iramurphy

We weren't good enough last year. Too inconsistent. Let's take care of the things we can control and then we won't need to blame some committee that didn't pick us when we were a "bubble" team. Would have been great if we were in and we were as deserving as the last couple teams in but the fact is we didn't get it done. This year we will. We are better.

Of course I have learned from the experts on our blog that my judgement of players is biased cuz of where they are from, but the receiver from Detroit Lakes that we couldn't get UND to recruit, had 7 catches for 127 yds and a TD today in Vikes win over Houston. Also made key blocks in running game.

He also has UND ahead of Stony Brook. Who cares? Doesn't matter yet. We just need to win the game we are playing and the polls will take care of themselves.

Studsrud is the only option cuz Heidlebaugh isn't ready and they aren't going to play Bartles.

Nothing backhanded about my statement. I said I wasn't defending Mussman. I think we need to quit kicking a dead horse and move on. I doubt Bubba is blaming Mussman for any problems we have this year. I didn't say Studsrud was bad, he has been inconsistent. Our QB play has hurt us this year. I think he is better when we utilize his strengths. He wasn't bad, he wasn't good. He was OK. He will need to be better if we are going to be a good team. "Didn't play badly" doesn't cut it. He needs to be a difference maker. He was very good in the last drive against USD last week but before that he missed some open guys and most of his passes were off a bit. He also was very slow getting the ball to open receivers. He has shown he is capable but if he is a captain and our QB that needs to be good every game. That is why people on this blog have been critical. People expect him to be a leader. Time to step it up and play like he is capable of.

I thought everything was Mussman's fault. Not defending Mussman but someone complained the oline was his fault cuz he couldn't recruit linemen. (The all conf guys you mentioned from last year must have all transferred in when the new staff got here). I would disagree we don't have time to throw. Most of the time we have. That wasn't the case a couple of years ago. We have made some progress there. We have a better and deeper corps at running back. Our receivers are fine. They aren't 4.3 guys but get them the ball, they are athletic enough to be effective receivers. Last week they made a number of great catches on balls thrown that were a little off. The offensive schemes are game planned by the staff. The personnel sometimes limits what we do and sometimes the opponents personnel allow us opportunities. Look what Belicheck did with an inexperienced third team rookie QB. We could be 0-4 and should 4-0. I agree we need to utilize all personnel including the tight ends and at least utilize Studsrud's athletic abilities to roll out and to have some run pass option opportunities. He has done better if we can create some plays to allow him success early and get on a roll. Otherwise he has been too inconsistent. Doubt he feels any pressure cuz they aren't going to use Bartles and the freshman isn't ready. Biggest disappointment thus far has been the lack of discipline, inconsistency at QB, and our inability to dominate the line of scrimmage offensively. I don't think we have a leader on the offensive side of the ball right now. We have opportunities with 2 very good RB's and a QB that is athletic enough to run and run pass option. It will be interesting to see if that might be the answer.

So much for best defense in FCS.

I believe that is just wishful thinking.

Sorry, I was referring to myself (no sense pissing and moaning). You were supportive of Mollberg.

He didn't "check out". He came back from a potentially career ending injury and was relegated to third team QB when he returned last fall. Based on Rudolph's reported comments to one of the other players he had written Joe off by then. Seems that was probably true cuz they wouldn't give him a chance to play when Studsrud got hurt and Bartles struggled. He has been a good team player and worked hard to put himself in a position to get on the field. Mollberg had the ability to make all of the throws but I don't think this staff was going accept the risk of a guy who might throw an int trying to make something out of nothing. He had the ability to carry a team when he has time to throw, running game is clicking and our receivers run the right routes and catch the ball. Studsrud is much more effective in the same scenerio. We need to start utilizing his athletic ability with run pass options, roll outs etc I think he can be better than adequate. To Joe's credit he wanted to finish his career here. To Bubba's credit he kept him on scholarship. No sense pissing and moaning about what could have been cuz it is "water over the dam".

