Midwestern Hawk

UND has a great ambassador for the university in Bubba, but I'm afraid his chance of winning a national championship is now in the rear view mirror. And when Entz is hoisting that trophy don't forget on October 2nd we were leading the Bison with about 7 minutes left in the 3rd qtr. It was 4th and 1 at our own 20. Someone on UND staff thought NDSU would automatically run their punt return team on to the field, we would leave our OL on the field and sub in Q among others. NDSU noticed the OL move so they kept their defense on the field. Instead of calling TO and punting we ran the Q sneak anyways and didn't make it. Did I mention we had the lead in the 3rd quarter at our own 20? Who the &$(^ didn't call TO and punt? Looking back on Bubba's coaching time at UND, it will be very easy to determine when it started to go downhill. The entire season was downhill from that moment. I'll shut up for awhile now.

I agree that is where we are. Closer to a top 15 team than we were when Bubba arrived. Why are we not a top 8 team EVERY year? You all know what I think.

From that angle, the season was an unmitigated disaster. 2022 we play 2 teams who in 2021 had records well under .500. Nebraska was 3-9 and Youngstown State was 3-7. We also play 6 2021 playoff teams and Nebraska. Will be incredibly important that we come out of the first 4 games a minimum of 2-2, or the season could go downhill fast.

Nobody will ever repeat the NDSU run the last 11 years or whatever it is. There is no reason whatsoever we can't compete with NDSU year in and year out and win multiple MVFC championships, be seeded in the playoffs every year and always make the quarterfinals, usually make the semi-finals and often make the final. If that is not our aim(especially as the FCS is watered down with FBS defections) the University should state that and we should return do D2 and drop all the "flagship U" talk. IMO if Bubba was the coach we need to get to the next level he would either be paid like that or he would have moved on to a better job. Why on earth do you think Schmidt didn't decide he wanted to attach himself to a coach that was going to win big and move up the coaching ranks fast? Now he has far more $ and he is moving up fast. If being a really good man, loving the state of North Dakota and the University of North Dakota were the only ingredients it takes to win a National Championship, Bubba would be playing in a couple weeks for his 8th.

This is an absolute truth.

You have many valid thoughts. You are likely correct on Entz, however if Entz's spring quarterfinal run included a loss to UND and he had finished 5-6 this fall including a 2nd loss to UND, I think Entz would be gone. Obviously that is just surmising as he beat us twice in 2021 and it appears will lead the Bison to a 2nd natty in 3 years. I too have witnessed signs of progress over the years with Bubba especially with recruiting and IMO everything was lined up for UND this fall. I love UND football and I am sincerely afraid Bubba's pinnacle as coach at UND will be having the lead at halftime this fall against NDSU. The season(and likely his tenure) certainly slid backwards from that moment both literally and figuratively. I don't see many ways the fall of 2022 will turn out any better than 2021, too many holes to fill and too many weaknesses were exposed this fall. I sincerely hope all of you are reposting these gloomy forecasts a year from now and throwing it in my face as we all are buying tickets to Frisco, but I have "been around the block" a time or two in football and business and the chances of a "breakout" season are not good without a major change in the program.

Some guys are elite coaches, some guys are good coaches, some guys are average coaches, some guys are bad coaches. Usually the pay follows fairly closely behind the results.

Those salaries are paid because NDSU is elite. You don’t think the national championships earned over the last decade have anything to do with the differences in wages? Put another way, do you think Bubba and his staff would be paid more if they had won 6 national championships during his 8 years? Some of you have so many excuses, it’s frightening.

It was sarcasm . Obviously Entz can coach.

That terrible coach (Entz) is on the cusp of his 2nd national championship in 3 tries. Some of you have so many excuses.

Coach Thomas made a strategic mistake not going up to D1 when the Bison made the move. Have been playing catch up ever since. We will never know for sure, but I firmly believe if we move up at the same time, the FCS results over the last 10-12 years would be considerably different for both programs.

Yes.

If NDSU had just finished 5-6 the way UND did, would Entz still have a job? I doubt it. Collectively, our expectations stink as do our results.

College football likely about to undergo a major shift(transfer portal, NIL, conference realignment. etc) Not sure how it will all shake out, but likely 4 FBS super-conferences(ACC,B1G,SEC, P12). If FCS is destroyed in the process, UND needs to be ready to move with the Bison and Jacks.

I will look for that. The offense includes multiple shifts and usually motion on each play which also makes it much tougher to call traditional audibles.

I don't think this a big secret anymore. It was an ongoing problem.

I would agree, most larger and accomplished high school programs have an audible or two each week. I watched each game bell to bell this fall minus the Missouri state 2nd half. I have also watched most of this falls games a second time and I have not seen a single offensive play, where the QB recognizes something in the defense and changes the play. If someone knows of a play where an audible happened, I’d love to rewatch the play.

I don’t follow. If audibles are not In UND offense, not sure how that would be on qb’s.

That’s my observation as well. I have rewatched several games, and I see no evidence of audibles being called at the line by Tommy.

Merry Christmas!

Hey, we finally agree!

What is your basement acceptable threshold(contract extension) for Bubba in 2022? 4 wins? 5 wins? 6 wins? Playoffs?

It’s the details which are the difference between UND’s 2021 5-6 and lining up in Frisco in 3 weeks . Our details stink. At MSU all we had to do was take the play clock down to a couple of seconds before each snap after going up 28-17 and we win despite both of the 4th qtr fumbles. It’s sad because Bubba was good enough to assemble the team and get us to the threshold, just couldn’t cross it. Bubba is a great ambassador for UND but the chances are slim he gets it done next fall.

Yep. Started the year ranked 8th. With the above mentioned short-comings cleaned up, we would all be figuring out our flights to Frisco.

I don't remember Tommy calling an audible all season. If you remember a specific instance, let me know and i will re watch.