NDSU Game Summary

[ShopTalk]

1. CloneZone flash picture was pretty close to t.v. quality. Only locked up once or twice and able to re-establish right away. Overall good job.
2. Maybe Darius Reyolds needs to update his nickname to "Mahoney". As in he's "Mahoney" from 50 yards! Love the coaching decision to go for it from 57 yards also.
3. Marquis Hamilton showed up as the big play guy in this game. Two very nice TD receptions. "All he does is score touchtowns!" And block, and run good routes....
4. David Sims....nice tackling form, likes to hit and oh yeah, he can run back kick returns, too. Oh yeah.
5. Speaking of tackling, did anyone see Jesse Smith tackle a LOT?
6. How about a few sacks on D?
7. There were many nice runs up the middle and between the tackles against a run first trained D....very good to see. Need to work on holding on to the football RB's. Good job opening holes by O-line more often than not. And big holes.
8. Good coaching...is such a refreshing improvement. Good halftime adjustments, especially on D and stopping the big play giveaways, but on both sides of the ball. Clearly improved coaching.
9. Conditioning for four quarters...finally! It really started to show late in 3rd and really made a difference in the 4th quarter. Nice to see the whole team finish strong for a change. Will really be important in division play.
10. Sure hope K.O. works out the cramps and Sedrick Johnson's ankle heals fast and is only a minor sprain/twist.
11. Coach Rhoads is right about needing to see continual improvement week to week if ISU wants to make a bowl game this year and with Iowa next up. This game is a great start in that direction.

Overall, great way to start off the year.

A FG kicker good from 50 yards as a true sophmore. Man, I love that.

[IODubyaA]

I think Mahoney can make it from 57 hope he gets another chance.. he showed the little extra leg on the 50 yarder

[JordanHXC]

not to be a negative nancy....but this was a division 2 school, or whatever they call it these days. they should have been driven into the ground. happy with a win, not happy with a 17-10 halftime score....

[dustinal]

not to be a negative nancy....but this was a division 2 school, or whatever they call it these days. they should have been driven into the ground. happy with a win, not happy with a 17-10 halftime score....

I'll chalk those comments up to talking down the hype, and I don't necessarily disagree mind you. I wasn't comfortable enough to say we were going to win until we went up by 17 with about 10 minutes left in the game. But with it being the first game under a new head coach with a team that had been on a 10-game losing streak, I'm happy just to have a win. The first game under the last head coach wasn't so great.

Not to make excuses, but I heard on the radio on the way home that our coaches' headsets weren't working during the first quarter. Certainly it wasn't the only source of our problems in the first half, but I'm sure it contributed.