NDSU vs. JMU National Championship Game Thread

[BDKJMU]

According to Accuweather high today and tomorrow in Frisco mid 60s.

For Sat 11 AM kickoff.
11 AM: 38 degrees, 20% chance precip, winds NW 18 mph, gusts to 23, windchill 25 degrees.
2 PM: 43 degrees, 0% chance precip, winds NW 16 mph, gusts to 23, windchill 34 degrees.

For the early tailgaters:
7 AM 35 degrees, windchill of 19, chance of precip 25%
https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/frisc ... 6100?day=3

[Gil Dobie]

The entire roster is relevant! NDSU plays more than 2 deep in every game.

No its not. Sure you play more than the 2 deep in blowouts, esp regular season home when you dress just about everyone. I counted about 108 on NDSU’s roster listed under their NC game notes. JMU is in the same ballpark.
-Only 64 are allowed to dress for the playoffs. That’s only about 2 1/2 strings + special teams.
-Sure at a couple positions you might use more than the 2 deep outside of garbage time (RB, TE, WR, maybe another) But even those positions the top 2 at each position will get the bulk of the snaps outside of garbage time. And other positions the 2 deep will be 100% of the snaps outside garbage time.

Why have players outside the 2 deep started 3 games or more? They are not just garbage time players.

[Gil Dobie]

No its not. Sure you play more than the 2 deep in blowouts, esp regular season home when you dress just about everyone. I counted about 108 on NDSU’s roster listed under their NC game notes. JMU is in the same ballpark.
-Only 64 are allowed to dress for the playoffs. That’s only about 2 1/2 strings + special teams.
-Sure at a couple positions you might use more than the 2 deep outside of garbage time (RB, TE, WR, maybe another) But even those positions the top 2 at each position will get the bulk of the snaps outside of garbage time. And other positions the 2 deep will be 100% of the snaps outside garbage time.

Why have players outside the 2 deep started 3 games or more? They are not just garbage time players.

Starts by Fr or So This Season 120 total with 7 or 10 coming from players not on the 2 deep for Montana St. 22 players per 15 games is 330 total starting opportunities. 120 of a possible 330 starting opportunities went to Fr & Sophs at NDSU this season.

QB FR 15
RB FR 2
WR SO 18
TE SO 13
FB FR 2
LB SO 15
DL SO 16
DB SO 24
OL SO 15

To contradict the garbage scoring comment, a Fr or Soph scored the first TD in 9 of 15 games, twice by a player not on the Montana St 2 deep.

[JBB]

NDSU wishes they could have a full 3 deep plus the critical specialty players. We always had 100 or so in the program during D2 days as well but the active roster is bigger now. All of them are really good football players here to sharpen their skills and succeed at the game. Hope every one of them has all kinds of experience and at the top of their game.

NDSU can’t afford all the things JMU buys but we do have great coaches. That’s one of the reasons this game is now a pick-em at 5 Dimes and the O/U is down to 49.

[Gil Dobie]

The migration has begun.

[Gil Dobie]

Nice article on Trey Lance parents.

link

NDSU quarterback Trey Lance's parents 'enjoying the ride' of freshman season as Bison prepare to play James Madison for national championship
Written By: Mike McFeely | Jan 9th 2020 - 4pm.

Angie Lance mostly stays off Twitter. That's probably a good idea for the mother of North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance.



"I was unprepared for the expectations," she said. "On the flip side of that, what awesome support they have. I couldn't imagine that, either. But the expectations are very high and I, probably out of our whole family, struggle with that the most and have to stay off social media. The mom kicks in then."

Imagine if Trey wasn't having a near-perfect season with the Bison 15-0 with the redshirt freshman quarterback having thrown 28 touchdowns passes and no interceptions. Imagine how social media would be then.

Angie and her husband Carlton, of course, hope to not find out.

These are the issues when your son is the starting QB for a team that's won seven of the last eight national championships.

