The Bison went indoors today in the Fargodome for a practice on the new turf and maybe the different environment helped the offense. Whatever the case, they looked much sharper than the previous two days on the natural grass practice fields.
The big news was the return of tight end Garrett Bruhn to full pads, something that was not expected for quite some time because of nerve damage in his shoulder. Head coach Craig Bohl said the shoulder will still have to be evaluated after contact, but the outlook looks OK.
Elsewhere:
- Running back Sam Ojuri returned to full pads after missing almost two weeks with a strained knee. “He’ll be able to do a lot of work so we’ll have him for the first game,” Bohl said.
- Receiver Carey Woods, a freshman from Bemidji, Minn., joined the team after resolving an NCAA Clearinghouse issue. He’ll most likely redshirt, especially after getting a late start to fall camp.
- NDSU announced the scrimmage Saturday will be closed to the public, media and family.
- I have yet to see freshman receiver Demetrius Gray drop a pass this week, which puts him ahead of Warren Holloway pace as a first-year player in practice.
- Walkon running back Eric Perkins just makes plays as a slot receiver. He’s in the Ryan Smith mode at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds and has shown good hands on pass plays.
- Bruhn may be back, but tight end is not a lock solid position as far as depth. Kevin Vaadeland has missed practice time with what is being labeled minor injuries.
- The two catches of the day: an acrobatic leaping one by Nate Moody and a diving snab by Zach Vraa during a two-minute drill that led to a “game-winning” field goal by Adam Keller.
Tyler GimmestadJeff Jerve is still not healthy at right tackle, a battle that for now appears to be between Joe Haeg and Jason Pomerenke. More on this position later in the week. (Gimmestad is solid starter at right guard).
Do you know what is holding Jerve back? Is it his knee?
Happy to hear the offense looked better today.
Who is running with the second team linebackers? Who is the backup middle linebacker?
Ryan Smith is having a terrible time with his hamstring…is there anything he can do so this isn’t an issue going forward? Is it a strength thing or a stretching thing?
Any comments from the team on the new turf in the dome?
Hamstrings are very hard to heal. This will bother him the whole year.
Did he have these hamstring issues in high school? If not what is the cause now? I would think he would have a better care at NDSU as compared to any high school. Is it because of the difference in the level of play and
physical strain from high school to college?
cannot believe NDSU couldn’t get a couple games on FSN. They reach the entire viewing and recruiting area ! With gophers being exclusively on BTN this was a perfect opportunity for NDSU to pursue them.
NDSU marketing needs to understand that it’s 50-50 ND/MN and they are missing out on a huge chunk of fans family etc….once they embrace this FBS & becoming big-time on a national stage will be acheieveable
Lakes how about remembering that it was just a few years ago when the only game on TV was the UND game?? To get all 11 games on TV for most of ND is huge. And since it is a 3 year deal I am expecting the same thing for the next two years also.
And unless there is a spot in the Big 10 or the Big 12 there are plenty of people out there that don’t want to be in a crap FBS conference.
50/50 as in the student population at NDSU plus what a waste of money the NDSU August 1 ticket BILLBOARDS were..they really didn’t have an inkling it’d sell out. Just a waste when they could be pimpin something else like donations
Bison fan base in general for viewing audience probably only extends about 50 miles east to about Detroit Lakes and 40 miles north, and 80 miles south, and 300 miles west…which isn’t much of a viewing audience on the big time level. Granted there is a strong NDSU fan base in the Twin Cities but FSN North is a Minnesota broadcasting channel focused on MN sports, pro and college.
What Fox needs to do is come up with a Fox Dakotas just like there is a Fox Wisconsin. Fox Dakotas could broadcast NDSU, UND, SDSU, USD, Dakota Wizards, SF. SkyForce, SF Canaries, and Red Hawk games.
Thoughts on why this isn’t an option or has been discussed in the media business circles?
It would seem that Midco Sports Net has somewhat filled this void.
“cannot believe NDSU couldn’t get a couple games on FSN. They reach the entire viewing and recruiting area !”
FSN North doesn’t care about helping NDSU, it cares about its viewing numbers which equals advertising money. FSN North is a business, not a charity to help FCS schools expand NDSU’s viewing audience..
Bigtime. NDSU can spend some money with FSN , they could work with FSN to solicit advertisers, they can show them the 50 share on nbc north dakota and translate that into FSN viewing area. Im pretty confident that the FSN viewers would watch NDSU-UNI etc over some obscure pac 10 game or fishing show.
Unfortunately not many people outside ND and NW Minnesota care about NDSU football and UNI is a FCS program in a state with two prominent FBS programs. It’s just a matter of numbers and North Dakota just doesn’t have the population to support a major network from televising locally. ND population is only 684,000, granted more than just ND residents watch the Bison. If you take the populations of Wyoming, ND, SD, and Montana it is still 2 million people less than in just MN!
A random televised Pac10 game needs only 2% MN population viewers to equal 107,000 viewers as opposed to needing 10% ND population watchin NDSU televised game to equal 68,400. 10% is high for a viewing audience anyway and advertisers would rather pay for 107,000 viewers to see their advertising instead of merely 68,400. It’s a number game. (I know population of viewing area is different than state population)
Over the entire FSN Noth viewing network area an obsure Pac10 game or a fishing show probably ranks just as high if not higher than a NDSU v. UNI game. In the Fargo area the number would of course be different…but FSN North looks at the total numbers. You have to ask yourself…if there was more money in televising an NDSU game as opposed to a random Pac10 game wouldn’t FSN North want to generate as much revenue as possible?
I think the “on sale 8/1″ billboards were a great investment – they certainly helped drive demand and helped each game sell out immediately. Thet need to put big SOLD OUT stickers on each one of them!
Tailgating huh ? I’m saying they should ‘ve been end dated 8/2 & something else NDSU related be put up. Everything after 8/1 is a waste. Solicit donors for the bsa on there, sell basketball tickets, something else.
Big-time how do you think Boise st got bigger they went REGIONAL just like NDSU should do
Not sure what “regional” means but Boise State first established themselves in FCS (DI-AA) for nearly 20 years, built a 50,000 stadium, have 20,000 students, a state population of nearly 3 times North Dakota, play in a real conference and recruit heavily in California and Texas. Finally, Boise State has the smurf turf!!!
Seriously, the real difference is money and facilities and NDSU has neither to try to compete at a higher level or become more of a “regional” program at this time. Maybe in 15 years, but not anytime soon.
Bigtime I’m glad your NOT a bison fan troll away Fargo & NDSU can do this if they had the guts to step up and ask for donations and buIld exposure.