Tag Archives: Bison football

Bison will go with 11

Posted on by

It appears North Dakota State will go with 11 football games next season, instead of the maximum 12 allowed that many Division I Football Championship Subdivision schools seem to be shooting for. Athletic director Gene Taylor said progress is being made in replacing Western Carolina on the schedule.

Western will either pay a buyout or have the date moved to a future year. One reason for deciding on 11 games is the number of games NDSU has played in the last two seasons — 30. If the Bison happen to make another playoff run, “that’s just a lot of football,” Taylor said.

He said head coach Craig Bohl is fine with 11 games.It does mean the Bison will need a successful regular season run to combat other programs that have the benefit of achieving the extra Division I victory. The Division I selection committee historically favors an 8-4 team over a 7-4 team, assuming they have similar resumes.

He called it

Posted on by

Got an interesting email from a reader who was cleaning out old emails. He came across this one from 2003 that he sent to former Forum columnist Mike McFeely on the hiring of Craig Bohl.

From: Wetzel, Garet
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 11:45 AM
To: ‘McFeely, Mike’
Subject: RE: Coach Bohl

Good choice! Great experience in a pressure cooker. Constantly upgraded himself during his career. Was a top coordinator in what is arguably the best college football program over the past 25 years. Any pressure he encounters while rebuilding the Bison program to D1 status will be small potatoes compared to what he went through during the past year in Lincoln. If you go to the Huskers web site Huskerpedia.com they have a ticker that counts down the days and time for the opening kick off in ’03, serious stuff.

I attended the U of N from ’74 to ’78, Craig came on just as I was leaving the school. Husker football is life and death in Nebraska. Coach Bohl took the fall for a head coach that is in over his head. The downturn at the U was a result of a decline in the talent level there and poor decisions at the head coach position. Craig did the best he could with the players he had during the past two years. The Colorado game in ’01 exposed their weakness, the Huskers were deficient up the middle at the tackles and at middle linebacker. That followed them through out the ’02 season. But more importantly Solich managed an offense that was out of synch most of the time, couldn’t control the ball, couldn’t pass, turn overs, failures to convert 3rd downs, etc., etc..

Charlie McBride has a lot of respect for coach Bohl, and McBride knows something about coaching, he is a living legend at the U. I think that NDSU will come away with the same level of respect for coach Bohl as the upcoming seasons unfold. This will turn into a happy ending, you’ll see, give it 2 to 3 years.

Check out this web site, you’ll see both sides of the Bohl argument on this very active chat. http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=38&u_sid=668066

Anyway that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

Nick Jacobsen, part 2

Posted on by

A couple more notes and thoughts on Nick Jacobsen, the defensive-offensive lineman who verballed with NDSU football:

  • Prescott, Wis., is a small town of about 4,200 residents and it’s interesting the connection between Jacobsen and former Bison safety Nick Schommer, who is also from Prescott. Prescott head coach Matt Smith coached at the school when Schommer was a freshman before leaving, and then coming back as the head coach. He said Schommer maintains a great connection with the community coming back for a summer camp and has made an appearance at practices in the last couple of years. “He’s a tremendous guy and a great attribute to our community,” Smith said. “With Nick, I think it was knowing a Prescott guy had a lot of success there (at NDSU) and there was a comfort with that.”
  • Jacobsen had a full ride offer to the University of Pittsburgh, which came through head coach Paul Chryst — a former University of Wisconsin assistant. Smith said Wisconsin had a heavy interest in Jacobsen when Chryst was there, “but the Badgers told him he was too short in what they were looking for but Pittsburgh still decided he was a good fit.” What is too short? Jacobsen is 6-3 1/2 with room to grow, Smith said. A couple recruiting websites had him incorrectly at 6-5.
  • He was mainly recruited by NDSU defensive line coach Nick Goeser, but a big selling point came when head coach Craig Bohl went to watch Jacobsen play on Oct. 12, a Friday night. NDSU hosted Indiana State on that Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. “I think that was the real selling point for Nick, that he came out the night before a game to drive over and watch him play live,” Smith said.

