iramurphy

Obviously coaches make the decision and you may be right! They could very well start Heidelbaugh. The questioned was posed for bloggers to opine. Doesn't mean we don't trust coaches. They are the ones at practice everyday and they are doing a good job. If they never made mistakes we would not have lost to a crappy Bowling Green team and maybe not to SB. Right now I don't trust our special teams play. We can't cover a kick off, or return a punt. We finally returned a kickoff. Our punting and place kicking has been inconsistent. We need to improve or we will get beat in a close game like we did at Stony. No excuse for continued poor special teams play.

I will take these receivers everytime. Give me same talent with 4.3 or 4.4 speed, I agree that's better, but these guys who have caught passes all year even when they weren't great throws are money. They also block well. I don't care if we can't run the reverse or sweep with them, they are usually open on the break which is when the ball should be there. We have three very good RB's we shouldn't have to rely on our receivers very often to run the ball.

You go with the senior Bartles. He has played when we didn't protect QB's or have a running game. He hasn't played with a line that protects him and a running game. They need to move Mollberg back to QB until Studsrud is healthy. He is a good enough athlete and smart enough he will be ready to play if needed. Hanson also could move back to QB. We need to be able to throw the ball and Bartles can do that. We need to win next game no matter who is at quarterback. Need to have 3 QB's ready. I would play Mollberg cuz he can make all of the throws but he hasn't practiced at QB and Bartles has so I would go,with Bartles. I wouldn't watch either Bartles or Heidelbaugh struggle for very long. They would both be on a short leash.

Cheap shot. I have never respected people who hide behind blogs and cheap shot people who are in the mix. Hakstol was and is a great coach. I tend to give more credence to the players who played for him than fans on a blog. The ones I talked to thought fans who didn't think he was a great coach were clueless. He earned the job here and he earned the job in Philly. He put his team in a position to win it all year after year. Time will tell in Philly. You don't make crap remarks about someone's family especially when you don't know what you are talking about. Gutless, no class post.

I'll take that bet. Jack and Joel are media guys. The toughest game on the schedule is the one we are playing each week. I bet the media wouldn't have picked SDak. As your toughest game last year. Style points? Wins in the MVC and Big Sky are still wins against teams in good conferences .

Good point but I guess I'm still more focused on winning the game we are playing. That is the best way to influence the polls.

Winning is more important. If we win the polls will catch up. Big Sky team at 8-3 won't be left out.

No I don't. I don't think they were very good but I didn't think we were that good either. We were decent. I thought we were going to get in. If we are on the bubble, then we have to depend on someone else to get us in. We didn't get in, cuz we lost a couple of games we could have won. This year we are playing through adversity with the injuries and are playing well right now. We lost a game at Stony Brook with a poor start offensively and a punt block. We lost at Bowling Green with a poor start offensively and a missed 2 pt conversion. Similar play for TD against CP with better thrown ball and better technique and catch by receiver would have been helpful at BG for the win. If we don't get in this year it will be those 2 games that will haunt us. Guys are playing hard. Studsrud played his best game of career against CP and followed with very good game against Sac St. O line dominated Sac St and we are loaded at RB if we can stay healthy. We have very good possession receivers and they are good athletes. Defense remains of ur strength. If we continue to improve each week, minimize penalties and get healthy we will be in and we I think we can take a run at a title. I don't care what happened last year cuz it doesn't matter anymore. Go Hawks!

I do. The polls are important at the end of the season. Not so much right now. If we keep winning we will keep moving up. I worry more about beating SUU than where we are in the polls right now. We have a tough game each weekend but they are all games we are capable of winning. We do that we will find ourselves top 10 probably top 5.

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.