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Early on Romfo called a great audible on pass and changed running play where he physically repositioned the blocker. We can listen to what his coaches and teammates say or we can listen to the handful of pissants, who if they even ever played the game (doubtful), never learned to appreciate their teammates especially the backups. He got to his reads quickly and got rid of the ball quickly. He completed 3 of 6 with 2 drops. He hasn’t played meaningful minutes at QB in over a year, but didn’t get rattled. I hope Kaminski recovers quickly, and can play next week, but it’s good to know we have an experienced QB who his teammates and coaches have confidence in. We moved the ball effectively at a crucial juncture in the game. I don’t care who the QB is as long as they play well and do their part to lead this team to another win.

my favorite photo from last night! Thanks to @Russ Hons for taking this!!

Can we dispense with the 'heartfelt' love letters when players leave a school? They all do it but if they were believed all of what they post they wouldn't be leaving.

even better confirmation.

When all is said and done, I think we should pray that Thoreson is ok after that nasty nasty butt-end that he got from Verhoeff. Kid could have been seriously injured...so thoughts and prayers to him for a speedy recovery. /s

He absolutely should not play. It's just a game. He needs a functional head for the rest of his life and no one wants to live with headaches forever.

Rucker back is a cornerstone for the defense.

He needs to be let go within 30 minutes of the final buzzer sounding in our final game. The search for a new coach should already be happening on the back end. Let every single player on the roster go and let the new coach construct a whole new team. Need a complete overhaul and revamp of this program.

Or he's just proud.

Dehydration doesn’t normally cause vomiting but it is associated with heat related injuries starting with heat exhaustion. This is clearly a concussion. Jerry had 2 blows to the head in a relatively short period of time. He appeared disoriented when they first helped him up. He vomited shortly thereafter. Regardless of his claim that he was OK, he wasn’t. All anyone had to do was look at him sitting on the bench post injury. UND medical staff have a concussion protocol that hopefully includes pre-participation testing and a post concussion protocol. We used IMPACT protocol. All athletes in our contact sports had to complete pre-participation IMPACT testing, which a computer test that takes 20-30min. Post concussion protocol/activity doesn’t start until the athlete is symptom free. (No Headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, depression, vision issues etc.). They take a post concussion computer test and compare those results with pre-participation testing results. They must be able to perform at pre-participation level. Once they can do the that, the trainers supervise their gradual return to non-contact physical activity. Once they can do that they return to non-contact team practice activities. Only then are the allowed to return to practice without restrictions. They must have one asymptomatic full practice without restriction before cleared to play. That is the protocol we used at our high school. Never once were we pressured by a coach to clear an athlete to play that hadn’t cleared our protocol. (We had a couple of Dads tell us that was all “BS cuz they returned to play without that crap”. UND will have an approved protocol (there are a number of other protocols). I would advise Schmidt to game plan with the idea that Romfo and Sulik will be the QBs. Obviously the health of the athlete are always the top priority.

This looks like drunk uncle football at Thanksgivings.

I just watched Indiana throw a back shoulder ball to a wr who had zero separation. It was as if they trusted he could make a play if they just throw it to him. It’s exactly what we should have done with Deng all year. He doesn’t need to run by guys because he can catch over them. Next year we need to figure that out.

I know we give some of the GameDay experience and social medial folks some crap.. but the 701 videos each week are awesome.

It's funny but that game seems SO long ago. It was one, if not the worst, games of his career. Many on here wanted him in a suit the next game and I think many of us watched to see how Jax would handle it. Would Ben get a free pass being a senior and captain? Or would a tone be set. He didn't sit him, but he did bump him down to the fourth line the next game and Ben responded by scoring his first shift. He hasn't looked back since. I think it shows two things. One, that Jax wasn't all talk. He showed very early that there weren't going to be free passes this year. It also shows that Ben is the type of leader we want and need. He didn't pout; he found another level. When Jax talks about there being a clear delineation between the type of guys that chose to stay and the type that chose to leave, this example sticks out to me.

