Cloud 9

The classical definition for Slobberknocker is a literal hard hit. I'm going to play off that somewhat in a more figurative manner. While in contrast, and maybe more obviously, the Naw's are things that shouldn't have happened and/or need to change.

On the Mountain

NDSU continued their hold on the Valley and by extension, the FCS, with their ninth straight conference championship. How does 1 even quantify that string of success? I'm at a loss for an answer except to call it what it is - ridiculous in the best way. With the way the roster has been stocked, experiencing a sudden drop-off back to the pack seems almost unthinkable. The Bison are on top of the mountain and won't be going anywhere, any time soon.

The Phonographs

If for some reason conference and national championships aren't enough for you then maybe the team's ability to set records any week will satisfy. 7 - 0 - 0 yards of offense in one game. They also pretty easily could have had a third straight game with 50+ points but coach Entz went easy on USD. That's not a criticism, I think it actually speaks well of him but more than anything it's just a fact. And Ben Ellefson added to his record touchdown total, so there's that. These records aren't going to play long, unless the coach pushes for things to be less explosive for some reason that I wouldn't be able to understand, so enjoy the music!

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Just as fun & intriguing as the records of today is how it all came together. It wasn't as if a running back or receiver went for 250 yards. The quarterbacks put up a good day throwing the ball but 281 yards isn't a crazy number either. The offense used a committee approach beyond any that they had shown yet this year. It was all equal, pretty much everyone chipped in. I mean, Hunter Luepke (the fullback) had two touchdowns today and guys were running free on almost every possession yet no one did remarkably more than any of the others.

Loss

12 defenders combined for 10 tackles-for-loss today. On a day that was otherwise kind of non-descript for stats, well, except for the score, 12 for 10 says a WHOLE LOT. They were swarming and suffocating South Dakota's offense.

It's not an all-encompassing wrap of the pros and cons to extract from today's game but I think these are the main takeaways!