Next: UND. Another battle in Grand Forks

[jakejc795]

Best news from Stig's presser is that Isaiah Davis practiced yesterday and is expected to play on Saturday. Wouldn't confirm that Tucker will play, but it seems things are headed in that direction.

Mixed feelings about this. Given extremely late bye, I'd almost prefer to allow Davis to heal for at least a week.

[bigticket1]

Mixed feelings about this. Given extremely late bye, I'd almost prefer to allow Davis to heal for at least a week.

Practicing already on Monday likely means it isn't anything major. Stinger ?

[jakejc795]

Practicing already on Monday likely means it isn't anything major. Stinger ?

Stinger for a RB/QB is different than OL, DL, or even LB, though. It increases risk of fumble.

Personally, I'm hoping this is Kraft 2.0, and Stig's trying to game Bubba.

Davis is on another level, but I'm cautiously optimistic Johnson, Buri, and Johnson could manage in Davis' absence.

[Jacked_Up]

The Jacks are going to need an effective running game to control the clock and keep UND's dangerous offense off the field. That's likely to be a two-back job. Hopefully Isaiah Davis is OK, and Amar Johnson has another good outing. Maybe Davis will be able to rest and recover a bit the following week back in Brookings against Indiana State. It's ridiculous that the Jacks' bye isn't until the regular season is over, but maybe that will help SDSU get ready for the playoffs. Got to secure a top 8 seed first, though.

[LetsGoRabbits]

Mixed feelings about this. Given extremely late bye, I'd almost prefer to allow Davis to heal for at least a week.

i had a similar thought when i read that. i think the thought totally makes sense

i also think it makes sense that the coaches and med staff DONT WANT to put the players at risk. SOOOOOO...... if they have him practicing on monday they must feel pretty good

but i also thought maybe they try to give Amar a little heavier load, but still have ID to lean on. and maybe by the final week Amar and the other backs would be ready to carry the load without ID

if he could rest against ISUr plus the double bye week, hopefully he could be very very close to 100% for the playoffs. NOT to put any chickens in the counted bucket before hatching, but we have had some fairly comfortable first round playoff games too, so maybe he would not have to over do it in that game either

it sure would be GREAT if we could get to the last few rounds of playoffs and be able to give him the ball 20+ times a game

[SteelSD]

The problem is that AJ is a change of pace back. He is not built to be a lead back carrying a heavy load. So if we rest ID then we will want to give Buri/Angel some more run (which I'm fine with) so that we don't end up breaking AJ trying to rest ID.

[Gojacks2487]

I think this week its more of a mental game for us this week und's mixed fronts. Might take a few possessions for our offense to get rolling. Gonna need our defense to play fast until our offense gets rolling.
Jacks 27-13

[jakejc795]

i had a similar thought when i read that. i think the thought totally makes sense

i also think it makes sense that the coaches and med staff DONT WANT to put the players at risk. SOOOOOO...... if they have him practicing on monday they must feel pretty good

but i also thought maybe they try to give Amar a little heavier load, but still have ID to lean on. and maybe by the final week Amar and the other backs would be ready to carry the load without ID

if he could rest against ISUr plus the double bye week, hopefully he could be very very close to 100% for the playoffs. NOT to put any chickens in the counted bucket before hatching, but we have had some fairly comfortable first round playoff games too, so maybe he would not have to over do it in that game either

it sure would be GREAT if we could get to the last few rounds of playoffs and be able to give him the ball 20+ times a game

If one of the chickens is my niece's Adam Bawk, that should allay some concerns.

I still wonder if Davis practicing is similar to Kraftgate

[SDSU2011]

Got my tickets for this one. Heading up Saturday morning, never been to GF for a football game. Anyone know a good spot, somewhat close to the Alerus Center, to hit up before the game to grab a few beers and catch some college football?

1. Speedway- close to Alerus
2. SouthGate- otherside of town but straight shot to Alerus
3. Blue Moose- it's in East Grand Forks but has awesome food and cool set up.
4. Parrots Cay---best wings in town- get the shark sauce- it's not close to the Alerus but you gotta go if youre in GF

[LetsGoRabbits]

The problem is that AJ is a change of pace back. He is not built to be a lead back carrying a heavy load. So if we rest ID then we will want to give Buri/Angel some more run (which I'm fine with) so that we don't end up breaking AJ trying to rest ID.

well not to necessarily get into a debate (although i am never opposed to a good debate), but in this particular circumstance i think the only reason he is a change of pace back is that he IS NOT the first back.

if ID is gone next year, (pretty likely) and we dont bring in another clearly number one back, then AJ would be the first back and that is definitely possible

YES he would be a very different first back than ID and we would have to game plan accordingly, like a few years ago when Mengerelli was our number one back. hopefully the other RBs could step up and make it more of a RB by committee, as it was with Mengerelli

to this point in AJ career he really has not shown the type of skills or usage that would usually be associated with the player most often called a change of pace back. usually that involves significant use in the passing game. so far this year we have not used our RB in the passing game very much at all, but we definitely seem more willing to throw to ID than AJ