I just want to pause for a moment to reflect that we are all here talking about a SECOND playoff game. And signing day is tomorrow, so it's fun to have a present AND a future to be excited about.

Certainly. We could also lose. Losses in 3 of last 4 with the only win against Murray State. We were trailing an 0-10 Murray State team at the half so we should probably not take an 11-1 team too lightly regardless of their strength of schedule.

Shoutout to the seniors from this year! Can’t get to them all but wanted to mention a few McNeal: one of the best leaders we’ve had in a long time; bleeds green and is an outstanding young man Anderson: extremely reliable; played a ton of football for UND and was one of the best graded fcs tackles all season Lewis: my personal favorite. A home run portal guy who was everywhere on the field and seemed to be the best tackler on the field. Wiltshire: another absolute home run. He’s the definition of JYD. Will be very hard to replace a guy like him Martin: really good addition a couple years ago, clearly was playing through pain and gutted it out Scott: really wish his career didn’t end with an injury Nate D : really improved this offseason, a leader, and a really good blocker as well Z: another guy who bleeds green and should have gotten twice as many carries in every game he played this year. Averaged over 7 YPC this year only to get 5 carries in his last game a lot of other guys not mentioned, but left a mark as hopefully the first building block team for the start of something very special!

Luke Starcevic (Kindred, ND) I'm aware of his ranking nationally and his incredibly impressive list of P4 offers. I'm not saying this is likely, but to me this angle for UND actually plays. Stay home, play with your brother, play where your parents attended (both student athletes). Play in front of family and friends. Be a part of the rising of this program. Play early, dominate. Really sell that him and his brother could be a part of history. After two or three years, we'll help you pack your bags. You'll be celebrated when you portal out as an upper classman. Likely? No, but I think it plays.

Words never heard at Judy's for 100, Alex.

My only concern is unnecessarily negative hypotheticals

From Coach Rucker

Michigan is very good and nobody would be surprised if they beat UND. You said they would “destroy” UND as if it is a fact. People pointed out they have lost to teams already that aren’t at the same level UND is currently at. That’s not losing your mind.

I have no idea whether he still wants to coach, but Craig Smith is available after Utah surprisingly let him go late last season. It would be incredibly ironic given he could and should have been hired instead of Brian Jones to replace Rich Glas 20 years ago. UND grad from Stephen, MN. Still only in his early 50s.

Just gotta say winning is awesome. 😁

Hoping for a flood of these!

Last offseason USD lost three starting offensive linemen, a starting receiver, a starting DB and a LB who was their leading tackler to the portal. Then their leading rusher went down with a season-ending injury in September. And obviously now they're the last Dakota team standing. You just never know.

Sometimes a guy is just that good. Kenny was obviously playing at the wrong level. A lot of guys that transfer out are not transferring for those reasons. Even still, thanks for your time to all of them. We win fewer games without the guys that hit the portal this year. I’m glad we had them. Now we need to replace them and improve upon them.

Good luck to them. Bluiett and Seidl were gone before the season started. BJ sucks to lose but there are a million wr out there. The staff has been hammering that position. We’ll be just fine.

Just to be clear, SS was talking about the portal before the season started. I think it was even alluded to here that he was disciplined a bit for it. His entering it was no surprise to the staff.

Check out Message from Jon Gruden to team !!! https://www.cameo.com/recipient/6930828803840967174b050f LFG!!!! A cameo made for UND for the game

Arguably UND had the best D2 Arena in Basketball 🏀 the Hyslop when packed could hold 5,000+ fans. Fans were engaged, loud, knowledgeable and students actually supported the programs! Hyslop Hysteria was a thing. Winning streaks were long and memorable! We WON, and kids came to play for that!

All those experts who complained that the Valley got too many teams in can shut up now….

Kudos to Simon. He came in and was better than Jerry. That's all that was needed to win this one offensively.

