STrib: Bison fans, about 35,000 strong, ready to flood Target Field

[skauma]

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I saw quite a few Gopher hats and shirts there... no reason why both fanbases can't cheer for each other.
A) its dam good football program
B) 50% of NDSU is Minnesota
C) theyll never play again anyways.

Agree. I think how both fan bases act toward each other is kind of embarrassing. I think it would be different if the two teams hadn't played each other a few years back, with the Bison win.

I had two Bison fans over for my fantasy football draft during Gopher gameday last week, and they had the audacity to call the Bison and Gophers rivals...like, wait, what?

And I also see on forums like this, Gopher fans completely disrespecting the Bison because they play in a lesser division, as if their dominance at the FCS level doesn't matter...

Just pettiness on both sides...the teams don't play in the same division, separate the two.

 

[skauma]

Carson Wentz was a unicorn. Not even sure if he was a 1-star recruit out in the middle of North Dakota when he was in high school.

I used to live in Bismarck, bartended there. Carson's very proud uncle was one of my regulars...Had some interesting stories about Carson, and Brewster. Brewster was aware of Wentz, but always tip-toed around him. Recognizing his potential as an FBS QB, but only wanting him as a walk on. According to his uncle, Carson was all about the Gophers, and would have been a Gopher had the opportunity been extended to him...either with a scholarship, or a PFWO. Uncle says it was Brewster's misdoing, and it was too late for Kill.

Regardless, Carson ended up in the right place for him. Not sure he would be where he is at now, if he didn't end up with the Bison. I just often think about what he could have possibly turned this program into, if the right coaching staff was in place here during that time.

 

[salzie]

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I saw quite a few Gopher hats and shirts there... no reason why both fanbases can't cheer for each other.
A) its dam good football program
B) 50% of NDSU is Minnesota
C) theyll never play again anyways.

I have nothing against NDSU, I just don't follow FCS football and have no real interest in doing so. But NDSU being successful does not bother me in the least, my nephew goes there so I'm glad he's having fun.

My only real beef, and I should probably let it go, is the amount of Bison internet trolls that keep trying to turn the bison v gophers into a rivalry or post how they'd stomp gophers and easily win the B1G. NDSU is a good FCS program and MN is a middling B1G program. I prefer B1G and FBS over FCS, so rooting for, even a middling team, is more enjoyable to me. One of the gophers easiest games was vs SDSU this year, it'll be one of the toughest for NDSU. Comparing the 2 programs is pointless, different divisions and paths don't cross much in any shape or form

 

[Dano564]

I used to live in Bismarck, bartended there. Carson's very proud uncle was one of my regulars...Had some interesting stories about Carson, and Brewster. Brewster was aware of Wentz, but always tip-toed around him. Recognizing his potential as an FBS QB, but only wanting him as a walk on. According to his uncle, Carson was all about the Gophers, and would have been a Gopher had the opportunity been extended to him...either with a scholarship, or a PFWO. Uncle says it was Brewster's misdoing, and it was too late for Kill.

Regardless, Carson ended up in the right place for him. Not sure he would be where he is at now, if he didn't end up with the Bison. I just often think about what he could have possibly turned this program into, if the right coaching staff was in place here during that time.

Why would Brewster tip-toe around him in this case. Do you think Brewster would have felt criticism for offering a scholarship to a lower ranked HS QB out of ND? Or is it that Brewster was trying to sell him to walk-on to save scholarships?

In 2009, around the time that Brewster would have been recruiting him, Adam Weber was a Junior and Moses Alipate was a freshman, and he had Marqueis Gray.
Did Brewster think he had his QB's locked up and thus no scholarship available for Wentz?

 

[skauma]

Why would Brewster tip-toe around him in this case. Do you think Brewster would have felt criticism for offering a scholarship to a lower ranked HS QB out of ND? Or is it that Brewster was trying to sell him to walk-on to save scholarships?

In 2009, around the time that Brewster would have been recruiting him, Adam Weber was a Junior and Moses Alipate was a freshman, and he had Marqueis Gray.
Did Brewster think he had his QB's locked up and thus no scholarship available for Wentz?

According to the uncle, there were talks of asking him to walk on, but Brew wouldn't even commit to that. Then Carson started getting some FCS offers, and communication just kind of broke off.

