iramurphy

You don't seem to get this. There won't be a change til the end of the season. We can either suck it up and play better despite the coaches or we can fold the tent and lose the advances we have made. There is nothing in my post defending the coaches, nor ignoring the problem. Deal with what we can control right now. I am more of a big picture guy. We need a cultural change with this program and the athletic dept. We can lose our hockey edge real fast. Going from the WCHA to the NCHC or whatever the heck it is will pose problems. Competing in the Big Sky for other sports is a challenge. To be successful we need fans, we need a product that is entertaining and will engage the fans. We need administration in the athletic dept and the University that has a vision and willingness to utilize intercollegiate athletics to attract students and help market what we do as a University. If our fans our going to wait until we win all of our games it makes it much more difficult. we are fans and need to do our part. We can be part of the solution or part of the problem. Dealing with the coaches is something that needs to be discussed by our University President and Athletic Director and they need to solve this problem. If you feel better whining and thrashing about or ranting about the failures of the team this year then go to it but quit expecting others to condemn all parts of what we have going. This is a great University with tremendous Alumni support which includes athletics. We have great facilities that are getting better. I believe we have had two good recruiting classes and are making inroads in many areas. We have taken 3 recruits the AC wanted badly the last couple of years. Means to me, we are recrutiing better kids and we are getting better kids. There is a good foundation to build on. The time for the coaching change is at the end of the season unless there are behavior issues or something egregious. The fact that I don't want to quit on these kids or the program doesn't mean I am excusing the coaching. I can't fire or hire but I can donate $$ and I can go to the games and support these kids. As a fan, I am not going to quit on them and so I don't see reason to fuss about coaching changes until such time as it might do some good.

There will be no change during the season. If there is a change you want to the possible candidates and that won't happen in the middle of a season. We can fuss all we want but there is no reason not to focus on getting better each day. Offensively we can still score. Might need to scrap the running game. Might need to get creative to keep pressure off the QB's. Not sure what to say about the defense. I don't have an answer other than they must get better. Coaching and players need to pick it up. It isn't going to get easier and there isn't a team on our schedule that can't beat us on a given day. That is how it will be in the Big Sky. Our kids and coaches can listen to this kind of crap or they can start playing above theier level of ability play after play. Think Indiana State was better than NDSU last year? Find a way to get better and find a way to win. Screw what people think about the coaching. Suck it up and work harder. We aren't good enough to over come mental mistakes, penalties and lack or focus. We are good enough to be a lot better.

I will bet you whatever you wish they are already looking at film for Montana State. I think we have been outplayed as much as outcoached and Im not sticking up for anyone but you can't game plan if your o-line doesn't block, and our defense can't stop a sneeze. That is a coaching issue that starts before the game strategy and adjustments.Overall the past couple of years I think out coaching strategy has been decent. Getting kids to play better and being more disciplined is the most important part of coaching for us right now. If we can't get that done it doesn't matter what schemes or adjustments we make.

Lets drop this. Not this guys fault UND got beat. I have never believed in letting fans on the sidelines and there are better ways to make him feel part of the team. How many more fans can come and go. It is just a philosophy and culture that game time is for the team and coaches. We need to fix more important things than a fans on the sidelines but I thought people wanted to clean up the sideline and keeping fans in the stands is only a very small part of it so I'll give you this one.

Johannesson is Jr. and just ran for 331 yds against Devils Lake but also had big game the week prior. 6'2" about 195lbs. Fast and quick. Might be FBS prospect but he is a big time player. Feeney is the Nephew of former Bison QB Kevin Feeney and son of former Sioux Steve Feeney. 6' 2" Soph with rocket arm and all of the throws. Word is that he is better than his Dad or uncle. I saw the Ellefson kid play BB last year when he was a Soph. He is a beast. Great quickness and is 6'2" and about 225lbs. Playing QB for a very good Hawley team. Great speed. College position may be LB.

Getting a bit ahead of 2014 but the Johannesson kid from Fargo South and the Ellefson kid from Hawley are big time prospects. May be FBS prospects. Both are Juniors. Feeney from Bismarck Century is only a Soph but looks like the real deal at QB.

