AJS

UND will lose by at least 17 and give up more than 35.

If that's the case, then I'm with @shep, it's one of two situations, either it's 1) Going to come out, then why not say it 2) If they want to keep it in house, why even say anything at all.

I always have a hypothetical cliff that teams can fall off based on who graduates and who leaves early. Last year, I felt it was the combination of Thompson / Johnson that really hurt UND. For Duluth, it was Pionk / Johnson. That's two first team all NCHC candidates. UMD lost 5 defeseman and their goalie along with their top 3 forwards, good luck. Still have a good looking forward group, but no way they finish ahead of UND.

Who does he have 3rd? I think UND will finish 2nd, but could see people pick them 3rd giving SCSU the #2 spot. I can't think of another team that would be in the discussion for Top 3 outside of Denver, SCSU, UND.

I love this, it's really all that needs to be said.

UND 28 Davis 24 I thought UND was going to get smoked last weekend and they did. I like the team only meeting, I think it jumpstarts this team. I don't think they were as far off against Montana State as the score indicated (Murray was a game changer), absurd 3rd down percentage. The O-Line will be in it's 2nd week together, I think they'll be able to move the ball much better. On defense, I think Davis has a pretty good QB, but not as dynamic as UND has seen the two previous weeks.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/4335079-future-now-unds-banged-offensive-line#.Wc0KiSBOgVQ.twitter There's something that's exciting about having two freshman on the left side for what will be the 2nd week in a row. We'll see if they take a step forward having one game under their belt.

With the roster set, here are my line combinations for forwards. Mismash (FR) - Gardner (JR) - Poganski (SR) Gersich (JR) - Hoff (SO) - Kawaguchi (FR) Janatuinen (JR) - Jones (JR) - Bowen (SO) Olson (SR) - Simonson (SR) - Smith (SO) Adams (FR) - Either him or Kawaguchi on 2nd line, also fill in for Bowen on 3rd, he'll definitely get his minutes Yon (SO) - Potential 3rd line Gornall (JR) - Potential 4th line My goal was to have two upperclassman on each line, with one underclassman. Only the 2nd line doesn't meet that criteria, but Hoff was solid and a freshman and is the 2nd best center on the team. This team with so many forwards returning and a big core of proven (not elite, but proven) talent, should be the deepest forward group in years.

Fair, everyone is a little different on how they define blue chip status. Mine would be truly elite, I don't think Mismash qualifies, great player though.

I'm so excited about this freshman class, no "blue chippers", but a class you would clone and take every year. Highly skilled, but not prototypical NHL size that teams (NHL) love. Should be great college hockey players that will be in the system 3 / 4 years.

Shout out to Rastas though for doing the best he can, getting thrown into a starting roll a couple years too early. He's a player, just way too light right now. Not ideal at all, but will pay dividends down the road.

Laid out my defense with a couple posts, but will respectfully disagree with you on basically every point. These last two games have been ugly, but I don't think you could be more wrong in saying injuries aren't the main reason or that Bubba's classes are overrated. I can't emphasis enough (and I'll say this for the last time, since I'm a broken record), that ILB injuries cost this team their defense (as long as Rodgers / Hunt are out). O-Line is now so young it's going to take a while for them to get up to speed. There's so much talent on this team, but it's tough when so many key positions are filled with underclassman.

Like on defense, injuries have taken place in the worst possible position (O-Line) offensively. I think we need to cut the O-Line a little break replacing two senior tackles with a Freshman (first) start and Sophomore (2nd or 3rd start). Montana State might have the best front 7 in the Big Sky. The problem I see isn't necessarily talent, but the lack of Juniors on the roster. You only have two that will play this year Taylor (hurt) and Aplin. It's far from ideal, but the depth at tackles when both starters are out are Mortel (FR), Blair (So), Bennett (Fr), Russo (So). Tobin (Fr) has started since day one, Rooney (So) also starter since day 1.

I want to look at the defensive side of the ball. With all the talk about injuries and lack of depth, is that actually the case all over the board or is it strictly ILB? How different would the result be last Saturday if everything was the same injury wise, but you had a healthy Rodgers / Larson and moved Disterhaupt to the outside? ILB was the weak position coming into this year and the worst case scenario happened with Rodgers / Larson / Hunt all being injured. Teams are attacking the weakness and UND can't stop it. I can't emphasis enough how big of a difference that would make. The defense would look completely different. Look at the defensive roster in the years to come, these being the underclassman that could have or will see the field this year, that will play major rolls in the future. Outside of Larson, this isn't counting any Freshman that will RS this year (look defensive line recruits). Guys that if not already will be excellent college players. DL - Bennett (So) OLB - Lawrence (So), Haas (Fr) ILB - Rodgers (So), Larson (Fr), Hunt (Fr), Rastas (Fr - after he puts on weight) CB - Holm (So), Hunt (So), Blubaugh (Fr) Safety - Shannon (Fr), Randolph (Fr) I'm definitely missing players that will contribute (ex: Wilson, Turner), but my point being outside of ILB, I don't think depth is an issue. It's just such a severe issue at ILB that it's causing what we see now. Like others have mentioned, the defense played well in it's first two games, it's just one injury (Rodgers) really changed the trajectory or the year, compounding the fact that Larson wasn't ready to go either. Let's hope they can ready the ship in the upcoming games, but the future is really bright for the defensive unit starting next year. The ironic thing is the ILB position will quickly become over the next couple years, possibly the biggest strength of the defense.

