BLOGS

Week 9 screening: Jacks huge underdogs in Fargo

Terry Vandrovec
tvandrovec@argusleader.com
SDSU and NDSU play football for the Dakota Marker trophy.

Here's a batch of notes in advance of Saturday's Dakota Marker football game between No. 18-ranked South Dakota State (5-3) and No. 1 North Dakota State (8-0). I'll have live coverage in Fargo starting at 2 p.m.:

By any measure, SDSU is a considerable underdog. The Bison are favored by 16 based on the Sagarin Ratings and by 20 at 5dimes, while standing a 92-percent chance to win based on the Massey projections.

The injury situation is more unpredictable than ever for SDSU, which is saying something considering how the season has gone on that front. Among the players that may or may not play due to various maladies: QB Austin Sumner, WR Jason Schneider, LB Dallas Brown, S Jake Gentile, LB Patrick Schuster. FB Chad Strehlow hasn't been attending practices, although nobody will say that he's done for the season.
As for Sumner, his return to practice this week was a welcomed sight for the entire team whether or not he plays Saturday.
"Always good to have him back out there," running back Zach Zenner said. "I don't really know what's going on – if he's playing or he's not. Whoever's out there is going to give us the best chance to win."

The Jacks practiced in their new indoor facility Wednesday and Thursday, piping in various levels of noise in order to simulate the environment that's expected in the Fargodome.
On the other hand, maybe the NDSU students aren't all that fired up: They left 400 tickets unused, and the school will put those on sale to the public at 8 a.m. today.

New NDSU coach Chris Klieman is said to be a very different personality than the former coach Craig Bohl – more personable than corporate. But SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier doesn't see a change in the program; he called it a machine.

Adding one more element to the Zenner piece in today's edition: The four games against NDSU have dropped his career average for rushing yards per game by 8.

A quick interpretation of the Valley playoff picture. There are three tiers: NDSU and Illinois State are at the top and looking like virtual locks, while Western Illinois and South Dakota are out of it. That leaves six teams in the middle. Three of those – Southern Illinois, Missouri State and Northern Iowa – have four losses and must win out to have any shot. The problem is that they all play each other meaning at least two will get knocked out in the coming weeks.
That leaves the most interesting group of Youngstown State, Indiana State and SDSU. The Sycamores host the Jacks and visit Youngstown State in the next two weeks – two of the most important pairings the rest of the way.
Stay tuned.

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.