Longtime fan

???? Who wouldn't think a championship isn't a big deal????

I've mentioned that same thing. Mvfc is the best conference in the fcs, that's no secret. But in reality ndsu is about the only team ( including gateway conf) that has done anything in the 2000s. Top to bottom a very talented league tho. The big sky can gripe about regionalization just as much as the guys can from the mvfc being the big sky teams are in the same bracket.......all the time!! Things won't change for as long as the committee keeps regionalizing. We just need to take care of business in the big sky and be seeded for the playoffs. Play one less game and have home field advantage is big. And bubba ball is built for November and December.

After reading your post I did a little referencing between UNI and UND. They have three common opponents this year : @ndsu @ Port st @ cal poly. Both teams were 2-1 against the three with the loss being to ndsu. First and foremost I'm not saying und is better then uni this year, because they're not, but the stats between the two teams and three common opponents are fairly equal With those three common opponents the game totals on the defensive side are as follows : und gave up 49 first downs / passing d- 649 yards 6 tds 0 int / rushing d -120 carries 365 yards 3.0 ave 3 tds. N Iowa gave up 67 first downs/ passing d- 517 yards 5 tds 6 ints/ rushing d- 155 carries 671 yards 4.3 ave 4 tds They both gave up 9 tds, und was much better against the run and the 6 ints from n Iowa proves their secondary is better. The offensive stats against the 3 common opponents are as follows: und passed for 448 yards 2 tds 1 int/ rushed 129 carries 483 yards 3.7 ave and 6 tds n Iowa passed for 422 yards 2 tds 3 int / rushed 136 carries 882 yards 6.5 ave 9 tds Interesting that und passed for more yards and less ints then n Iowa but n Iowa doubled up und on the rushing. Neither team passes which is obvious just surprised at the rushing differential. Would've liked to seen the matchup to see what und could or couldn't do as they were hot at the end of the season.

It's an honest question, I'll take a stab at it. No, it does not temper the excitement! For how far mussman drove this program into the ground, any little success will spike not only the fans but the players perspective on the direction we are going, regardless of opponents. Bubba is the right hire for this program and has it going. Slowly he is building the foundation to which us older fans remember and to what und needs to be successful moving forward. Und hasn't had much success in the D1 transition so as Bubbas motto is "day by day"! Once a program sniffs success it breeds and demands success and my excitement is peeked as bubba is well equipped to do it. Big sky isn't known for smash mouth, bubba and barny are the exceptions. You an add cal poly to that list as well. Montana perennially is known to have a good defense but like most big sky teams the offense just chuck it around. That type of offense is for summer play not november and December . With the youth und has been playing the last two years, they will finally come into a season next year with the experience and known success of a 7-4 season. It been 9 long yrs that und can make that statement. I'm fully invested for the outlook of this program

Who?

Sounds like a dedicated individual, good to hear. My first practice I attended this summer, he stood out in a very special way. Ran crisp routes, made terrific catches in tight spaces , he was just to thin. Adding 20 lbs has my giddy! 6'4" 195-200 lbs with great hands is very welcoming.

That's a nice home schedule. A familiar South Dakota team that is improved will definitely be a test. Und wins. Cal poly is always tough but play perfectly into Unds mojo. Und big. After this weekend and seeing S Utah, I wasn't that impressed. Think und wins big on that one also. Weber st returns some really good talent and got better as the year went on, they could be very much improved. Und wins but not by much. Northern Arizona will be very dangerous. We need to bring a lot of noise for that one. Toss up but going with und. Of the away games, other then bowling green, montana st is the only possible loss that I see. If we can upset bowling green, I would like to think that would perk interest and the attendance would increase. Keep the fingers crossed. I looks like Unds home schedule is tougher then the away games. I'm going 9-2 for the year. Someone mentioned earlier about Unds bye week. It's after the last regular season game!?! If und was able to position themselves into a seed, that means 2 weeks off! 20 days into between games???? I don't like it. Now if they made the playoffs without a seed, that works out great with a bye week to get healthy. Very weird bye week schedule regardless

