BigGame

I really hope you are right.

I think it was more a shot at all of us armchair coaches. I think we have earned a few snide comments.

What I am saying is even if UND was an elite FCS team at this point you can't beat a good team if you turn the ball over 3 or 4 times a game and have 100 yards in penalties. The penalties were a little better this last game but the turnovers kill. Look at how bad the record is for a pretty good Houston Texans team is due primarily to turn overs. And UND isn't a good team right now for a lot of different reasons.

How much revenue does the womens hockey team create. My blind assumption is they are in the red. I saw something saying they make spend just over a million and make just over a million each season/year. Unless they are splitting merchandise sales with the mens hockey team I really can't see how they could possibly bring in close to a million a year. They certainly don't get much of a crowd to the games.

I actually think the offense is a bigger problem than the defense right now and that seems crazy. That can't finish drives and turn the ball over which kills any chance to win, especially when the defense isn't good.

Not against a good team, but certainly they could against average or poor teams.

So in a loss with all the negative you aren't able to look for or find any positives? I think I am considered a negative person to some extent but most of you blow me away.

I am certainly not happy with the product on the field but the defense played better than I have seen in a while. They still weren't good but I see some improvement so I mention it. I knew the defense wouldn't be good this season, but I am more disappointed in the offensive production and in particular the passing game. Idaho State is no longer the worst team in the conference that with be either Davis, Weber, or UNC. They also tackled better against Idaho State, but the secondary is bad and EWU didn't take advantage for most of the game, but they looked pretty good stopping the run early which I didn't think I would see this year. I guess I don't see talking about a few positives as "making excuses"

Clearly he was working out but between the workouts and his metabolism he is saying it was extremely difficult, but possible to gain the right kind of weight but getting tons of calories. Some guys don't need to eat a lot but a few with the crazy fast metabolism do. Some guys, probably Jake fits this category, have a really tough time putting and keeping on weight and it requires more then just lifting because I am sure he works out hard in the weight room.

Damn, some people on here just can't allow themselves an inch. Seriously, you don't think they deserve some credit for playing better or better than expected on the defensive side of the ball? EWU didn't have a great game but if you can only bash and get zero positives out of the game you are sorry. The defense didn't lose this game, the offense did which hasn't been what they should be the entire year but the defense has been improved the last two games. If the defense played like that last season UND wins at least 2 more games. Is the defense isn't good but at least they haven't quit and are making some progress in the right direction. Still a ton of problems overall and likely the staff or parts of the staff need to go, but some can't give any credit at all.

My brother is law had trouble keeping on weight as an OLB, but he would build it up in the offseason and burn it off in season most years.

Did you think UND would step into the playoffs as soon as they got playoff eligible? I certainly didn't and this season has raised all kinds of red flags with the coaching staff, but I figured we would struggle some. Are we seeing improvement? I thought we would this year but clearly I was wrong about that. The crazy thing to me is that if we would have moved up with the States, we would be better and neither of them would likely be as good as they are. UND had a lot of good reason not to transition then, but in hindsight it really hurt the football program and USD is feeling it as well.

I still can't figure out how Miller is a senior at 5'11" and isn't at least 190. If he had 20-30 pounds more on his frame and didn't lose his speed he would be pretty good. He is just to easy to tackle due to his size. I don't really care about TO at the end of the game, I am more concerned with the TO early because the team can't get lined up or get the correct play in.

Man half of the time the pressure if just because he isn't getting the ball out quick enough! He does make some good plays and is clearly talented (that's why I want to see him run, and why I explained I didn't know if it was a true read option) They run it like a read option but he may be told never to pull the ball and run and if that's the case it doesn't make sense to fake something you will never run. The QB isn't leading a lot of scoring drives and has a lot of ugly and costly turnovers. With these WR's UND should be putting up points but they aren't. It's certainly not all on the QB but I think a lot on the message board are really negative about most players but continue to give a pass to the QB because he's a freshman. Why does he get all the excuses while everyone else just seems to suck? If he can improve on reading the defense, getting the ball out quickly Joe could be one of the best to ever play at UND, but he's not close to that yet. If he would pull the ball down and run instead of throwing the bad INT's it would dramatically help the team, even if it means the drive is stopped. That is a lot better than a pick or pick 6 giving up momentum and field position. You seem to know Joe, and tell me if I am wrong but watching him I get the feeling he is a physical guy that would actually relax and play better if they let him run and get hit a little.

