Bison - Gopher Game Discussion

[SDbison]

Predictions aside let's discuss the current condition of the Gopher team, how well the Bison match up, and what this game means to the fans. *Curious to see what Fargo, Minneapolis and other regional reporters have to say about the game. *For those of you who want to make your thoughts known to Gopher fans go to the gopherhole football message board at:
http://p218.ezboard.com/fthehole84398frm7
Also, here is an interesting article on the plight of the Gophers from the Star Tribune, Jim Souhan (oops, I see Shawn-O posted this same story on another topic):
http://www.startribune.com/150/story/743281.html
Excerpt as follows:
This week, the Gophers play at the Metrodome against dreaded North Dakota State. You would think the Gophers couldn't lose to a Division I-AA team, but, then, the Gophers were remarkably uncompetitive on Saturday, and their problem didn't seem to be a lack of effort or motivation.
They lack depth, and they look confused, which are functions of recruiting and game-day coaching.

*

[Mr_Meanor]

I think this game could be competive but I think the Bison will have troubles matching up against Wheelwright, Payne and Spaeth. I look for the bison to shut minnesota run game but to struggle against the pass.

[PantherHawk]

I think this game could be competive but I think the Bison will have troubles matching up against Wheelwright, Payne and Spaeth. *I look for the bison to shut minnesota run game but to struggle against the pass.

Spaeth Cadet looked pretty wounded @ the end of the Wiskey game. Put the wood to Ernest DropWright off the line and he is solved!!! I think Payne had 2 catches for 6 yards vs Wiskey?!?!?!!?

[BisonMom78]

I checked out the Gopher game discussion and I saw this on there. *Deemed unworthy? I think not, maybe lucky for getting the opprotunity to play for such a fine "upstanding" college - NDSU.


Will the NDSU Bison players be fired up for this game?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You bet your a$$ they will!

Especially when a ton of them were deemed unworthy of playing for the elite Minnesota Golden Gopher Football team.

How many you ask?

The Bison have 33 players on the roster from Minnesota.

[MinotBison]

Win lose or draw, I absolutely love the amount of talk this game is generating. Doesn't this just beat the s--- out of talking about Augie, Mankato, etc.?????

[SDbison]

I think very few Gopher fans realize the caliber of the football program at NDSU. From what I have read they give a little respect, but then then go into a rant about how NDSU will try hard and then give up against mighty Minnesota. What a joke. They think they will push the Bison around.....they will think differently after Saturday! I give the Bison the following over the goofers:
1. Superior team play / execution
2. Better coaching
3. Winning attitude / tradition
4. Leader at QB
5. Better strength and conditioning
The above will trump the Gopher team athleticism and speed advantage.

[NDSUstudent]

McFeely has NDSU as 24 point underdogs to Gophs but he may of had the line of the week in his column...


Reader John let me know in a 1,800-word manifesto that Craig Bohl is not the King of Fargo, as I playfully referred to the Bison football coach last week:

The King of Fargo is God and Coach Bohl is not God.

If the Bison beat Minnesota, John, I’ll be able to find several thousand people who disagree

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=143119&section=Columnists&columnist=M ike%20McFeely

[scottheck]

Keying the Gopher defense this year has been Mike Sherels, MLB. He won't be playing this week, banged up elbow and ankle, according to his sister.

[PantherHawk]

McFeely has NDSU as 24 point underdogs to Gophs but he may of had the line of the week in his column...

[quote]Reader John let me know in a 1,800-word manifesto that Craig Bohl is not the King of Fargo, as I playfully referred to the Bison football coach last week:

The King of Fargo is God and Coach Bohl is not God.

If the Bison beat Minnesota, John, I’ll be able to find several thousand people who disagree

gooofers - 24 would be insane for this game?!!! How many I-AA wins over I-A teams have there been already this year? I was @ the UNI/ISU game in Ames and UNI should have won that game--missed last second FG! I also saw the Montana/Iowa game in Iowa City in Sept. Although Iowa beat them handily that day, the heat/depth played a big roll in the score, not to mention the crowd of 72,000! I have no doubt that if that MT team came to the Dump this Sat and played as hard as they did in IC last Sept, this beat up gooofer team it would have its hands full!

