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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Oct 22, 2022 14:45:39 GMT -6
Big game next week against North Dakota Fighting Hawks. The game will be played at their indoor Aleris Center where noise could be an issue.
For those who might be interested, their game against #1 South Dakota State is on ESPN+. The Hawks lead 14-7 late in the first quarter.
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Post by rc on Oct 22, 2022 17:09:31 GMT -6
Watching UND's game against SD State is interesting. SDS has scored a lot but UND has a pretty good quarterback and have scored 28 points with 6 minutes remaining against a leading FCS team that has 49 points.
Oh my, UND just blocked a punt. Now I am worried. UND has 35 points. And then they recover an onside kickoff.
But they lose 35 to 49. Still, North Dakota looks dangerous offensively.
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Post by kjmike1956 on Oct 22, 2022 17:59:00 GMT -6
SFA won another close game against Southern Utah beating them by the same score they beat ACU by 41-38. Both teams had over 500 yds offense. Southern Utah missed a 26 yd field goal with 2 minutes left in the game. The WAC can go anyway with SFA, ACU, Tarleton St and Southern Utah all having teams that can beat each other.
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Post by Outsider on Oct 23, 2022 18:24:41 GMT -6
I watched the ND vs SDSU game and saw both good and bad things for us. First of all, I saw that this game is indeed winnable, but it's going to take a complete game on our part. It's hard to gauge because SDSU is a really really good team, and what I say is knowing how good ND is as well. ND has a really good QB, but he is vulnerable to the pass rush like anyone else and he was getting rushed a lot on Saturday. ND's OL as a whole started to get wore down by the end of the game. That said, they had a tremendous amount of fight until the very end. They had a knack of finding the pockets in the secondary to pass to. We need to be able to shore those up. I think our run defense will match well with them if we can maintain the pressure. My big concern is still whether or not we have fixed our kicking game and get enough players back to help protect McIvor and help us spread the ball around. Have we learned our lessons to open the playbook more? I hope so. This is a big test for us either way. IF we find ourselves making the playoffs, we better be able to win against teams like ND and not just hope to compete.
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Oct 24, 2022 9:01:03 GMT -6
I watched UND on Saturday from my armchair. So I feel qualified to give an armchair analysis of our next opponent.
Defensively they play a base 3-4 and seldom depart from it. They are not particularly big but they are athletic and experienced. The pass rush will come from everywhere. their DBs didn’t stand out to me. They play a lot of cover 2. They will be tough to run against but our receivers could create problems. Of course, Maverick needs to deliver the ball.
Offensively they run a 2 tight end set most of the time. They run downhill but their backs are quick and capable of bouncing outside. The passing game is more horizontal than vertical with lots of screens where the tight ends slide outside to lead the blocking. It’s very effective. The QB is very good. Throws a good ball, moves really well and makes few mistakes. Threw a great back shoulder ball that I recall.
Special teams are good. #81 is an excellent return guy and their best WR although not exactly X Gipson.
QB v QB advantage UND OL v DL. Advantage UND DL v OL. Slight Advantage UND. Close to even. RB v RB. Advantage ACU WR v Secondary. Advantage ACU. Assuming Maverick has some time to throw. Secondary v WR Advantage ACU. Our speed will show up. Special Teams. Advantage UND. Home Field. Big Advantage UND.
Prediction later in the week.
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Post by Outsider on Oct 24, 2022 20:35:31 GMT -6
KP Presser:
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Post by Outsider on Oct 25, 2022 7:24:09 GMT -6
One thing I was hoping to hear from KP was the noise level inside the Alerus Center. That could be an issue for us and I hope that we prepared for it. I know that may be hard to do, but at least we could put some speakers on each side of the field or something to simulate it. Working in our favor though is the fact that UND hockey is playing ASU in Las Vegas and many people will probably be out of town for that.
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Post by Outsider on Oct 25, 2022 18:36:24 GMT -6
From a UND fan, "PSA: Friends and family 4 pack of tickets for this game only $20!" Sounds like a pretty good idea.
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Post by kjmike1956 on Oct 25, 2022 21:59:36 GMT -6
ACU is a 10.5 point underdog in this game. It is time for ACU to perform well against a team that is considered better than them. All four games left in the season are winnable, but all four games left could be lost, also.
