iramurphy

Exactly.

Steve Mariucci was NMichigan QB. He coached under Gene Murphy at Cal State Fullerton. We went back to their coaches offices after Murphy’s funeral a few years ago and reminisced about the 1975 playoffs. He is a great guy.

He didn’t screw anything up. All you needed to do was contact him and pledge $10,000. He and his staff worked hard to obtain pledges. What the hell did you do??? When did you ever go “all out to win”. I’m guessing he based his bid on past years. Nicholls State probably had someone like you write a check rather than do nothing but criticize. Too many people on this board keep waiting for someone else to step up to the plate. Going to games when we are winning is important. Supporting the program when it is needed most is more important. We can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. Your undo criticism after the fact is part of the problem.

I don’t know where it came from nor who the cap was on but I believe Chaves and Brekke contacted enough supporters to go a lot higher that that. I don’t know final bid but it no longer matters. Chaves and the athletic dept worked hard to put out a competitive bid. He has enough experience to know where the bid normally would need to be. Didn’t get it but not for lack of effort.

Pre-game their coach told media they had put away their equipment thinking they had no chance at playoffs. He also commented they were just happy to be in playoffs and didn’t think they had much chance and just wanted to be respectful against huge oline, two 225lb RB’s and #1 NDak. We didn’t play well and they won. Wasn’t close. Arguably most disappointing loss in UND history.

First of all we will need to play our best game of the year to beat Nicholls St. Fortunately, the players are focused on the Nicholls game and only the Nicholls game. Fans and media look ahead and of course should we not win, the media and others will claim they were looking ahead. Having said that, most important would be Nicholls then whomever we would play next if we are fortunate enough to escape with a win against Nicholls. Most important because we are FCS and most importantly for FCS teams are playoffs and National Championships. The signature win would be KState cuz they are very good and it would garner National attention and comments. Recruiting would benefit if kids see the quality of FB is on par with some very good FBS teams. Now back to Nicholls. This game is a tossup. They should be a slight favorite cuz they are at home. I know there is at least one poster with little, if any, respect for those who have come before, but once in the playoffs, anything can happen. Ask guys from the top rated UND team in 1975 when they were schooled by an Alabama Livingston team that barely made the playoffs and everyone said wouldn’t be able to play in the cold weather. We need to play mistake free, turnover free, penalty free m, disciplined, physical FB to win this game but we are good enough to win it.

National title will be our “signature win” when we get that done. Win over top 20 FBS team would do it. Win over another FCS team that is defending champ would mean we are back where we should be. No big argument against those who disagree, just my opinion on where we need to be.

No, only a step in the right direction. We haven’t had a “signature win” yet.

I guess I was referring to the bid which came into play after the Idaho State fiasco and the “egg we laid” at EW. I was also referring to us as fans and supporters, and yes of course we would be in a better position had we won the ISU game.

You are correct. As you probably know the entire staff evaluates prospects and give input. I’m not sure how we have gotten off track recruiting better punters and kickers but there are camps these guys should be going too in the summer. Few colleges have kicking/punting coaches. Fewer high schools do. Frankly, few NFL teams do. It does highlight the importance of special teams. One specialist that has been good is the long snapper.

I probably have watched a hell of a lot more punting and kicking than you have and interacted with kickers and punters at not just little league but high school, college and nfl. Maybe your experience is more extensive than mine, but I never said the punter and kicker are “pretty good”. I said average but my point was somehow with less than stellar punting and kicking, the coach has done pretty well with KO and punt coverage. Although our punter’s average isn’t good his net average is at least average, maybe a little better. Our kicker doesn’t have a big leg but the other team doesn’t often start beyond the 25 after a kickoff. I don’t know where you think you start after a touchback. Therefore someone has our special teams kids playing pretty well with who we have at punter and kicker. “Olden days”??? I haven’t gained my experience playing Madden FB and watching ESPN. You guys who think the answer is to fire everyone when things aren’t going well are full of crap. If you want someone fired start writing checks but $5000 or $10,000 won’t cut it. Until we have resources to do things faster, we are going to have to be patient. Guys like Kostich need to be supported and develop. He has the potential to be an excellent coach. He has done a good job this year. You haven’t got a clue and frankly some of our “olden times” teams were pretty good.

No he isn’t. Overall Special teams have been pretty good this year. Good KO coverage, punt coverage with less than average kicker/punter. 2 big punt blocks for TD. He is well liked and a good recruiter. Has bright upside.

I think we were there. I and others told them I would give what they asked. I don’t know what are bid was. I’m not sure we should rely on FB alumni. I would hope GF Chamber of commerce and other FB fans would also be in.

We guessed wrong. Not sure how much we missed by but Chaves and staff contacted a number of people to get support. He has a pretty good idea of what it normally takes. I would guess we were close. HPC 2 will be a lot faster if new President recognizes athletics as a very high priority.

Yeah I figured that out after posting. I’m not sure how some people think the answer is to fire everyone. Pretty shallow thinking. What is the thought process that leads some to post all the critical negative crap when we just made the playoffs. People should be figuring out how to tell Grandma thanks for the turkey but I have to leave now to get to Louisiana for the game.

Baloney. Chaves put together a very competitive bid. A number of individual Alumni had pledged to augment what UND could do. Had our fans and community kept attendance at 9500 to 10,000 UND might have offered more. Biggest failure has been UND students failure to get behind the team and be part of the success. During the week Chaves and Alumni staff travel the region working to increase support for the program, UND athletics and the University. Cheap shots from people who have no idea what these guys are doing every day get a bit old. Maybe you should have given an extra $10,000. I would bet we were only short $5000.

It ain’t what is Bubba made of, its what are these players made of. TV guys showed us no respect. At some point these guys need to play a consistent 60 min game with no mental errors to the best of their ability.

Doubt it. Frankly “looking ahead” is more of a fan and media issue. Once the puck drops players play.

Game was over. Was that their regular kicker? If not it makes more sense. I thought it was something for the kicker. Didn’t make any difference.

My only point is these guys are committed to the program. I don’t believe their commitment is an issue.

Questioning play calling, game management, progress, recruiting etc I understand. We aren’t winning enough and program doesn’t seem to be improving fast enough for many. If you question commitment to the program you lose credibility with me. That certainly isn’t an issue with this staff. These guys are working their tails off. They care about each other, our players, the program and the University. There is no lack of effort or energy on the part of this staff.

Had we beaten Weber we would be in but any loss instead of a win puts us on the bubble.

It did. Any loss kept us from 8 wins. Obviously, hurts more to lose to mediocre teams but had we beaten another FCS team we would have been in with 8 wins. Frankly we were not much better than average so I’ve never understood the whining. I believe your point is valid. If we win the games we should win we are in and the NDSU game doesn’t keep us out. Same thing this year: we beat another FCS team instead of losing to NDSU we would be 7-3 right now. The losses to ISU and EW are keeping us out

Faison made the decision with Bubba’s input. I opposed it because we weren’t ready for NDSU and I would not have agreed to 2 away games. I agree it cost us a playoff shot the first year and could be a major factor this year.

He didn’t get a chance to warm up. Came in cold.