bincitysioux

I was very critical of John Kelling during his tenure as co-Defensive Coordinator. The reason was because I saw his secondary regress every year he was at the helm, while Mannassau's front 7 typically played quality defense, and at times even stellar defense as far as stopping the run. Much to my delight, Kelling departed during the last off-season and the entire defense was handed over to Mannassau, a change that I trumpeted. As we all saw, the 2012 pass defense continued to be pourous, while the normally stoudt run defense was even worse. My point is, a simple coaching staff change, whether it be the head job or assistant positions, does not automatically translate to success. My personal opinion is that both Mussman and Mannassau have built up enough equity within this program to be given more time to prove themselves. Circumstances like the transition and the nickname have been discussed ad nauseum, so I won't revisit those issues again here. Regardless of any circumstances, it is not like the last 5 years have been a disaster, although they certainly could have been better. There have been some embarrassing losses like Sioux Falls and blowout losses like EWU and MSU. There have also been quality wins against Top 25 programs like Cal Poly in '09, and USD and SUU in '11, a finish in the Top 25 polls, and a conference championship. Has it been all roses? No. I may change my tune if we muddle through the next 2 or 3 seasons near .500, but for now I would like to see what Mussman can do with this program in the near term with a level playing field and solid footing in a quality football conference.

I didn't see that article at first. I was going off of this excerpt from the first article you linked:

San Diego St. may end up being screwed in all this. A Texas school like SMU, Houston, or UTEP probably offers the MWC more right now from a recruiting and television standpoint. The MWC can maintain a significant presence in California with Fresno and San Jose St., without re-admitting SDSU.............

All I'm saying is that the coaching staff corrected a glaring deficiency and turned the offense around in one year's time. Who's to say they won't do it again on the defensive side of the ball during this off-season? I agree, it was a frustrating, and disappointing season....................

Seemed like the offense improved quite alot from 2011 to 2012, without any coaching changes..............................

That helps alot that he will be here for spring ball.........................

I have no desire to see Fargo on the schedule...................................

Am I wrong to assume that the future is looking rather bleak right now for after the 2013-14 season? There are no "bigs" in the pipeline right now. Salmonsen will have two years of eligiblity, but I'd see he is an unknown. Brekke and Nash will have one year left after this year. Am I off-base to assume that Traylor likely won't be back next year either? This year's senior class has taken a fair bit of criticism, but just think what the options would be like if not for the contributions of Wilmer and Archer this year.............

Well, that really is not good......................

Buck named Big Sky Player of the Week

Hopefully the first of many for Mr. Huff........ Huff nets first Big Sky weekly honor for UND

I WOULD LIKE TO AVOID THE NEED TO CLOSE THIS THREAD.

Seven. Regular season champ hosts and gets first round bye........

Big Sky Standings as of 12/31/12: Weber St...........7-3 (2-0) Montana............6-4 (2-0) SUU.................. 4-7 (2-0) Sac St...............6-4 (1-1) NAU..................4-8 (1-1) Portland St........3-6 (1-1) UNC .................3-7 (1-1) EWU..................3-9 (1-1) Montana St........3-7 (0-2) UND..................3-8 (0-2) Idaho St............1-10 (0-2)

10 turnovers is amazing for this team..................

Well, I'd call that a very good win. Congrats ladies, keep it up!

Didn't realize that Anderson sat out the entire second half with cramps again.............

My internet connection crapped out just after Webb hit the 3 to get the lead back. Glad to see they hung on. Finally.

50 UND 47 BG 3:52

UND up 2 with about 12 minutes left now..........

Ralston just said that Brekke appears to be done for the night..............

Decent 1st half by the Sioux, but had a pretty crummy stretch from about the 6 minute mark to the 2 minute mark. Led by 11 at one point.

29 North Dakota 23 BGSU Half

Glad to see Brekke back on the floor tonight..............

13 North Dakota 7 BGSU 11:18