Stoney's defense, correct me if I'm wrong, led the nation in yards ( 250 ish yds/game). So its legit. It might take a qtr or so to get the offense going for und, I'm thinking a 27-7 victory. Bowling green is a bad matchup for und. They return two tall 6'3"/6'2"and fast receivers. Both were parade all Americans. The sen qb to start, started the yr before and threw for over 3000. The sen rb is much better then their starter now and I think they lose only one lineman. They also bring back 2 studs linebackers on d. Playing ohio st the week before playing und, might make for a letdown on their behalf ?? Bowling 47-24 USD with coaching changes is something to watch. They bring back some talent. It's Unds first home game and the o line will be starting to sync. Und 34-24

assuming the "b" stands for bison

Not thinking usd so much but msu seems to be more of a probability. Idk

Dont bother , they always come back with, " und stacked the box"! Of course und did, that is what und does, stack the box! No one in fcs can run on und. When the secondary gets a little more experience this d will be lights out!!! Und loses one starting senior this and possibly only two starters on next years squad. This defense and future are bright

santiago had four carries.

2016 defense : They lose one starter on d, ratelle.... Ouch!!! Huge loss!! They also lose olb dayo and walk on safety james. DE- this was a strength last year. with everyone coming back other then oft injured woodsmall, Wow, I can't wait to see them next year!! They return two 3 year starters Greely and dranka , both will be true juniors. Backups are very good in sen Noah, sen carrothers and soph cieslak. Red shirt fresh engwall will definitely be in the mix. Absolutely love this bunch. Grade A Nose- monster returning starter soph Tank will anchor the d again. True soph Greer is back and really showed a motor. Very very young duo that needs an offseason and a few more games to be in comfort zone. Grade B- to B+ LBs - ratelle gone. If und can get a taj back that would be absolutely huge. When he went out last year in game 5, it changed the whole complexity of the d. Returning starter jun OLB jake D is very agrressive and fast. Opposite of him is retuning 2 year starter sen OLB labat are blitzing animals. When taj went down, jun Conner O' came in and was fantastic. Sen backup Bakker and red shirt fresh Poole sounds like a stud. Und relies heavily on their LBs and will miss ratelle to begin with, but have the necessary talent and experience to overcome his loss. Grade - with a healthy taj A. Without B Secondary - very very young group. Talented but young. This style of aggressive blitzing d puts huge amount of pressure on the secondary. With more experience they will be alright. Last year at the end of the year, und started a true soph and true fresh at CBs and a soph and true fresh at safeties. Backups were true soph, transfer soph , walk on sen and soph. 3 year starter true jun CB Deion is back and has some real talent. 6'3" doesn't hurt either and 3 year starter at safety jun cole is a beast. Barring injury he will be all American lists. Incoming true fresh Holm could definitely have his shirt pulled. He can play. There will be no seniors but a ton of experience. They need this offseason to get the fundamentals down as last year they let way to many passes get by. Grade. C If they can get their fundamentals down Grade B Punter- jun Mitch meindel- big big leg!! Grade A

