TIME TO PUT THE KITTY OUT....   (9/13/2005) Off My Office Floor.... I can't see... So what's the big deal with the new Bison football road uniforms? I probably one of the few Bison fans who love the new look... Numbers? I don't need stinking numbers. Numbers only lead to individualism on a football team. It wasn't just Steve Walker or Joe Mays or Alvin Robinson who turned back the highly regarded Northwestern State Demons last Saturday. As a matter of fact, let's establish a new trend in college football attire by ordering new home jerseys with combinations of letters instead of numbers. I'm sure these young men are sick of numbers... the college courses of algebra, statistics, calculus all deal with numbers. The college even assigns you a student ID number. The government assigns each of them a social security number. Heck, they can even buy stuff from the Bison Insider SuperStore with a credit card number... Just a little sarcasm to lighten up everyone's 'issue' with the numbers on the new road jersey. I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about. I'll agree with Coach Bohl that we need to be more concerned about the guys in those uniforms and how they perform on the field of play. After all, football is not a fashion show... I don't think? It's which team can line up and kick the tail of the other team... Bison Zone... I think it's safe to say I'm not a big fan of the Forum's Bison Zone, which features live press conferences, streaming game broadcasts, media blogs, streaming 'Bison Feedback' audio, and more... All for the 'reasonable' price tag of $50 a year. So why not a big fan? I used to subscribe to the service just like other members of Bison Insider, but this year I decided to go without... Given, I live in Watertown, South Dakota and don't have the same problems that some Bison fans do with location. On a good day, I can go out to my truck and listen to games, 'Bison Feedback', or the evening WDAY news. But then again, most days I have to go outside, start the truck, and find a place to park out in the country, so I can hear a broadcast through the static. But it's not an overwhelming convenience... Cause usually I can catch the highlights or gain team info from the WDAY-TV site; via emails from the SID, players, or coaches; or from online publications such as the Fargo Forum. If I can't make it to an away game (3 or 4 this year); just happens every Bison football opponent this year has, at least, free streaming audio available. Sometimes it's nice to get an opponents' radio play-by-play perspective on the action. Plus other Bison fans are more than willing to share information about NDSU sports via message boards, chat rooms, or emails. Gotta love those Bison fans... And lately based on comments about the Bison Zone from members of the Bisonville/Bison Insider message board, I think I made the right decision by not subscribing this year. So I choose to devote my money to Bison Insider and the Bison football program instead of Forum Communications... The Spotlight.... It's Heckendorf mania!! Can you feel it? Kole Heckendorf has started his Bison career in fine style by leading the Bison receiving corps with 8 catches and establishing himself among QB Steve Walker's 'go to' guys. The redshirt freshman from Mosinee, Wisconsin and the brother of former Division II Harlon Hill finalist QB Keith Heckendorf (St. Cloud State) has more than adequately replaced injured Bison All-World wide receiver Travis White who was lost for the season with a knee injury. It's not like Kole has just jumped onto the radar screen from nowhere... he was a 1st Team All-State selection by both the Associated Press and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association after his senior season at Mosinee High School. That season he hauled in 63 receptions for 1,257 yards and 19 touchdowns. Kole was even more impressive his junior season, in which he set Wisconsin state records with 116 catches for 1,714 yards... Heckendorf is just another example of the fine job recruiting both Coach Bohl and his staff have done to bring the Bison to the top of the NCAA Division I-AA ladder. On a side note…. The Northwestern State radio crew of play-by-play man; Patrick Netherton and analyst; Buddy Wood do an outstanding job of calling a football game. Even though the homer-side of them comes through every once in a while, the play calling is crispy and accurate. And they always give credit to whom (no matter which team) credit is due... Again, it's nice to get an opponents' radio teams perspective on the action, instead of all the cuddling of the Bison by Scott Miller & Phil Hanson. Now I didn't say that Miller and Hanson weren't the best in the business, so hold onto those comments... One more time…. One more time... It's Bison Insider giveaway time again. But this time let's have a little fun with it... Which of the images below (A or B) is the picture of the starting Left Offensive Guard (74) for the Weber State University Wildcats? The pictures are of Wildcat offensive linemen and identical twins Pat & Paul McQuistan. Just email us at info@bisoninsider.com with the answer. If you're right... you'll be entered into a drawing for the chance to win one of two Bison Insider t-shirts. Please include your name and full address. Contest ends Friday, October 7th...

The Weber State Offense.... Base Offense: West Coast Variant... Leading the UAM offensive attack is junior QB Ian Pizarro. The 6-3, 210 pound San Diego, California product has accounted for 540 yards of total offense this season. Pizarro earned honorable mention All-Big Sky honors in 2004 and will serve this season as an offensive team captain... Leading the Wildcat ground attack is RB Adrian Conway (5-11 215 So Phoenix, Arizona). This season, Sampson has rushed the ball 33 times for 226 yards. In 2004, Conway earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors as a true freshman and was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic Team with a 3.67 GPA. Senior Lynzell Jackson, a transfer from the University of Utah heads the wide receiving crew. The 6-3, 200 pound wide-out from Tempe, Arizona has 10 catches fro 174 yards in two games this season. Jackson was recruited to the University of Utah by the present Weber State head coach Ron McBride. Through two games, the Wildcats have racked up an average of 464 yards of total offense, including 209 yards by land and 255 yards through the air... The Weber State Defense.... Base Defense: 4-2-5... On the defensive side of the ball, the Wildcats are led by DE Brady Fosmark (6-3 265lb Sr Clearfield, Utah). Fosmark, an All-American and Buck Buchanan Trophy candidate, has 52.5 career tackles for loss, including 25.5 sacks in his three plus years at Weber State. For the 2005 season, Fosmark has 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL, and 1 sack... The Weber State defense also includes FS John McBride (6-4, 220lb Sr Oxnard, California). The defensive team captain has 11 tackles for the season and earned 2004 honorable mention All-Big Sky honors; and Rover Tyler DeBry (5-10 230lb Jr South Jordan, Utah)... leads the team with 13 tackles this season. So far, DeBry is the suprise of the season having walked-on into the Wildcats program from Dixie State College (JUCO). This season, the Weber State defense has given up 243 total yards per game, including 120 rushing yards and 123 yards through the air... History.... This is the fourth meeting between North Dakota State and Weber State... The Bison defeat the Wildcats last season by a score of 31-17 and holds a 3-0 advantage in the series. The Bison are 24-27 against current members of the Big Sky Conference... Show Me the Keys.... * This will be the first week in quite some time that the Bison offensive line doesn't have a huge weight advantage over the opposing defensive line... And this also will be the first week in quite some time that the Bison offensive line will have to win the battle with speed and finesse. We should expect to see an abundance of sweeps and pulling offensive linemen this week... Shamen Washington will see above average carries this week. * Bison QB Steve Walker must limit interceptions... The receivers will get open this week if the offensive line can put the clamps on Wildcat DE Brady Fosmark. Effective double teams and chip blocks on Fosmark will give Steve Walker the needed time to get the ball down the field. Expect the Bison to stretch the field, so keeping defenders off Walker's back will be key... * Kick returner Shamen Washington will be a huge key this week. Last week, the Fresno State punter returner made a shambles of the Wildcats punt coverage team with two 80+ punt returns for touchdowns. Expect nothing less from PR Shamen Washington this week... * Sacks, interceptions, fumbles... Goal for takeaways this week for the Bison defense? Two... Two turnovers from the Bison defense equals a quality win this Saturday... Five sacks means a Bison blowout. The Bison defense has the ability to control this game... * The full stable of Bison wide receivers; Marques Johnson, Nick Jackson, and Kole Heckendorf should have a good speed advantage this weekend versus the Weber State secondary. The Wildcat safeties Russ Washington and Jason O'Brien are 220 and 230 pounds respectively... Big hitters... No the fast players on the face of the Earth. The Bison will try to stretch the field. A heavy dose of zone coverage or cover two is quite possible from the Weber State secondary... so seams will be available for TE AJ Cooper to have a big game once again... * Score early! Always a premium stat the game after a big win... Keep that winning focus... * The Bison coaching staff must make Weber State quarterback Ian Pizarro win this game with his arm... If so, the Bison corners of Babich and Walters may have a big day. Interception wise.... * One word -- 'Consistency'.... from play to play; from game to game.... Bison consistency on both offensive and defensive will make the Bison awfully tough to contain. The maturation of young players such as LB Nick Compton, LB Mike Maresh, FB Tyler Jangula, WR Kole Heckendorf, FS Nick Schommer and any possible true freshman (Humber, Mitchell, and Ogbetola) will play a major factor in the success of the Bison program this year. And keep the Bison on the fast track to the top of the Division I-AA mountain.... Jottings.... - The weight in the trenches: Offensive line: NDSU 307, Weber State 299 Defensive line: NDSU 275, Weber State 268 - Injuries this week: FB Travis Roehl - out; WR Travis White - out. - Tickets are still available for this Saturday's game vs. Weber State. Let's sell this thing out!!! Contact the NDSU ticket office at (888) 231-NDSU... - Next week the Bison travel to Bozeman, Montana to take on the Bobcats of Montana State University... And Bison Insider will be there!! Tickets can still be ordered by calling (406) 994-CATS... - Weber State head coach Ron McBride coached DI-A University of Utah for 13 years... having a record of 88-63. His best season with the Utes came in 1994 when the Utes won a then-record 10 games and attained the highest post-season ranking, at the time, in school history, climbing to No. 8 in the USA Today/ESPN poll and No. 10 in the Associated Press poll... - Weber State opened the 2005 season and Ron McBride era with a resounding 61-0 win at home over Western State College of Gunnison, Colorado. A stadium-record crowd of 17,593 watched as the Wildcats rolled up 590 total yards and limiting the Mountaineers to just 129. The game was called with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter due to lightning in the area... - Audio of Weber State University football games is available on the internet free of charge. Click Here to listen... - The Bison Radio Network is not your only choice for listening to Bison football this weekend... You can also listen to the game on KNDS-LPFM 105.9 Fargo (NDSU student radio station)... Jim Otis will handle the play-by-play. Pre-game starts one-half hour before kickoff at 5:30 p.m... - The Bison defense has been stingy on third down this season, stopping opponents 85% of the time. Opponents have only succeeded on four of 26 chances... - Next week the Wildcats host Big Sky foe Northern Arizona at Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart Stadium. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. central time... - Last week's Weber State game versus Fresno State was shown live on ESPN's ESPNU channel... The Wildcats were defeated by Bulldogs by a score of 55-17... - Poll Watch: The Bison are currently ranked #12 by the Sports Network; #10 by AnyGivenSaturday.com; and #11 in the Bison Insider Top 20.... Weber State does not appear in any published polls this week...