Taunting is not part of the game and it will usually get you a 15yd penalty and should be called every time. If you meant trash talking, and there is a fine line between the two, I would agree it goes on all of the time. Ref calls taunting when he sees it. The rule doesn't allow the ref to not call it because it occurs after a "big play". The ref isn't "Mickey Mouse" cuz he does what he is supposed to do, the player did a "Mickey Mouse" action. Big plays are negated by lack of discipline too often.

Interesting post game blog. Stony Brook is a very good defense. Best we will see or best in FCS? Silly statements cuz no way to tell. Tough injury to Clive. Of course he was fighting for every yard he could get. That is what winners do. His injury is a lot more than "next man up". He will need support so he can recover and complete his degree. There is enough of an adjustment to athletes when their careers are over much less cut short like this. The staff and teammates will support him. Fans need to keep track of him and make sure if he needs anything he gets it. Don't be too hard on Studsrud. He isn't going to win games for us and he isn't going to lose games for us. He was given the job because the staff wanted a guy to "read defenses and hand the ball off". They felt he was least likely to turn the ball over. He didn't throw any interceptions and only lost one of his 2 fumbles. When given time to throw he has done a decent job. He isn't the gunslinger type that can put this team on his back and carry them through adversity. That isn't the type of offense Bubba wants nor what the majority of fans on this blog want. We have other receivers who can make plays and Studsrud can get them the ball when they are open and he has time. Yeah he played poorly Thursday but if the run game isn't clicking and the oline struggles QB's tend to struggle. Oline is key to this offense. Receivers can't drop balls and need to run the right routes. When the oline struggles, we aren't running the ball, and our receivers don't catch every ball we will struggle. RB's are good but if we can't throw the ball consistently and effectively, they aren't as good. All of this sounds familiar? Studsrud will be better than this. My biggest disappointment is he didn't throw these guys on his back and make his teammates better while facing adversity. Tough to do, but he didn't lose this game for us. It was a team effort. Special teams a big disappointment again. We simply must win every special teams play and can never turn the ball over on special teams. Defense is very good and should get better as season goes on. Good depth up front . If we are healthy we can scheme to give our corners some help. Pressure on BG QB will make our CB's better. Defense is good enough to get us a win next week if we can sustain offensive drives and protect the ball. We must have a clean game offensively and can't turn the ball over. Protect our QB and give our backs some room to run we can give these guys a game, then if there in 4th quarter anything can happen. We may need to start using Studsrud's legs to create some opportunities. We have enough RB's to keep them from getting tired and Studsrud has the ability to run the ball. To control the ball by pounding the rock requires a dominant oline and it doesn't seem we are there yet. We need all of the tools in the shed to get the job done this week. Fly Hawks!

You ought to bring back Dick Hanson. He deserved better. He has been a class act and is a solid AC guy.

What there is to know isn't the issue of the proposed media policy. If that is what NDSU wants to do, that is their business. The issue is that Bresciani threw a subordinate under the bus trying to protect himself and made disparaging remarks about local media personalities and a guy who donated $1,000,000 to NDSU, then lied to the press about his involvement and knowledge of the entire issue and decision. I'm glad I never had to go to war with a coward like that. That is an egregious offense and he needs to resign. He has exposed himself as an arrogant clown who is willing to be untruthful to the public. If you don't want better for NDSU then I can't understand your motives for wanting to keep this guy. There are numerous qualified candidates who would love to have the job and would serve effectively and with honor. Bresciani isn't one of them.

