[The UND @ South Dakota State 9/30/2023]

I'll be in Brookings on Saturday...forecast is mid 80s...gross!  I'm built for 55-65 in the fall...haha!

This is a big one for UND...lose it and look bad doing it and the restless voices start to amplify considerably...and NDSU becomes a "must win"...

Play well and all the good things we all want for this team is possible.  It's hard to be confident in that given our past performances in "big" games under Bubba...but I remain optimistic nonetheless!  Run the football...make plays on the edge and in space...limit big plays, and play clean on special teams and we'll be fine!  We just need to see it done in a game of this magnitude!

[The UND @ South Dakota State 9/30/2023]

6 hours ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

I find all this 2013 team talk entertaining.

ironically, UND had a big matchup against South Dakota State in 2013, also. Hopefully this 2023 matchup goes better than that one did.

Yeah the Mussman era is completely flushed from my memory...I want nothing to do with any of those days...and I don't care if the talent was better...the product was atrocious...

[Future of the UND Football Program]

I'm not saying this because I want to move on from any coaches at this point (I'm also not saying that I don't want to move on for what it's worth)...but we don't have a single coaching staff member who has been a full-time coach at a D1 program other than Western (woof) and Southern Illinois.  Pawlak at least spent some time in a big program...and he's been solid!  That lack of diversity leads to a feel of "inbreeding" in the coaching staff.  I know it's not a cure-all or a guarantee of success...a lot of coaches at lower levels can flat out coach, and a lot of your lower level position coaches are pretty green.  But it is hard to find a lot of new ideas to bring to the table if you've never been anywhere to see things done a different way.  

At least Kirkwood played for the Gophers and Pawlak won a MAC championship at NIU.

Compare that to Idaho (mentioned here)

Eck - played at Wisconsin, coached at 8 different D1 schools

Schleusner - Coached at 3 d1 schools (WIU when they were good, UND, SDSU)

Aurich - USD and NSIC (least diverse resume I saw)

Ford (RB and ST) - UW

Sutton (TE/Recruiting) - San Diego OC

Booth (OL) - Temple/BC/CSU

Lose (DL) - Portland State/Wash St.

Franks (DB) - Wash St./ISU

Linehan (WR) - San Diego St. 

 

[Future of the UND Football Program]

10 minutes ago, Sioux>Bison said:

Idaho is the flagship out in Idaho…. He is recruiting a whole different market out there. Montanas is the only big competitor 

I would hardly call Idaho the flagship in the state of Idaho when it comes to football recruiting!  Look at the 300 mile radius...

72 miles to Cheney, WA

9.4 miles to Pullman, WA

242 miles to Missoula, MT

295 miles to Boise, ID

Arguably more competitive than UND's D1 landscape.

81 miles to Fargo, ND

265 miles to Brookings, SD

 

 

[Future of the UND Football Program]

1 minute ago, Kab said:

I would bet freund would move if an fbs offer comes, waiting for Bubba  to retire may be too long for Danny 

The coach from Ferris state said he would like to coach at Montana just because of the atmosphere at the games 

I'm not sure why Coach Annese at Ferris hasn't moved on yet...but if I was an AD he'd be on my perpetual short list!

[The UND @ Boise State 9/16/2023]

52 minutes ago, UND-FB-FAN said:

You’re already hedging that UND can’t beat 2 of these 3: Boise, SDSU, NDSU. You’re sandbagging and lowering expectations to only winning 1 of the 3.
I don’t think those results are going to get UND to the next tier. Just the honest to God truth. As such, need to aim higher. Beat Boise. Beat SDSU. Beat ag school. Can’t beat all 3, fine, okay. Cant beat 2 of the 3, then we have problems. 

I'm late to the party here...and not trying to hedge anything...but if we can win 1 of Boise/NDSU/SDSU and take care of business in the rest of our games that would be a positive step in the progression in my book.  That's 9-2, and assuming things play out how they normally do would earn us a seed in the playoffs.  That would be significant improvement over 7-4/6-5.  The team is capable...I'd LOVE to see it!

Boise is going to be tough.  I wish they'd have beaten UCF.  They can't afford to sleep walk through this week being 0-2...it'll take our best effort to beat them!  SDSU in Brookings will also be a tough challenge.  I think we can beat them...but it'll take a great effort.  I'm just a fan who's along for the ride...but I have tickets for Brookings and I'm extremely excited to be there!  Last time I was there was the 2003 Joe Wilson miraculous comeback game...so it's been a minute haha!