Saturday is one more opportunity for their oldest son to continue to etch his name into NDSU football history. Trey will lead NDSU against James Madison in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national title game, trying to become the fourth straight Bison starting quarterback to win a championship.

The others are a collection of some of the most beloved players who have ever played for the Bison: Brock Jensen, Carson Wentz and Easton Stick. Two are currently in the NFL.

By all indications, the 19-year-old from Marshall, Minn., has shouldered the burden wonderfully. Trey already won the Jerry Rice Award as the FCS top freshman and Friday we'll learn if he'll win the Walter Payton Award as the division's top offensive player.

A better question, then, is how are the youngster's parents handling this season, with the bright spotlight that follows NDSU football focused directly at their son?

"My expectation for him was that he would play well. Of course, nobody saw this happening with him playing this well and him being this prepared," Carlton said. "All the scrutiny and everything that comes with it, that's something that I'm not used to. I played defense. From high school on, he's just kind of grown into what's going on here. It's like, 'Wow.' It's been awesome. We're just kind of enjoying the ride. "

Carlton was inducted into the Southwest Minnesota State University athletic hall of fame in 2011. He was a star defensive back and track sprinter for the Mustangs, playing two professional seasons in the Canadian Football League and World League. He owns a finance company in Marshall. Angie works for Schwan's.

Carlton sounds like the ex-athlete and coach he is while discussing Trey's season. He says he's an avid game-film watcher and speaks of NDSU's culture and Trey's ability to "play faster" as the long season's grinded forward. Angie admits she's not a football expert.

Again, you can feel the mom kicking in.

"When people say, 'I hope he stays humble, keep him humble,' I get a little defensive about that because I didn't raise an arrogant jerk. He is 19 years old. When something goes great, the next thing might not go so great," Angie said. "Until we're 100 years old and we can look back on our lives and say we made a difference in the world, we have no reason to puff our chest. Trey knows that. There is no puffing our chest at 19 years old. The grounded thing does not concern me, but I hear it a lot. 'Keep him humble, keep him humble.' It surprises me every time somebody says that because why would you say that?"

North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance is all smiles during interviews on Thursday, Jan. 9, during media day at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. David Samson / The Forum
North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance is all smiles during interviews on Thursday, Jan. 9, during media day at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. David Samson / The Forum
Perhaps because it's natural to think a teen-aged star athlete who is already being tabbed by some as the best player in the FCS with the possibility of an NFL career would let the plaudits go to his head. Talk with Trey's parents for a half-hour, though, and it's clear the humility he shows in interviews and press conferences, always deflecting credit to his teammates and coaches, is legitimate. They've raised him well.

The question raised often as NDSU kept winning and Trey kept excelling was this: How did a 6-foot-3, 225-pound quarterback with a strong arm, blazing speed and high intelligence end up at an FCS school, even one as good as the Bison? Why wasn't there a Big Ten or Big 12 offer to play quarterback, given the importance of the position?

Boise State of the Mountain West Conference made a last-minute offer for Trey to play quarterback. Schools from bigger conferences wanted him to change positions and play linebacker or safety.

Carlton doesn't want to get into details about which schools recruited Trey to play what positions, but said he doesn't necessarily see bigger as better. He points out NDSU's ability to win national championships and develop quarterbacks into pro draft picks. Wentz and Stick were both drafted by NFL teams.

"They have a proven track record, they know what they are doing," Carlton said. "Otherwise you can go play in a ... Dec. 23 bowl. OK, that's it. That's just the way I look at things and the way we talked about things going through the recruiting process."

Said Angie: "When we went through the recruiting process, there were coaches who said, 'You can certainly go play in FCS and be a quarterback. You can do that. Or you can come here and play some other position.' That was always a big turnoff for me. Trey always wanted to play quarterback. It didn't matter that you had a bigger stadium. Maybe that's just my naivete. That didn't come into any part of our thinking."

It was time for the mom to kick in again.

"We want our kids to be faithful, happy, kind and healthy. If this makes Trey grow in his faith, makes him happy, he is kind and he stays healthy, that's all I want," Angie said.

