Midwestern Hawk

I would never use the term bad. Tommy is a smart football player with a below average arm who doesn’t like to run the football. I am restless with UND football, like most of you, and want to win the conference every year, and be a perennial national power. I see 2 ways we will breakthrough and get to that point: 1. We develop a crazy good OL to go with our solid D We have a dynamic dual threat qb.

I totally agree, but Tommy is rarely in the game when it’s 3rd or 4th and short, which brings up an entirely different set of issues.

Tell me where you think we will rank in scoring offense in the MVFC this season? Do you think the D will give up the 4th fewest points again this season(behind NDSU,UNI and SDSU)?

Totally agree, but we aren't going to be playing for a natty winning 57% of our games either. While sometimes more exciting to watch our offense has been the passing version of 3 yards and a cloud of dust over the last 2 years when it comes to actual points scored.

Hope you are right. So far our game manager is 10-8 as a starter, and 6-8 in his last 14 games.

At this point I would add QB to the offensive question marks. Tommy is not going to get the offense to the level needed to win a NATTY or even compete for one. IMO Danny has designed the offense to make Tommy better(great stats) than he actually is, but the motion and all the short passes at some point becomes limiting. I like what Holinka has done on D. A big part of where we are after the first 5 will be how fast the backup LB's and DB's become what they need to be. They will likely be on the field alot in those first 5 games.

Those first 5 games are a gauntlet with the home tilt vs UNI likely being the key. At this point I'm not sold that the offense will be any better then last season and I think the defense will not be as good early. Need the Alerus rockin' for the Potato Bowl and get a win vs UNI. With a win, just about anything is possible, a loss vs UNI and the trip to Flagstaff becomes more important and likely gets tougher mentally. We know the games the following 2 weeks are huge @SIU and home vs MSU. I love Teeder's confidence, I'm just not there yet. Maybe I will be surprised in Lincoln.

This is my opinion too. Hard for anyone to be against Bubba. Great guy and good coach. It's time for a breakout season. I am looking for a repeat of 2016, we over perform and win the close ones. I think the talent has been there the last few years, UND just not able to totally put it together....it's time.

Good points. In retrospect that 9 game run seems like the pinnacle of Bubba's run at UND. IMO lots of "close but no cigar" moments since then. Hopefully that changes this fall.

No more 3rd and 5 plays with 3 formation changes then motion and then throw a 2 yard pass for 3 yards and punt?

Yep, one would sort of be expected, a loss to UNI at home would put Bubba in a really tough spot to start the season.

Under. I hope I eat my words, but with 5 home games and 4 of those against ranked teams, the under is easy money at this point.

Wow! Lots of new faces as starters. Gonna be an interesting year. I'm ready for some football!

No question, the trajectory of the season will be determined early. 3-2 would be a great start IMO. I have lots of question marks on the offense starting with QB play. It's not talked about much on here, but I think it may take a while for the defense to gel after graduating some significant defensive players. On specials, we don't have a proven field goal kicker which always affects some of the coaching calculus. The home game vs UNI will be a pivotal game in so many ways and will likely tell us all where Bubba's program is really at. Win that one and 3-2 is likely, with 4-1 a possibility. Lose that one and 1-4 and even 0-5 is not out of the question.

Same shoulder he dislocated vs Illinois State? Hope not.

This team needs to start the season fast this fall. It's last "good win" was vs USD in the Spring of 2021. Since then it has beaten some bad to average teams and lost to every team with a winning record. Nebraska will very likely be a loss, but we need to keep it respectable. Possibly the biggest game of the season will be the second week, hosting UNI. That game will likely set the tone for the season. A win is desperately needed in that one to get some swagger back.

Any fall camp schedule yet?

Agree, also makes the opposing DC account for the QB on every play.

Danny needs to make Shuster run half a dozen times a game. Offense will need to carry the team more this year out of the gate as the D gets some new faces experience. Coaching needs to be better in game. Need to find someone who is money on field goals from inside 45 yards.

No doubt about this, wish Kennedy was still around.

I am not sure of what Bubba could have done differently from a legal standpoint, but I hope this soon passes for him and the team. I would guess on a team level, he would have dealt much differently with the Otis situation last fall. The lackluster season and team performance makes much more sense now. Had to be some horrible "team" dynamics at play during the season, especially the way it played out for Otis, the team and Bubba.

Integrity and the MSM have nothing in common. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either a sheep or part of the problem. It’s a controlled show. Almost no “real”journalists work in the MSM. For context, working in the North Dakota market or even Minneapolis is NOT the MSM. At the local level real journalism and journalists do exist. As for the Post? It is most definitely one of the “stars” of the “show”.

If Tom was Mockingbird, Otis was a target of the state, and the order was given, I have no doubt he could have been destroyed long before now.

First of all the world has a ton of BS in it. Also, it doesn’t mean other players endorse Otis actions. Can’t imagine the situation, along with his overall attitude about the team built cohesion. IMO, at the very least, Bubba should have cut Otis the week of Drake.

It's a football team...they were all aware of it.