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Post by ybp80 on Oct 26, 2022 20:57:31 GMT -6
ACU is a 10.5 point underdog in this game. It is time for ACU to perform well against a team that is considered better than them. All four games left in the season are winnable, but all four games left could be lost, also. It is so important to start out strong. No early mistakes. I hope this might be the big break through game for us.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Oct 27, 2022 6:05:41 GMT -6
It is time for ACU to perform well against a team that is considered better than them. All four games left in the season are winnable, but all four games left could be lost, also. I liked KP’s moment that with 4 games to go, we can still reach our goals- One win will give us the first winning season in awhile. A win against UND would give ACU its first FCS win over a respected opponent and give us much needed rep. Two conference wins (Tarleton and SFA) will give us our first WAC championship and first football conference championship of the D1 era. This may well be enough to earn the alliance autobid. . Three wins should virtually assure a strong enough rating to ensure the ASUN/WAC autobid and a likely top 25 ranking. Four wins should make a top 25 rating and a trip to the playoffs a slam dunk. As you said, we have four winnable and four possible losses. . 9-2 or 5-6?
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Post by Outsider on Oct 27, 2022 7:10:01 GMT -6
It is time for ACU to perform well against a team that is considered better than them. All four games left in the season are winnable, but all four games left could be lost, also. I liked KP’s moment that with 4 games to go, we can still reach our goals- One win will give us the first winning season in awhile. A win against UND would give ACU its first FCS win over a respected opponent and give us much needed rep. Two wins (Tarleton and SFA) will give us our first WAC championship and first football conference championship of the D1 era. This may well be enough to earn the alliance autobid. . Three wins should virtually assure a strong enough rating to ensure the ASUN/WAC autobid and a likely top 25 ranking. Four wins should make a top 25 rating and a trip to the playoffs a slam dunk. As you said, we have four winnable and four possible losses. . 9-2 or 5-6? KP was correct, were are still in a position to control our own destiny at this point. Here's to some post season play...
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Post by Outsider on Oct 27, 2022 7:44:09 GMT -6
ACU is a 10.5 point underdog in this game. It is time for ACU to perform well against a team that is considered better than them. All four games left in the season are winnable, but all four games left could be lost, also. It is so important to start out strong. No early mistakes. I hope this might be the big break through game for us. If we come out of the gate like we did against SUU and continue it until the final whistle I like our chances. We will still have to do a better job of play calling.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Oct 27, 2022 10:14:22 GMT -6
Any ‘insider’ info about OL this weeK? Are we getting any one back?
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Post by siouxfan512 on Oct 27, 2022 10:47:34 GMT -6
Hi All, UND fan here and wanted to pop in to say hi and chat about the game a bit. If anyone is looking to get a little more insight on the game or just listen to some football chat I'll drop a link to the UNDFootball360 podcast, which includes an interview with ACU radio guy Grant Boone. undfootball360.com/undfb360-pregame-show-week-8-und-vs-abilene-christian/Coming off a tough loss at home to the SDSU Bunnies in a game where we didn't play up to our potential but were still in it. Credit to the rabbits, they are a good team. Worth calling out that our of the last like (apx) 12 ranked teams to visit the Alerus, only 2 have won. NDSU last year by by 6 and SDSU this year by 14. It is a tough place to play and UND does typically play well at home. That being said, we are coming off of an emotional loss and you guys are coming off of a bye. I'm not sure what to think yet. UND is a team at this point that could make a run and hit the playoffs hot or completely derail and miss the playoffs completely. Looking at the bulk of the play I've seen this year, I think we make the playoffs at 7-4, but certainly not a guarantee. QB play has been really strong. Tommy Schuster has been accurate all season, with the exception being the INTs last week. Watch for Quincy Vaughn to come in on 4th and short plays as he is like 6'4 and around 230. RBs have been solid. Tyler Hoosman is the guy to watch. Grad Transfer from UNI has been a great addition for the season. WRs are good but lack overall speed. Watch for Bo Belquist and Garret Maag. Secondary has been suspect in areas and seems to give the WRs cushion. CJ Seigel is the top CB, there is a bit of a fall off after that. Our FG kicking can get it done but isn't dominant. Not going to see many attempts over 40, especially if it is a short yardage situation. ST does have a few blocked punts this year ... i believe 2 were for TDs. Hoping everyone can watch the game on ESPN+, I like the production our guys put together.
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