I have made a grand total of 2 wagers so far this year:

1. I took Cal -11 for 500 against the goofers. Cha Ching$

2. And MI -9 for 500 against the goofers. Cha Ching$

If someone will give me NDSU +24 on Sat I would be all over that!!!!!

You guys CAN do this on Sat!! Go Bison!!!!

[Bisondad]

I checked out the Gopher game discussion and I saw this on there. *Deemed unworthy? I think not, maybe lucky for getting the opprotunity to play for such a fine "upstanding" college - NDSU.


Will the NDSU Bison players be fired up for this game?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You bet your a$$ they will!

Especially when a ton of them were deemed unworthy of playing for the elite Minnesota Golden Gopher Football team.

How many you ask?

The Bison have 33 players on the roster from Minnesota.


Gotta Love that BisonMom78!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *Go Bison!!

[insane_ponderer]

McFeely has NDSU as 24 point underdogs to Gophs but he may of had the line of the week in his column...


Reader John let me know in a 1,800-word manifesto that Craig Bohl is not the King of Fargo, as I playfully referred to the Bison football coach last week:

The King of Fargo is God and Coach Bohl is not God.

If the Bison beat Minnesota, John, I’ll be able to find several thousand people who disagree

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=143119&section=Columnists&columnist=M ike%20McFeely

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I just wanted to mention the little section of Q and A with Gene Taylor sounds great that "We probably could have filled all of our opens dates with a plethora of Division I-A teams. I can’t tell you how many calls I got from people looking for games"

Promising scheduling for the future I hope.

[Bisonguy]

I think very few Gopher fans realize the caliber of the football program at NDSU. *From what I have read they give a little respect, but then then go into a rant about how NDSU will try hard and then give up against mighty Minnesota. *What a joke. *They think they will push the Bison around.....they will think differently after Saturday! *I give the Bison the following over the goofers:
1. *Superior team play / execution
2. *Better coaching
3. *Winning attitude / tradition
4. *Leader at QB
5. *Better strength and conditioning
The above will trump the Gopher team athleticism and speed advantage.

You forgot swagger and a chip on a few shoulders from being snubbed by the Gophers.

I think the mental aspect, along with coaching, are what will give the Bison the best chance at the upset.

[ThunderRadioguy]

I agree with Bisonguy. I've spoken to several players this week and there are more than a few who have been waiting for this game for a while to show the Gophers that they can play ball a little as well. The biggest key for the Bison is NO MISTAKES. They have dropped quite a few passes, and fumbled a few times this year, it hasn't hurt them so far, but if they do on Saturday the Gophers should be able to take advantage. If they can cut most of that out they have a great chance.

On a personal note I'll be in the booth for ThunderRadio on Sat and I can't wait. I grew up in St. Paul watching the Gophs, and I can't wait to watch the Bison beat em. I hope that there will be more Bison fans than Gopher fans. If you're going, be sure to make a lot of nosie so that the fans listening back in Fargo can hear ya over the airwaves!!!

[SDbison]

Here is the Game preview from the Gopherhole:

Gophers - NDSU Preview *Gopher Football *

by Cory Doffing *October 17, 2006 *

After a dismal last couple of weeks, the Gopher football team comes back home to take on the Division 1-AA and new border rival North Dakota State Bison. It’s a game the Gophers should win, but an 0-4 start to the Big Ten season has some Gopher fans worried. No matter how the game goes, it should be a fun atmosphere with around 15,000 Bison fans expected to be in attendance.

I’m not going to pretend I know very much about North Dakota State University, because I don’t. As a guy who grew up near the Twin Cities area their athletic history is pretty foreign to me, as it probably is to many of you. For those of you (like me) who didn’t know a lot of them or the University, here are some random factoids:

North Dakota State is located in Fargo

Their enrollment is over 12,000

They play their home games in the Fargo Dome (capacity 18,760)

They made the jump from Division II to D-1 in 2004

Their basketball team beat Wisconsin 62-55 in Madison on January 21, 2006

At 6-0, their football team is currently ranked # 9 in D-1 AA

Earlier this year the Bison won @ Ball State, 29-24

They have over 30 Minnesota natives on their roster.

