Midwestern Hawk

Pretty amazing to me. If UND wins out we are easily back in the top 10, especially if USD does well.

At USD we came out really flat for some reason, offense was horrible, the defense was horrible, and every time something good happened we would shot ourselves in the foot with a penalty. Those are all things that can and I am confident will be rectified come Saturday. I am worried about the injuries at OL and ILB. USD was able to gash us up the middle seemingly at will on Saturday. The reality is that Saturday we had a converted 205lb OLB, a 195 lb RFR walk-on, an FBS drop-down running back, and a true walk-on soph in playing ILB. I think that is a tall order even for Schmidt to work with in a weeks time. I have no idea if and when Rodgers or Hunt or Larson will be back. When they are back, neither Hunt nor Larson have ever played a down of college football and a year ago Larson was playing high school football. We need to patch together the best run blocking line on Saturday, get an early lead and then control the clock for 35-40 minutes. If we do that we will win. If the defense is out on the field more than 30 minutes it will be really tough to win.

Yep. Not a chance a coaching staff would ever choose the last week of the season for a bye week. Strange the Big Sky even has a bye the last week. Should not have bye weeks after October is over IMO.

What happened to Jake Geier at ILB? He began the year in the 2-deep behind Donnell Rodgers and I have not heard anything about him this fall so far. Is he injured or just not a strong option yet? Also when will we have any idea if Hunt or Larson are going to be back this week?

Double whammy, defense outnon field too much and don't have the horses to apply pressure and stay fresh.

He is pretty thin build, not sure he will ever be able to carry much more than 200-210. Would be fine size for OLB.

Hopefully can get Hunt and Larson back soon. So little depth there, the size problem gets amplified as they wear down. Seems obvious that there is little confidence in neverman or Murray.

Yep. We had some killer penalties. Every time we had a chance to get the ball rolling our way we had an undisciplined penalty. That needs to be solved NOW!

I disagree, we came out flat and they were ready to play. Every time we mounted any surge in the first half we killed it with a penalty. If that pick that strevrler threw early is not called back for the offsides and we score, totally different game. Football is a game of momentum.

We would not win a game against any team playing like we did yesterday. Something is definitely wrong with preparation, motivation and we need some guys back. To USD's credit, they looked like they were coming out to play a huge game with playoff implications vs a long-time rival and UND looked like they were coming out for the first practice of fall camp where it starts to feel like a grind.

It can be effective if it is setup properly. Needs to be faked on many plays to be really effective IMO. It is a way UND could spread out the 7-8 in the box in addition to play action. Adeotti with his speed could be very effective in this role. After a couple of big gainers, it changes everything for the defense.

Is the OLINE problem recruiting, coaching? or both?

Best post about game, season and state of program I have seen on here. Bubba ball requires the O to be able to grind time off the clock and needs to be able to stop the run. We did neither today. Until we can get the problems at Oline and ILB solved I for one am glad we play in BIG SKY.

We are comparing Bubba to 2 of the greatest college football coaches in history in Meyer and Saban. Remember this was one game, if an egg is laid next week, then I will be really concerned.

It was one game. Yes it was ugly, but it was one game. Urban Meyer and Ohio state were embarrassed on their home field by Oklahoma a week ago. Ohio State has as many recruits as they need and Uran Meyer has won multiple national cahmpimships at multiple schools. Bubba and co will get the ship righted.

Big concerns for me ar OL and LBers. Need big improvement in both areas. OL improvement will take some pressure off LB problems. I'm pretty nervous taht we are waiting for a redshirt frosh who has never played a down(hunt) and a true frosh(Larson) to get on the field.

Montana state will determine a lot. If we come out lethargic be don't have a good win it will be hard to have a good season IMO.

Don't think UnD beats many teams today. Uninspired play, undisciplined play, online beat up and lb shortage is showing up.

Any idea if either or both will be ready? Need some beef inside for sure.

It is strange we have so little depth at ilb, I understand losing Obrien and Rodgers, but seems very little quality under them. Hopefully Larson and/or Hunt will come back one of these weeks.

Big difference between last year lb crew and what is out there right now. Also need dline to make some big plays.

I'm with you. Need offensive consistency, a lot less penalties and the defense needs to be able to get off the field. Blitzes are not getting home.

Looks like the team was on a bender last night.

Perfect recipe for disaster. Get behind early, offense lethargic, miss early scoring chance and defense is on field most of first half and can't change things up because of the USD offensive pace.

Defense not looking good, but been on field way too much.