Morlock: No. 1 recruit on this list

Posted on by

Chase Morlock

I don’t know who NDSU’s so-called No. 1 recruiting target is/was this year, but the verbal commitment of Moorhead running back/linebacker Chase Morlock would be the No. 1 guy on my list, for a few reasons.

  • One, everybody who knows him has chimed in on what a competitive work ethic he has, something that NDSU has built its FCS national standing on. You can’t have enough of these guys.
  • Two, he’s from a backyard school that hasn’t produced many NDSU players over the years, the last scholarship player believed to be Lance Larson, who transferred from Nebraska in 1992. Before that, are we talking maybe Phil Ostlie? I don’t know, perhaps a Moorheadian can comment on that.
  • It appears NDSU will give him the opportunity to play running back, and the Bison have been good on their word with that recruiting pitch, with Esley Thorton coming to mind. That being said, I think Morlock will fit best and get on the field the fastest at linebacker, where depth is not in abundance right now. It’s a tough position to play as a true freshman, but the Bison need to find some depth.
  • He’s a state champion wrestler. I like wrestlers as football players, they always seem to work out because of the wrestling discipline, toughness, hands and balance. Speaking of linebackers and wrestling, Grant Olson and Mike Maresh were both very good in high school at both sports.

 

Panther injury front unknown

Posted on by

One of the bigger question marks heading into Saturday night’s Bison at Northern Iowa game is the health status of the Panthers. It’s not certain how UNI came through its Big Ten matchups at Iowa and Wisconsin, two programs who tend to be constructed with physical players in mind, especially the Badgers.

UNI head coach Mark Farley was not specific with his injury list this week, both on the Missouri Valley Football Conference call and in a story in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier newspaper. Starting middle linebacker Max Busher and starting cornerback J.J. Swain did not play last week against Youngstown. He told the Courier he expects a couple of players back but that his team also lost a couple of players at Youngstown.

NDSU, meanwhile, will have cornerback Marcus Williams (knee) and receiver Ryan Smith (hamstring) back in the starting lineup. “Ryan is 100 percent,” head coach Craig Bohl said earlier this week. “He probably was close to 100 percent last week, but we wanted to make sure the hamstring is healed up.”

A big week for Andre Martin

Posted on by

Andre Martin walked into the NDSU library this morning with his computer briefcase and the look of a graduate student. More on the Bison senior cornerback later this week — he’s the subject of our Forum Game Day story.

But know this: there’s a lot going on with his plate this week. His wife, Nadia Martin, will be induced Wednesday morning for the birth of their first child. A level-headed, soft-spoken man, Andre Martin said things so far are going as well as could be expected this week. He plans on playing at Northern Iowa on Saturday, which oh by the way is the school he transferred from this year to attend graduate school at NDSU. Martin is taking advantage of an NCAA rule that allows students with their undergraduate degree to transfer to another school for graduate work and be eligible immediately.

Martin has been an immediate hit with his new team. He said Fargo has been a great place for him and his family, which will grow by one on Wednesday. Here’s WDAY’s story on Andre and his crazy week.

The discipline debate

Posted on by

I was in the middle of listening to the end of the Missouri Valley Football teleconference and starting to post some blog observations on former Bison head coach Rocky Hager (who I talked with for our Tuesday story on the Bison defense and who I will get to in this space later this week) when the news broke of today’s charges of voter fraud by Bison players.

By 12:45, head coach Craig Bohl was addressing the larger-than-usual media gathering in the NDSU team meeting room in the dome. By the way, somebody should tell the new FM radio guy in attendance that it’s OK to ask the tough questions, we all do it, but you don’t have to be rude. Anyway, a few thoughts on the charges:

Not good judgment, certainly. The big debate as the day wore on was why didn’t these players get suspended for a Class A misdemeanor when Bison linebacker Brandon Jemison was shown the door for his Class A misdemeanor? The answer, the athletic director said, is in the nature of the infractions. He called one sexual in nature vs. the other being signatures in nature.