Its kind of easy to rip on Brewster, but it is worth noting that it was hard for anyone to see Carson becoming what he became. They had a nice QB in place at NDSU before Carson took over, but he didn't become the starter until his 4th season...redshirt FR, then FR, then Sophomore, then finally took over his redshirt Junior year.

 

[#2Gopher]

FCS Division 1 National Champions..

#2Gopher. were you at Camp Randall last year? I didn't see you there, so no need to question my gopher pride my belittling my other teams accomplishments

Two things: One, You should always mention what level of National Champions you are when you proudly post. Big difference between the big boys and leagues below it. Secondly, you didn't look hard enough at Camp Randall. Not sure why you're stating that.

 

[LesBolstad]

Many don't want to admit it, but if the Bison played the Gophers on a neutral site the past say 8 years- the Gophers would probably be about 5-3.

 

[#2Gopher]

Many don't want to admit it, but if the Bison played the Gophers on a neutral site the past say 8 years- the Gophers would probably be about 5-3.

I would agree with that along with many others. Our program hasn't been as strong as it should for some time.

 

[Herd]

Many don't want to admit it, but if the Bison played the Gophers on a neutral site the past say 8 years- the Gophers would probably be about 5-3.

Based on End of Season Sagarin Ratings, 7–1 not Gophers since 2011.

 

[skauma]

Many don't want to admit it, but if the Bison played the Gophers on a neutral site the past say 8 years- the Gophers would probably be about 5-3.

eh, probably more like 3-5 in the Bison's favor...

I get that your'e trying to give the Bison credit here, but it falls short. I'm a Gopher fan, and it annoys me so much that other Gopher fans try to minimize the Bison's success because they play at the FCS level, so, lets take a look at their success vs the FBS level.

Bison have won their last 6 games vs FBS teams...Kansas, Minnesota, Colorada State, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Iowa (who was ranked #13 at the time)....all on the road. Would the Gophers have a 6-0 record vs these teams, when playing all on the road? Most likely not.

Going a bit further from their 6-0 stretch vs FBS teams, they are 9-3 in their last 12 (of course, all on the road).

They are 2-1 against the Gophers in this stretch (of course, all on the road)...their only loss to them, being by one point.

Now, if we are talking about just these specific last 8 years when the Gophers finally became competitive again...well, the Bison got better too. They would have us outmatched by far at QB, as all 3 of their QB's in that time span were far better than what we had here...all three received NFL paychecks...one of them was selected in the 5th round, and another was the #2 overall pick.

 

[salzie]

eh, probably more like 3-5 in the Bison's favor...

I get that your'e trying to give the Bison credit here, but it falls short. I'm a Gopher fan, and it annoys me so much that other Gopher fans try to minimize the Bison's success because they play at the FCS level, so, lets take a look at their success vs the FBS level.

Bison have won their last 6 games vs FBS teams...Kansas, Minnesota, Colorada State, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Iowa (who was ranked #13 at the time)....all on the road. Would the Gophers have a 6-0 record vs these teams, when playing all on the road? Most likely not.

Going a bit further from their 6-0 stretch vs FBS teams, they are 9-3 in their last 12 (of course, all on the road).

They are 2-1 against the Gophers in this stretch (of course, all on the road)...their only loss to them, being by one point.

Now, if we are talking about just these specific last 8 years when the Gophers finally became competitive again...well, the Bison got better too. They would have us outmatched by far at QB, as all 3 of their QB's in that time span were far better than what we had here...all three received NFL paychecks...one of them was selected in the 5th round, and another was the #2 overall pick.

Bison are good team, but this year one of their toughest games was one of the Gophers easiest (SDSU). On a one game scenario anything could happen, but if Bison had to play a full B1G schedule instead of MVFC schedule, they wouldn't see same level success. Level of competition gophers play vs bison play is very drastic making comparing programs very hard and quite frankly pointless. Gophers this offseason could hire your AD, your coaching staff, and poach your recruits, but long term it would not work in the B1G.

(Yes, Brock Jensen spent one month in NFL as a camp arm, same as Leidner)

And this is why so many gopher fans tire of Bison fans. We recognize your team is good, and streak is impressive, but it's vs much lower levels of competition. The 2 gopher teams you guys were horrible teams, but kudos. Why so many bison fans cling to beating a 3-9 gopher team 8 years ago is beyond me.