[Gil Dobie]

[Gil Dobie]

[JBB]

Money lines moving ever so slightly. 5 Dimes O/U now 48.5. Still pick-em

The GAM identifies miss priced games. This game is not miss priced. We saw Bison +2 a few days ago but that quickly disappeared.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

Money lines moving ever so slightly. 5 Dimes O/U now 48.5. Still pick-em

The GAM identifies miss priced games. This game is not miss priced. We saw Bison +2 a few days ago but that quickly disappeared.

Thanks for the update, JBB! Keep 'em coming!

Sent from my SM-J810Y using Tapatalk

[BDKJMU]

Johnson does have good speed as does the team as a whole but I imagine it’s just average for the JMU team. Lots of facilities, high paid coaches, special shoes probably on contract, indoor/outdoor practice fields you name it. They bought it, speed included.

The BISON do seem to have a coaching advantage with Matt Entz at the helm. Young, aggressive, king of the 2 point conversion and uses the fake punt. He has a killer instinct as does the team. Entz graduated from Wayne State an old D2 foe of the Herd and probably familiar to Cignetti from his long tenure in D2. Entz takes the game personally.

Cignetti is the old hand. Worked his way up to the big cushy JMU 10 million football budget, he is more of an administrator than a hands on “can-do” guy. A good coach, not great, can get you there sometimes but never gets the prize. It’s his first year at JMU but he’s no spring chicken. He’s another bubba Sweigert with more money to spend.

We'll see about that. You're other post had some things left off wrong, or mixed up on his & his daddy's background.

Frank Cignetti Sr was the HC at WVU from 1976-1979. Frank got fired from WVU and replaced by the legendary Don Nehlen. Curt Cignetti played at WVU 1979-1982, so his 1st season was under his dad, and the next 3 under Don Nehlen. As Sr in 1982 Curt was the backup to Jeff Hostetler, who went on to a 15 year career in the NFL.

Frank Cignetti was hired by IUP and went on to become a Div II HOF coach there from 1986-2005. Made the playoffs 13 times, including 2 NC games. Was blown out by NDSU in 1990 51-11. 1993 lost to North Bama 41-34. There's a bunch of Div I schools in PA, and the PSAC (PA State Atheltic Conference) has 15 Div II football schools. What Frank Cignetti accomplished is pretty remarkable considering all that competition in the state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Cignetti_Sr.

Curt was a assistant at a # of P5 schools. 2007-2010 was at Bama, including for the 2009 NC team. Became Saban's lead recruiter, signing a slew of 4 and 5 star players.

Meanwhile, IUP had slipped 2006-2010 after Frank Cignetti retired. Curt wanted to be a HC, and resurrect what his daddy built, so he took a HUGE paycut to take the IUP job. 6 seasons there 2011-2016, took them to 3 playoffs + a 9-2 non playoff season. No losing records.

Elon 2012-2016 was 9-45 (avg of 2-9 a season). Cignetti IMMEDIATELY turned them around, going 8-3 and making the playoffs with 2-9 talent. The next season with basically the same level of talent made the playoffs again. They pulled the 2nd biggest point spread upset in college football history at the time upsetting JMU (Elon was -37.5). The last play of the game their best player (by far), RB Malcolm Summers, the nations leading rusher at the time, suffered a season ending injury. The following week vs UD their QB (CAA rookie of the year the prior season) went down to a season ending injury in the 1st qtr. Had a slew of other injuries and no depth. So Elon limped into the playoffs and lost opening round again.

Using the Saban blueprint for running a program, at Elon Cignetti took a team with Chicken Shit talent and IMMEDIATELY turned it into Chicken Salad. At JMU he started out with Chicken Salad, and you see the results so far.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Cignetti

[BDKJMU]

The migration has begun.

Are all those dots people driving?