As for next year and Unds outlook, this is what I see: offense: QB- Keaton, with a couple of seniors as his backup and a Redshirt fresh. Keaton is not an all American type but just simply gets it done. He will be a true junior and is 9-1 is his last 10 games. It's mandatory that und needs to hit on a big qb recruit this year! Grade B/B- RB- true sophomores santiago, brady, iwarri and juniors nevermann and Norberg and hearing nice things about red shirt fresh Gordon as well. Stacked!! Grade A+ WR/TE - returning starters at wr are junior seibel, soph Stanley, senior Clive and add in redshirt fresh Dulin. Dulin and Clive together could be very dangerous . Returning starter at TE, sen Mathewson and backup soph Fiedler return. Need to add depth at the wr position and with players that can get separation. Unds wr crew were far above average in blocking down field, kudos to them. TE position is all about blocking and Mathewson is very good. The true fresh recruit from Nebraska could possibly have his shirt pulled next year an be a added plus. Grade C+ with B/B+ potential FB- Adler is going to be missed! Loved that guy. But that job belonged to freshman coyle until he went down this summer. backup soph Francis and red shirt fresh Roland will be in the mix as well. Might take a couple of games to settle someone in but I like coyle to win that job. Grade ?? Not familiar enough with any of those guys to grade O Line- soph Grady =beast, jun stockwell= almost beast, jun Bell, jun Cox and sophomores Aplin and Demon have me excited. Grady and stockwell are the foundation and I see Demon being just as good. Coaching staff just has to keep adding depth. Not a slight to the 3 seniors that will be gone but I absolutely love the returning guys. As always, it will take a few games for the new starters to get comfortable but without doubt I see this as one of Unds strengths. Grade- start of season B- / by game fourish A kicker- jun- Reid. Heard rumors that he had a leg injury this year? Can't say for sure but he has a powerful leg and is automatic when it counts. Grade B+ The offense will miss Adler, anderson, Meehan and boas. The offense will still be young as potentially only 2 seniors will start, Clive and Mathewson. Unlike Bubbas first two years, the experience factor is there as most of these guys have played major minutes. Potential is there to be very good and need to keep Keaton healthy......that's a must!!! Overall grade B

I agree about UNI. I have them winning it all actually. I don't see portland st being able to push uni around. Uni is very disruptive on d and have loads of talent on offense but it seems like they can't string together complete games. If they can, I like their chances. With that being said, uni has done squat in the playoffs for all the talent that squad has or had over the years. They're a very good regular season team and it usually stops there. I'm thinking uni 38-24 is this game

you are very annoying

Its very simple, simple man. Ndsu COULD NOT RUN on und. First half stats were bad other then Carson's arm. All that talk of their great o line and a "big fluffy" team controls them. Controls them!!!! Carson was sacked numerous times or had to run for his life, not to mention no rb had more then 5 yards running. There was a 40ish yard run that really inflated the final stats but that will happen. I will repeat this, no team in fcs will be able to run on und. Their extremely young secondary was getting better towards seasons end. Still a work in progress but getting better. You have to be kidding about santiago! Wow!! Pound for pound the strongest guy on the team and his stiff arm sits LBs down. I mentioned I was impressed with your front. That was early for und. Once they plugged in true fresh Grady and did some shuffling, the line was fantastic.

Never said ifs or buts once, just facts. Don't like facts? Your a prime target for hooked on phonics boy!

und sells out against the run against everyone, you fricking idiot!!! Towards the end I the season is when the young secondary was finally gelling!! No one can run against und.... no one! Actually there were 4 other teams that did better then ndsu against und. Ndsu is very average on rush offense. Hope you enjoyed Carson's time there

Und would love a rematch. Carson was the reason why ndsu won. Ndsu had by far and away their worst running game. The "high school"'team had something to do with that. Ndsu would never hit 150 yards rushing against und......never! Und belonged in the playoffs and the entire fcs world knows that.... They were screwed without doubt!

Your right, ndsu rushing offense had 42 car 115 yards 2.7 ave zero tds. So yes, statistically you're right, the worst. Even with carson ndsu had there 3rd worst offensive output of the year. Santiago had 4 carries, ndsu never had the pleasure to witness the best back in fcs.

Really ?! How about the outhouse?

Btw, ndsu' rushing offense was bad.... Real bad!! Had it not been for carson, your offense is horrible! Look at ndsu' stats for that game and you'll see what I'm saying. Your defensive line was good but that's it. Wish we could play now without carson, und would be much improved!

What is it with this site!? Does every ncc rival have to come here for clearance or clarification???? They feel the need to come here to see what we are saying??? I think that says a lot about und. Bubba now has them thinking! They claim und is no scare and play in the big fluff but here they are. They are here for a reason. Because und is the new threat. Why else would this site be inundated by fly by night rednecks. Because bubba has everyone's interest. They could be visiting sdsu site, Dayton's site, w illinois site, Illionls at, Montana's site, jacksonville site ......., but nope!!! Here they are to see what und is saying

you still here???? Best what?