Then there is NDSU...at home...bottom line...in order to get where we all want to go WE NEED TO WIN THAT GAME!

[The UND @ Boise State 9/16/2023]

18 hours ago, Goose15 said:

Our run game has been good, especially last year with Hoosman and looks to be good again this year. 

In 2022 UND averaged 147.6 yards rushing per game.

In 2016 UND averaged 208.4 yards rushing per game.

In 2015 UND averaged 240.5 yards rushing per game.

I wasn't saying our rushing offense hasn't been good...but we are much more balanced and more multiple offensively now.  Our passing offense pre-Danny was much more vertically focused off of play-action (I don't recall Rudy ever calling a screen pass once during his reign in Grand Forks).  Nowadays a lot of our passing game is an extension of the running game (which makes up for the drop in yards above imo)...that said we aren't built like we used to be and one of the casualties (and there have been very few in my mind) has been the vertical passing game.  That said...with Eliador in the mix I think we'll see more of it this year than we have at any point under Danny's command of the offense.

[The UND @ Boise State 9/16/2023]

45 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

There is a thing called trajectory too you know that factors into those 2 throws.  I have no issues with Tommy, just pointing out the way Washington toasted Boise is not in our arsenal of weapons but Tommy has other intangibles that will give us a shot in this game. (unless defensively we can't get any stops)

I have long thought that our troubles hitting on deep balls the last few years boiled down to two factors:

1 - Lack of a dominant running game to bring safeties into the box.

2 - Lack of receivers who can get separation and run by defenders.

Eliodor might be the first receiver we've had in awhile that could do this.  We were much better at this in the (gulp) Rudy era...mainly because we had two RBs (Oliviera and Santiago) who demanded so much attention!

Sometimes I think about what our offensive production would have looked like if Danny was our OC running this system in 2015-16...it makes me sad if I'm just being honest!

[The UND @ Boise State 9/16/2023]

50 minutes ago, McBuckets said:

If I’ve learned on thing from the basketball forum its that NAIAs are glorified high school teams with garage players. Interesting to see a different perspective in here and putting some respect on these athletes names. 
 

I am excited to watch the boys run around on that blue turf and come out with a big time W! Maybe even a game winning FG for #92

I mean...I wouldn't go conflating what I said with the mindset that Mayville State could beat NDSU...but in the past there have been NAIA schools that have beaten mediocre/bad FCS schools before.  And when the FCS school is in essence a D3 school...I'd argue it should be expected.

[The UND @ Boise State 9/16/2023]

32 minutes ago, gundy1124 said:

Northwestern Red Raiders......ranked #1 in NAIA football beat Drake in OT, context matters.  If you look at a lot of Washington's scoring and big plays VRS Boise a good chunk of those came on deep throws, throws Tommy can't make.  The pass to Elidor for example, he basically had to stop running.  Penix (Washington QB) was hitting guys in stride on deep balls and throwing bullets across the middle. (29 of 40 for 450 yards with 5 TDS)  Now Penix last season was a bit of a hot/cold QB with a big arm and no doubt he was red hot VRS Boise.  Lunch Bucket Tommy Gun is pretty much the same QB every game.  Can the intangibles, timing, and WR/TE talent be enough VRS Boise?  It won't match Penix's play but it doesn't need to match, just be good enough to win.  So yes, our offense is a little tongue and cheek #1 currently but it can be good enough to hang in this game.  Probably more scary to me is the Boise St. RB Jeanty.  (43 touches for 365 yards, 8.49 per touch vrs Washington and UCF)

I seem to remember another FCS team losing to a top tier NAIA program at home in the last 15 years...seems to me that NAIA program had a great coach that's moved up a level or two since...

I'm not going to put a lot of stock in our top offensive ranking after two games...it doesn't mean much.  What I do know is this...we have yet to struggle to score points, and generally that's not our problem unless we retrench into our shell and play "not to lose."  Make the plays we are supposed to make, attack the edges, get the ball into our playmakers hands and chew up yards/clock and we'll give ourselves a chance offensively to be in this game.  

If we make a bunch of mistakes it'll be a long afternoon on the smurf turf...

