1st Game Analyst

[chuckles]

Alrighty, everyone who went to the big game thursday what were your thoughts? Here are a few of mine,

- Field looked GREAT with the new paint job

- Bison running game started out rough, passing looked a-okay!

- Student attendance was supurb!

- Technical Difficulties, please stand by! The dome needs to work out the kinks in their pregame show and the national anthem (the mic didn't even work). The intro video also needs some work, didn't get me pumped like the one last year. But at least they had the music cranked!

[Bison_Dan]

I was at the game and I think it will be hard to come up with a good review because of the competition.

My thoughts:

O side of the ball.

Walker and Steffes were great. Walker did force the ball a couple of times but didn't get picked. RB are deep and all good. The line still concerns me but played well. Passing game was ok - Heckendorf did well and Johnson would have been all world if he would have caught that last pass for a TD. Shamen Washington will be a force also.

D side:

D will be our strenght for sure this year. I think that they lost there intensity after we were up 14-0 in the first 5 minutes. Coaches made some changes and the D played great the rest of the way. New players that stood out. Nick Compton, Humber (true freshman), and Joe Lardinois. They made a lot of plays the 2nd half.

New Week: We'll have to play real well to pull out a win, no mistakes and no penalties. Coach Bohl will have them schooled up and ready to go.

[Flintstone]

O:

Walker looked alright, steffes looked alright. *The line needs some work but didn't look bad. *Heckendorf is gonna be a stud.

D:

Speed, speed speed. *There was nothing going outside at all. *The secondary looke good also. *Runs between the tackles were the only thing they were getting yards on.

[RedRiver]

Good crowd of 13,800, especially during the week. The student turnout was fantastic, don't think I have ever seen more students at any game.

I liked the offensive play calling by Perles which featured a good balance and variety.

Regardless of competition level, the Bison showed that they have some young talent, especially on defense. Some of those redshirt and true freshman are going to be impact players in the future.

Note to Gene Taylor - - please do not schedule any more DII teams in the future.

[Bison_Dan]

I don't think that Perles went to far into the play book with NW La. on the schedule for next week.

[go_bison]

O - Walker looked great. Steffes and Shaman were great. Marques one great TD and after that I think forgot what he was doing (ok, 1st game of the season). Heckendorf was awesome, I think will lead the team in receps this year. O-line was good. Overall, offense was surprising.

D - Joe Mays and Compton looked great. D-line was good with Thompson and Frick. Babich looked good (nice pick early in the game, shouldn't try punt return ever again) ???. Overall, Defense was solid. (hard to tell against a weak DII school)
Good crowd for a Thurs night game.

[GCWaters]

My analysis: After sitting on the north sidelines past few years, south endzone is the place to be!

[Bisonfan1]

I also think there could be more to the intro. Bison Dan is right, they did not go deep into the offensive playbook, did'nt have to. The student section was great, caused a false start by their offense -GOOD JOB STUDENT SECTION. Defense looked very solid, Casey will have them well prepared all year. It was great to be back watching Bison football.

[Big_BisonFan]

I think Parsons looked a lot better in the Spring Game than he did last night. I agree with go_bison, babich should never be the punt returner. I thought our 1st and 2nd team D-lines were solid. Our team speed on defense was outstanding, even though it was against a D-II team. The team needs to get better before next week. Improvements on linebacker play and discipline on the O-line (a few false starts at home).

[newNDSUemployee]

It was my first NDSU game in 22 years (the first being a playoff game in Davis, CA where I grew up). *A few comments...

Walker threw two very nice deep balls. *Johnson caught the first in stride for a TD, dropped the 2nd.

Humber made two excellent plays in one sequence. *I thought the most impressive was the end around where he stayed with his assignment instead of overpursuing, and as a result was able to run a faster man out of bounds. *He may be a true freshman, but that was a veteran play.

[Gamehunter]

Here are my thoughts...


Offense- the offense turned out very much the way I thought it would against an inferior opponent. The OL was innexperienced, and it showed, however, I believe they have alot of talent to play off of in the comming weeks. By mid-season this group should be very stout indead. Walker played up to his usual perfection, but I am much more worried about 2nd string quarterback after witnessing the 2nd team go on the field in the 2nd half of the game. If something was to happen to Walker, our team would become very 1 dimensional. Parsons looked very inexperienced; which surprised me. Some people may have been worried about depth at WR, but I don't think it will be a huge issue. The loss of T. White could be seen in that game, but I don't think it will have a huge detriment to the season. Heckendorf will pick up alot of the slack in the next comming weeks as he gains experience. It may take 2 or 3 however. Nevertheless, I am already very impressed by his play. He will be a big playmaker someday. And the two halfs of Johnson: he did a great job yesturday, nice 50+ yd TD catch, but dropped a perfectly thrown 70 yarder. This guy can run, no doubt. Opposing secondaries be scared. I have a feeling Johnson will become a more reliable go to guy this year and really make opposing defensive coaches pull their hair after committing guys to the line. Next week, against Norhwestern State, I expect the TE to get more balls thrown that way. As far as RB, Steffes definately proved he can put up the numbers, but I was kind of expecting more "big time" plays against such a poor UAM defense. The jury is out on this one untill next week against one of hte nations best defenses. Washington surprised me yet again, proving his speed and agility are a force to recon with. I have a feeling he will get a few carries next week alonside Steffes and Chapman.

Defense - The secondary looked awesome. Definately what I was expecting. But the rush defense just wasn't there. I was not expecting UAM to be able to move the ball on the ground at all, but somehow they did. And even managed a few good plays. In the 2nd quarter the run was pretty much shut down, which was good, but how is this group going to handle a much more robust division 1 squad? I would hope they can continue that trend, but I have a feeling they will struggle initially. They will need to tighten up for next week's run in Nachatoches or we may find ourselves relying on the offense more than I bargained for in the early part of the season. Ramon Humber was definately a stud. He will make a huge impact early on in his career and will be an asset to the 2005 defense. It also appears Joe Mays still has some work to do finishing tackles. He was naturally in tune to the game, but missed a few plays. Compton was also a playmaker last night. Hopefully he can continue to make the plays against faster competition. Overall I would say this squad is ready for some more action, and the resulting lack-thereof from the opposing team.

Special Teams- I think they did an average job. Some of the kickoff returns weren't the best, but overall I think this group is definately D1 caliber, but still have some kinks to work out.

NO kickoff returns!! I was expecting at least one out of Washington last night, but it never materialized to be anything that great.

I was impressed with our student sections. part of this may have to do with a thursday game, while this may not draw quite as well for the living dead, the college students are still on campus on thursdays, whereas on weekends alot of students go home.

Seriously, the acoustics in the FargoDome SUCK. Nothing new there. The terf looked good however.


and that is about all I can think of for now.

[MinotBison]

Slightly off subject, but does anyone have any pics of the tailgating? I enjoyed those last year.

[Bisonguy]

Slightly off subject, but does anyone have any pics of the tailgating? *I enjoyed those last year.

There should be a few tailgating and some game pics up on BisonInsider.com later (maybe this weekend).