No its not. Serge is a hall of famer and isn't hanging out on the sideline. I would buy the guy a ticket. I don't want guys on the sideline who don't belong there. Very few exceptions such as a kid with cancer etc. Give the guy a job with the equipment manager and give him a purpose for being there. We did that when I was coaching with a similar situation and they guy worked his butt off and belonged. A casual fan has no business there. He hasn't missed tackles nor has he thrown interceptions so I don't think he is the cause of the problems, but if you want sideline discipline then you need to minimize distractions. You can't have fans wandering around talking to players during games. Make up your mind. You want sideline discipline then get serious. You either have a purpose for being there or you don't belong. My son-in-law played for the Cowboys for 8 years and a lot of people thought Jerry Jones was a sideline distraction at times and he certainly had a right to be there.

I am not sure you can answer that question unless you can find our safeties. Where were they. Our front seven missed tackles again and had some short lived signs of resistance but not much more than a speed bump. Didn't play well against SDSU and embarrassed themselves against Montana. Hard to believe we have regressed this much. This isn't a tough schedule this year, this is an FCS schedule with 7 home games. I didn't think we would contend for a title but this year we should be competitive against these teams.

Pathetic performance form Athletic department to coaches to students and fans. Sideline needs to be cleaned up. What the hell is Kauk doing there? We can't have fans wandering around on the sideline. If he can't afford a ticket someone PM me and I will buy him season tickets. One of Mussman's biggest failures is the lack of understanding of the psychology of coaching The importance of sideline discipline and attention to detail is important for any leader. There should be a grad assistant whose game responsibility is sideline discipline. They make sure guys don't run on the field to celebrate and they make sure guys are paying attention so they don't forget to get in the field for special teams or be ready when someone is hurt. They should be constantly talking to backups about game points and coaching points so those kids not playing are also staying focused. This game was a step backwards and if this trend continues we need to pick up this discussion at the end of the season. Faison needs to be making tentative plans now though. We don't accomplish anything by making a change right now.

Any QB needs a good o-line and what we saw yesterday was pathetic. Both QB's missed receivers and the two INT's were poor decisions. Even an extra second can give the QB whomever it is time to set and deliver a better ball. We gave up 5 sacks but Mollberg was hit another 10 times and seldom did he have time to progress through his reads. O line needs to look within and decide if they are willing take on the guy across the line of scrimmage and beat him man to man. If not take your ass out of the game and tell your coach you can't get the job done. If you are a lineman and can't run block you just aren't very good. Our d-line and LBs had no sacks and little pressure on their QB. Our 2 young QB's are the least of our problems right now. Our o-line needs to protect these kids and they just aren't doing it the last tow weeks. Give them time and either will be pretty good. They are only freshman and will make some mistakes but those will be exacerbated by running back sho can't break arm tackles and an o-line which yesterday wasn't much more than a speed bump.

What most of you don't seem to understand is the concept of taking the opponents best player out of the game. We heard about what a great punter the Grizzles have. Our game plan was to keep him on the bench. Just like you want to keep Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers off the field. We were able to do that better than any team these guys will face this year!

It seem the GF Herald thinks we are playing Montana State. Do they have anyone in their sports dept. that knows anything about sports. I hope it was only the online story that screwed that up. Does todays papers lead story on the game really have Montana State in the headline?

Only if you are an AC grad and your check from the county hasn't come yet

As I posted last night, Mollberg will start.

I would expect Labatt to finally see extensive action with Goodman's injury and finally being healthy. Cory McKesson the RB from the San Diego area that we reviewed film on last spring is now on the roster. I am excited to see how he develops. Mollberg to be named starter.

We have the talent to beat good FCS teams. We can't have 10 penalities, Can't waste timeouts, Can't turn the ball over and we need our front 7 to be more than a speed bump. Our super receivers can't drop balls. If you can beat your opponent on one play, then you can beat him on the next, then the next and so on. Gotta dig deeper and out work and outhustle a more talented opponent. Could have won the SDSU game but didn't. Until we put together some consistent play from start to finish we are still a "work in progress". If we get better every game we can contend for a playoff spot.

Nice Avatar! LOL. Our QB has been pressured. Mollberg made plays, Bartels struggled. When given time they both can be very accurate. Our O-lines the last few years have protected the QB reasonably well but don't run block very well.

This schedule is what we will get year in and year out. There will be 3-4 Big Sky teams ranked. We need to be one of them.

Defense didn't relax. Long pass to Hardin had defender with him and TD to Hardin was also decent coverage. Receiver and QB made great throw and catch. Defensive pressure on QB still there, Mollberg did better job of avoiding it. I dont think any coach would go into prevent when opposition has ball down by 21 in mid third quarter. SDSU didn't.