Sadly this a reflection of where we are as a society. Chapman and now Bresciani have a history of lying. The NDSU fans should demand he and Larson be fired. Not because of their proposed media policy but because as public employees and administrators at an institution of higher education they should be held to the basic standard of honesty when it comes to dealing with the public. If we can overlook the fact the Bresciani lied and Larson was willing to throw a subordinate employee under the bus, and that Larson as AD is willing to mislead the public then why should we expect them to be honest in their other dealings? Bresciani's disrespect for other media members and for the Forum Chair (who donated $1,000,000 to NDSU) is the epitome of arrogance and deceit. Can NDSU supporters really defend that? The school, community and state of North Dakota deserves better. Had they hired Dick Hanson (former Bison FB and former interim president who did a good job of cleaning up the Chapman mess), I doubt we would have this situation. There seems to be a pattern developing at NDSU that the end justifies the means. That is not and should never be acceptable at an institution of higher education. It seems as long as we have success in athletics the rest is forgiven. I guess if we can nominate presidential candidates who have repeatedly lied and made disparaging remarks to or about the mentally handicapped, police and the military and another who also can't keep his facts straight and makes disparaging remarks about women and minorities then we shouldn't expect any better from this arrogant clown.

There is no reason for any kid anywhere to accept a preferred walk-on spot before their senior year. It does nothing for the kid and it may decrease the chance he will receive a scholarship from the offering school or from another school.

Wentz has a lot more going for him than "numbers". He has character, work ethic and has demonstrated that when he plays against higher levels of competition he can play. It is a bigger step from College to the NFL than than FCS to FBS. Wentz is a rookie. Give him time, we will have to see. Same for Lynch. Same for any trade or draft choice. It is a crap shoot. There is a long list of can't miss prospects than never made it. The biggest issues for most of those those people were lack of character, lack of work ethic or for some, injuries.

Ring?

Years ago I was In charge of summer registration for incoming students. Freshmen and transfers would come to campus for a day and test out of Math, take foreign language placement tests, and listen to George Schubert, Dean of University College welcome students and tell parents don't let your kid have a car at college. You could register for school then but you could also register and sign up for your classes when school started. The problem was a lot of classes were full and you would end up taking Humanities, Philosophy, History of Jack Benny from Tweeton (that was a great course), and a couple of Phy Ed courses even if your major was accounting or Engineering. You could also take ROTC if you wanted to terrorize liberal English Professors and make them wet their pants. (Or is that only now). We often would walk over to Merrifield and ask Professor Lewis to add a couple of seats to English Comp etc. Some kids showed up on their own a few days after classes started sometimes and we would find a way to accommodate them. Dean Schubert liked to be personally involved with the hockey players but we did the same for any kid. That is what made us a great institution. It was about the students and making things work for them not what was easiest for us. Most Departments had a "go to professor" who would help us get kids into needed classes. When my kids registered it was similar. Hope it still is. When my other kid went to the U of Mn, she majored in Graphic Arts and when it was her turn to register none of her classes were available and no one would help her find credits. I hired 5 college students each summer to work with us. One of the students is now CEO of BWW.

I'm sure the coaches know where Nick and his family are in this process. They have a great relationship with the players and I would bet that Nick consults with our coaches, his family and whomever his adviser is. If we are going to get players of his caliber we are going to have to live with the fact that many of them are going to move to the pro leagues early. Our coaching staff has dealt with similar situations in the past and will advise Nick, then support his decision. This is different than a recruit backing out in August. There is nothing "bush league" about a young man who has given fans a lot to cheer for these last 2 years, taking whatever time he needs to make one of the most important decisions in his life. The coaches can deal with this and have contingency plans for these situations. Fighting Sioux Hockey will be fine whatever Nick's decision is.

On the NFL network they said he had only one scholarship offer, from North Dakota. They got it right.

He has an NHL shot, wins face offs. He's tough. If he remains disciplined, and plays smart he can overcome what some think is lack of speed. He was able to be very effective against a lot of faster guys in college. As you move to the next level, there are more of those fast guys. The big guys are faster and the fast guys are bigger and tougher. How big is his heart? He will have to work harder and play smarter than the faster guys. It will be a challenge but I wouldn't say never. Good luck to the kid.

He just realized he could have had a V8 with his Vodka.

Kid made a couple of mistakes. Quinipiac band did play the war drum beat associated with Native Americans. He also doesn't know the difference between a mascot/logo/name. This guy is irrelevant. More important things to write about. For those of you who seem to struggle with which name, the hockey team settled that issue. Just call them National Champs.

We don't need to. Sioux hockey team said it all.