On Saturday Sioux fans got treated to by far the most entertaining game of the entire 5-year transition. The Sioux made a comeback for the ages to beat South Dakota 38-37. The Sioux were up 17-7 early in the 2nd quarter but down 34-17 at the half. It was a wild game with HUGE ups and downs for both teams. One team was dominating at all times – we don’t think there was ever a time where both teams were playing even football. Crazy game.
- The Sioux only had 256 yards of total offense but scored 38 points.
- The Sioux rushing game was held down again by the aggressive front of the Coyotes. The Sioux only had 40 yards rushing. Some of that had to do with being behind for the majority of the game but it never got on track, even early.
- Senior QB Brent Goska (216 yards and 4 TD’s) looked like he had ran the hurry-up offense his entire life. His fourth quarter execution when the Sioux scored 3 TD’s, all from Goska, was nearly flawless. The entire offense was composed and lined up very quickly, never getting false start or illegal formation penalties. Lets give some credit to the coaching staff for having them so well prepared to run the hurry-up offense so effectively.
- The emergence of freshman WR Tyrhe Ivery was exciting for Sioux fans. We had heard good things about him but he didn’t get consistent playing time until the injury to Greg Hardin, the teams leading receiver. Ivery ended the day with 8 catches for 48 yards and 2 TD’s and was playing at the end of the game like a seasoned veteran. His WR mate, RJ McGill, made some clutch catches on those final drives also and really progressed in his second season with the Sioux. He ended the day with 7 catches for 89 yards. The future of the WR corps looks promising with sophomores McGill, Hardin, Townsend and freshman Ivery all returning. Add freshmen Jameer Jackson and Casey Young to the equation and it looks like the WR position could have the most depth we have seen in a long time.
- The Sioux defense gave up 34 points in the first half and were completely off balance for most of the second quarter. However, adjustments were obviously made as they came out in the second half and shut down the USD offense holding them to 3 points. USD QB Dante Warren did not hurt them with his scrambling ability as much as he did with his arm. He threw for 225 and 2 TD’s but only ran for 64 yards on 17 carries.
- The Sioux punt coverage team was gashed by USD return man Jeremy Blount. Blount had two returns for 54 and 34 yards that setup two of the second quarter TD’s. The Sioux were able to punt away from him after that.
- We were happy for senior WR Chris Anderson, who caught the game-winning TD in the back of the end zone on a very athletic catch. For Anderson, what a way to end a career that probably didn’t reach expectations for him performance-wise on the field. Great story. We will have more on this senior class later.
- We were concerned about the play of the secondary and defense overall, who missed a bunch of tackles and didn’t play well in the 1st half. The offensive tackles also struggled a bit against a pretty good USD defensive line. However, that all changed in the 4th quarter as the protection for Brent Goska got much better and the defense was outstanding when they needed to be. Both are things that need to get better in 2012.
Thoughts on the firing of Meierkort? I’m shocked. If UND has any openings on the coaching staff, I wonder if Muss would take a look at bringing him in?
We are shocked as well. Ed Meierkort is a good football coach. What he did in Vermilion, SD is impressive. They must have someone lined up already after “gauging” their interest.
Surprised this didn’t come to a head after last season when Ed didn’t get an extension following their successful season. Him going into this season on the last year of his contract without an extension from Sayler is very telling in our opinion.
This is today’s climate in Division 1 College Football.
I think contracts in South Dakota are yearly. They have got to have someone already in mind to make this move. Ed really turned that program around. I can not believe that they let him go..
Leading canidates:
St. Thomas coach – Glenn Caruso – used to Offensive Coordinator at USD.
http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/coaches/CarusoGlenn.html
usd trashed the alerus locker room after the loss. It appears Ed does not have control of his team.
Where did you get this information? If it were true, odds are it would have been in the news both in North Dakota and South Dakota. I am sad to see Ed go, he really seemed like a good guy and I think he did a good job during their transition. People in Vermillion seemed to like him.
Keep in mind, Meierkort was not Sayler’s hire. As I understand it from a USD booster friend, Sayler is very intense and very competitive. If Sayler did not believe that Meierkort was the guy, then rip off the band-aid and move forward.
A police officer told me that USD people had done some destroying at the Alerus. I don’t know why the officer would have lied to me.
We have also heard from some people in the know that multiple USD players did trash the locker room. They put some holes in the wall, damaged some lockers, etc.
After seeing Ed get fired yesterday you would have to think that it may have come up in the conversation between him and the AD. But, I am sure there was much, much more than just that.