Longtime fan

Good grief! For any of us that lived through the absolutely hated rival ....this is disgusting! What a slap in the face. If there is a team that I NEVER want to see grace a GF publication of any sort it’s this &$&!?%* team. Wonder if they would have a pic in the Forum of the Alerus center with a headline of “Fargo dome renovates locker room” ? What a punch to the gut on game week.

I had thought that Kruse would of been on the 2 deep. Only a RS fresh but has a big frame with good feet. Still wondering if Helgren is healthy ? Great player that has been hobbled. If he is finally a full go I think the line could be pretty good this season....barring injury. Even though they are only sophomores.... the left side is set. Nate will be welcomed once he returns. With the new rule they have to find time to get Waletzko in and improve his feet Mammoth guy that needs a little game time. Love this rule.

McKinney I really like. He will be good. Griebel from his hudl tape has acceleration and cutting just not sure on overall speed. haven’t seen him enough tho as he has been injured the majority of the time that he’s been here. Will be interesting to see if Rudy strays away from his two play playbook.

Maag will be close. He is not a burner per se as his speed doesn’t come across as “fast” because of his long strides but he has some wheels. We will find out in true game time.

So und will have 6’5” 6’5” and 6’4” at wr

Absolutely love the fact the Devore is starting. The kid is a stud !! Adler 2.0. He will be all American status before he’s gone. Maag as well. Two very talented freshman

The four game rule is without a doubt a positive. For the coaches it could be bit tricky this year, as it is new, on deciding when to use it but I’m quite certain the they will find it beneficial. Trial and error year. Being the team can only bring 60 players on the road this rule applies more directly (potentially) to home games. Will be interesting to see how the coaches choose to use it, if at all.

Nickel or not ....just looking for a massive improvement this year. Getting ramped up for Thursday.....hoping/wishing 12000 + or more will be actively involved and attending Last year was unfortunately a rewind to the pathetic muss years and an anomaly to Bubbas..... I hope Time to prove it Will be watching the special teams and the offensive play calling the most. This game should be a blowout....hopeful to see many faces rotated in. As far as I’m concerned ....there is simply no better season then football season. Sends an adrenaline wave throughout my body. Can’t wait for the shoulder pads to start cracking

Keaton was a competitor ..no one can deny that. As something that I’ve been saying for four years though is that Rudy failed to use Keatons on field abilities....along with anyone else’s abilities. Rudy cannot take advantage of his players skills. Who would put a mastiff in race vs greyhounds even if they had greyhounds? Rudy would.....”because that’s the way it’s going to be!! That’s our style no matter ....no change” !! Why cant Rudy make a go with the OL? He’s had now five years to build it to the way the want to play. Maybe this is where he wants his greyhounds to be ?

Lol. Prothero does cause a road block for others to be top dog. Lol.

FYI. Played college ball “82-85” small school in SD. ILB.

Right. Goes from all American RB his freshman year to now being a bulldozer RB in Rudy ball. DCs have adjusted Rudy hasn’t. He’s taken a lot of punishment with the simplicity of this offense. He could of easily been an all american WR the last couple years if Rudy made some adjustments. The guy is a special talent with a garbage can for an OC. Again.....his talent alone warrants all conf/all American and playing in the big sky where every other team passes 65 times a game he should easily be 1st team all conf RB followed by all American at RB or WR or both.

Don’t need an explosive offense....need an offfense that can make adjustments and use its personal that it has correctly. No need to throw the ball 40-50 times. Santiagos all American status the couple years has been on special teams not RB showing his talent there

Sure he take credit for that but how does he use that talent for improvement. Santiago numbers have gone down each year as the DCs understand Rudy ball , TEs could just as well be bench warmers as they are never used. The big possession WRs have trouble with separation and can’t a ball thrown their way. There is plenty of talent amongst that group but its almost irrelevant with Rudy ball.

That just might be the most glaring issue. The offense plays like that every game. Then rides the coattails of the defense to bail them out

Outside one or two teams the big sky defenses are worthless. Playoffs prove that. Sam Houston drops 50+ on any big sky yet gets crushed by the CAA and MVFC teams. So when you speak of how they maybe strung together 3 -4 games in a row.....most anyone can vs big sky Ds You mentioned depth concerns ......is that part Rudy concern? As an OC that should fall on his shoulders. We all would of liked to see some hurry up or something different!!! That’s the issue! They are incapable of change or adjustments. Glad you see it as well. Keaton didn’t have the arm strength or accuracy and was mostly injured yet continued to play?????? Zimmerman could of spelled him numerous times ....nope!!!! That would be an adjustment. Can’t do that.