[BDKJMU]

Saban 'Not Surprised' By Cignetti's Success
https://jamesmadison.rivals.com/news/sa ... -s-success

[BDKJMU]

FIELD NOTES: Bison DC Could've Been At JMU
.........
“Interestingly, the coordinator [Braun] is a guy I brought into interview when I got the [JMU] job,” Cignetti said Monday during his weekly press conference, “for another position. Not a coordinator position.”

Braun, who was on staff at Northern Iowa the past two seasons and worked last year as the Panthers’ special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach, has assimilated nicely to Fargo, N.D.

The Bison lead the FCS in scoring defense (11.8 points allowed per game) and are second for total defense (269.9 yards allowed per game) entering Saturday.

“He was about ready to take the job,” Cignetti said. “And during the interview he was offered the coordinator job at North Dakota State. And he’s done a very nice job.”

Braun played defensive line at Winona State for North Dakota State coach Matt Entz when Entz was the defensive coordinator for the Division II program.

https://jamesmadison.rivals.com/news/fi ... een-at-jmu

[BDKJMU]

FIELD NOTES: A Rutgers Reunion In Frisco

Before they battle, there’s going to be a friendly reunion.

“I can’t wait to see him,” North Dakota State offensive line coach AJ Blazek said Thursday at Toyota Stadium. “I’ll give him a big 'ole hug when I see him.”

Blazek worked in the same role at Rutgers when current James Madison defensive end Ron’Dell Carter played for the Scarlet Knights.

On Saturday at noon the Dukes and Bison - the current squads of Carter and Blazek, respectively - meet in the FCS national championship game.

“He sent me a text when I made All-American and was [Colonial Athletic Association Defensive] Player of the Year,” Carter said, “so that just let’s you know how good of a guy he is. We’re not at the same school, but to be rivals and about to play each other and he still hits me up, that says a lot about what kind of person he is.”

Carter said he’s happy to know Blazek, and Blazek said he isn’t surprised Carter has turned into one of the top players in the FCS.

“He was a kid we didn’t want to lose,” Blazek said. “It was a situational thing and it was a great move for Ron’Dell. I don’t think it was the wrong move at all, but we really didn’t want to lose him. I know [former Rutgers coach] Chris [Ash] didn’t want to lose him, but we knew he was going to be a good player and he played for us a little bit as a sophomore, so it was a great get for JMU.

“And in college football there are a lot of great players, but he was a really good person. And as an O-Line coach, I got to know him that way. He was a guy that was in the rotation a little bit, but you know what, it couldn’t have been a better move for him to get a good fit.”

Going into the title game Carter has 59 tackles, 25.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. He’s also up for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award, earned annually by the top defensive player across the subdivision, which will given out on Friday night at a banquet in Frisco.

He said he knows the tough task he’s in for on Saturday, though, having to handle Blazek’s Bison offensive line.

“He’s full of energy and his O-Linemen are going to be very aggressive,” Carter said, “and very physical and they’re going to be very well coached. And they’re probably not going to do a lot of talking. They’re not going to do a lot of trashing. They’re going to just play and they’re going to be energetic.”

*****
- Blazek compared Carter and fellow JMU senior defensive end John Daka to two different running backs creating a “thunder and lightning” type tandem. The coach also said the Dukes’ defensive front, with interior tackles Mike Greene and Adeeb Atariwa too, gives JMU four very differently skilled defensive linemen. About Greene, Blazek said, “He gets overlooked as athletic as he is. He has 7.5 sacks. People worry so much about the edge, they forget he’s in there.”......

[BDKJMU]

#1 vs #2 seeds (according to wiki) since the I-AA playoffs was created back in 1978.
-1981 #2 Idaho St 34, #1 EKU 28. (only 8 team field).
-1996 #1 Marshall 49, #2 Montana 29 (were flipped in AP poll).
-2009 #2 VU 23, #1 Montana 21.
-2011 (season) #2 NDSU 17, #1 SHSU 6.
-2017 (season) #2 NDSU 17, #1 JMU 13
-2019 (season) #2 JMU/#1 NDSU

#2 seed has won 4 of 5..