[The UND @ Boise State 9/16/2023]

32 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/college/transfer-wesley-eliodor-finding-his-place-in-unds-no-1-ranked-offense

this is why people don't trust the media anymore.......yes they are number 1 in offense but please use some context. 95 sos

Context?  As in we played Drake game 1?  We are two games in... most FCS teams have likely played at least 1 gimmie game...and many have played 1 paycheck game.  We play our paycheck game on Saturday.  These kinds of things even out as the season moves along...Tommy was a nearly 70% completion guy last year...that's pretty dang good.  We all know his limitations...it's on the coaching staff to gameplan to his strengths.  They've done that to my satisfaction thus far.  If that fails to continue...y'all will hear about it on here, I am sure!

Tom Miller isn't an opinion writer, and this wasn't an opinion piece.  If you want to add context...you are free to do so!  I'm sure the Kaminski family would love to hear it!  

[The UND @ Boise State 9/16/2023]

30 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

in crag bohl's 10th year they went into kansas state and ran it ....and ran it well. jenson was efficient but not flashy.... i don't remember any trick plays....bohl just said we're better than you and we're gonna prove it. that last drive they had was fun to watch (not really as a siouxfan but you know what i'm saying.)

let's see what the guys can do but really after 10 years of bubba ball  we're hoping to win games bc danny does a quadruple reverse half back pass?  

would love to see z, skolkna, smith, and tommy have similar numbers with a similar result!!!!!!!!

NDSU - Rushing

Player	Att.	Gain	Loss	Net	TD	Lg.	Avg.
Totals	43	245	30	215	1	66	5.0
Sam Ojuri	10	130	3	127	0	66	12.7
John Crockett	16	54	4	50	0	7	3.1
Ryan Smith	2	18	2	16	0	18	8.0
Derrick Lang	1	14	0	14	0	14	14.0
Cooper Wahlo	1	5	0	5	0	5	5.0
Brock Jensen	12	24	19	5	1	7	0.4
TEAM	1	0	2	-2	0	0	-2.0

First...that last drive for NDSU was an offensive football masterpiece!  I hate them but I love watching that drive to this day...almost brings tears to my eyes!

Second...that NDSU team was one of the best to ever play at this level.  We have a good team...but not at that level.

What I want to see this weekend is a team that's going to go to Boise and give them their best shot!  No playing it close to the vest all the time...play our game...attack the edges and give our playmakers a chance to make some plays.  Bend but don't break on defense and give us a chance to win.  I don't want to see Tommy's final stat line be something like 20-24 for 117 yards.  That won't get it done.  We need to take some chances...and if we go down we might as well go down swinging.

[Northern Arizona @ UND 9/9/2023]

53 minutes ago, wheelsup said:

A couple of thoughts..

• KK has taken a lot of crap on this forum.. he has played a lot better this year.  He had a great pass breakup during this last game and I havent seen any plays yet like last year where he was running across the field behind somebody on blown coverage.  Also.. kid must have some shoulder issues as he comes over to the sidelines multiple times a game looking like he has dislocated his shoulder.  Seems like a super tough kid.
• Defense continues to improve.  Obviously this trend needs to continue but I am more optimistic about the defense based on the two games so far.  Our talent and depth seems to be significantly improved over last year.
• I wasnt worried for a single minute during the game that we were going to lose it.  We can complain about the last 5 minutes (for all the haters out there.. Bubba also expressed signficant disappointment in the finish).. but overall compared to last year this game was smooth sailing.
• It was great to see skokna back in there.. the kid runs hard.. is super fast and fun to watch.  I feel very good about our RB talent, I wish they would have skokna/red returning kicks and punts instead of Belquist and Siegel.  I hold my breath every time those two guys are back there on punts and kicks
• The kickoff game continues to baffle me.. I cant believe he doesnt have the leg to kick it into the endzone (if he doesnt there are probably 10+ North Dakota High school kids a year that can and do) and so it must be on purpose.  Not what I would pick but Im only an old guy on the internet.
• Sometimes Danny still gets too cute for my liking.. sometimes when you are ripping off 8-10 yds a carry you do that until they stop you.  I love how they are involving Quincy.  They already have shown a nice progression of options on the Q sneak play.
• I think Siouxfan97 has point on Tommy's deep passes.. I also think he is completely delusional on replacing him with a true freshman.  Danny sees these guys every day in practice and games and if he thought we had a better chance with one of our other QB's i think he would replace Tommy in a minute.. Tommy is awesome and we are lucky to have him.  He is tough as nails and makes great decisions over and over.  I wish he would have played his Freshman year (2019) versus having to suffer through watching Ketteringham (who also threw a nice deep ball by the way)

Im looking forward to an upset in Boise.. Defense has to keep improving.

