AJS

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.

That definitely hurts, as everyone knows they are there, the problem is this will most likely scare a decent percent for the rest of the year.

I'm interested in the football minds that have watched this program closely. Outside of the obvious coaches, does anybody believe Bubba and most his staff isn't the answer or is this one of those 100 year floods where everything goes wrong from a personal / injury standpoint? Having watched this team over the past 2 years, I believe it's the latter. I said it before, but we throw the expectations out the window, we have to look at this from a rebuilding standpoint. Having an OL like we had today might not be what we need to dominate the line today, but give it a season to a mature and we could have 2 years with 4/5ths of it. Rastas is getting important reps to hopefully be a back up next year with experience. CB's that still have 2 / 3 years left after this year. Depth is an issue this year, but hopefully getting youth in their now, will pay off in years to come.

Agreed, but when you have 3 starters out (SR, SR, JR), this is what you get. Positives being if they had a healthy OL, I don't think it would have made a difference. This was strictly on the defensive side of the ball. The defensive display as bad as it looked really wasn't all bad on 1st and 2nd down. I've never before and probably never again will see a team complete over 80% of their 3rd / 4th downs. Positive being we've seen what a UND defense is capable under Bubba. This is a situation where they don't have ILB's. Is that on the coaching staff, yes, but when you have what you think is your 2 deep going into Spring camp and 0 can play right now, it's tough. Having a healthy Rodgers / Larson at ILB would have made a huge difference the last two weeks. Add on top of that your two best CB's, it changes things.

Playoffs aren't going to happen. Here's a question to those in the know. Even when guys get healthy (OL for example), will we see more substituting in game to get experience for those young players like Mortell / Blair? Same goes for QB, safety's even if healthy. More than if we were actually in the hunt?

Playoffs are out of the picture, let's see if this now young Hawks team can pick up the pieces and build toward next year.

This!!! I think the offense could have picked if up, given the chance.

To give the OL a little pass, they started 4 underclassman, including 2 Freshman.

Put in Zimmerman, if he's not ready, just play Studsrud and wait for the guys who will be eligible next year.

Honest question, although this isn't on Studsrud, when do you start rotating?

Correct! At least UND always has hockey, wouldn't that be depressing if we only had to look forward to football.

Love it, embarrass them if I'm Montana State. This is the Mussman level pathetic defense, I never thought I'd ever see it again. Good news, I think think this is a year that if it rains it pours. Nothing will go right, every 50 / 50 coin flip will go the other way. They'll be lucky to win 4 games. It just is what it is. Although I believe this is a fluky type year, strike 1 & 2 for Bubba and staff. This can never happen again.

I need another 3rd down from MSU! YES!!!!

10-12! Are we in record territory?

This one is on Schmidt, I don't care if you have high school seniors out there, they shouldn't give up every single 3rd down.