Midwestern Hawk

Yep. Need to make a move on this drive O!

Now lets score!

That is crazy.

Can't ask for much better on the 20th of November.

Just not 3rd and 4th and short......

Yep, Tommy also needs to put lots of loft to get it downfield, like the toss to Boltmann last week. Gave other DB time to get over the top, if not for a great play by #4 it would have been picked off.

Watch today's game and if Danny has him throw a deep ball, watch the velocity or lack of, and compare it to other QB's.

Wasn't the point. Don't forget Danny brings Q in to throw Hail Mary's AND to throw the winning TD last week at the end of the game, yet you still lie to your self and pretend opposing DC are somehow threatened with Tommy's dynamic abilities to throw bubble screens and 4 yard crossing patterns. If we score 4 offensive TD's in Brookings today we very, very likely win, Vegas thinks are chances are very, very slim. Football is not rocket science.

When I use the term "deep throw", I'm using it in the context of stretching the defense vertically. YOu are correct cross field throws can be very long throws in distance, but are not about stretching the defense. If Tommy makes a throw 25 yards downfield from LOS today, let me know how you think it went.

I would say any throw which travels over 25 yards from the LOS. In all actuality he has not thrown many at all this season. I think last Saturday he attempted 2, but I will rewatch to confirm that. One to Boltmann and one to Richter.

Yes sir!

I just feel like this was a window to make the leap. Otis, Waletzko and the defense. Otis is currently engaged, but that could change at any moment. Waletzko will be difficult to replace and lots of defenders(Canady, Shannon, Sequin, Holm, Turner, Haas, Galvin, and maybe Larson and Morrison. Not sure on the last two.) to replace. The good thing is Bubba and co have done a good job recruiting and the base and depth of the team is much better than it was after the 2016 season.

Totally agree, we are missing speed at WR. Looking back at the spring, if we played SDSU in the playoffs and they had their QB healthy and they had film on us, there is very little chance we win.

I want UND to get to that next step as badly as anyone. I thought at the beginning of the fall season we were extremely close and the results have largely proven that as true. Overall the defense has been good enough to win the MVFC and be a high seed in the playoffs, the offense has not, and the game management has not. Next fall IMO will be much tougher to achieve that with so many holes to fill on defense. Maybe the offense will be good enough to carry the team next fall or the defense will not experience any fall off or be even better. I just think we had a window to make a run and we blew it, I felt the same in 2016 after the Richmond game.

No, Danny put Quincy in the game so the RB would be wide open, with Tommy in he would not be open, or do you think Danny replaced Tommy on that play just for kicks?

Against teams with equal or better personnel, the offensive line will not be good enough to compensate for a QB who won't run and struggles throwing deep. You guys will destroy me for it, but a DC will find game planning vs Q(or any QB who can/will run), even if he struggles throwing sometimes, more difficult than for Tommy. There is a reason Danny had Q throw the game winner vs ISU and not Tommy. As for the spring season, the offense was clearly struggling towards the end of the season when playing teams with equal or better personnel.

The OL can always be better, but when do you think we will have a better OL than we had last spring? We won't until we get to the next level as a program. As the spring season wore on the DC's figured out how to defend Tommy and our offense and IMO we are still struggling on offense. Tommy is not a runner. He is good at rolling out and hitting short to medium throws on his first couple of reads and throwing bubble screens. I'm not ripping him, just giving you an honest evaluation, no deep threat and a QB who is no threat to run. At this point he will never be a runner, he is 3 years into the UND program and a couple times on Saturday he looked like a deer in the headlights when he did run. I thought he was going to get his head removed in the red zone along our sideline after one of his best rushes all season. Don't forget when we are evaluating the offense we have a great RB in Otis. We are 6-7 in our last 13 games 13 vs Bison 44 vs MSU (2 D TD's) 21 vs JMU 35 vs ISU 24 vs USU 38 vs Drake 10 vs Bison 13 vs USD 28 vs SIU (1 D TD) 28vs MSU 24 vs YSU 14 vs ISU We won with 14 last weekend, but I don't think anybody can win consistently in the MVFC(or any conference) scoring 3 TDS or less a game.

For UND to take the next step, and really be a threat to win a national championship it will be with the legs and arm of a dual-threat QB. It will be a season like SDSU experienced last spring, where the QB is the difference between 8-3 and winning 1-2 playoff games and being 10-1 or 11-0 and winning 4 playoff games. Even this fall, if we have a QB who runs for a few first downs and the defense has to plan to contain him, its probably enough to put us over the top in spite of not having a deep passing game, a field goal kicker and many questionable game management decisions and play calls. One more TD in each MVFC football game and we are playing OT at Vermillion for the win. When one thinks back on just the problems in the red zone, we are that close in spite of other short-comings with this team/program.

Agree. They must all be illegal motion.

Our red zone offense is ranked 11th in MVFC. Our red zone defense is 12th.

Blown means someone in the defense messed up, which is usually caused by the offense attempt to confuse the defense.

If one was to break down our third and 4th down calls this season and apply a grade, it would not be good. The only consistent call which usually delivered on 3rd and 4th and very short was Q over the right guard.

Good design then, wouldn't you agree?

Good to agree! DL should be better, OL will be missing 40% of the starters. On defense, #44 is back but d will be missing Holm, Canady, Seguin, Turner, Galvin, Shannon, and possibly Larson and Morrison. Not sure on the last 2. Also Peterson the punter will be gone as will the long snapper.

The platooning of QB's needs to stop, its just a symptom of offensive problems. We have 18 TD passes this season... Tommy with 12, Vaughn with 3, Boltmann with 2, and Richter with 1. It seems as the season wore on the QB platooning became a liability instead of an asset. Did Danny really think the only way the winning TD pass against ISU would be open was with Q in the game? If so, that is an entire subset of challenges moving forward. I hate being so negative, but the defense will likely have some significant rebuilding next season and I can't see the offense being much better. If the game management is the same, it will not leave us very happy a year from now.