Former Gopher coach Jim Wacker coached here from 1976 – 1978

Notable NFL alums include Phil Hansen and Tyrone Braxton

The Gophers are 6-0 all time against the Bison, with their most recent meeting being in 1937

Last Saturday the Gophers were in hangover mode. They do not have a history of responding well after tough losses, and last Saturday was no exception. But for as much as you can count on the Gophers coming out flat after a tough loss, you also can count on them showing up to play against lower level opponents. Before the loss to Cal, the Gophers had won 17 straight games against non-conference foes, most of those lower Division 1-A teams. So in this respect history is on the Gophers side. But… onto the flip side: September 11, 2004, the last time the Gophers played a 1-AA team. It seems like a long time ago, but Illinois State was the last 1-AA foe to visit the Metrodome. In that game the Redbirds hung around for WAY too long, and it was midway through the 3rd quarter before the Gophers put them away. The score was tied 14-14 as late as the final minute of the first half. Despite 17 third quarter points, the Gophers won that game by a score of just 37-21.

NDSU’s program is about as good as Illinois State’s, so the Gophers can expect a similar challenge on Saturday. One thing NDSU will have that Illinois State did not was 15,000 fans in the seats cheering them on. That, along with the Gophers less than stellar effort last week at Wisconsin is why things suddenly don’t seem as much of a lock as they once did.

* One personnel note… The broken arm suffered by senior cornerback Trumaine Banks against Wisconsin will keep him out the remainder of the regular season. It’s unknown if he would be back in time for a bowl game (if the Gophers can get into one). Sophomore strong safety Dominic Jones will move to cornerback to replace Banks, and junior reserve Duran Cooley will replace Jones at strong safety.

Keys to the Game

1. I actually only have one key to this game, and it’s a very important one: GET OFF TO A GOOD START. The absolute LAST thing the Gophers want is to let NDSU hang around in this one. That would give the Bison hope, give their fans a reason to cheer, and give the Gophers a reason to get down on themselves. Even if the Gophers win this game, if they don’t do it in convincing fashion they still could end up coming out of it with less confidence than they had coming in. A week after getting thumped in Madison the Gophers need to regain some confidence, and they’re not going to do it in game that they win by 10 points where they have to hold off a Bison rally at the end of the game. So, what I think the Gophers need is to build a 14-0 type of first quarter lead, and then a 21 to 28 point halftime lead to erase all doubts about the outcome by the end of the first half.

Bottom Line

This is a tough situation for Minnesota. It’s gotta be hard to get motivated to play a 1-AA opponent, and sadly the Gopher crowd is not going to offer any help. The Gopher crowd will likely be small (30,000 max is my guess) and quiet (at least at the start), so the team better come into the game ready to go. In a season that is quickly spiraling out of control, this game suddenly has meaning. It’s a contest the Gophers need to win handily to regain some of their confidence with Ohio State looming next week. The Gophers just need to do their thing, especially on offense, because I don’t think that NDSU can handle guys like Matt Spaeth, Logan Payne and Amir Pinnix. If the Gophers come out and play their game and avoid early mistakes, I think we’ll win handily. But like I said, if they give NDSU any glimmer of hope, they could end up seeing the game be too close for comfort.

Prediction: Minnesota 47 – NDSU 17.

[Steph_Popowski]

I just want to say GOOD LUCK and Kick some Gopher BUTT to the Bison players and fans! *It is so exciting to have the Bison play them- I know it should be looked at as just another game for the Bison, but really?!?! *I know that if the Bison keep playing the way they are- there will be sweet victory for them. *GOOD LUCK!! *:)
I think it is pretty entertaining to read what the Gophers think will be the outcome...I think that the Gophers will have a eye-opening day- Maybe they could learn a thing or two! -Oh that was not nice- sorry! But oh so true. *:) *
Go Bison!

[max_cool]

That Cory Doffing guy admits that he knows practically nothing about the Bison team and then makes statements like "I don't think NDSU can handle guys like Matt Spaeth, Logan Payne, and Ami Pinnix" this may or may not be true, he also make sthe statement that NDSU's program is "about as good as Illinois State" again this may or may not be true but then he has the gall to say "MINNESOTA - 47 NDSU - 17" based on the fact that Minn has a long history of blowing out "lower division" teams when it's been over 2 years since they played one and in that game Illinoi "hung around for WAY too long" and still he predicts a 30 point margin.

Again, he does all this while admitting that he knows next to nothing about NDSU. Arrogance? Ignorance?