I would honestly root for Bison if A). I cared about FCS football and B). Fans weren't so obnoxious

I realize fans have no say, but if Bison think they're ready from prime time, make the jump. I'm sure there is a G5 Conference that'll take you. Make the investment. Stop playing Mary's school for the blind and face better competition every week every season, not just one game every few years

 

[salzie]

Based on End of Season Sagarin Ratings, 7–1 not Gophers since 2011.

I still don't understand why you come here? I'd get it if you were part NDSU fan and part gopher fan, but you're just an NDSU troll?


Do you really have nothing better to do?

 

[Schnauzer]

It would be nice to wrap this up. Nice Job NDSU! You provided a nice follow up to the St. John's game that was played in Target field a couple years ago. Perhaps this sets the stage for a future game with St. John's in Target field. Unlike others here, I do enjoy the lower division football games. I'm going to drive down to St. Peter to watch Gustavus play tomorrow. And speaking of Gustavus, they have run up a winning record over NDSU football over the years.

 

[salzie]

It would be nice to wrap this up. Nice Job NDSU! You provided a nice follow up to the St. John's game that was played in Target field a couple years ago. Perhaps this sets the stage for a future game with St. John's in Target field. Unlike others here, I do enjoy the lower division football games. I'm going to drive down to St. Peter to watch Gustavus play tomorrow. And speaking of Gustavus, they have run up a winning record over NDSU football over the years.

I don't know why I always get suckered in, I complain they come, but in turn often give them the validation they want.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

After the SDSU and UNI games there were a few people arguing top 10-20 FCS is comparable to G5 and middle P5. Can’t have it both ways.

Personally when I see P5 struggle or lose vs G5 or FCS that may indicate (unless it’s a fluky game) they are not conference championship material that year but there are exceptions to that which are heartening for 2019. I think Michigan went on to have a good season in 2007 and Northwestern last year (seemingly most years) for example. I’m sure there are other examples? Sometimes it does turn out those G5 teams or FCS teams were really good and on their way to elite seasons - or the more talented team laid a one time egg - but we didn’t have evidence yet. We’ll see how IA State, MN, Purdue finish up.

 

[STPGopher]

eh, probably more like 3-5 in the Bison's favor...

I get that your'e trying to give the Bison credit here, but it falls short. I'm a Gopher fan, and it annoys me so much that other Gopher fans try to minimize the Bison's success because they play at the FCS level, so, lets take a look at their success vs the FBS level.

Bison have won their last 6 games vs FBS teams...Kansas, Minnesota, Colorada State, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Iowa (who was ranked #13 at the time)....all on the road. Would the Gophers have a 6-0 record vs these teams, when playing all on the road? Most likely not.

Going a bit further from their 6-0 stretch vs FBS teams, they are 9-3 in their last 12 (of course, all on the road).

They are 2-1 against the Gophers in this stretch (of course, all on the road)...their only loss to them, being by one point.

Now, if we are talking about just these specific last 8 years when the Gophers finally became competitive again...well, the Bison got better too. They would have us outmatched by far at QB, as all 3 of their QB's in that time span were far better than what we had here...all three received NFL paychecks...one of them was selected in the 5th round, and another was the #2 overall pick.

Why this love fest for the Bison when we played SDSU? Yes we played SDSU, not NDSU in 2019. We haven't played NDSU in some time. They have a good team! There you go! This is a Gopher football board. We are in the 2019 football season. Other than a brief acknowledgement, what do you expect? I, and many others, acknowledge and respect their accomplishments, but this is a Gopher football board. Of course we are pro Gophers and we should be.

Regarding the past, we don't exactly know what coach Brewster was thinking. What we do know is that Brewster wasn't alone. If Wentz was BigTen ready as a prep recruit, many other BigTen teams missed as well. It happens. Brooks Bollinger comes to mind. Some thought we should have got him. We didn't (I don't even know if "we" had a shot at him), but the Badgers did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_Bollinger.


Back to the Gophers. This still has the potential to be a very good and maybe even great season. Excuse those of us Gopher fans that are not shouting from the mountain tops that NDSU is the greatest football team that ever graced this plant. We have acknowledged that they are a very good football team. We've given them their 15 minutes. We are now preoccupied with our Gophers! Perhaps we will go back to the Bison praising from February to July of 2020?