If the opposing team has an average to decent D the DCs would have to watch maybe two games of unds O to “get it” and damper most anything und tries. Against und , the safeties are just 2 extra LBs. Since und doesn’t use its TEs and the WRs are unable to get separation, allowing the CBs to man up....the safeties essentially become LBs and hug the scrimmage. No way unds o line has a chance to block that many bodies. So far in Rudy ball.....und stuck with a qb that couldn’t throw and was mostly injured , WRs that can’t get separation, TEs not used, powering up the gut with a 175 lb against essentially a 9 man front. No game plan. No in game adjustments. Not able or willing to use the strength of his players. I have a 4-7 prediction for this year maybe 5-6 with a sac st win but I solely lay at least 3-4 losses on Rudy. No question. The talent is there to be better then what they will show. There is nothing the suggests he is capable of running a competent offense and for the life of me I don’t understand what bubba sees that warrants Rudy being a D1 OC. With what I believe could be a very good year....my pessimism is at full throttle and it starts with Rudy and ends with Rudy.

The D is and always will be unds strength under this coaching staff. Like you said the injuries decimated the D namely the ILB crew and took out two senior all American pro hopefuls in the secondary. It also exposed unds lack of “quality” depth at certain positions. It was a complete mess for sure and quite certain an anomaly. They will be back this year....guaranteed! The offense on the other hand ....well ....I’ve stated for four years my disdain. Santiago has digressed each year as opposing teams DCs realized what Rudy ball is. The honeymoon year and 2nd year..... teams were still figuring out what und was all about. They know now. Easy to defend.

It seems that there is those occasional few that pipe up every once in awhile. My question then is......what the hell does bubba see that the majority of UND fans and quite a few opposing play by play announcers don’t. Is he that blinded with loyalty that he’s willing to go down with the ship rather then making a change!?! Wow!

For the people that defend Rudy I would like to hear what they think he brings to the table. What are the positives that they see in his offensive philosophy? Are they generally happy with what they have witnessed over the last 4 years? Do they think he’s capable of making the correct or for that matter any adjustments at all? Do they feel he has a different game plan accordingly to who the opponent is and their weaknesses? Do they like the fact the TEs are nearly invisible? Do they think he uses the strengths of his players? Do they in all honesty feel comfortable in the offense to get the points needed if und is down by two scores? Do they feel he’s a good evaluator? Some of the questions I have for them

I’ve attended four practices now and possibly see one of the reasons why bubba keeps Rudy on. If so, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous but I’m sure it plays into his decision. Rudy is the rah rah guy that runs around and taps everyone’s ass and says good things and make funny. It looks like he has the respect of the players. Whatever..... that doesn’t win games. Maybe he can become the funny water boy or something. He’s not cut out for OC.

Seems like a hard thing for the coaches to comprehend. They want a “power” offense, as do I, but the power begans with a 175 lb back and no proven power up front!?!? They must know they are not built yet to specs like they want. They need to adjust accordingly to what they have to relieve pressure off the o line instead of continuously making it impossible for them to succeed. Screens are the biggest asset to a team that has some trouble pancaking the opposing d line. And a two step drop to the TE.

This years skilled players are perhaps the most skilled in bubba era. The pint size shifters : Santiago, McKinney, Griebel, Izzy are complimented by horses: JJ, Brady, wanzek, maag, Toivonen. Otis is a combination power and shifty. Love the TEs! Luke, cloyd, hunter, and what will be a future stud....Devore. Devore is Adler 2.0. Great athleticism and work ethic. There are 3 qbs vying for top dog. truly believe whoever it is will be better at the position than studs. Studs was a great huddle general from what I hear but that was it. Nice athlete that was injury prone so Rudy kept him the pocket to throw ducks.

Yeah I heard that as well. Hard to believe it’s suppose that be that complicated of an offense when in the end it’s the rb going up the three hole.

Not sure exactly why and it is frustrating but it has to be frustrating as well for an o lineman in this system. Set to fail from the beginning. Rudy should just inform them when they arrive on campus .... “we have no offensive philosophy other then “powering” it up the middle. “You fellows up front will face two guys a piece all year as all defenses will crowd the box. In other word 10 of them and 5-6 of us. Good luck!!”