ANYWAY, what all that really gets to is if we wanted to try to give ID a week off or we HAD TO, AJ would be the guy, no matter what type of guy he is. and that would almost definitely mean that some other or others in the RB room would have a role to play. OR we would have to use a heavier passing game plan on offense, which is why i mentioned it would be nice if Kraft was back

i would think the coaches would be hesitant to go with a heavy passing game plan, because ONE we want to be a running team, and TWO Kraft may not be back or will just be back. But it would not be terrible for us and other teams to know that we have the capability to use a very different type of game on offense if we want or need to and we can still be successful

finally, AJ is 5-11 and 190. we have LBs and Safeties (positions who purposely do a LOT of hitting) on the team who are the same size or smaller. he is definitely NOT a big back, TRUE. but i do not think he is a small back either. for myself, if i was coaching, i think he could pretty easily handle 20 carries for one game. i would have doubts about him doing it several weeks in a row. my guess is the jacks feel he could do that if he had to but they would probably prefer more 14-17 carries and the other RB pick up the rest

OBVIOUSLY the best thing would be if we just had ID every game and we could hand him the ball as much as we want or need, like we did with Ranek and Zenner, but obviously guys like that who can carry the ball like that and mostly stay healthy and run for over 2000 yards in a season multiple times dont grow on trees.

but you are correct ID and AJ are NOT the same type of back, regardless of what type of back someone calls them. but they are both capable of being a number one back but you would need a different game plan. until last week, i would NOT have thought that AJ was capable of doing the things he did, and he did those things against the best defense and the MOST PHYSICAL defense we will see this year

so if he has to be the guy we will have a game plan that fits him, but he did just carry the ball 12 times for 90 yards against the most physical defense he will ever see. i think you could add another 5 carries to that load against anyone else

[goon]

I think the issue is no one really took the opportunity to be the 2nd back or earn more carries. After the ndsu game AJ might have just upped his roll and the coaches will share the load. Sounded like ID always has a bit o f shoulder issue so pribably why they are a bit easier on hiw work load. Dude is a beast just knocking defenders off like its his job.

[JacksBacker]

There are a couple bars attached to the Alerus that are probably more considered part of the Canad Inns. Tavern United and Playmakers I believe (it's been a couple years since I've been there). It's connected indoors to the Alerus. There are also people that will have TVs in their tailgating rigs that have football on so I'm sure you can make some friends

Canad Inns Destination Centre Grand Forks – Canad Inns

Thanks for the info!

[Theee Catrabbit]

The problem is that AJ is a change of pace back. He is not built to be a lead back carrying a heavy load. So if we rest ID then we will want to give Buri/Angel some more run (which I'm fine with) so that we don't end up breaking AJ trying to rest ID.

Agree with what another poster said concerning this. Just throwing some history out here: Zach Zenner, Brady Mengarelli, Pierre Strong, and Kyle Minnett....were at one time Change of Pace Backs. To say the same about AJ seems aittle presumptive. I'm not saying he will better than thise guys, but I'm not saying he doesnt have a chance to either.
Last week he carried quite a bit of the load against a much better defense than the one they'll see in grand Forks.

[LetsGoRabbits]

I think the issue is no one really took the opportunity to be the 2nd back or earn more carries. After the ndsu game AJ might have just upped his roll and the coaches will share the load. Sounded like ID always has a bit o f shoulder issue so pribably why they are a bit easier on hiw work load. Dude is a beast just knocking defenders off like its his job.

TOTALLY agree with everything you said!!! until ndsu AJ had never taken a hold of the opportunity he has had but nobody else has taken it away from him

and EXACTLY if ID did not have the shoulder problem, he would be the next Ranek or Zenner. in a game like last week they could have just given him the ball 25 times if they wanted to. VERY LUCKY for ndsu and the rest of fcs that is probably never going to be possible because the ONLY thing that can stop ID is his health

[LetsGoRabbits]

Agree with what another poster said concerning this. Just throwing some history out here: Zach Zenner, Brady Mengarelli, Pierre Strong, and Kyle Minnett....were at one time Change of Pace Backs. To say the same about AJ seems aittle presumptive. I'm not saying he will better than thise guys, but I'm not saying he doesnt have a chance to either.
Last week he carried quite a bit of the load against a much better defense than the one they'll see in grand Forks.

well you just named probably 3 of the 4 best RB in school history, at the very least by total yardage they are that

and also B Mengarelli, who was an awesome jackrabbit and a very good football player in his own way but NOT EVEN CLOSE to the same class of RB as the other 3. and there is also a pretty good gap between Ranek, Zenner and Minnett, Strong

ZERO disrespect or offense to AJ but i will all but guarantee he will not become one of the top 5 backs in school history. i HOPE i am wrong!! that would be great. but i think i can safely say that he could be a player similar to Mengarelli, but i think if he comes anywhere close to being a zach zenner i will eat one of my used socks

that said i would be very comfortable (NOT HAPPY but comfortable) if we had to go into next week with no ID but we had a mengarelli to fill in. SO hoping and believing there is a shot for AJ to do the same, next week or at some point down the road if needed


AND i 100% agree with you that ndsu defense will be much better than und! my guess is it will be night and day better, as i said easily the best defense we will see all year........ I mean from an opposing team. we get to see a better defense every single day in practice and on game day they wear the same uniforms))))!