PRESS & DAKOTAN/PLAIN TALK ■ FALL SPORTS 2013 PAGE 11B

any type of pass a risk, andRichardson succumbed tothe flu after completing six ofhis first seven passes in a 31-17 Liberty Bowl loss to theGolden Hurricane.

Richardson threw foreight TDs against just onepick and also ran for 233yards, averaging a healthy 5.7yards per carry.

‘He was too scared toworry about anything otherthan the snap count. He’scome a long ways, I’ll just sayit that way. And the biggestarea of improvement, I think,is his leadership and his graspand his understanding of whatwe’re doing,” Rhoads said.

Richardson’s hold on thestarting job was further solid-ified when Barnett trans-ferred to Illinois State. He’snow had a spring and fallcamp working with the restof the starters after watchingJantz and Barnett split thoseopportunities for two years.

Though Richardson is arather soft-spoken underclass-man, he said he’s embracedthe leadership role that everyquarterback has to take.

“I’ve always been taughtgrowing up to lead by exam-ple at first. And then, whenyou’re leading, people kind oftake that along with yourwords,” Richardson said.“Being more vocal has justcome naturally.”

Rhoads, now in his fifthseason, said earlier thismonth that the Cyclones feelas good about the quarter-back position as they everhave heading into the season.

That’s all because ofRichardson, who has won overhis teammates and coacheswith his calm demeanor andability to make plays.

“He’s relaxed, he’s poisedout there, and a quarterbackneeds to be that type of guy.If you’re going to throw accu-rate passes, if you’re going tothrow things on time, you’regoing to do it in that state.

CyclonesFrom Page 10B

BY DAVE KOLPACKAssociated Press

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — NorthDakota State returns 18starters from a team that haswon 28 of 30 games the lasttwo years and claimed back-to-back Football Champi-onship Subdivision titles.

Coach Craig Bohl startedthis year’s campaign with ahistory lesson.

The only team to winthree straight FCS or DivisionI-AA titles is AppalachianState from 2005-07. The for-mer coach of that team, JerryMoore, came to Fargo earlierthis year to talk to Bisonplayers about what it takes tostay on top.

The gist of Moore’sspeech: Don’t be satisfied.Bohl said his players werepaying attention.

“As a coach you are al-ways looking for signs ofcomplacency,” Bohl said. “Wehave not seen that in any-thing.”

The reason, Bohl said, ismaturity and a healthy doseof competition. Even backupquarterback Carson Wentz,whose performance in prac-tice drove Brock Jensen’sheir apparent Esley Thorntonto switch to linebacker, ispushing for playing timeagainst a QB who is 32-5 asstarter.

“Carson Wentz has madeBrock Jensen better,” Bohlsaid. “We’ve got that at a lotof spots.”

Along with Jensen, a sen-ior who isn’t always flashybut excels in big games,NDSU returns pro prospectsin cornerback MarcusWilliams and left tackle Billy

Turner, game-breaking kickreturners in Williams andRyan Smith, a linebacker inGrant Olson who set a schoolrecord with 29 tackles in onegame last season, and theirhardest-hitting defensiveplayer in free safety ColtonHeagle, back from an injuryin 2012.

Even punter BenLeCompte and kicker AdamKeller are among 10 Bison onthe all-Missouri Valley Foot-ball Conference preseasonteam.

“We’re well pleased withthe leadership of our group,”Bohl said. “We do have atremendous amount of expe-rience; more than we’ve hadsince I’ve been head coach.But that does not automati-cally qualify for a great year.”

The Bison, who open theseason Friday at Kansas

State, have experienced justone hiccup in each of the lasttwo years, both in conferencegames. Two years ago, theylost 27-24 at home toYoungstown State. Last year,they lost 17-14 at home to In-diana State.

Williams said that faringwell against Kansas State andwinning the conference aremore important than an un-blemished record.

“Sure, who wouldn’t wantto go undefeated?” Turnersaid. “But our No. 1 goal rightnow is our first game atKansas State.”

Williams said Friday’sgame against last year’s Big12 Conference champs can-not come soon enough forthe Bison, who have a 6-3record against FBS teamsunder Bohl. The Bison de-feated Colorado State last

year, Minnesota in 2011 andKansas in 2010.