 

[RodentRampage]

I remember when playing football in a baseball stadium wasn't a novelty, it was the Minnesota Vikings from 1961 until they moved into the Metrodome in 1982. Then you had a baseball team playing in a football stadium - more or less.

 

[Spoofin]

Bison are good team, but this year one of their toughest games was one of the Gophers easiest (SDSU). On a one game scenario anything could happen, but if Bison had to play a full B1G schedule instead of MVFC schedule, they wouldn't see same level success. Level of competition gophers play vs bison play is very drastic making comparing programs very hard and quite frankly pointless. Gophers this offseason could hire your AD, your coaching staff, and poach your recruits, but long term it would not work in the B1G.

(Yes, Brock Jensen spent one month in NFL as a camp arm, same as Leidner)

And this is why so many gopher fans tire of Bison fans. We recognize your team is good, and streak is impressive, but it's vs much lower levels of competition. The 2 gopher teams you guys were horrible teams, but kudos. Why so many bison fans cling to beating a 3-9 gopher team 8 years ago is beyond me.

I would honestly root for Bison if A). I cared about FCS football and B). Fans weren't so obnoxious

I realize fans have no say, but if Bison think they're ready from prime time, make the jump. I'm sure there is a G5 Conference that'll take you. Make the investment. Stop playing Mary's school for the blind and face better competition every week every season, not just one game every few years

Nailed it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I saw a poster "Salzie" I think - stating that SDSU was the Gophers "easiest" game this season.

If that's true, the Gophers are in for a really long season. if you have to struggle to win your easiest game - and win it because the other team coughed up a gift fumble - what happens when you face stronger opposition?

My point being - for the sake of the Gophers, you had better hope that SDSU was NOT the gophers' easiest game.

 

[MplsGopher]

SDSU is better than Rutgers and Illinois, at least. So salzie's claim is not correct.

The main point is valid, though.

 

[salzie]

I saw a poster "Salzie" I think - stating that SDSU was the Gophers "easiest" game this season.

If that's true, the Gophers are in for a really long season. if you have to struggle to win your easiest game - and win it because the other team coughed up a gift fumble - what happens when you face stronger opposition?

My point being - for the sake of the Gophers, you had better hope that SDSU was NOT the gophers' easiest game.

Sure, the game wasn't easy, but SDSU in terms of quality opponent wont be near the top. And I said one of the easiest, you can debate where they will be, but they're in bottom 1/3.



Take it for what you will.

 

[Dano564]

I saw a poster "Salzie" I think - stating that SDSU was the Gophers "easiest" game this season.

If that's true, the Gophers are in for a really long season. if you have to struggle to win your easiest game - and win it because the other team coughed up a gift fumble - what happens when you face stronger opposition?

My point being - for the sake of the Gophers, you had better hope that SDSU was NOT the gophers' easiest game.

Well, what Rutgers one of our toughest opponents in 2016?

Point being games that appear easy doesn't mean you'll win by the widest margins.
On game day, a lot of things can happen.
One team plays better than typical, one team plays worse than usual.

 

[STPGopher]

Bison are good team, but this year one of their toughest games was one of the Gophers easiest (SDSU). On a one game scenario anything could happen, but if Bison had to play a full B1G schedule instead of MVFC schedule, they wouldn't see same level success. Level of competition gophers play vs bison play is very drastic making comparing programs very hard and quite frankly pointless. Gophers this offseason could hire your AD, your coaching staff, and poach your recruits, but long term it would not work in the B1G.

(Yes, Brock Jensen spent one month in NFL as a camp arm, same as Leidner)

And this is why so many gopher fans tire of Bison fans. We recognize your team is good, and streak is impressive, but it's vs much lower levels of competition. The 2 gopher teams you guys were horrible teams, but kudos. Why so many bison fans cling to beating a 3-9 gopher team 8 years ago is beyond me.

I would honestly root for Bison if A). I cared about FCS football and B). Fans weren't so obnoxious

I realize fans have no say, but if Bison think they're ready from prime time, make the jump. I'm sure there is a G5 Conference that'll take you. Make the investment. Stop playing Mary's school for the blind and face better competition every week every season, not just one game every few years

As Spoofin said, you nailed it. I should have read this before I replied.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

So did they ever clean that sidewalk?