Couldn't have said it any better myself!

I really like the way Ziebarth runs the football...I get the whole "keeping our backs fresh" and distributing carries thing...but he's my bell cow if it was me calling plays!

[Northern Arizona @ UND 9/9/2023]

There are two camps a person can be at with this one:

One is the historical camp:  If you look at the intricacies of "Bubba Ball", then this game will likely be close, as that's just how these types of games tend to go.  We typically get a bump in "Bubba Ball" games playing at home...and on Potato Bowl the crowd should be into it.  34-31 would be a decent prediction given our perceived offensive strengths/defensive weaknesses.

The other camp is the "Great Expectations" camp:  This team is better up front on both sides of the ball than it has been in a bit, and our offense has the ability to score points on anyone.  We may not have sacked the Drake QB this weekend, but he was running for his life quite a bit.  I'd like to see us hit a couple big plays down the field...I feel like we can...and we should be able to do that.  With an amped up crowd at home that should only help our defense.  41-24 with NAU scoring a late TD would be appropriate here.

I find myself much closer to the "Great Expectations" camp than the historical.  There's nothing wrong with thinking this year we take the next step.  Hell I've heard more talk about that this year from the team and media than I have in quite some time.  A clean, definitive win is what should be expected if we are going to make that happen...and I think we will get it done this weekend!  34-24...late TD for NAU making it look closer than the game is.

[Northern Arizona @ UND 9/9/2023]

5 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

So a team we barely beat last year we are gonna just blow em out because why?  If an even average quarterback and average wr's has the same time as drake's qb we are in trouble. plus the smu guy might be a load

last team we played last year we were down 28-14 at half and lost by 7 to weber

last team they played they were tied at halftime and lost by 2 to weber

this is going down the wire and ...............special teams might actually be important????????

 

Game is in Grand Forks...that's a significant difference maker in my book.

UND 34-NAU 24

I feel like this should be a 41-14 type of game...but I'm not sold on UND's defense in passing situations.  Tommy and Belquist et al. have a big game.  Teeder had a great analysis of what NAU did well...but they also gave up 7 yards per rush and 15 yards per completion...I like our odds to break a few tackles and make some big plays on offense.

[2023 Football Season]

7 minutes ago, GoodGood said:

Leupke didn’t play in the playoffs. Mattress Cam completed 1 pass in a semi final game and they won. I think they’ll be ok

NDSU will be a contender until they prove that they aren't on the field imo...

[2023 Football Season]

22 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

Set up a meeting with Chaves and he'll give you the numbers

I don't think it takes a detailed presentation to figure out that replacing Portland State on your schedule with SDSU will help attendance.

That said that wasn't the focus of my original point.  My point remains that if UND is staring down 6-5 the bandwagon will have a lot of room.  We've seen that happen before...it'll happen again.  I'm cautiously optimistic that that won't be an issue this year, but others aren't...and an argument can be made to justify why that is the case.

[2023 Football Season]

1 minute ago, jdub27 said:

Why can't it be both?

Show me that it is?  The good of it is if we take care of business in our big games at home this fall that growth will happen!

[2023 Football Season]

19 hours ago, CMSioux said:

I understand you have an agenda, but think I just read a story in the GF Herald that tickets sales have gone up consistently since UND returned to the MVFC.

No agenda here...but 54-45 since 2014 isn't good enough for me.  I believe that we are doing the right things to right the ship...and 8-3 is the expectation this year.  It's not a bad thing to have expectations.  If they aren't met...there will be empty seats in the Alerus for non-SU games...that's a fact!

 

Also...you don't think having 3-4 conference opponents within driving distance has led to increased ticket sales?  That and having NDSU/SDSU on the schedule every year?  I'm not so sure that ticket sales have gone up because there are more diehard UND fans.  It's more so that opponent interest is higher.  

[2023 Football Season]

Couple thoughts:

Overall I like where we are at.  My hope in a couple of these positions is that we are so deep that guys will rotate in that aren't listed depending on game situations (D-Line would certainly be my focus here).  I'm a still concerned about our OLBs/Safeties.  Like a few on this board...I've seen Kauppinen get toasted enough times to not have a high trust level in his play in passing downs.  We need to be better at OLB as well...hopefully coaching gets this done (and I'm not sure if "simplifying" is enough).

