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2018 Season


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9 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

Beating Sam Houston come down to beating them up. They have the skill to beat anyone but they are a soft program. They went full fetal position when NDSU repeated punched them in the face last year.

In my opinion, Sam Houston is a great test to see where we are in year 5 of Bubba Ball.  Bubba Ball was sold to us for this very situation - a highly skilled team who doesn't like smash face football.  Not saying we must win, but we need to be competitive and afterwords Sam Houston needs to feel like they were in a football game. 

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4 minutes ago, Longtime fan said:

He doesn’t deserve a number.   

I’ve been harping about Rudy for nearly four years ....and will continue to do so for long as bubba keeps him on.   Without making changes this offseason, bubba made it clear that he rides with who chooses from day one and that’s that. 

I would love nothing more then to eat crow and watch the offense flourish in the D-less conference, or now, ex conference like the big sky.  And then show something against the top non big sky teams.  

The predictably is killing Santiago! 

The non adjustments are mind boggling!

His usage or lack there of is frustrating! 

 

Last four games of the year ( 1-3): Santiago had 8 total touches vs E Wash!?!

Santiago had 10 total touches vs S Utah !?!   

Santiago had 11 total touches vs Port St

Santiago had 9 total touches vs sac st !?!?  

Like him or not studsrud was an extremely bad passer.  The opposing D would clog up the middle knowing studsrud had a hard time even completing a screen pass and waited to punish the rb.   Why not give Zimmerman a try?  He looked to be very capable of a deep pass to keep the D honest.  I think bubba said something like senior all positions opened.   Studsrud looked to be playing hurt most of the season as well. Yet they ride with him.  Rudy or bubba or both? I believe  that Zimmerman would of given UND a better chance to succeed ....last year.  

 

Why pull Izzys shirt ?

Use the TEs ! 

I will agree the players have to do their part but it comes across as they are set up to fail from the beginning from ineptness 

 

Anyone close enough to Bubba or the staff to have any insight into what is wired into Bubba's head so he can't see these problems?   I have a hard time grasping it on a football level.  If it is pure loyalty then he is putting his buddy ahead of the program (and they might be two buddies without a job ).   Is he that blind that he can't see these problems?

 

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2 hours ago, Longtime fan said:

Like him or not studsrud was an extremely bad passer.  The opposing D would clog up the middle knowing studsrud had a hard time even completing a screen pass and waited to punish the rb.   Why not give Zimmerman a try?  He looked to be very capable of a deep pass to keep the D honest.  I think bubba said something like senior all positions opened.   Studsrud looked to be playing hurt most of the season as well. Yet they ride with him.  Rudy or bubba or both? I believe  that Zimmerman would of given UND a better chance to succeed ....last year.

This made me wish they had gone with a full house backfield and run people over by running it 75 to 80% of the time. Throw in some option plays (Studsrud was pretty good with his legs). That would have been more of a smash-mouth offense than what they put our there.

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48 minutes ago, Sioux_FF said:

Agree.   As we've seen at times, Santiago or Olivera do not need very must space at the line to break off a long run.   Sometimes just one more battle won by an O-lineman would result in a big play.  Rudolph does get that.  So does Bubba, who obviously sets up the offensive attack along with Rudolph.   If John breaks off a run for 40 yards people will say "great call".   If he's stuffed at the line, people will say Rudolph can't call a game.  

But, I think it's all part of Bubba's philosophy, challenging the offense to be a dominant running team and keep the clock running.  I liked Keaton, but at times his accuracy drove me crazy.  The Bubba-Rudolph's philosophy seems to be to avoid the 45 seconds drive after a couple of incomplete passes.  I think we have some nice QB options heading into the fall and because of that we're going to see the RBs have a great year.   Good QB play can make an average line look better and vice versa and that's going to help the run game.  I want to believe the offense takes a big step this year.  I can't wait.

Agree with a lot of this. I am hoping that the frustrating play calling takes a quantum leap this year. For some reason I have faith that it will begin to head in that direction. 