Agreed, although like the USD game, I think if UND / MSU play 10 times, 49-21 is the biggest points difference you'd see. In the last two games, things have went about as poorly as they could. Positive side is I'd argue it wasn't for a lack of effort last Saturday, things just started to snowball again. 13-17 on 3rd / 4th down is just absurd. It comes down to making plays of course, but Murray single handily put on a show. UND won't see an elite QB like they've seen the past two weeks until the last game of the year. My hope is the players only meeting will jump start a couple wins against teams they should beat, even with a depleted roster. IF things don't get turned around against Davis / UNC, then I will start to become very concerned.

Are Rodgers / Hunt the two most important players that are hurt (not counting Larson who's RS)? Basically, the rest of the defense could be healthy, but ultimately, it wouldn't really matter, because UND is so weak up the middle. That's the feeling I have right now.

I'm going to bump this on a weekly basis. I understand currently there is a 1 in 13 chance of having a bye on the last week. What bothers me, is conference schedules aren't computer generated. If UND had a bye the last week 1 out of 13 years, no complainants. I just don't see how it can happen twice in a row.

Unfortunately, perception sometimes is reality when it comes to respect, credibility in sports. Although injuries are an excuse when it's at the magnitude UND is currently at and I have no doubt UND will be successful once again as early as next year, they are basically going to have to start over building up their credibility on a national landscape. A lot of what Bubba helped build from a hype, excitement, credibility standpoint are gone. All is not lost even this year, there is still time to start to pick up the pieces starting next week. I still can't believe the scores the last two weekends.

Regarding the power play and the trend for about the last 15 years, I'll say UND once again won't have a good power play. My 5 keys: 1. Out of the "core" group of returning forwards that have produced at this level (Gersich, Poganski, Gardner, JJ, Hoff), we need one break out (15+ points), two with modest improvement (7-12 points) and the other two with slight improvements (5pts). What hurt this team last year is the decrease in production from Boeser and the stagnant point production from Poganski / Gardner. 2. Outside of the "core" group, we need one player to have a break out year. 3. Freshman forwards, two of the four need to adapt quickly and produce right away 4. Wolanin needs to break out, he has all conference potential. Sticking on the defensive side, either Peski / Johnson need to have a Shaw like improvement. 5. One of the freshman Dman needs to adapt quickly and assert themselves into the rotation

With Cam being a Senior, does anyone else hope that Thome gets a chance early? I'd like to see him get 20% of the starts.

Going off my previous post, but I do think this upcoming game will set the tone for the rest of the year. They just got their ass kicked by two strong FCS teams with year with good lines / great QBs. If UND can't compete and beat a team that's mediocre in Davis, I'll be very concerned. Injuries or not, this is a must win. Help build momentum going into Homecoming and hopefully put together a respectable second half, which will give everyone a lot of hope going into the offseason. If they can prove they can beat the bottom of the Big Sky with this many key players out, they'll be back on top next year.

Correct, need to win games, even if it's with a skeleton crew. Injuries to the magnitude UND has are an excuse for losses, but if this team can't be competitive, then I'll start to worry about the future. Wins in the next two games should still be expected.

Agreed with readjusting expectations. I do think that UND played against two great QB's that made this defense look worse than they are (even with all the injuries). Although the playoffs aren't going to happen this team, I need to see the following. Competitive games. 6 wins Don't pull any RS Rotate more than you usually would, get as many players reps as you can This team wasn't going to win the last two, but when things aren't going your way, the score snowballs and it looks worse than it could have been. As was the case this week, next week is a must win. Question about ILB's though. I think we can all agree that Rodgers / Larson would be an excellent combination. Who's behind them except for Rastas? Bungum next year or would he be in OLB? Hunt?

This is going to be hopefully my most annoying post I'll ever do, given what took place the last two games. When things aren't going your way, things aren't going your way. You look at certain 3rd downs, calls that could have potentially changed the direction the game. I know as well as everyone else the holes on this team currently, but nothing is going their way.

Agree with this. Looking at the defense UND has returning, circle Wolanin. The is how I'd rank the returners, based on sticking them on any great defense. Poolman (2/3) - Best freshman season since Chorney, the guy was so solid. Shaw (4) - Had the most improvement, comparable to Gersish, like Poolman, solid. Peski (5) Johnson (6/7) Wolanin has a chance to be a legit #1 defenseman on the good defense, he has so much skill. If that takes place, you have to start filling in the spots. Like the rest of the team, it might be about depth. If Wolanin doesn't improve his defense immensely, he could still be around a 3/4 on a solid club. UND will need at least one freshman to push for the 5/6 spot, if the other is in 6/7 range, they are still looking good.