“Going against each otherin practice day in and dayout, it gets a little boring.People start getting mad ateach other and stuff likethat,” he said.

Smith, a Wahpeton, N.D.,native, said that while open-ing with Kansas State is anexciting way to start the sea-son, it’s more important to gointo December on a roll.

“You’ve just got to knowas a team you are going tomove forward,” he said. “Wecan’t have these drawbacks.We can’t start the season outstrong and end up weak.”

Turner, from Shoreview,Minn., doesn’t have to lookfar for advice. His father wasdrafted by Minnesota Vikingsin 1983 and played five yearswith the Vikings, Green Bay

Packers and New York Jets.His brother was drafted bythe New York Giants.

“The only thing I’ve heardfrom them is forget about thepro scouts,” Turner said.“They’re going to see whatthey want to see. You justhave to go out and play thegame and have fun. This ismy last guaranteed year offootball ever.”

Williams, from Minneapo-lis, feels like he has to provehimself again this year.

“It doesn’t matter what Idid last year, it all dependson what I do this year,” hesaid. “I know scouts are look-ing. I hear that every day. I re-ally don’t look at it thatmuch, because I care aboutthe team.”

Going For Three

Bison Loaded With Veterans In Search For Third Title

P&D FILE PHOTONorth Dakota State defensive lineman Cole Jirik, 93, pressures South Dakota quarterback Josh Vander Maten during the Bison’s victory over South Dakota last season in Sioux Falls. Jirik and NDSU will begoing for a third consecutive FCS title this season.

BY BARRY WILNERAP Pro Football Writer

The NFL never reallyshuts down.

It kept rolling long afterthe lights came back onafter a 37-minute delay atthe Superdome in New Or-leans and the BaltimoreRavens squeezed out aSuper Bowl title. It’s rollingstill, right into a new sea-son that will kick off in lessthan two weeks and endwith (shiver!) an outdoorSuper Bowl in New Jersey.

In between, there wereplenty of headlines:

Patriots tight end AaronHernandez was arrested onmurder charges; DenverBroncos star linebackerVon Miller has been sus-pended for the first sixgames for violating theleague’s drug policy; andHGH testing is gettingcloser but still isn’t under-way two years after theleague and players agreedon the need for it.

A rash of preseason in-juries have prompted someplayers to question theNFL’s player safety initia-tives. Already gone for theseason are tight ends Den-nis Pitta of Baltimore (frac-tured hip) and DustinKeller of Miami (rightknee), with more than adozen others also side-lined.

“It’s just weird howthings have changed fromthe past,” noted Jets tightend Konrad Reuland. “Be-fore, diving at the kneeswas a dirty play. Now hit-ting up high is a dirty play.It’s almost done a complete180.”

That might be under-standable considering theemphasis CommissionerRoger Goodell is placing onplayer safety. The league

has been named in concus-sion lawsuits brought bymore than 4,000 formerplayers who charge thatthe NFL didn’t protectthem or warn them againstthe sport’s inherent dan-gers. Even before the regu-lar season kicks off, thetwo sides are due in SeniorU.S. District Judge AnitaBrody’s court in Philadel-phia to report any progressmade during two monthsof mediation.

Some believe the play-ers’ claims could be worth$1 billion or more if theymove forward in court.

Key rules changes forthis season with playersafety in mind will bar ballcarriers from using thecrown of the helmet tomake contact with defend-ers, and require player towear knee and thigh pads.The uniform police will re-move them from games ifthey don’t have the fullcomplement of equipment.

Fans, meanwhile, willdeal with increased limitson what they can bringinto stadiums; nothing thatwon’t fit into a gallon-sizeclear plastic bag will be al-lowed.

“This is the right thingto do from a public safetystanding,” NFL security di-rector Jeffrey Miller said,adding that the NFL con-stantly evaluates its sta-dium entry process. “Inlight of recent events, thetragedy of the terrorist at-tack in Boston, we wantedto ensure anywhere wehave large groups of fansthat we know we have lim-ited that type of situationwith fans only using the ap-proved kind of bags to cre-ate a safe environment anda buffer zone, if you will.”