My sense in talking with a veteran defense attorney is the probable outcome on these charges will be something along the lines of a fine and unsupervised probation. He’s had a case like this before, actually. Also don’t expect the court proceedings until this winter, it’s just the way the judicial system works.

What is potentially sad in this case from my chair is the ballot on medical uses of marijuana will not get enough signatures to get on the ballot, which some people put two years of work into it only to see it bomb. I have to wonder about the people out there who are in some sort of pain where the legal use of the drug would potentially help. You also have to wonder about the solidarity of the company that hired the players to do the work.

Should the players be booted now? Should they not? Did Bohl and Taylor make the right call? The floor is yours.

Changes plenty in two deep

Posted on by

NDSU released its updated two-deep chart today with a couple of minor surprises. Sophomore Esley Thorton was immediately installed as the No. 2 outside linebacker behind Carlton LIttlejohn, despite just playing the position one day after being moved from backup quarterback. At left guard, true freshman Zack Johnson is listed as the backup to Josh Colville, although head coach Craig Bohl said it’s still uncertain if any true freshmen will play. It also hasn’t been uncommon for NDSU to removed a redshirt after the season has started.

Here are the changes from the depth chart from the beginning of practice until now:

  • Junior college transfer Antonio Rodgers moved into the backup middle linebacker spot, which previously was held by Brandon Jemison, who was booted for violating team rules.
  • Senior Aireal Boyd is the backup at left cornerback, replacing freshman Jordan Champion.
  • Senior Andre Martin is the backup at right cornerback to Marcus Williams, replacing C.J. Smith.
  • Freshman Brian Schaetz is the backup at noseguard, replacing Justin Juckem who has been battling tendinitis in his knees.
  • Sophomore Jason Pomerenke was moved to the backup left tackle spot replacing Joe Haeg, who is now the starting right tackle. Jeff Jerve, battling knee ailments, is the backup at right tackle instead of the starter.
  • Freshman Josh Colville has taken over the starting spot at left guard in place of injured Anthony LaVoy.
  • Zach Vraa has overtaken Cooper Wahlo for starting “X” wide receiver and Nate Moody has replaced the injured Trevor Gebhart as the backup at the “Z” wide receiver.
  • Garrett Bruhn, once thought to be out for an extended period of time with nerve damage in his shoulder, has returned as the starting tight end. Kevin Vaadeland, the starter at beginning of fall camp, is No. 2 ahead of junior Taylor Nelson.
  • Carson Wentz, as reported all week, is the No. 2 quarterback. John Crockett has replaced Derrick Lang as the backup running back to Sam Ojuri.

IN ALL:
Offense

  • LT: Billy Turner, Jason Pomerenke
  • LG: Josh Colville, Zack Johnson
  • C: Joe Lund, Adam Schueller
  • RG: Tyler Gimmestad, Andrew Nack
  • RT: Joe Haeg, Jeff Jerve
  • TE: Garrett Bruhn, Kevin Vaadeland
  • WR: Zach Vraa, Cooper Wahlo Jr
  • WR: Ryan Smith, Nate Moody
  • RB: Sam Ojuri, John Crockett
  • FB: Andrew Grothmann, Andrew Bonnet
  • QB: Brock Jensen, Carson Wentz

Defense

  • LE: Kyle Emanuel, Mike Hardie
  • DT: Leevon Perry, Danny Luecke
  • NG: Ryan Drevlow, Brian Schaetz
  • RE: Cole Jirik, Ricky Hagen
  • OLB: Travis Beck, DeShawn Dinwiddie
  • MLB: Grant Olson, Antonio Rodgers
  • OLB: Carlton Littlejohn, Esley Thorton
  • CB: Brendin Pierre, Aireal Boyd
  • SS: Colten Heagle, Bobby Ollman
  • FS: Christian Dudzik or Bryan Shepherd
  • CB: Marcus Williams, Andrew Martin

