 11-win season in school history. I know from experience that winning makes things easier and hides lots of flaws, but this program has an amazing culture. The players that I have met really buy into the faith, family, and football mantra. I cannot imagine that there is any school that has zero transfers in this day and age, but the minimal amount that I see from Augustana really speaks to the culture.

I am not naive enough to think that there are no problems or that there are no flaws in the system, but the way it feels from the outside is that OJ's staff gets the best out of the kids that they recruit. Either they keep recruiting the kids they have or have done a good enough job with them that they do not need to keep recruiting them. In this day and age where the key component of a championship-caliber team is depth, it becomes increasingly hard to keep depth because every one of these players thinks (or should think) that they should be starting and it is insanely easy to abandon a program for greener grass in the transfer portal. As the years go by it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the status that has been built at Augie and I hope that the powers that be, know that OJ and his crew are the ones to keep us competitive moving forward.

In January of 2022 when we got out of the car and it was -6 and the high for the day was 0 with a low of -18, I thought to myself that it would not be necessary to make any more trips to Sioux Falls after that. But, to my kid's credit, he saw what was already built and he knew that he wanted to be a part of something bigger and successful. Glad he made his decision on more than the weather because I was freezing and ready to get back home to Texas! If he never plays another down for Augie, I feel comfortable knowing that he will return home a better man than when he left.

TL;DR- OJ has built a quality program with very few transferring out and that seems to be outside the norm in the NSIC. Great Job Coaches and today is the first day of next season and the hunt for another NSIC championship.

I've said this for a while..Augie (and OJ) do a very good job with player retention and with the squad as a unit. There are few programs in D2 that aren't impacted much negatively by the portal..Mines, Harding, NWMSU (typically) all come to mind..and certainly winning really helps in that..but it says a lot about the leadership within.

[vikingfaithful]

;v[QUOTE=Matt Witwicki;n800426]


Jeff Fylling the radio voice of the Vikings was interviewing Blake Larson RT of Brandon SD and asked about in his RS freshman year when a P5 team approached with an offer, ( I think it was Nebraska as they looked at him in HS). Blake declined the offer saying he enjoyed his coaches and teammates at Augustana. Blake has a true opportunity to catch on with a NFL team and Heres hoping he gets a shot.

[Purple Mav Man]

I have to preface this by saying that I am not throwing shade at any other school in NSIC. That being said, I have been following the different school threads pretty closely since the end of the season along with the Twitter chatter, and it appears there are a ton of kids entering the transfer portal around the NSIC. The fact that there is less attrition at Augie really says a lot about OJ and the staff as well as the AD and athletic department as a whole. I know some will say that it is because it is a "winning program" but I think that is a very small portion of it. Let us not forget that this year was, I believe, the first playoff win and only the second 11-win season in school history. I know from experience that winning makes things easier and hides lots of flaws, but this program has an amazing culture. The players that I have met really buy into the faith, family, and football mantra. I cannot imagine that there is any school that has zero transfers in this day and age, but the minimal amount that I see from Augustana really speaks to the culture.

I am not naive enough to think that there are no problems or that there are no flaws in the system, but the way it feels from the outside is that OJ's staff gets the best out of the kids that they recruit. Either they keep recruiting the kids they have or have done a good enough job with them that they do not need to keep recruiting them. In this day and age where the key component of a championship-caliber team is depth, it becomes increasingly hard to keep depth because every one of these players thinks (or should think) that they should be starting and it is insanely easy to abandon a program for greener grass in the transfer portal. As the years go by it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the status that has been built at Augie and I hope that the powers that be, know that OJ and his crew are the ones to keep us competitive moving forward.

In January of 2022 when we got out of the car and it was -6 and the high for the day was 0 with a low of -18, I thought to myself that it would not be necessary to make any more trips to Sioux Falls after that. But, to my kid's credit, he saw what was already built and he knew that he wanted to be a part of something bigger and successful. Glad he made his decision on more than the weather because I was freezing and ready to get back home to Texas! If he never plays another down for Augie, I feel comfortable knowing that he will return home a better man than when he left.

TL;DR- OJ has built a quality program with very few transferring out and that seems to be outside the norm in the NSIC. Great Job Coaches and today is the first day of next season and the hunt for another NSIC championship.

Do you suppose a higher number of players go to Augustana for the school, as opposed to other places where they are going to play football (and the school is secondary)?

Not a slight on the program, just an observation based on their roster makeup year after year.

[WPHB]

Do you suppose a higher number of players go to Augustana for the school, as opposed to other places where they are going to play football (and the school is secondary)?

Not a slight on the program, just an observation based on their roster makeup year after year.

I don't know that I am qualified to answer the question as my experience is limited to the last couple of years. I will say that I have had a decent amount of interaction with the now sophomore class and lots of their parents. I will say that there is absolutely a contingent that is there due to the academic side of the equation. Again, not having a historical perspective, I don't know the academic reputation of Augie other than what I have been told and that is not always an accurate barometer due to likely bias.

And to be brutally honest no one should take that as a slight on the program, in fact I think in a perfect world, the school would be the driving factor in kids making choices. But, I was 18 once and understand that stadiums, bubbles, uniforms, girls, and bars are seemingly more important driving factors in that stage of life.

[SW_Mustang]

Congrats to Augie on their ESPN appearance this morning!

(I know it's not football, but still)

See you folks next weekend ;)

[vikingfaithful]

Vikings have a fantastic recruiting class, including the first team all-state Qb out of the badger st. Another highlight is 3 young men from the KC metro area, 2 were highly recruited by MIAA powers.

Viking Football Adds 25 on National Signing Day - Augustana University Athletics (goaugie.com)

[AU guy]

I heard one of OJ's longtime assistants is stepping down.