 

One of the problems is blaming too many of the issues on one factor. If John breaks off a big run the narrative is “John is awesome,” and not giving credit to the playcall or the OL. Conversely if he’s stuffed at the line the play call sucked and the OL sucked. Football is the ultimate team game and all parts must be working together to succeed. While I agree with everyone that I’d like to see the play calling change, too much blame and credit can be funneled to play calling at times. 

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54 minutes ago, Longtime fan said:

He doesn’t deserve a number.   

I’ve been harping about Rudy for nearly four years ....and will continue to do so for long as bubba keeps him on.   Without making changes this offseason, bubba made it clear that he rides with who chooses from day one and that’s that. 

I would love nothing more then to eat crow and watch the offense flourish in the D-less conference, or now, ex conference like the big sky.  And then show something against the top non big sky teams.  

The predictably is killing Santiago! 

The non adjustments are mind boggling!

His usage or lack there of is frustrating! 

 

Last four games of the year ( 1-3): Santiago had 8 total touches vs E Wash!?!

Santiago had 10 total touches vs S Utah !?!   

Santiago had 11 total touches vs Port St

Santiago had 9 total touches vs sac st !?!?  

Like him or not studsrud was an extremely bad passer.  The opposing D would clog up the middle knowing studsrud had a hard time even completing a screen pass and waited to punish the rb.   Why not give Zimmerman a try?  He looked to be very capable of a deep pass to keep the D honest.  I think bubba said something like senior all positions opened.   Studsrud looked to be playing hurt most of the season as well. Yet they ride with him.  Rudy or bubba or both? I believe  that Zimmerman would of given UND a better chance to succeed ....last year.  

 

Why pull Izzys shirt ?

Use the TEs ! 

I will agree the players have to do their part but it comes across as they are set up to fail from the beginning from ineptness 

 

I think we are in full agreement on all your points. Just a lot of blame to go around,  even Rudy.  The sooner the whole team gets on board and stops pointing the fingers at each other instead of themselves the longer UND FOOTBALL will languish in mediocrity. We rise as a team and fall as a team. Everything else is just excuses. 

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I'd say the most likely scenario is a 5-6 or 6-5 season...Too many variables for the season with the O-line and the defensive secondary/LB core to get a strong feel on the close games.  After a 3-8 season, I think its unfair to expect an 8-3 season out of the gate.  I hope I'm wrong, but that's my simple thought process...For a 100% confidence, I can say the tickets are bought and the tailgating bus has the tires checked, propane full, and coolers inspected and we are ready to go on the first game!

 

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1 hour ago, Irish said:

In my opinion, Sam Houston is a great test to see where we are in year 5 of Bubba Ball.  Bubba Ball was sold to us for this very situation - a highly skilled team who doesn't like smash face football.  Not saying we must win, but we need to be competitive and afterwords Sam Houston needs to feel like they were in a football game. 

The SHSU QB and his mom better both be unhappy at halftime.

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MS Valley State will be a blowout win for us.  Washington will likely be a blowout loss for us.  The game that will set the tone for us is going to be Sam Houston.  Sure they don't have Briscoe anymore, but they are still picked to finish first in the Southland.  If we can go in a win there, that would set the tone for the rest of the season.  Weber St and Montana are huge games.  It will help to have those games at home.  Washington, SHSU. Weber, and Montana are all games that we are likely not going to be favored in and the biggest potential for loses this year.  

After last season, 7-4 would be a great step in the right direction.  Anything less than 6-5 however would be a disappointment I think.

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1 hour ago, Teeder11 said:

I think we are in full agreement on all your points. Just a lot of blame to go around,  even Rudy.  The sooner the whole team gets on board and stops pointing the fingers at each other instead of themselves the longer UND FOOTBALL will languish in mediocrity. We rise as a team and fall as a team. Everything else is just excuses. 

Has there been a lot of finger pointing going on within the team?

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13 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

34.6 ppg given up by defense(108th in FCS).  Lot's of talk on here about Rudolph and the offense, but IMO, if ppg drops to 24/game we win at least 6, if it drops to under 20 we win at least 8 and are in playoffs.