Thoughts on closing the scrimmage

Posted on by

I don’t know the exact reason why Saturday’s scrimmage is being closed to the public and media but you can probably assume it has something to do with the threat of camera phones or media photographers giving away some formations that NDSU doesn’t want its first opponent or opponents to know. It’s ususally not for trick play reasons. I do know TV camermen are told not to shoot wide shots of practice as a condition for them being there and apparently that unwritten rule was violated earlier in fall practice. Not sure who but it wasn’t WDAY, that I know.

If it’s just a matter of closing one scrimmage, that’s not a huge deal to me. Those things are always hard to gauge anyway: was that good defense or bad offense? There are four weeks worth of other practices for me to get my stuff done and if I can’t do that, then it’s time to find something else to do.

As for other stuff:

  • Offensive tackle Jeff Jerve had a procedure done to his knee meant to “inject some stuff into his knee,” Bohl said. He’s expected back next week.
  • I think noseguard Leevon Perry is going to be a first team all-American this year. A former high school quarterback, he hasn’t lost his agility and is playing at 280 pounds now.
  • Bryan Shepherd and Christian Dudzik are in a tight battle for the starting free safety spot.
  • Marcus Williams and freshman Marcus Brantley were returning punts on Friday.
  • Bohl said no decision has been made on removing any redshirts. Receiver Demetrius Gray continues to gets reps with the first and second team offense.
  • Bohl said the backup quarterback battle is still ongoing between Esley Thorton and Carson Wentz, with Saturday’s scrimmage looming big with both. A No. 2 will have to be named once game week preparation begins because of the number of reps the top two quarterbacks get in practice.
  • NDSU has been inside the Fargodome more this fall camp because of the new turf, which is easier on the players’ legs.
  • Junior college linebacker Antonio Rodgers saw some time with the first couple of teams in practice, I think for the first time.
  • Got an extended look at freshman punter Ben LeCompte in practice and there looked to be no major concerns.

The battle for No. 2

Posted on by

Brock Jensen is the established starter, but the job for his No. 1 backup is becoming one of the more interesting stories in BIson fall camp. Esley Thorton came out of spring ball as the No. 2 guy but Carson Wentz is battling him to the point that there appears to be not a lot of separation between them. Head coach Craig Bohl said as much today when he was asked if there is a decision there. Both quarterbacks didn’t have their best practice, either, so Bohl said it will be back to the film to see who had the better day.

Elsewhere:

  • I think freshman receiver Andrew Okland is going to get a shot to play a lot this year, especially early in the season. Who knows if he’ll take advantage of it but he’s been getting a lot of work with the main receiver rotation. He caught a nice long bomb this morning and looked good doing it.
  • Running back Sam Ojuri was back at practice in a limited capacity, mainly appearing in a two-minute drill at the end of the drills.
  • Junior college running back Deveon Dinwiddie is quick to the line of scrimmage. I’m not sure if he’ll be able to break a tackle but his feet are a strength.
  • Receiver Trevor Gebhart is out with a hamstring injury, as is starting receiver Ryan Smith.
  • There were more than the usual number of interceptions today. Jordan Champion picked off Wentz and Marcus Williams intercepted a couple returning one to the end zone. Cornerback Brendin Pierre nearly picked off one ball, then did it on the next play. You make the call: poor offensive execution or stout defensive back play.
  • Running back John Crockett made linebacker DeShawn Dinwiddie miss to the point that Dinwiddie looked like he pulled a muscle or something afterward (he didn’t). On the other side, I saw Crockett get the ball knocked out for the first time albeit it was out of bounds and wouldn’t have been a lost fumble.
  • Freshman defensive lineman Brett Pierce will probably redshirt this year, but NDSU looks like it did well to recruit him.