i have been seeing windy on Sunday (maybe late Saturday). hope that's the case.

weather underground, which tends to be more accurate than the others, shows 82 at kickoff, dropping to mid 70's by halftime. how's the smoke up there? we're getting it here in the bay area.

the first halves v Poly and SUU, we looked like a top 10 team. offense was clicking, defense making stops. late scores at the end of the half gave the opponents some life and slowed things down for us, and their ball control turned us from top 10 to 'also receiving votes'. still looking for 60 (heck 50!) minutes of solid football.

i think they will have the link on the athletics webpage. i think that was the case for the Poly game which was on Eleven.

i think that was a one-off. NDSU has the luxury of playing home-only games with opponents because they pack the dome.

my biggest concern this saturday is Weber controlling the clock with the run. we'd had problems this year when the offense is kept off the field -> not only does the defense get worn down (and we're thin to start) but the offense loses rhythm. perfect scenario is to get a nice early lead and see if they deviate from the run-first approach and put the ball in the QB's hands. good player, but, not their strength.

He don’t think he has ever done the coaches show. He was ‘on assignment’ last game and missed the broadcast. I think he still works with some bowls scouting ( he was involved in SF bowl). I saw a post he was at Troy v south Alabama game.

Speaking of Doug, did you know he was information officer for the USFL back in 80’s? I’m reading a book about the rise and fall of the USFL and he’s quoted often. I bet he has some stories, especially about Trump.

yep. and thirsty!

Gilliam came back in the 4th. Spencer was out. Marota (spell?) played as backup. Thomas didn’t travel; not if he’ll come back or redshirt

first half will be a little warm; second half will be a great night for football!

We’ve been much better v the run since California. Held our own v NDSU and Poly. This group is a notch above those two , more like Cal (before their injuries), but our LBs and DL are much improved

when your RB goes 330 yards, you don’t need to pass much!

i don't put stock into point spreads at the FCS level, BUT, we're listed as 2.5-point favorites this weekend. that seems like a stretch. they beat Poly and SUU (home) by a similar scores, and have a nice win over UNI. two close losses to Nevada and San Diego State, both who are a bit down this year. after they ran for a mile last week, I would have thought they'd be solid favorites. hopefully, no wind on saturday so we can throw the ball all four quarters.

The injury explanation fits with what I sensed watching. We got really vanilla on D, because we didn’t have personnel to change things up. What was frustrating was the 4 or 5 times we got a good rush in 3rd, hit the QB, but let him escape to make a big play and keep drives going. Make a few of those plays and you stop their momentum and put it away

from what Hawkins was saying on a coaches’ show, you can suit up an ‘unlimited’ number for home games, but limited for travel squads. Big advantage with the new redshirt rule

I think our injury situation is causing us to play overly cautious in these second half. We seem to be carrying more and more skill players ‘just in case’ and that, along with injuries, is leaving us thin on defense. Hardly any blitzes in second half which let that guy bide his team ( and we missed 4 or 5 sacks with poor tacking) and let them chip away. Offense got cautious, some might be due to the winds, some just to keep defense off the field. Weber will be tough. Good to be home where we can suit u more guys, maybe give the D more breathers.

you can get an additional year if it’s a medical redshirt. Thomson st Sac is in his 6th year. You have to petition for an additional year, not sure how that all works.

not sure if he will still do basketball. New guy, Scott Moak, is a former Ag (KDVS announcer) who is the King’s PA announcer so he’ll have conflicts

yes; there was an article about it last week before the game

I like the new PA guy, but I prefer Kay to the new guy. He’s a little too low key for me. I stopped by the beer garden on the south end and that was quick; probably mid first quarter

I’d recommend listening to the countdown to kickoff podcast that Scott Marsh does. Guest is Demario Warren. Good insights about SUU, as well as some good conversation about his Aggie connection

Forecast for the game time TONIGHT is 53 dropping to 43 at 9. Tomorrow is supposed to be 5 degrees warmer and sunny. That shouldn’t effect us. More concerned about the mounting injuries at the skill spots. Sounds like they are getting key guys back to health