With the first couple practices in the books, here are a few observations and information we have compiled.
– SPEED. This has to be the fastest Sioux team in a long time, maybe ever. The last two recruiting classes brought in some very talented and fast players. Much of that speed is young but when combined with the veterans it was obvious from the wide receivers to the defensive backs and linebackers. Three of the true freshman, Breon Butler, Isaac Carrasco, and RJ Mcgill, showed explosive ability that UND fans are going to love in the coming years.
-The OLB position has some unprecedented athletic ability with All-GWC Ryan Kasowski, Ross Cochran, Cordero Finley, and Dominque Bennett. Johnnie Daniels, the transfer from the Central Michigan will end up as an OLB also, being UND runs a 3-4.
– It will be interesting to see how the QB position plays out. Senior Jake Landry is the starter but being their running most of the offense out of the Pistol formation I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brent Goska get a decent amount of reps in a game to use his running ability.
– The offense came out and played fast, literally. They sped the tempo up to a no-huddle, no-nonsense pace and have looked organized doing it. It will take time being its the first year but it will be a welcome change for fans. Most, if not all snaps were taken out of the Pistol formation. We are getting a sense that there will be many 3 and 4 receiver formations this year, meaning the TE position may be used minimally.
– No inkling yet if any true freshman will get their redshirts pulled. Their needs to be a 2-3 week evaluation process to see if those kids can handle it both mentally and physically. We will keep tabs on that as camp goes along.
– Special teams could be the early benefactor of the influx of speed into the program. Having those guys covering kicks and punts will most certainly help the defense with field position.
– Tyrhy Ivery, true freshman from Garland, TX is not on campus at the moment due to the admissions process. He will be on campus by the start of school though.
– All expected players have reported for camp which is a very good sign. There are always defections as camp gets going but lets hope they are minimal.
– We are very excited about the way the coaches have built this team from the ground up through the transition process. They have honored all existing D2 recruited players scholarships since the transition started in 2008 and will continue to do so til those players time runs out. They could have easily pulled some scholarships and plugged in Juco’s to those spots to get a more experienced, high level player in there. They didn’t. Now we are seeing a nice mix of experienced, talented players and young, inexperienced talent that will be the foundation for when the transition is over in 2012.
