Nine things we know about the Bison following rock chalking of Kansas

[99Bison]

via Swany:

Heading into last weekend’s season opener against the University of Kansas, there were plenty of question marks surrounding the North Dakota State football team. After a 6 – 3 defensive slugfest of a victory, what do we know about the young Bison headed into the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener against Northern Iowa this weekend? Plenty.

http://www.bisonillustrated.com/s.php?s=240

[silkamilkamonico]

That's a good write up I think. I was really impressed with the dline as well, other from their pressure I thought they did a great job of freeing up the LB's who look really strong as a unit.

The one thing I was really impressed with the defense is how disciplined they were, and that was something I was hoping to see this year. It's fun watching them play as 1 unit as opposed to 11 individual players out on the field

I hope they try and get McNorton more touches right away. I thought he looked real good throughout the flow of the game with the exception of the final quarter when Kansas was really focused on stopping the run.

[99Bison]

That's a good write up I think. I was really impressed with the dline as well, other from their pressure I thought they did a great job of freeing up the LB's who look really strong as a unit.

The one thing I was really impressed with the defense is how disciplined they were, and that was something I was hoping to see this year. It's fun watching them play as 1 unit as opposed to 11 individual players out on the field

I hope they try and get McNorton more touches right away. I thought he looked real good throughout the flow of the game with the exception of the final quarter when Kansas was really focused on stopping the run.

Agreed, the attitude, discipline and confidence in what the defense was doing was 180 from last year.

[OldBison]

A good write up :nod:

But, let's keep things in perspective, it is only one game, lots of season yet and with this young a team they are going to be prone to making mistakes and costly ones. Lot of football to be played and I think it is way too premature to categorize the Bison as being "back" :hide:

[Scooter1]

Great article!!

Here are some things I took from the game.

1. There were 3 MVP candidates in Jastram, Willson, and... Murphy. My vote for MVP for the game was true freshman long snapper Michael Murphy. He had 8 perfect punt snaps and two perfect field goal snaps all in a Big 12 stadium. Oh, he also had 1 unassisted tackle. Willson had a great game and so did Jastram but Murphy was rock solid at a position that has been giving everyone on this board cause for concern. He did it in front of 50000 fans. That concern is gone.

2. Ryan Smith performed well. It was nice to see someone actually return a punt for a change instead of fair catch or letting it roll by him for an additional 15. Great performance from a true freshman.

3. DJ McNorton is hitting the hole faster than last year and he is getting yards after contact. He was our best back on Saturday.

4. The new additions have dramatically changed this team. Marcus Williams, Ryan Smith, Michael Murphy, John Pike, and Chad Willson all contributed to this win. Chad Willson, Marcus Williams and John Pike represent a significant upgrade for this defense. Throw in a healthy Anderson and the results were noticable.

5. Our kicker is a good open field tackler. And in general, the special teams get a passing grade. Yeah they gave up had a long kick off return but that had more to do with the execution of Kansas than poor defense.

6. Matt Gratzek is the best DT in the MVC. Coulter Boyer is crazy fast... not UND crazy fast but he will give offensive tackles fits this year. Look for 10+ sacks from Boyer. Leevon Perry looks much bigger than 268 and plays bigger, too.

7. The defensive backs are actually in a position to break up a pass! Daniel Eaves is a huge hitter. Linebackers Evans, Anderson, Jemmison, Willson, Carter, and Olson are 200% better than what we had last year. There was not a whole lot of missed tackles and the pursuit is also better than last year.

8. Stupid penalties have to stop...now. There is no excuse for false starts and late hits. It's a lack of concentration. Too many times the penalties kept drives alive for KU or made us start out 1st and 15.

9. We have to open up the playbook. Mohler had a few drops, a couple of throw aways going 12-22. Mohler threw a great 30 yard pass over the middle, if not for a misroute by Holloway, Veldman would have had a TD. The offensive line played well and Mohler for the most part had time to throw, they need to take advantage of that. This Kansas defense is better than the defense that we will see at UNI. Bohl states that Kansas may not be as good as UNI but I have a hunch it is an attempt to limit bulletin board material. I don't believe it and neither should you. This is a Kansas Offensive line that has everyone comming back, throw out the 50 yard reverse and we owned the line of scrimmage on defense all game long. I have a hard time believing that five new OL starters for UNI would be better than 5 Big 12 linemen.

[OldBison]

6. Coulter Boyer is crazy fast... not UND crazy fast

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[OldBison]

9. Mohler threw a great 30 yard pass over the middle, if not for a misroute by Holloway, Veldman would have had a TD.

I thought the consensus was the other way around, Veldman ran the wrong route. At least that's what I thought I read but it has been recently demonstrated that I don't always read correctly :D

[KC Bison]

Scooter's #9. I wondered all during the game if NDSU was playing very conservatively just to avoid mistakes and to not give KU anything cheap? I would expect (or hope) that the playbook would now be opened up for the conference games.