Midwestern Hawk

I've got NDSU by 10+ this afternoon. What does everyone else think?

Did you actually watch the offense this fall when it mattered(sans NDSU game)?

Complimentary football. Offense and defense can compliment each other or they can do the opposite. Look at UND game vs Sac St and then compare to USD game a week later. USD controlled the flow of the game, the clock and thereby helped neutralize the QB as a major factor in the game. There is a huge difference in a football game playing with the lead and playing from behind. I have already mentioned this, but when our D shut down Sac St in the 3rd qtr and the offense had the chance to take the game over, Danny and his offense failed miserably. Our offense was better overall this season than our D, but football is a team game and a game of momentum. UND failed in far too many games this season and the last few seasons to seize the momentum and the game against better competition.

The very top G5 & FCS guys will be poached by P5, but I think eventually the portal will settle down and certainly the significant NIL $ will only be available to very few FCS and G5 transfers. I don't think FCS and G5 will ever have significant NIL budgets.

I would think guys who start as FROSH and SOPH at FCS level will be very tough to keep in programs at least for awhile til the transfer portal shakes out a bit.

It’s not going to be a major influence at FCS or even G5. It will be a factor, but not a factor like the very top.

Yep. A game which should have been a spring board in so many ways, now looks like a tease, a distant mirage. The most troubling part for me is we can always have better players, but FCS football is about developing what you have and putting them in a position to thrive, making a bunch of guys who equal 6(on a scale of 1-10) and make them play like they are 8. This staff does the opposite. The talent on the UND football team has been good enough to make deep playoff runs for awhile now. The problem is coaching and lack of confidence. Most games they make the 6 into a 5 or less at least for enough of the game to lose, or barely beat an woeful opponent. If you are coached up you play fast, if you play fast you win the play, the more plays you win the more you believe and it builds on itself. This staff gets some momentum and calls a trick play which looks like it has barely been practiced, a series of passes when they are running for 5+ a carry or calls for a fake punt on its own 20 yard line when the defense is waiting for it. I'm afraid we will be stuck with 5-7 wins and a first round playoff exit(when we qualify) as long as this staff is intact. Go back through the Hawks results since the 2018 season. Every game since we lost in Seattle in 2018 was winnable with the same talent. Every single one, some would have been easier than others, I get it, but they were all winnable.

I guess next season we get to find out who is a the larger problem on offense, Tommy or Danny. I used to be really down on Tommy, but as time wore on I think more of the offensive woes can be traced to Danny. Tommy was never going to be more than a game manager, but maybe that is the way Danny wants it. Again, time will tell.

I hate to say it, but they are going to beat USD. F*CK.

Makes me sick.

After the NDSU-UND game earlier this season, which team was coached up and has gotten much better and which team got worse? I hate those guys, but how can you not be impressed? Jesus.

This is what scares me...

A different game with the lead...

SAC ST and USD announcers referring to SAC St not being able to stop UND run game last week... Coaching.... USD controlling TOP and the ball and keeping it away from The SAC ST QB... Hmmm....

We haven't seen the best of Danny and the offense yet? Wasn't this his 5th season as OC? What am I missing here? What is Danny waiting for?

In that situation? Then the head coach should have been replaced the next day.

OC from SDSU(passing coordinator there).

You forget that Nielsen took Bubba's team(4-7) at UMD and won a natty the next year(15-0)...but maybe they got a bunch of superstars out of the portal....

Would love to get your input on this... 2023 conference records: ALL MVFC SELECTIONS: TEAM - 1st - 2nd - TOTAL SDSU - 9-9=18 USD - 3-4=7 NDSU - 7-2=9 YSU - 0-5=5 UND - 1-4=5 UNI - 5-0=5 SIU - 1-1=2 IlSU - 3-3=6 MiSI - 2-2=4 MuSU - 0-0=0 InSU - 0-2=2 WIU - 0-0=0

This was never Tommy fault. I'm sure he always did his best. Again(I know I am a broken record)this is on Danny and Bubba. If Tommy really was the best QB option they could come up with, it makes some of the play calling and in-game decisions even more suspect. Tommy was an average game manager and did well against bad to average teams and was not good against stiff competition. I am looking forward to the next chapter to see which QB steps up and how the offense is tailored to his strengths and weaknesses. Best of luck to Tommy. If we can run the ball on our opponent will we rely on the run or will we continue to outsmart ourselves? I imagine Kaminsky father was incredibly frustrated watching this team.

Extended after a horrendous coaching job in 2021. Talk about what ifs….

Again I disagree. Which game do you think this box score is from? How much control did the OL have over this miserable game plan?

Best case is likely 3-2 heading down to Fargo. At this point, that will not go well and then we return home to host UNI. The trend line seems to be moving lower with the exception of a massive bump this season vs Bison. Its not all that unlikely that we could be heading to Youngstown at 3-4 and in a "must-win".

This is all very true. As of this moment, the win vs the Bison this fall looks more like just a perfect alignment of the stars than an actual shift in very much. The Bison improved a bunch this season and we just went into the tank as a team.

I respectfully disagree. Waletzko was harder to miss on film and on the field due to his size. If you are not on one of the top 3 teams, you better really stick out in the games or on film. If UND just beats USD and doesn't just crap the bed at UNI, How many first teamers are those tow things worth? I would say several.