*2016 had #3 seed/#2 polls NDSU 37, #1 seed/#1 polls JSU 10.

BTW the last time 2 unseeded teams played for the NC? 2004 JMU/Montana. Course in 2010 they went to 5 seeds, and in 2013 went to 8...

[UNI88]

The migration has begun.

Are all those dots people driving?

It's a CDC map showing the near-annual outbreak of Bison Pox. It's not life-threatening, just an irritating outbreak of people whose sense of self-worth is maniacally connected to their local college football team and it's success gives them a hyper-delusional sense of achievement.

[JBB]

Johnson does have good speed as does the team as a whole but I imagine it’s just average for the JMU team. Lots of facilities, high paid coaches, special shoes probably on contract, indoor/outdoor practice fields you name it. They bought it, speed included.

The BISON do seem to have a coaching advantage with Matt Entz at the helm. Young, aggressive, king of the 2 point conversion and uses the fake punt. He has a killer instinct as does the team. Entz graduated from Wayne State an old D2 foe of the Herd and probably familiar to Cignetti from his long tenure in D2. Entz takes the game personally.

Cignetti is the old hand. Worked his way up to the big cushy JMU 10 million football budget, he is more of an administrator than a hands on “can-do” guy. A good coach, not great, can get you there sometimes but never gets the prize. It’s his first year at JMU but he’s no spring chicken. He’s another bubba Sweigert with more money to spend.

We'll see about that. You're other post had some things left off wrong, or mixed up on his & his daddy's background.

Frank Cignetti Sr was the HC at WVU from 1976-1979. Frank got fired from WVU and replaced by the legendary Don Nehlen. Curt Cignetti played at WVU 1979-1982, so his 1st season was under his dad, and the next 3 under Don Nehlen. As Sr in 1982 Curt was the backup to Jeff Hostetler, who went on to a 15 year career in the NFL.

Frank Cignetti was hired by IUP and went on to become a Div II HOF coach there from 1986-2005. Made the playoffs 13 times, including 2 NC games. Was blown out by NDSU in 1990 51-11. 1993 lost to North Bama 41-34. There's a bunch of Div I schools in PA, and the PSAC (PA State Atheltic Conference) has 15 Div II football schools. What Frank Cignetti accomplished is pretty remarkable considering all that competition in the state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Cignetti_Sr.

Curt was a assistant at a # of P5 schools. 2007-2010 was at Bama, including for the 2009 NC team. Became Saban's lead recruiter, signing a slew of 4 and 5 star players.

Meanwhile, IUP had slipped 2006-2010 after Frank Cignetti retired. Curt wanted to be a HC, and resurrect what his daddy built, so he took a HUGE paycut to take the IUP job. 6 seasons there 2011-2016, took them to 3 playoffs + a 9-2 non playoff season. No losing records.

Elon 2012-2016 was 9-45 (avg of 2-9 a season). Cignetti IMMEDIATELY turned them around, going 8-3 and making the playoffs with 2-9 talent. The next season with basically the same level of talent made the playoffs again. They pulled the 2nd biggest point spread upset in college football history at the time upsetting JMU (Elon was -37.5). The last play of the game their best player (by far), RB Malcolm Summers, the nations leading rusher at the time, suffered a season ending injury. The following week vs UD their QB (CAA rookie of the year the prior season) went down to a season ending injury in the 1st qtr. Had a slew of other injuries and no depth. So Elon limped into the playoffs and lost opening round again.

Using the Saban blueprint for running a program, at Elon Cignetti took a team with Chicken Shit talent and IMMEDIATELY turned it into Chicken Salad. At JMU he started out with Chicken Salad, and you see the results so far.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curt_Cignetti

Interesting you should mention chicken salad. Food is one of NDSUs big advantages. As a land grant NDSU has the best food and nutrition of any school. I’m sure football uses a lot of the prime beef. I had a pot roast lunch at an NDSU function a few years back. Best beef I have ever had. No chicken salad in sight but the fresh vegetables were outstanding too. The fresh dairy and biscuits with the strawberry short cake delicious. How it’s served to the players I don’t know, but it will be the best. Far better than grocery store.

