bincitysioux

Well, I had an idea how it would turn out....

If......

3rd and long conversion against UND

Really?

As usual, UND defense folds on a money down. Poly needs 5 and gets 20.....

Blubaugh having a nice a couple games the last few weeks.....

The color analyst is going into Tony Romo mode now.....

There I really cool show about cars just one channel up on Pluto!

I love how Kett started trotting back on the field after his "reception" as if we were going to go for it on 4th down. And then looked shocked when the punt unit headed in the field.....

We are definitely dominating in time out usage......

This 3-4 "defense" was specifically installed to stop an option offense right?

He misses high quite often.....

I think he is outstanding! He's had me laughing several times......

His defense has also been the cause of multiple losses in the past 6 years. The defense has been just as frustrating at times as has the offense and special teams........

Who do I want? I have no idea. Perhaps even Bubba. I just know that at a bare minimum, I want a different Strength & Conditioning coach and a different Special Teams coach before the 2020 season. If getting those two things would require a head coaching change, then so be it. I'm afraid Bubba's loyalty may be one of his biggest faults. I am as frustrated with this program as is anybody else. Just like everybody else, I think Bubba is a great guy, a great ambassador for UND, so very like-able. I'm hesitant to jump on the "Fire-Bubba" bandwagon. Maybe I should not be. I am guilty of being late to the "Fire Brian Jones" party, but damn when I did get on board, I feel like I was steering the ship on that one! The thing is, that Bubba made things so much better for UND football in a hurry after he took over. He took Mussman's mess of a team and made them playoff caliber in his second year. Won a Big Sky title in his 3rd year. But I agree we should be farther along than we are now. The inconsistency is so frustrating. If a change is made at the end of the season though, I would want a clean break. No holdovers. No Schmidt, no Freund, nobody.................. And I really like the potential of Danny Freund. But I am going to view it like the basketball position over the off season. Somebody new, with no ties. A new perspective. Side note. I wonder if the people that Chaves hears from are the same people that post here? By that I mean influential people. Chaves doesn't return my messages, probably because I'm just a rube on the internet that doesn't offer much to the university other than my opinions in an anonymous online world.

Thanks for catching that. Looked at a lot of box scores today, so transposed the lines............. Having said that, they gave up 22 in the second half to Davis. 20+ in any half is a bit much for my liking..........

So I have been railing on the defense all season for how it has performed in 3rd down situations. Perusing through the season stats, we are allowing conversions on 3rd down about 36% of the time. That would place us 6th in the Big Sky in that department if we were still officially members of the league. Not great, not horrible, but middle of the pack (which it is looking like we would be in a lot of categories in the Big Sky this year). But out of boredom, I dove a bit deeper into the stat sheets today, game by game. If you define "3rd and Long" situations as 3rd and 7 or more yards, well then it is pretty ugly if you ask me. We are now over halfway through the season, and so far North Dakota is allowing a whopping 54% conversion rate in 3rd and Long situations. To me, that is so demoralizing to the team (and fans!) when the opponent converts in those instances. At home games especially, the crowd gets pretty amped up and the Alerus gets loud when we stuff the RB on 1st down and then sack the QB on 2nd down. But then the when they complete a 10 yard pass on 3rd down to reset the sticks, the whole environment just deflates. To put that number of 54% into perspective, the UND defense is allowing a 50% conversion rate on 3rd and 2 or less! So really opposing teams are finding themselves in a better situation against North Dakota if it is "3rd and Long" vs. "3rd and Short". I believe there have been at least two conversions by the opposition on 3rd and 20 or more. That is just as bad as a turnover in my book. The other thing that struck me while pouring over the stats and drive charts was the seemingly high number of possessions that opponents have had against us where UND didn't even force a 3rd down. Our defense can be fun to watch at times. It is high risk, high reward. Everybody loves interceptions, sacks, and TFL. But in the end, it isn't getting the job done. Honestly, it's been a liability since the 2016 season, and has cost North Dakota just as many games as the much maligned "Rudy-Offense". Schmidt's defense has given up 28 or more points in the first half of each of the last 3 games. Woof.........

I believe the Strength & Conditioning coach has been here longer than Bubba, just saying.................... IMO, we have been generally been the smaller, weaker, slower team since moving to DI.

My word, the defense is trash

This. Awful defense…...... again

D is falling falling apart. Again...........

Two things that scare the crap out of me with this team: 3rd and 1 on offense....... 3rd and 10 on defense......

At some point, Schmidt has to figure out how to get off the field on 3rd and long. It is getting ridiculous......

I will also say that obviously winning regularly would be the largest driver an exciting atmosphere. The atmosphere was fantastic from 2001-2008 or so, and also at various points in between. It's a wonderful venue when the crowd is raucous and engaged. I fully expect to get to that point again sooner rather than later. In the meantime, there are just some small things that the event staff could do to foster an exciting environment.

I'm pleased with where we stand right now. Was very frustrated at times against SHSU and Davis, but in the end, they won. The two losses were at places that not many visiting teams win at, and honestly we looked better in both of those games than we did in our most recent trips to those venues. I put more stock in our performance against Drake than many probably do. In recent years, we've struggled in our opening "buy" games. We thumped them this year and I feel good about that. As crucial as this opening 5 game gauntlet was, I place just as much, if not more, importance on how we perform the next two weeks. Everyone, including me, is a bit uneasy about whether or not UND is playoff caliber team. I think if we are 5-2 heading in to the Montana St game in GF, that will tell all of us that the program is much closer to where it was in 2016 vs how things shook out in 2017 or 2018.......