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21 minutes ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

34.6 ppg given up by defense(108th in FCS).  Lot's of talk on here about Rudolph and the offense, but IMO, if ppg drops to 24/game we win at least 6, if it drops to under 20 we win at least 8 and are in playoffs.

I would expect a significant change in that number. As the article stated, the team was decimated by injuries. That was particularly true on defense. LB core was depleted. Deion Harris was out all year. Cole Reyes was injured a ton. and that is only to name a few.

If they stay health the defense should keep them in games, but Rudy needs to find a way to utilize the talent in ways that he has not shown. Get Oliveira and Santiago on the field. Line Santiago at WR at times. IF you use a reverse ... maybe try your speed guys. Can't stress this enough, but TIGHT ENDS!!!!! The whole picture cannot be blamed on Rudy, BUT he is the most pivotal piece of the puzzle in terms of improving his role, given the pieces that he has to work with; and they have recruited plenty of talented tools over the past few years.

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36 minutes ago, UND Fan said:

Good - I thought you were saying that there has been some discontent!

There should be, but it should be interally pointed and an internal driver amongst all. Can’t settle for good enough and certainly not the collective product that was put  out on the  field last season. 

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1 hour ago, siouxfan512 said:

I would expect a significant change in that number. As the article stated, the team was decimated by injuries. That was particularly true on defense. LB core was depleted. Deion Harris was out all year. Cole Reyes was injured a ton. and that is only to name a few.

If they stay health the defense should keep them in games, but Rudy needs to find a way to utilize the talent in ways that he has not shown. Get Oliveira and Santiago on the field. Line Santiago at WR at times. IF you use a reverse ... maybe try your speed guys. Can't stress this enough, but TIGHT ENDS!!!!! The whole picture cannot be blamed on Rudy, BUT he is the most pivotal piece of the puzzle in terms of improving his role, given the pieces that he has to work with; and they have recruited plenty of talented tools over the past few years.

I agree, Santiago should get 50% more touches and Rudy needs to find ways to get both Santiago and Oliviera on the field together a lot.   I am looking for much better QB play this year,  which will hopefully result in much better TE production. 

UND football the last couple years, it was the defense that was the difference between 9-3 and 3-8.

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15 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

Completely agree. If we are giving UND a mere 1% chance versus a fellow FCS opponent, then UND will NOT be good enough to make the playoffs this season: 4-7 or 5-6 record this season.

I think UND has a 40% or so chance to beat Sam Houston; all comes down to UND's ability to pressure the QB and play deep-ball pass defense. Last season they couldn't play the deep ball to save their life, so that needs to improve in 2018 for UND to win the game. My record prediction is currently 6-5 with no playoffs, unfortunately. UND's pass defense and pass offense concerns me too much; I would love to be surprised, though. 

Do you really think the offensive passing game won't be much better than last year? I feel like the talent is now in place to make big passing play more consistently than in the past. As long as our line gives he QB time I'm sure we will see great things this year in the passing game. Wansek and Tovenien looked great as true freshman and sophomores with a mediocre passing QB so we will see when we have more talented people throwing to them.

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15 hours ago, geaux_sioux said:

As long as we can figure out the RT spot. Seems like Nguon will be the guy but really he’s more of a guard.

geaux_sioux is concerned about the RT spot means that I am concerned about the RT spot. How can we still be in this position of not having pieces in place?

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5 minutes ago, SiouxFan100 said:

geaux_sioux is concerned about the RT spot means that I am concerned about the RT spot. How can we still be in this position of not having pieces in place?

Who do you anticipate as the starters?  I can't remember the Spring Ball Depth Chart and too lazy to find it.

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On ‎7‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 6:13 PM, nodak651 said:

There were also tons of people who wanted Rudolph fired after the 2016 season, when UND went 9-3 and made the playoffs.  People don't want him gone simply because UND lost a lot of games last year.  So he isn't a scapegoat.  That 2016 team was 105 out of 122 teams in FCS in 3rd down conversion %.  Looks to me like Rudolph got LUCKY to have a guy like Santiago that can break a huge run every once in a while, and in turn boost the yards/play stats.  The offense has ZERO consistency.   

WAY TOO MANY 3 and outs has been the story with Rudolph at OC

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