What conclusion? That I am not convinced he will be the guy? He hasn't show it yet and as I said it may change but him playing now isn't helping it's hurting the success on the field because he isn't ready yet. The problem is that UND doesn't really have any other options.

SDSU hits Illinois pretty hard and it has worked well for them, it does make a little more sense though because they play in the MVFC.

I don't really view any differently than recruiting kids from Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, or Iowa.

I think the problem is both but I don't blindly blame every bad play a player makes on the coach. Players are on the field, the coaches aren't. I think the penalty issue is directly related to the coaches and the team not being as focused as they need to be, but Danny Freund is throwing the INT and Muss isn't fumbling the ball.

Do you honestly think they aren't coaching ball security? Hansen was good and Sutton was as well and he spent his entire career at UND under Coach Mussman and staff. Hendrickson had a couple unbelievable games but his decision making and accuracy were not consistently good, he excelled at making plays with his feet which our QB's don't do now. Mollberg is very capable of running around and making things happen but doesn't do it. He might be coached not to do and if so I think it's a mistake because it would help the offense if scrambled a little more.

I understand the analogy but I don't think it's accurate. Joe isn't just stepping into the QB position with zero experience, he has been playing for several years at the least and had a year practicing at UND. Granted the game speed is up and that is the biggest adjustment for most high school players going into college, but that adjustment and the ability to make it is crucial for a QB. I think Joe is loaded with talent, but that doesn't mean he will be a good college QB. He certainly still could be and I think in all likeliness will be but having him play before he is ready does hurt the teams chances of winning games this season. Which increases the chances of the coaching staff getting canned at the end of the year. The pick 6 yesterday was a complete momentum changer and was the beginning of the end of UND's chances to win yesterday. I watched him blow a read play yesterday by handing off, if he pulled the ball he easily has ten yards. Is this his fault, I don't know for certain because maybe it isn't a true read option play and maybe the coaches don't want him running. Because he is playing I almost feel like the staff needs to give him a count based upon the drop and say if you haven't thrown the ball by this point just pull it down and run so it isn't a turn over or loss of yards.

I don't hang turnovers on a coach, it's on the player. I don't think Tom Coughlin is at fault for Eli Manning's INT's or the RB's fumbles in the first game that resulted in him no longer playing. This hasn't been an issue with past teams and I doubt the coaching staff has changed how they coach which has led to problems this season. The Freshman QB are going to make mistakes but the INT Mollberg throws have been really bad. I agree about the musical QB thing but it's frustrating to watch because decent QB play would dramatically change what UND looks like this year. Until I see passes from Mollberg get out and to the WR quicker, I am not convinced he is the future at the position.

The game is to fast for him right now, I hope it comes to him but I haven't seen a lot so far to make me think it will. I mentioned this on another thread but he is late throwing the ball a lot, if those passes are on time we have all kinds of run after catch opportunities. Carr didn't play well yesterday and to me was a glaring problem.

Why are they so bad about showing replays at the game? Every turnover, penalty, or big play didn't get a replay in the stadium yesterday, but a lot of the ordinary plays did. Why? It was frustrating because what is the point of the big screens if they can't or won't use them in the correct situations?

They competed well yesterday, just can't have all the turnovers and they are right with a top FCS team. Not the top FCS but a good one.

I disagree about him looking good, he makes reads to slow. Almost every pass was late getting to the WR in spite of how strong his arm is. On the comeback routes if he delivers the ball in time the WR get a lot more yards because they are crazy wide open but it's closed up by the time the ball arrives. He also has a problem with staring down his WR's sometimes. This can all be improved upon but he isn't ready to play at this level yet, UND just doesn't have many or any other options which is unfortunate.