Thanks for the update. It was confusing but interesting researching the Cignette coaching family. The Cignettis are a true IUP franchise and hung around W VA a lot too. They have never beaten a Bison team and have shown great reluctance in playing NDSU at all. 10 million is a lot of money to spend every year to end up with chicken salad, the last thing the old bird can give.

2 big clues to this game

• W Va @ 55 on Sagarin
  Common opponent UNI

[JBB]

Are all those dots people driving?

It's a CDC map showing the near-annual outbreak of Bison Pox. It's not life-threatening, just an irritating outbreak of people whose sense of self-worth is maniacally connected to their local college football team and it's success gives them a hyper-delusional sense of achievement.

We call that sour grapes!

[JBB]

#1 vs #2 seeds (according to wiki) since the I-AA playoffs was created back in 1978.
-1981 #2 Idaho St 34, #1 EKU 28. (only 8 team field).
-1996 #1 Marshall 49, #2 Montana 29 (were flipped in AP poll).
-2009 #2 VU 23, #1 Montana 21.
-2011 (season) #2 NDSU 17, #1 SHSU 6.
-2017 (season) #2 NDSU 17, #1 JMU 13
-2019 (season) #2 JMU/#1 NDSU

#2 seed has won 4 of 5..

*2016 had #3 seed/#2 polls NDSU 37, #1 seed/#1 polls JSU 10.

BTW the last time 2 unseeded teams played for the NC? 2004 JMU/Montana. Course in 2010 they went to 5 seeds, and in 2013 went to 8...

Not only that JMU and the Bison have teamed up to win all of the last 8 FCS championships! 7>1

[JBB]

**********FOOTBALL ALERT**********

UPDATE 1/10/2020

Additional Runs

GAM MONTE-CARLO RESULTS:

Total Score

• NDSU BISON win by 5

Average Game Score

• NDSU 23.3491. JMU 22.9543

Win Percentage

• NDSU BISON. 63.63
  JMU 36.37
  No ties

Largest Margin of Victory

• NDSU BISON 5.0629
  Score. NDSU 17.8215 - 12.7586
  JMU. 5.8769
  Score. JMU 19.5230 - 13.6462

Highest Score

• NDSU BISON 32.1193 - 31.0416

CONCLUSIONS

• Very close game. Additional program runs boosted JMU but not enough to indicate a win
  NDSU BISON have an edge
  Take Bison to win
  Take Bison +points
  it’s unlikely Bison can cover 5
  Take the under total game: 48 (down from 48.5 and a high of 55.5)

[JBB]

**********COLLEGE FOOTBALL ALERT**********

Odds changing at 5 Dimes. Bison now favored

NDSU -1; 110 to get 100. (-110)

On the money line (Very telling odds: NDSU favored by $14/100 by the house over the same JMU bet. Betting sentiment favoring NDSU because they are discouraging bets on The Bison trying to attract JMU money. That’s an interesting spread to watch.):
JMU to win -103
NDSU to win -117.

O/U 48. -110

O/U for JMU. 23.5. -110
O/U for NDSU. 24.5. -110

PS. Thanks BDKJMU for the game notes

[UNI88]

It's a CDC map showing the near-annual outbreak of Bison Pox. It's not life-threatening, just an irritating outbreak of people whose sense of self-worth is maniacally connected to their local college football team and it's success gives them a hyper-delusional sense of achievement.

We call that sour grapes!

Patient Zero, how are you feeling? Your nurse should be in soon to give you your meds. Just prop up a pillow and watch Thundarr the Barbarian until he gets here.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[Gil Dobie]

The migration has begun.

Are all those dots people driving?

Probably not all, but you can see the one's on the freeways.

[UNI88]

Are all those dots people driving?

Probably not all, but you can see the one's on the freeways.

What is Fargo the "Gate City" to?

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk