YOU THINK KFC'S STILL OPEN?....   (9/28/2005) Off My Office Floor.... Mountain time... Bison fans... It's 8:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. It's raining outside. The Bison lost to a tough Montana State team and are preparing for Nicholls State. My throat is still raw from all the yelling and I need some more coffee... If you attended the Montana State game you'll understand my sarcasm. But anyway, our time in Bozeman was great... met some great people and had a lot of fun. If you're out in Bozeman make sure you eat at the Frontier Pies Restaurant... it's right across the street from Taco Johns. Good people, good food, and good fun... great pumpkin pie. I'll say it again "Great Pumpkin Pie". About the only thing I didn't enjoy about the trip to Montana State was the 900 mile trek back home to Watertown... and of course, a three point loss for the Bison. Sickening... Why? Is there a point to vandalism? Especially in the game of football and the atmosphere surrounding football.. To me, football has always been about fun and good times. Win or lose. But when the line is crossed... it sickens me. As most of you know, some Montana State "turds" busted up the Bison Battlewagon's new telescoping flag pole, burnt 3 flags, and threw beer/water bottles at the Battle Wagon; chipping, marring, and cracking some paint. Which seemed bad enough, but then several of the Bison Battlewagon crew indured profanity and threatening gestures the rest of the time in the tailgating area. After all of the nice people we met in the Bozeman area, these "turds" left a bad taste in my mouth about Montana State University. And I can honestly say, and most Bison fans will agree with me... If I ever catch a Bison fan destroying opposition property in the west parking lot, I will personally beat the "turd" to a breath of his/her life. Vandalism has NO part in college football. I can't imagine any joy coming out of such an act of "turdism". Now it's up to us to make sure this never happens in our tailgating area... The Spotlight.... Shhhh... Quiet resilence. Work man-like. Just a couple words to describe a stable force on the Bison defense. Someone you don't hear alot about in the Bison secondary, but yet quietly putting together a rather nice season. Who is it? Starting free safety Nick Schommer, a 5-11 185 pound redshirt freshman from Prescott, Wisconsin. Every Bison fan was licking their chops about the prospect of Rochester CC transfer Barry Quickstad (JUCO All-American) teaming up with Bison strong safety Craig Dahl (a DI-AA All-American candidate) to give NDSU one of the best safety tandems in the nation. But yet, nobody other than the Bison coaching staff expected Nick Schommer to be the other piece of the puzzle who gives the Bison that exact thing. Although the stat sheet only lists Schommer with 7 tackles through the first 3 games, his consistent play has given the Bison coaching staff the confidence to call more linebacker blitz's and allows SS Craig Dahl to spend more quality time in the box. Frustration... All Bison fans need to get off their butts. I share the same frustration as alot of Bison fans on the message board that more Fargodome inhabitants don't spend more time screaming and yelling, instead of sitting their enjoying the scenery during a Bison game. I call them inhabitants because all they do is use up oxygen, go to the bathroom, and eat. But I also know that no matter what we say or do... the lack of enthusiasm displayed my some game-goers is never going to change. And to that, I say it's sad. After every Bison game, it takes me two or three days to get my voice back. It's just starting to get back to normal today after the Montana State game. Fan participation is key to home field advantage. We may not be able to change crowd participation as a whole, but we may be able to change it one person at a time. So your job this Saturday is to take one person by the hand and show them what it means to be a Bison maniac. Let them know that a Bison game is the one place on Earth that nobody should care if their loud. Which could take me to a whole new set of issues... On a side note... The Bison Insider giveaway continues. Just email us at info@bisoninsider.com with the subject line "giveaway". Once we get your e-mail, 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... Ain't free stuff cool... Over three hundred people have already registered so don't be left out!!! One more time... After finishing fourth in the final 2004 Southland Conference Standings, the Colonels were voted to finish sixth in the league this season by both the SLC Coaches and Sports Informations Directors Preseason Polls... A ranking far too low for a team with as much talent. Especially since Northwestern State, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin have been disappointing so far this season... Still another... The Colonels’ 2005 roster includes 13 transfers, nine of which come from Division I-A schools. Six of these transfers are scheduled to start Saturday’s game: DT Greg Casnave - Southern Mississippi; SS Toney Edison - East Central CC; RB Anthony Harris - Southern Mississippi; WR Kenley Horton - Univ. of Toledo; K Alex Romero - LSU; LB Naton Stewart - Southern Mississippi... The Nicholls State Offense.... Base Offense: Triple Option... Leading the Nicholls State offensive attack is senior QB Yale Vannoy. The 6-2, 225 pound Kingsville, Texas product has completed 9 of 16 passes for 77 yards, while tossing 1 interception this season. While not much of a pocket passer, Vannoy orchestrates the triple option to perfection carrying the ball 17 times for 77 yards (4.8 ypc). Leading the Colonel runningback corp are RB Zack Morgan and FB Broderick Cole. This season, Morgan, a 5-9 190 pound redshirt freshman from Marianna, Florida has rushed the ball 12 times for 109 yards (9.1 ypc) and 2 touchdowns. Cole, a 5-11 230 pound sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana has carried the pigskin 29 times for 138 yards (4.8 ypc) and a touchdown. The Colonel's offensive line boast four returning starters in seniors Jake Housson and Cody Stogner, junior Jacob Bender and sophomore Benjamin Gombossy. Bender was a All-Southland Conference pre-season selection. Through two games, the Colonels have racked up an average of 440 yards of total offense, including an impressive 401.5 yards by land and 214 