As to a couple of points made here today:

1 - I'm a firm believer in the best player plays philosophy.  If I was a player I wouldn't be too happy if I was sitting in order to "spring a surprise" on Boise or SDSU...college football careers are too short.  You can always play the other guys after you get a lead or rotate them in...(Oh and I highly doubt Kaminski at this point is better than Tommy so that poster you can give it a rest...haha!).

2 - I know everyone is sick of the criticisms of how the program is run...but they continue to be forced down our throats for a reason, namely that many on here don't think we've done enough to address them.  I'm going to give the program the benefit of the doubt...but if we're staring down 6-5/7-4 by October...it's only going to get louder!  And those staunchly unconditional defenders of the status quo will continue to have more and more space to roam in an increasingly empty Alerus Center...

[Drake vs UND 9/2/23]

On 8/21/2023 at 9:51 PM, SWSiouxMN said:

UND uses 4 QBs and does exactly what you need to do against non-scholly FCS teams

44-3 UND

 

We are talking about the preseason #8 team in the non-scholly Pioneer League...I like the 4 QB's idea...but 44-3 isn't good enough for me.  For once I'd like to see us hang 60 on someone!

That said...44-3 is probably more likely knowing how our games typically go.

[2023 Non-UND FCS thread]

1 hour ago, The Sicatoka said:

Don't we hear from @Bison Dan that Fargodome operates at a profit?
Where are those dollars for improvements? Why tax increases? 

About seating: They should salvage the red/blue seats and sell them to VCSU to redo Lokken Stadium.  

They don't need it...their seats are way nicer at Lokken!

 

 

 

[Conference Realignments - Take 2]

46 minutes ago, Kab said:

I guess the only way to know is to get Josh Gallion and Rob Port to come in and tell everyone where things sit

Be careful what you wish for...

[2023 Football Season]

4 minutes ago, AJS said:

What I've concluded is the Coaching staff based on moves we've seen, is potentially the D-Line play was the biggest concern. They hit that position hard for transfers. D-Line play, simplifying the defensive scheme (which has been talked about) and they must feel they have the talent to greatly improve.

I actually agree with the coaching staff's rationale on this.  EVERYTHING starts up front...both sides of the ball...

[Some Thoughts on UND's FB Program]

7 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

There is no evidence it would or would not; however, you've been consistent that more money will help football. The corollary is less would hurt, be it hockey or football. Does the risk/reward curve say cutting hockey funding is worth the unknown impacts to both football and hockey. I say the better solution is to build up the football donor base, not cut something else. 

An FCS title would better position UND for what? To say UND is just like everyone else? 

Any future donations will go to whatever the donor earmarks it for (see: Memorial Village II softball complex). 

This discussion is still going on???  Gotta love summer...get outside people!!!  Haha...

That said...if I was taking over an athletic department with a lineup like UND's...here would be my observations:

1 - Hockey pays the bills.  It's a cash cow.  It has almost zero potential for future growth.  Where can it go...it's already the top supported college program on the planet.  Based on that level of emphasis...I'd expect a few more banners in the rafters...maybe an honest look at the program performance is warranted.

2 - I don't want to piss off those hockey donors (like I said in a previous post I appreciate UND's hockey heritage)...but if I'm evaluating initiatives to grow the department and realize potential...the first two initiatives that need to be undertaken are improving the following (in order):

a - Men's basketball

b - Football

These are by far the two biggest potential revenue sports outside of hockey.  They used to be consistent performers for the university...but they haven't grown as they should have in the move to D1 IMO...Building a consistent top performer in these sports can be damn near life changing for an athletic department (see NDSU football/Gonzaga (big stretch I know) basketball).

3 - To your point Sic...a big part of #2 is building the donor base.  But besides that...admin/marketing deals that hamstring other sports in favor of hockey are so counter-productive to the goals in two that they should be fire-able offenses in my book.  Hockey really doesn't need emphasis from the department in regard to marketing/admin...it sort of sells itself at this point.  Those other sports need the help at this point...and they also need to repay the added help by being successful.

In short...hockey is the cash cow...but it also has nowhere to go but down.  Football and basketball have a ton of untapped potential.  They should be given every chance to put a winner on the court/field (and if they don't find somebody who will).