Fans may grouse aboutit but not enough to stay

away — from the stadium,the TV or any device spew-ing game information.

They can’t wait to see ifRobert Griffin III is fully re-covered from his torn-upknee and can be even moredynamic as the WashingtonRedskins quarterback. Orwhether Tim Tebow has afuture in the NFL in NewEngland. And how theRavens will handle losingteam leaders Ray Lewisand Ed Reed, while JoeFlacco tries to justify thehuge contract he receivedas a Super Bowl-winningquarterback.

The television networksare already salivatingabout what they hope willbe a ratings bonanza, start-ing when the championRavens visit Peyton Man-ning and the Broncos toopen the season on Thurs-day night, Sept. 5.

“The NFL always pro-vides an element of sur-prise, and that is a part ofthe intrigue that makes itso popular,” Steelers gen-eral manager Kevin Colbertsaid. “It’s hard to predictwho can be the championsat this point, because it’s agreat unknown thatchanges as the year goeson. It’s not always the topteam over the season thatwins, but the one able toperform the best when itmeans the most. And thatelement is always excitingabout an NFL season.”

Lots of points and bigplays tend to excite fansthe most, and the copycatNFL could feature evenmore up-tempo offensesnow that Chip Kelly hasbrought his go-go-go quackattack from Oregon toPhiladelphia. If it works forone team — as it has forthe high-powered, fast-draw offenses in New Eng-

land, New Orleans, SanFrancisco and Green Bay,for example — then justabout everyone tries it.

Kelly downplays thespeed of his offense, butthroughout the league,look for no-huddles, quicksnaps out of a variety offormations, and lots ofpassing.

“There are certain playswe can call where we don’tneed the defense to beset,” Kelly said, “and thereare other plays where weneed to get the right lookto get in the right play. Buta lot of that, from a speedstandpoint, we never saywe want plays snapped inX amount of seconds oranything like that.”

Those fast-paced of-fenses from Foxborough toPhilly, Louisiana to Lam-beau Field won’t have todeal with likely Hall ofFamers Lewis and BrianUrlacher in the middle ofthe field. They retired,along with NFL championsMatt Birk, Jeff Saturdayand Donald Driver.

Replacing veteranseverywhere are lots ofrookies — a good crop butnowhere near the quarter-backing caliber of lastyear’s trio of RG3, AndrewLuck and Russell Wilson.

“We now get morecoaches in pro football,and offensive and defen-sive coordinators, whoknow they got to playthese young guys,” formerJets and Chiefs coachHerm Edwards said. “I havealways been big aboutplaying young guys; if heknows what to do, we havegot to play him. And that’swhat you will see.”

The coaching carouselspun frantically, with one-quarter of those jobschanging. Aside from Kelly

bringing his offensive wiz-ardry from Oregon to theEagles, Andy Reid, fired fol-lowing 14 seasons inPhiladelphia, immediatelylanded as coach of theChiefs. Kansas City is astrong candidate for mostimproved team underReid’s guidance and withquarterback Alex Smith ac-quired from San Francisco.

The 49ers, who camealive after the Superdomeblackout and nearly stolethe title from Baltimore,are among the favorites toreach the Meadowlandsnext February for the firstoutdoor Super Bowl at acold-weather site. The Gi-ants and Jets, co-owners ofMetLife Stadium, talkbravely about becomingthe first team to host andplay in the Big Game, butthat’s a long shot.

Denver, which addedprolific Wes Welker to itsreceiving corps for PeytonManning — a blow tomajor rival New England —also is among the hotchoices to reach whatcould be a frigid SuperBowl.

Then there’s Adrian Pe-terson’s pursuit of a sec-ond straight 2,000-yardrushing season for Min-nesota. No one has evercome close, but no one hasever come off a wreckedknee to do what Petersonachieved in 2012, winningMVP honors.

If Peterson doesn’t grabthe spotlight, maybe it willbe Tom Brady with hisarm, Calvin Johnson withhis hands, J.J. Watt with hisswats, or Darrelle Reviswith his picks. Regardless,rest assured much of thenation will be watching —and checking their fantasystats, too.

NFL Making News In 2013 Ahead Of Upcoming Season