This one is an enigma to me. I've been around for quite a while and I really thought this was a good hire. Great pedigrees, young, energetic, personable, out in the community - they hit all of the things I wanted in the new hire. They inherited a program in a rough place and got to the league tournament in his first year. I really thought the program was primed to get back to the Hardee/Prior era, not just in term of wins but in fans in the seats and overall excitement regarding the program. Unfortunately the team hasn't got it done. I don't know if they couldn't get the players they really wanted, or if they got the players they wanted and it turned out they weren't the players they needed? Ball control has been a major problem (NO team has too much ball control 😁), and it seems they are always trying to run an offense faster than their passing allows. Lack of outsides who can consistently terminate off of shaky passes didn't help, but physical 6'+ outsides with a live arm are pretty hard to come by. Consistent connections with the middles hasn't really happened since Stockman and Dell, which doesn't make the life of the outsides any easier. I don't know that there was anything close to a starting line up this year for literally the entire year. We're not in practice, and don't know who is hurt, or who's doing what, but it seems strange that a line up wasn't solidified at some point in the season. It seems that a lot of people have to be questioning their role, both this year and looking forward. It'll be interesting to see what the roster looks like come January, and then again in May. The portal opens in early December. We have a LOT of players added in the past year, some saw some playing time and others not so much. And a couple that used to see a lot of playing time in the previous year or two who saw much less this past year. It'll be interesting to see who sticks around long enough to see what the new coach has to say and then who sticks around after that. I saw a few of the "newer" players start to step up towards the end of the season, we'll see who is willing to stick around for the hopeful rebuild next season. Regarding potential coaches, I've been told Brady has it *nice* at CSP. It he really wanted to leave he would have been gone a long time ago. He's been winning a lot for a long time and has had plenty of opportunities. I suspect we'll look for someone not unlike the Tupac's, a DI assistant, strong background, and looking for a place to make a name for themselves in their first HC position. I liked the Tupac's and wish it would have worked out, but here we are. I wish the same for whomever is next. For the Tupac's I have nothing but positive thoughts and the hope that this ends up being a great learning experience and that their next great adventure (not counting the little one on the way) is successful. And best of luck with what I thought I read was a little boy. Either way, best of luck. And get some sleep now, it'll be in short supply for a while. 😀

The bags are packed…Bemidji and Grand Forks, here I come!

Would you blow a gasket if UND had lost? Smile, take the W, move on.

Unfortunately, we have had a string of suspect AD's since Terry Wanless was run out of town. The success of the 90's is a distant memory and the leadership over the last two decades has been a big part of the problem.

Gabinet looks like Frank "Grimy" Grimes from the Simpsons.

He deserved a shot today. You have to be blind to not see how the team rallied when he came in last week. Could have used that today

Now it should be 14-24. Love Schmidt to death, but he needs to figure it out on these boneheaded choices. No reason to fake punt and no reason to go for 2. Those are inexcusable.

I love Gaven Ziebarth, I really do. Been adamant all year he should have been getting more touches. I am really disappointed in how we used him this year. Guy’s carry numbers this year are 2, 10, 8, 6, 7, 9, 3 (injury) and then 11 last game. I think we screwed up in how we used him all year and a lot of last year too.

Full disclosure....Jerry fan here. Still feels like last season was wasted sticking with Simon every snap but the eyeball test matters. Simon looked better in a half than Jerry did last month plus. UND is going to have to run the ball to win. Just need a QB to make a few throws and not turn it over. Simon needs to start.

Signing Period 2025-2026 big day for UND football tomorrow … another big day on Saturday … Lots of big days upcoming for UND football, and oh man is it awesome…

It surprises me the disdain for a returning All American defenseman who was one of the first to commit back with the program, which helped prevent a bigger exodus, and be in the running for CHL talent. To each his own I guess.

Could really use Z. I think that he could have made a difference in at least two of the three games that we lost late in the season.