 

[MplsGopher]

Well, what Rutgers one of our toughest opponents in 2016?

Point being games that appear easy doesn't mean you'll win by the widest margins.
On game day, a lot of things can happen.
One team plays better than typical, one team plays worse than usual.

That’s an interesting point. By all attempts at objective measures, Rutgers was the easiest team on the 2016 schedule. Yet they gave us a heck of a close game in TCF.

So by that logic, one could conclude that just because SDSU kept it tight, doesn’t prove that they aren’t our easiest opponent this year.

Just gets back to how impossible it is to compare teams in football based on indirect results, and like you said, how teams can give an improbably good performance on any week, far outside the normal deviation of their previous statistics.

Regardless, I’m going to choose to believe that SDSU is of similar quality as Rutgers and Illinois and would perform roughly the same as them in their respective Big Ten schedules.

 

[skauma]

Bison are good team, but this year one of their toughest games was one of the Gophers easiest (SDSU). On a one game scenario anything could happen, but if Bison had to play a full B1G schedule instead of MVFC schedule, they wouldn't see same level success. Level of competition gophers play vs bison play is very drastic making comparing programs very hard and quite frankly pointless. Gophers this offseason could hire your AD, your coaching staff, and poach your recruits, but long term it would not work in the B1G.

(Yes, Brock Jensen spent one month in NFL as a camp arm, same as Leidner)

And this is why so many gopher fans tire of Bison fans. We recognize your team is good, and streak is impressive, but it's vs much lower levels of competition. The 2 gopher teams you guys were horrible teams, but kudos. Why so many bison fans cling to beating a 3-9 gopher team 8 years ago is beyond me.

I would honestly root for Bison if A). I cared about FCS football and B). Fans weren't so obnoxious

I realize fans have no say, but if Bison think they're ready from prime time, make the jump. I'm sure there is a G5 Conference that'll take you. Make the investment. Stop playing Mary's school for the blind and face better competition every week every season, not just one game every few years

They are not my team...the Gophers are.

 

[PMWinSTP]

So did they ever clean that sidewalk?

Mother Nature.
Rain came through Sunday and Monday.

 

[Herd]

SDSU is better than Rutgers and Illinois, at least. So salzie's claim is not correct.

The main point is valid, though.

Based on Sagarin Rating to start the season, 4 games are easier than SDSU. (See Thread)

 

[hungan1]

That’s an interesting point. By all attempts at objective measures, Rutgers was the easiest team on the 2016 schedule. Yet they gave us a heck of a close game in TCF.

So by that logic, one could conclude that just because SDSU kept it tight, doesn’t prove that they aren’t our easiest opponent this year.

Just gets back to how impossible it is to compare teams in football based on indirect results, and like you said, how teams can give an improbably good performance on any week, far outside the normal deviation of their previous statistics.

Regardless, I’m going to choose to believe that SDSU is of similar quality as Rutgers and Illinois and would perform roughly the same as them in their respective Big Ten schedules.

The Gophers have improved every year talent-wise. But, so has the rest of the competition in the B1G West. The notion at least on the periphery that the Gophers have one of the easiest schedule in the B1G may be true.

However, don't count the Illinois game as a gimmee. According to 247Sports, after a bonanza of transfers Illinois is 8th in talent level in the B1G ahead of the Gophers in 10th place. On paper, they certainly have the talent.

Lovies' Illinois team have 1 5-Star and 11 4-Star players with an average talent level rating of 84.90 and 660.43 total points. The Gophers in comparison have 0 5-Star, 5 4-Stars, 84.62 average rating, and 621.36 total points.

They were busy in the off-season in the transfer department. The key addition is former MI QB grad transfer Brandon Peters who has two years eligibility.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...s-illini-continue-success-in-transfer-market/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl7PArb7sNs&feature=onebox

In addition to Peters, they have 1 5-Star and 4 4-Star transfers. Five of the six transfers have immediate impact as they can play right away - https://www.si.com/college-football/2019/06/19/lovie-smith-illinois-brandon-peters-transfer

The Gophers certainly will be facing a different Illinois team talent-wise at home.

https://247sports.com/Season/2019-Football/CollegeTeamTalentComposite/?Conference=Big-Ten

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

They are not my team...the Gophers are.