It’s Potato Bowl week! What’s that mean for Sioux fans?
Potato Bowl celebration
The Official Potato Bowl site contains a complete calendar of events. Here are some highlights:
- Monday, September 10: Hugo’s Hidden Medallion Contest Begins! Oops, this week-long contest ended after perennial G.F. hidden item contest winner, Jeff Barta, found it after only one clue.
- Thursday, September 13: World’s largest french fry feed! Sponsored by Simplot, stop by University Park at 5pm.
- Saturday, September 15: Potato Bowl Parade 9:30am, downtown.
A football game
UND’s final conference run in D-II, and the North Central Conference’s final football season, begins on September 15. Recent NCC football affiliate, Central Washington University (1-0), visits Grand Forks for the 42nd Annual Potato Bowl.
Tabbed to finish in the middle of the NCC by the coaches and media, CWU is led by d2football.com preseason All-American signal caller Mike Reilly. In his first two seasons with CWU, the 6’4″ 215lb junior completed 64.5% of his passes for 5356 yards and 51 touchdowns. He has thrown for more than 200 yards in 18 of 21 starts. Reilly is CWU’s best hope for a win over the Sioux; he will test the Sioux secondary, hoping to find a weakness that leads to a shootout with the potent Sioux offense.
Central Washington opened its 2007 campaign with a resounding 44-0 home win over Humboldt State. Reilly threw for 270 yards and 3 TDs, while the CWU defense held Humboldt State to 117 yards of total offense. Bear in mind, however, that for its opener UND comparably blew out Humboldt State, 59-0, with 513 yards of total offense while holding HSU to 181.
Though Freund may be up for a matchup of gunslingers, a lot of Sioux fans would be unhappy to see the secondary bend too much under Reilly’s assault. After seeing the Sioux handily contain SUU quarterback, Wes Marshall, optimism isn’t unjustified.
Stats dump
Head-to-head: UND leads 5-1
- 2006 @UND 28-14
- 2005 UND 44-20
- 2004 @UND 34-0
- 2002 CWU 43-7
- 2001 UND 17-14
- 2000 @UND 52-7
Potato Bowls: UND is 30-11 all-time. UND has won 11 of its past 12 Potato Bowls, including a 34-0 win over CWU in their only previous Potato Bowl matchup in 2004
At Home: UND has won 31 of its last 32 games at home
Central Washington 2007 Statistics
Central Washington 2006 Statistics
UND 2007 Statistics
Links dump
UND game preview
CWU Football Home
SiouxSports.com forums pre-game discussion
Central Washington Live Stats feed (check it out during the game)