FlinFlan80

They were fine there last year from what I saw. I think it's more so their DL isn't the force it used to be. Although, they are probably still pretty tough...... I do remember the Weerts kid was a highly touted recruit and Hankey is a walk on from small town ND, which I don't think Entz gives two craps about playing North Dakota kids anymore.

Also, noticed they pulled the Hankey kid at MLB when he was not hurt and brought a backup in. That shouts panic to me.....

That's my main thought. We aren't even skipping a beat there. I don't know if King is just a solid coach/recruiter, but that group is young and impressive......

That and more. They legit talk about the guys who graduated. EVERY TEAM HAS PLAYERS GRADUATE. Then, they proceed to complain about guys like Cofield and Cox, who transferred. THAT MEANS THEY WOULD RATHER BE SOMEWHERE ELSE THAN THE HOLY LAND OF FARGO. My take on it, your coaches and players got comfortable, assumed your players are better than they are and now, you get what you get and get stomped by SIU.

Snooped in on the Sunday Night Bizon Chat hosted by Izzo and McFeeley. Interesting to say the least. Excuses were flying and heads were being called for. The one comment that stuck out to me is how the reason UND looks good right now is that they didn't lose anything. I mean I get it NDSU lost some dudes, but isn't a programs job to always be prepared for losing dudes and, as for guys leaving for the draft or transfering, no one made them do that..........

I would agree with you. UND's offense tends to break a lot of tendencies by moving players around on the field.

Very good point. Plus, all the kids that choose to go play Juniors in other states! I do think that in the end it's the amount of time the East (Grand Forks specifically) focuses on hockey. Correct me if I am wrong, do many of these hockey players play anything else but maybe tennis or golf? No knock on those sports, but one has to wonder if those kids chose to play football, would GF football be more competitive?

They don't prioritize hockey. It's like football, wrestling, or basketball in Grand Forks.......

Thought the spread would be a little bigger than 7.5, but Vegas knows what their doing. That shows me people are already thinking the Hawks can compete in the MVFC, considering, after NDSU, SDSU is traditionally the second "powerhouse" in this conference. I completely agree with geaux_sioux. Looked like we were weak against quick game at times and, in my mind, I need to see us stop the run more than one game in a row to say that issue from last year is fixed.

Good point, but remember UND is the inferior little brothers to the mighty NDSU. It is kinda funny how the one true freshman that opened eyes had a Dad play for NDSU and they didn't land him.........interesting.

We have those, just in a different sport. In fact, I believe a good amount of them cheer for Bizon football. I'm not denying that fact that people love a winner.

I will bet anything if the spring doesn't go the way the Bizon expect, that is the first thing that gets thrown out there by 95% of their fans. The other 5% are too concerned about how Philly hurt Wentz's feeling to care.

All teams have to replace talent every year. Some years more than others. That's part of coaching and a big part of why NDSU has had success. You do sound just like Dom Izzo with the "odd spring season" talk. I get it, its not normal or ideal, but it's not like NDSU is the only team going through it. I do find it comical how all NDSU fans are already using the "spring season" as an excuse, just in case the downfall occurs this season. I know I sound like a whiney UND am, but I grew up in the rivalry and am patiently waiting for UND to begin challenging NDSU again. Does it happen this spring? Probably not, but I can hope.

I was not very impressed with their Coach. Impressive that he is a D1 HC at a young age, but he seemed frazzled and in that his team lost any discipline they had on the field. He is making excuses, now his players will start making excuses, and before you know it the culture will be poor. As good as winning a game like that to start the year, a loss like that feels even worse. We are incredibly fortunate to have the HPC, but at the end of the day it is just as much about the attitude portrayed by the leadership of programs during times like these (spring football). Coach Stieg is a great leader and that is why I believe SDSU will be a much taller task that SIU. Ya they are probably more talented, but you can bet your ass when they face adversity they won't fold like SIU did.

I thought the Bison offense struggled to move the ball and the Quarterback play was average at best. Their offensive line is not what it has been the past decade. Also found it eye-opening as to how Roehl struggled to get the ball in the hands of their most dynamic weapon (Watson) Their defense is tough as ever and all team's will struggle to score on them. Their defense line is incredibly deep and Jackson Hankey does a phenomenal job getting the defense on the same page. The Waege kid might be NFL good.

I am obviously a Hawk fan, but I respected Klieman and Bohl. I do not have much respect for Entz yet. I know he they went 16-0 last year, with recruits that Klieman's staff did a great job bringing in. In my mind, he couldn't have an easier job as far as recruiting goes. "Hey come to Fargo. We win every game we play and have this many dudes in the NFL." And good for them for getting to that point, but at this point in the game any kids that NDSU and UND both offer, that choose UND is a huge win for the UND coaching staff, due to the NDSU's amazing success. However, with that success comes lofty expectations and bandwagon fans who don't know a first down from a touchdown and those fans will call for his head if it is anything but dominance.

That's too bad. That's actually something I remember the Wild Hog had figured out was their beer selection, temps, and prices.

Excuses are like assholes, everyones got them and they all stink.

So........any reviews on the "Sin Bin" yet? Still baffles me how things don't succeed in that location........

With video? That'd be great!

Anyone know how to stream the RR game tomorrow?

I believe NDSU wanted both Nelson and Fort, so there are two battles on DBs we have won. This might not be a popular take, but the kids that are making NDSU tick are still Kleiman recruits. If there is any drop off at all in the product on the field in Fargo, it could be in part to Entz and his staff not being as steady in recruiting as the past staff.

I don't want to get too carried away, but I was very encouraged by the performance on Saturday. A couple things that stuck out to me was the obvious improvement on the UND offensive line, but to go along with that the ability UND showed to sit in a 2 TE set and grind was awesome. I have always been an advocate of Freund's on here because he was really built a multi dimensional approach with these dudes. Another thing I was encouraged by was we did this with some young dudes being the focal point. Bo Bellquist and Adam Zavalney are both freshmen (one redshirt one true), starters, and local. I believe Dom Izzo said in his podcast last week UND needs to start winning the local recruiting battles to be taken seriously. Well Dom..........those are two kids UND found, turned started, who are in our backyard. Otis can smell Moo U from where he grew up. I am by no means saying we are going to beat the bison, but the local youth shows our coaches are doing their jobs recruiting. I was discouraged by our lack of down field attack offensively. We were certainly trying to take shots to Maeg, but it just wasn't clicking. However, the defense put us in great situations where we didn't have to constant think deep. All in all, a great start to the season, but there is a ton of football left.

In my opinion you can't call it a rollercoaster. Rollercoasters tend to go up and down. In my opinion this program has done nothing but improve since Bubs took over. Is Bubs a perfect HC? No. But he does a great job getting the right coaches around him that help him bring in the right players to succeed. Since he has taken over, the team has year in and year out been competitive. Even a couple years ago when everyone and their brother was hurt, we were competitive. UND isn't exactly an easy place to recruit football players to..........

Don't be surprised if Gee outsnaps them both.....