yards through the air... *Note: Nicholls State rushed for 408 yards this season against DI-A University of Indiana... The Nicholls State Defense.... Base Defense: 4-3... On the defensive side of the ball, the Colonels return seven starters. The foundation of the Nicholls State defense is middle linebacker Cory Vavala (6-2 225 pound junior San Antonio, Texas). Vavala, an All-SLC pre-season selection has 11 tackles including 2 for loss. A fact: As Vavala goes... so does the Colonels defense. The Nicholls State defense also features SS Toney Edison (6-0 205 pound junior Taylorsville, Mississippi). This season, the junior transfer from East Central Community College has 9 tackles, including a team leading 2 sacks and 1 interception; and All-SLC pre-season selection DE Michael Young (6-4 250 pound sophomore New Orleans, Louisiana)... has pulled down 5 opposition ball carriers, 1 for loss. This season, the Nicholls State defense has given up 208 total yards per game, including 51 rushing yards and 157 yards through the air... History.... This is the second meeting between the schools ... NDSU defeated Nicholls State 24-14 at Thibodaux in 2004 ... NDSU is 3-1 against the current members of the Southland Conference: 2-0 vs. Northwestern State, 1-0 vs. Nicholls State and 0-1 vs. Texas State ... The Bison lost 42-13 to Southwest Texas State (currently Texas State), in the 1981 Palm Bowl... Show Me the Keys.... * While the Montana State defensive front was built on power, the Nicholls State defensive front was built on speed. The Bison coaching staff cannot be afraid to play another game of "smash mouth" with their massive offensive line this week. The key to a successful Bison running game this week will be offensive guards Justin Buckwalter and Adam Tadisch (barring any injury setback). These two must get push on the Colonel defensive tackles, as well as find the middle backer Cory Vavala. Inside running yards will be hard to come by this week and three to four yards and a cloud of carpet dust may rule the day... * Bison QB Steve Walker must continue to play error-free football... Walker didn't appear sharp in the loss to the Bobcats, but he must regain that winning prowess against a Nicholls State. He should expect lots of pressure from the Colonels defense so he needs to execute his reads. The slant may be quite effective versus the the Colonel's speed defense... * The Montana State coaching staff did a good job of not letting Shamen Washington win the game for the Bison last Saturday... Washington only had one return for seven yards and made a hell of a catch on that line drive punt. Expect more pooch and sideline punts in the upcoming weeks to control the Bison return game... * Sacks, interceptions, fumbles... Goal for takeaways this week for the Bison defense? Three... Three turnovers from the Bison defense equals a quality win this Saturday... Five sacks means a Bison blowout. The Bison defense again has the ability to control the Colonel ground game and make QB Yale Vannoy pass the ball. If this happens it will be a long day for the Nicholls State offense... * Control... This will an important weekend for the Bison offensive line to control the line of scrimmage. The Bison must win the battle of possession time... which will keep the football out of the hands of the potent Nicholls State running attack... * Score early! After a slow start in Bozeman the Bison offense needs some quick success Saturday. Score early... Get the crowd off their butts. Win the game. It's that simple... * The Bison coaching staff must make Nicholls State QB throw the ball. Vannoy cannot win this game with his arm. Plain and simple... * 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 true freshman (Humber, Bowman, Champ, 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, Nicholls State 288 Defensive line: NDSU 275, Nicholls State 264 - Injuries this week: FB Travis Roehl - out; WR Travis White - out; WR Nick Jackson out for weeks (separated shoulder); LB Tony Bizal - out(knee); OG Adam Tadisch - probable (calf); OT Tim Popowski - probable (ankle)... - Tickets are still available for this Saturday's game vs. Nicholls State. Let's sell this thing out!!! Contact the NDSU ticket office at (888) 231-NDSU or go to GoBison.com then click the tickets tab... - In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina & Rita, Nicholls State University has set up a fund to help in the relief efforts of the Colonel families directly affected by the disaster. A number of the Colonel football players’ families, as well as those of many Nicholls students, were affected by the hurricane. For more information on the Student Disaster Recovery Fund, contact the Nicholls Foundation at (985) 448-4009. Don't be shy... help out these DI-AA athletes anyway you can!! - Last year, Nicholls State head coach Jay Thomas became just the third coach in Nicholls’ history to finish their inaugural season with a non-losing record. In fact the Colonels finished 5-5 with three of their five wins coming against NCAA Division I-AA Top 25 opponents.... - The Colonels will don new road white jerseys against the Bison. The Nicholls Colonels had hopes of breaking out new, red home jerseys on September 17th against Cheyney. However, the jerseys were being manufactured by a company in Gulfport, Miss. Due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina along the gulf coast, these new uniforms will have to be put on hold... - The Bison loss to Montana State snapped a three-game road win streak for North Dakota State... - Audio of Nicholls State University football games is available on the internet free of charge. Click Here to listen... - GoBison.com's All Access will offer a video webcast of the Nicholls State football game Saturday, Oct. 1 ... Memberships to All Access can be purchased monthly for $7.95 or for the remainder of the football season for only $24.95 ... This Saturday's Webcast will begin at 5 p.m. CDT and will allow Bison fans around the world to see their team perform live from the Fargodome... - North Dakota State quarterback Steve Walker has completed passes to nine different players this season with five scoring at least one TD ... - Poll Watch: The Bison are currently ranked #11 by the Sports Network; #10 by AnyGivenSaturday.com; and #16 in the Bison Insider Top 20.... Nicholls State did not appear in any polls this week....