I don't think you understand the pressure he was under. If he fails, he is likely relegated to the number 2 spot unless Bartels gets hurt. He had everything to lose and everything to gain. Don't forget he completed 6 of 7 last week and the incompletion was one where the receiver fell. He is 21 of 30 for over 300 yds and 2 tds. He led 3 scoring drives under lots of pressure. I don't thnk it was the 2 dropped passes, the reason Bartels started was cuz his completion record in practice was a little better and Muss thought he reacted to his mistakes better than Joe. If Bartels didn't miss a wide open Hardin, and cough the ball up and make a poor decision when he could have run or thrown to an open receiver on a third down or get sacked by not being mobile enough then we wouldn't be talking about this. Under game conditions with pressure so far I will take Mollberg. He earned a shot. IF you are going to let Bartels take the job from Mollberg with a little better performance in practice then to be fair Mollberg has earned the number one spot back with a better performance in the game.

What you saw Sat is what Mollberg brings to the table. He is a gunslinger who has a cannon of an arm. He threw the ball effortlessly to Hardin 60 yds in the air. He may have made a poor decision as he admitted on his last play but then he also may have made poor decisions to throw the long ball to Hardin or the TD to Hardin or the cross filed pass t Golladay as he was getting tackled. He moves better in the pocket and helps his O-linemen by moving within the pocket. Bartels doesn't do that as well. Mollberg's int wasn't a terrible throw like Bartles int was it was a gunslinger trying to make a play and win a game. Brett Farve and Terry Bradshaw were two guys who were similarly criticized early in their careers. He was the better QB and has earned a chance to start against Montana.

Coaches had a good game plan. Got beat physically up front. Wasted 2 TO's in second half not getting the plays in and I would have gone to no huddle sooner. Too many penalties. This thread needs to wait until end of season. We could have won this game. Kids were put in a position to win and that is what the coaches need to do. IF we improve each week then we don't need a change. Bringing back Dale and Bubba aren't the answer. Beating Montana is.

After watching last weeks game, I think Jacks will be able to run and unless we get some sort of pressure they will also throw. I know we didnt' show much last week, but we only sacked the Valpo kid once. Even playing base stuff our kids need to do better than that. Alsowe need to clean up the missed arm tackles. I think we should be able to throw on anyone. It will be interesting to see if we can run. If Bartels struggles and they don't go to Mollberg early, it will be a long season. If Miller struggles and they don't get anyone else in, it will be a long season. I liked what Sparks did last week and the only time we saw him last year. Granted they weren't good teams and it was second half but he still showed great quickenss and broke tackles. Shaugaby didn't get many carries other than goaline and we need to see more of him so we know what these other guys can do. I think we will need to score 40 or more to be in it but if we can play defense we can win this. One of our staring LBS went down. Labatt is supposed to play this game and I have been anxious t see him at this level. No excuses for crowd less than 12,000. Night game and great matchup.

Come on. He brings up a good point and he got a couple of good responses. Yours wasn't one of the good responses. These forums should not be for a small group of guys drinking the same kool-aid. I am not convinced we have been good enough defensively to predict a 50 point blow-out. Hopefully we are that much better. We certainly didn't do that to Drake. This game should give our team an opportunity to play against someone else and at least see some of our new guys in a game situation. We need to develop and get better each game. We should win this and we should see an improvement from last year. Point spread isn't as important.

If UND wants to establish the run, I am surprised they are starting Bartels. Mollberg gives them a run option to go along with his strong arm. Don't forget this competition was so close no one knew until just now who would start. That close competion was regarding the passing game and reading defenses, not the run game. Having said that I believe Bartels has earned the chance to start. If you don't give both guys playing time with the other starters in the first half, preferably the first quarter, you are not very smart. The competion between these two might last through next spring ball then the number two guy will likely leave. Neither of these guys are going to wait for an injury or be satisfied with mop up duty and they shouldn't. They are both too good to sit on someone's bench. Right now they both have a great attitude and want to win and will do whatever it takes to help the team so it is a moot point what happens until the end of the season as long as we are winning and scoring points. With the competition this close, if one falters the other needs to be in there. I prefer a "gamer" and sometimes you don't see all of that until game time. Might be both of them. We also need to do a better job of getting our RB's playing time. Miller, Garmin, Shaugaby, and Sparks need to play and not just short yardage.