[SDbison]

That Cory Doffing guy admits that he knows practically nothing about the Bison team and then makes statements like "I don't think NDSU can handle guys like Matt Spaeth, Logan Payne, and Ami Pinnix" this may or may not be true, he also make sthe statement that NDSU's program is "about as good as Illinois State" again this may or may not be true but then he has the gall to say "MINNESOTA - 47 NDSU - 17" based on the fact that Minn has a long history of blowing out "lower division" teams when it's been over 2 years since they played one and in that game Illinoi "hung around for WAY too long" and still he predicts a 30 point margin.

Again, he does all this while admitting that he knows next to nothing about NDSU. Arrogance? Ignorance?
Good point AZBison.........those Gopher fans are the delusional ones.

[NDSUstudent]

NDSU was much better then that Ill St team, they finished 4-7 and their best win was over a 6-5 Missouri St team. That Ill St team also played a much better Gopher team and didn't have anywhere close to 15k chearing them on.

[SDbison]

It is becoming very clear Gopher fans have no idea how good this Bison team is, or the pride / swagger they possess. My only hope is Mason and his boys are half as ignorant.

[TaTonka_31]

I think the toughest thing for the Bison to deal with will be UM's O line. This is one area where D1-A (Especially the Big 10) major conference teams usually have a big edge.

The Bison D line and line backers will have never experienced the size and agility of an O line like they will see Saturday and will really have to adjust to it early and play the game of their lives. They will need to get off their blocks to stop the run while at the same time get some kind of pressure on the QB. If they can do that, I think they will stick with UM pretty well IMO.

The big question will be for how long. Doing it for four quarters will be a huge challenge.

[99Bison]

I think the toughest thing for the Bison to deal with will be UM's O line. *This is one area where D1-A (Especially the Big 10) major conference teams usually have a big edge. *

The Bison D line and line backers will have never experienced the size and agility of an O line like they will see Saturday and will really have to adjust to it early and play the game of their lives. They will need to get off their blocks to stop the run while at the same time get some kind of pressure on the QB. * If they can do that, I think they will stick with UM pretty well IMO.

The big question will be for how long. *Doing it for four quarters will be a huge challenge. *

I agree with this MN line point, that is really a question mark to me.

[TonkaBison]

I think the toughest thing for the Bison to deal with will be UM's O line. *This is one area where D1-A (Especially the Big 10) major conference teams usually have a big edge. *

The Bison D line and line backers will have never experienced the size and agility of an O line like they will see Saturday and will really have to adjust to it early and play the game of their lives. They will need to get off their blocks to stop the run while at the same time get some kind of pressure on the QB. * If they can do that, I think they will stick with UM pretty well IMO.

The big question will be for how long. *Doing it for four quarters will be a huge challenge. *

I agree with this MN line point, that is really a question mark to me.

Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning....

It payed off in Texas and Georgia and it will pay off here. *The Gophers are just plain beat up after last weeks game and they aren't going to get a minutes rest in this one. *I think the fact that many Bison players were asked to walk on at Minnesota and chose not to will play in as well. *At least that factor seems to have Mason's attention since he addressed it specifically in his press conference. *Here is the link if you want to read it http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=653634 * 8-)

[99Bison]

I think the toughest thing for the Bison to deal with will be UM's O line. *This is one area where D1-A (Especially the Big 10) major conference teams usually have a big edge. *

The Bison D line and line backers will have never experienced the size and agility of an O line like they will see Saturday and will really have to adjust to it early and play the game of their lives. They will need to get off their blocks to stop the run while at the same time get some kind of pressure on the QB. * If they can do that, I think they will stick with UM pretty well IMO.

The big question will be for how long. *Doing it for four quarters will be a huge challenge. *

I agree with this MN line point, that is really a question mark to me.

Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning....

It payed off in Texas and Georgia and it will pay off here. *The Gophers are just plain beat up after last weeks game and they aren't going to get a minutes rest in this one. *I think the fact that many Bison players were asked to walk on at Minnesota and chose not to will play in as well. *At least that factor seems to have Mason's attention since he addressed it specifically in his press conference. *Here is the link if you want to read it http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=653634 * 8-)


"Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning...." Yes, which has been a strength this year.

Yes, I watched Mason on gopher sports weekly tonight with his same comments.