BigGame

UND coaches screw up all the time, just like a coach anywhere else. I just think you are being very short sited in your assessment of the situation. The coaches are taking a lot more into consideration when they decide these things. It's like the call a few years back when UND made a big comeback in a football game and Lennon goes for 2 and the win instead of kicking and going to overtime. It turned out to be a brilliant choice, but it UND doesn't get the 2 and the Sioux lose DL is being called an idiot by every UND fan. It's a very fine line with a lot of decisions in coaching and no matter how good the coach is, they don't always work out for the best.

I was replying to what was said in relation to 30 points, we were not up 30 points at half and the game was still in doubt. You may not believe it but in the right circumstances WSU could have made comeback. I know if I am the head coach and the game is in doubt at all, I would have looked at the 4th string guy who hasn't been allowed to do crap all year and got next to nothing as far as reps. That alone is going to shrink the playbook. Putting a 4th string freshman RB in a playoff game would make me more than a little nervous. I would guess they asked Chappel if he was OK to go and he said yes, the trainers approved it and they went with it. What if the injury to Ryan was just a slight aggrivation of the what happened in the first half. That seems very likely to me and if that is the case, he would have still been in bad shape for the game with GV. I know from personal experience that you can get injured in the game but if you keep it warm and don't let it stiffen up it can be dealt with for a while (sprains and strains). After you let it cool down though you are pretty much screwed if you try to do anything with it. I promise you that the UND coaches just didn't say "screw it" let's just leave him in for the hell of it. Fans don't know all the things that a coach is taking into consideration when he makes a decision. The coach make an informed decision on the spot while we second guess after the fact without all the information available to us. What bothers me most about this is how many people bitch and bitch like the really know every detail of the situation. This is exactly how parents who don't know jack !@$! about whats going on with a sport start talking in their kids ear like they have a clue and end up undermining the coach and screwing everyone in the program. Athletic teams all over the country get ruined by these types of people that are to stupid to realize that if the athletes aren't commited to the team and the system they will not be successful.

So he was supposed to just turn over the game to the 4th string RB at halftime, a guy who gets almost zero reps in practice. I don't really think that is the way to handle things, specifically in a playoff game. If you go by that reasoning (because all the starters are important) all the #1's should have been out of the game at the half and then just hope you don't have to put everyone back in during the 4th quarter. I am sure Chappel would have been out of the game at that point if Murry and Brady were not already injured. It's football, people get hurt! I don't think it was dumb, you have to take care of one game at a time. Could he have done things differently... sure but if he did maybe WSU gets some momentum because the offense sputters and we don't even make it to play GV.

I have several friends and relatives that do very well for themselves, one of them likes the lifestyle so much you almost have to drag him away to get him to go anywhere.

GV has a very good run game and our front 7 got ass kicked all day, but even with being pushed around like they were the Sioux defense only gave up 21 points. They limited the big plays better than they have most of the season. GV oline is on par with UNO's and USD's and once again the defense front got manhandled, but normally watching a physical ass kicking like that I would have thought GV would have scored more points. The secondary played very well for most of the game.

Wow, if you think Freund played even an OK game you obviously where not watching the same game I was. Anything outside of a under route or quick slant Freund didn't even get close the WR on. Landry's first to passes were enough to show he was the better QB yesterday even though Caufield dropped both passes that hit him in the numbers,b oth of those passes where stop routes near the sidelines. Bottom line is that Freund didn't play well and because of that many plays UND consistently ran with success all year no longer had any success because we couldn't get the ball to the WR. The coaches shouldn't get the blame for example on the last sack of Landry, that's his job to see blitz and throw hot (especially since they only needed a yard for the 1st) or the oline needs to make the correct calls and change the pass pro. My thinking is that it was on Landry because UND had 5 WR's and that typically means that if certain players blitz they are unaccounted for by the oline and the QB needs to make the read and throw to the hot WR. In this case it should be the WR that was lined up nearest to the guy who blitzed.

You may not believe him but a lot of farmers do make a ton of money. It depends somewhat on where they farm, how much land, and what they grow.

I thought the defense played well yesterday, the exception to that is the continued tackling problems. It's really hard for me to watch a guy run in to make a tackle but then slow down, drop his head, get juked out of his jock, and then try to grab the guy and let him break the arm tackle. I would much rather a guy run in full speed and miss than watch anymore of that crap.

Murry is still hurt, I would think that had something to do with limiting his carries. I think the coaching staff could have done a few things differently yesterday, but it's much easier for you or I to sit and say it after the fact. The bottom line is that the players didn't execute, Freund couldn't hit anybody in the first half. WR's dropping passes, obvious missed assignments. It was a bad game for UND, the sad thing is that even as poorly and the Sioux executed they still had a chance because GV played sloppy football as well. I would love to see these teams play again on a neutral field with all players healthy, if both teams were on and playing at full strength I think it would be a hell of a game.

Freund had a terrible day, that is very evident by the fact that Landry looked like the better QB. I also thought Landry played well, but when Freund is playing at the level he normally did this season he is a far better QB. Landry may be better down the road, but right now he isn't even though he looked like it yesterday.

I think your being a little harsh in your assessment of Fighting Sioux football.

Off Topic, but Chadron just scored and tied the game against ACU. 17 seconds left, but Chadron was way down at one point (I think more than 30 points down). Edit - Chadron was down 29 at one point in the game.

Making that claim in pointless. UND didn't play well enough to win today even though GV was sloppy, the Sioux were just as bad. It really sucks to go out playing poor football. It's tough to handle when you play well and lose, but this is far worse.

They have the talent, they just always seem to underperform in the playoffs. Maybe if they get the monkey off their back today, they can relax and get back on track for the rest of the playoffs.

I'm not that surprised I thought it would be close but with more points. CWU had a very poor game the first time around with UNO, I think they game up 2 or 3 special teams TD's.

Where is all the offense from the last game?

I think this goes back to the talent level again. When UND blitzs most of the time it seems to be a wasted guy because he just isn't getting to the QB. Outside of Stroup, I don't think any of the LB's are strong pass rushers. As a former Olineman I used to love them sending LB's in practice with the exception of one or two guys. David Borowitz (sp) was a tough SOB to block.

The 3-4 was brought in to help stop the option but it's a very adaptable defense. You can do so much with it that it can go from a 3-4 look, to a 5-2 or a 4-3 with ease. UND's problem this year is the are not as talented at LB and DL as they have been in the past. Running a different front isn't going to make the UND players tackle any better. I think recruting has and is going well, but not sometimes they offer guys that don't work out. Maybe they have had a bad run with LB's and DL as far as these players working out. UND has typically had a very good (athletic, big, and physical) nose tackle in the past and they don't seem to really have that in the program right now. It import to have that type of guy because he is a 2 gap player and central to the succuss of a odd front on defense.

I really don't think either team played well today.

The QB should know the pass pro, and in that case I bet he either didn't or missed didn't make his hot read quick enough.

Why couldn't UND run the ball in that situation?

This group is pretty good in the secondary, but the DLine and LB's are weak overall compared to past teams

GV really overpursuing, it looks like UND could run that play to Murry all day.

I don't know, it obviously didn't happen on a play today. Maybe he messed up some past injury but he was looking terrible today.

He was playing like crap so the coaching told him to take a seat.