North Dakota Fighting Sioux 2010 Review

2010 Record: 3-8 (0-4), 5th Great West
2010 Postseason: None
2010 Schedule/Results: @ Idaho, L 45-0; @ Northern Illinois, L 23-17; Northeastern State, W 55-14; Northwestern State, W 49-24; @ South Dakota, L 27-17; Southern Utah, L 31-21; @ Cal Poly, L 22-21; Lamar, W 31-6; UC-Davis, L 35-16; @ Montana, L 27-17; @ South Dakota State, L 21-0

REVIEW

     The Siuox had issues across the board in 2010. The offense struggled to a huge degree, as they were hold to 323 yards per game, and the defense was a mess, as they gave up 390 yards per game. It's going to be a difficult fix, and it'll take more than a season to do it, and UND will be shortly joining the Big Sky, along with Southern Utah, Cal Poly, and UC-Davis. UND has some serious work to do before then.
     Jake Landry was the primary QB last fall, as he passed for 1328 yards and 11 TDs, and he was a senior. Landry missed 4 games last fall, and so some weight fell on Brent goska, who played in 9 games last season. Goska, who was a junior, passed for only 413 yards in his opportunities, but still looks to be the primary replacement next season. That's not exactly an exciting thought. Marcus Hendrickson seems to be a non-issue at this point, as he was horrible in his limited play last fall.
     The run game was not good for the most part, and Josh Murray was the only back that produced a decent number last fall. Murray, a junior, rushed for 639 yards on the season, but only scored 4 TDs. Mitch Sutton was the only other back to get decent carries, but he only rushed for 268 yards and 2 TDs.
     Greg Hardin was the primary receiver in the offense last season. He rolled up a line of 45-799-9 on the season, and the good news was that he was just a freshman. With the ability to develop, he could become a major star in time for UND to enter Big Sky play. Unfortunately, UND didn't get much from anyone else. Murray was the second leading receiver out of the backfield, and only Ryan Dressler had 20 or more grabs from the receiving corps.
     The defense had issues all season long. The pass D was a mess, having allowed 239.8 yards per game, and the rush D allowed 150 yards per game. Like I said, a major mess.
     Dan Hendrickson was the tackling leader, but he only managed 78 on the year. Hendrickson was a junior at LB last fall, so he is the default leader for 2010. Kris Ankenbauer, Dominique Hawkins, Mitch Goertz, and Ross Cochran all finished in the 50's, but that's low production as a group. Those numbers need to improve in order to decrease the yards allowed in 2010. Hendrickson, cochran, and Ross Brenneman led the team in TFLs last fall, but the problem is that they only had 8 per player. There was no major star on this defense, and someone needs to step up big in 2011. Brenneman's 4 sacks as the leader was not going to get it done either, so the secondary was an easy target with no pressure up front. Joel Schwenzfeier's 3 picks were not enough to stop the bleeding either, so there just needs to be complete change on defense for the 2011 edition of this football team. That goes for the special teams as well, as there was nothing exciting going on there.

FINAL NOTES

UND looks to be the team that will return to the bottom of the pile once again in 2011. The Fighting Sioux have too many problems and not enough answers to move forward. There is much work to be done, and 2011 should be a season to look forward to finding improvement in any measure, but don't expect the world to turn on a dime for UND, becasue you'll be likely to be let down.