Irish

There are many ways to figure what a "worst loss" is - point spread, physical domination, lack of effort, choke value, intangibles lost (such as playoffs or conference championships) . I feel that getting spanked by an NAIA team at home when we are trying to get some DIVISION IAA respect qualifies as a contender. It was as sad a moment in Sioux football as I can remember. It was as poor an effort from top to bottom as I have seen. If you disagaree - fine -make your case. However, I can do without your snide attitude. Keep your insults to yourself. You certainly haven't established youself as our resident expert. PS My original point was that it was somewhat silly to vote for Mussman as coach of the year after what I called our worst loss ever. Your smart ass rebuttal of me lists another loss during which he was head coach as evidence I am wrong.

My criticism of the defensive line wasn't directed at anyone in particular. I know injuries have been a factor. In addition, at times our outside linebackers play like defensive ends. My point was that you can't play at this level (and after playing Sioux Falls apparently at any level) and let the quarterback stand back and pick you apart without applying any pressure. We don't seem to have the physical size and quickness to beat anyone on the pass rush. This is a huge area of concern as evidenced by our whopping 2 sacks this year. I remember past Sioux defenses who had 2 sacks in the first series. I find this type of game especially frustrating to watch - you can see trouble comming, but can't do a thing about it. This area needs to be one of the top priorities for next year. Maybe a year of health and experience will help.

Big test to show us how our program responds to adversity. Players need to regain intensity. Coaches need to give the players an offensive and defensive scheme that puts them in a position to compete. Frankly, our line play is a problem on both sides of the ball. On offense, they don't seem to be able to open holes or move anyone for periods at a time. It seems like we go through streaks where we try to establish the run, only to continually put ourselves in a 2nd and 9 or 3rd and 8 situation. I would like to see more of a playcalling mix on first down. Continually putting Landry in a 3rd and long doesn't help him. He has had a pretty good season (with the exception of last week). Strangely, he seems to throw better off the run than in a strait drop-back. He can miss badly at times. Give him a chance to throw when they are not expecting it. Who we have at running back also matters. We need to try keep our opponents off balance more. Bamba can be a huge factor, or he can lose focus if he isn't kept busy. On defense, our line play has been horrible except for a couple of outstanding goalline stands. We need to find a way to pressure the quarterback or we will give up our usual 10-15 yards a play again. Our corners and d-backs seem to play well, but they can't make up for a lack of rush and poor coverage from linebackers. Again, we need to find a scheme that keeps our opponents off balance and makes use of our talent. Changes need to be made on defense. Overall, I think we are close in talent - the game will come down to intensity and coaching. We need to win this game to right the ship and get rid of that sour taste in our mouths. We play a good game and hopefully players and fans can move on. If not, it may be the start of a long downhill spiral.

I'm not trying to get into it with you, but I feel a need to explain again why Sioux fans are so upset and feel that this is the worst loss ever. Yes, part of it is losing to an NAIA team and seeing our discussion board turn in to a smack talk between South Dakota schools, with one of them describing how they kicked our butts. However, the way we played on Saturday is a big factor also. After their first drive, I thought "Wow, the Sioux have some work to do and adjustments to make". After the second drive I was still waiting for us to adjust. After the third drive, I was getting impatient and frustrated. When they came out after the half and did the same thing, I couldn't believe it. The people around me in the stands were able to look at their formations and predict trouble. I have never seen a coaching staff who was as consistantly outsmarted. They were always 2 steps ahead of us. It looked like we just sat back and let them dictate the game to us. When they decided to take Bamba out of the kickoff returns, we never tried to make them pay for it. We just decided to fair catch the ball no matter how much running room was available and made no effort to adjust our personnel. Coaches and players were in a completely submissive mode and let an NAIA school take it to us at home. We just didn't show up for the whole game. Because we don't have direct contact with the coaches, many of us are not sure that the coaching staff "gets it". The light certainly never went on during the game.

The student section is pretty far down the list of things that didn't look good on television yesterday.

This is a joke, right? Our coaching staff was in way over their heads against Sioux Falls. He's lucky to keep his job. He has presided over perhaps the worst loss in Sioux history.

Is anyone else stunned at our inability to make adjustments as the game went on? Take the kick-offs. It was soon clear that their strategy was to keep the ball away from Bamba and 'pooch" kick it up in the air to about the 30-35 yard line. Most of the time it went to #35, a linebacker who was in there to block or hit someone. He obviously was instructed to fair catch even with no-one within 10-15 yards of him. Why didn't we put other personnel in that spot - a recieiver or d-back for example and try to make them pay for a short kick? Hats off to the Sioux Falls coaching staff - they were so far ahead of our coaches - talk about a mismatch.

It's pretty clear we don't have the personnel to successfully run the 3-4. Our linemen get no push, not even against an NAIA school and our linebackers aren't athletic enough. However, I don't know if we have the personnel to successfully run any other defense either. What we need and don't have is the ability to make adjustments during the game. I can't think of another game where I felt we were so outcoached as yesterday. We had absolutely no answer to a couple of their formations and plays, especially when they split 3 out on the same side. Everyone in the stands could see the trouble with that formation - we simply didn't have enough defenders in the area to cover. Even after half-time, we had no answer. When a defense at the University of North Dakota gets positively owned by and NAIA school something needs to change and soon.

Agreed that this effort is totally unacceptable. I'm most disappointed with the lack of adjustments on defense. Why we couldn't cover their trip wide outs is beyond me. Even after halftime, we got burned with the same stuff. I'm not willing to put up with many more of these fiascos. I've been a Sioux fan for over 40 years, and this may be their most disgusating loss ever.

If you think he's done a decent job with the talent he has, you must not have watched our defense. We made no adjustments and let an NAIA team kick our a**es. When they split 3 to the same side, we got caught with 1 too few defenders time after time. When they were kicking their kickoffs to our 30 yard line, we kept the same guy there (not a runner) and just had him fair catch. We were totally outcoached today. We didn't execute in any aspect of the game today.

This was pathetic - one of the worst performances by a Sioux football team ever. I could go on and on because an NAIA team kicked our a**es in every phase of the game. What stands out in this steaming pile, however, is our total inability to make any kind of adjustments on defense. If this is the kind of football Mussman is going to give us, I hope he hits the road real soon.

I have to keep reminding myself that we are up a level and that we are playing ok for the transition. It's been a long time since I saw both the offensive and defensive lines get absolutely NO push at all. Our running game is non-exhistant. Every series that we open with a run is a series that we have 3rd and long. It's hard for me to get used to getting physically beat. This should show us that we need to recruit our buts off to get to a more competative position. I don't think that this team has the talent of several of our good DII teams. We need to reload. As to the attendence - it's what I thought it would be. What you saw at the game was the Sioux faithful. The less fired up fans and students saw nothing exciting about playing a school no one has heard of. Let's face it - we have an uninspiring schedule and will have for years until we get into a real confernece and develop some rivalrys again. The only other way to pump up attendence is to have an outstanding year or two. I expect even less entheusiam from the students for Sioux Falls. However, I'd sure like to see this officiating crew again.

Transition year, on the road, playing down south in the heat, playing a fast team - doesn't matter. I don't expect to see too many performances like this by a Sioux team. We were outclassed in every phase of the game, certainly including coaching preparation. We have to figure out how to cover receivers without giving them a 10-15 yard cushion. We need to go in search of some kind of running game. Our offense can't dissapear for an entire quarter. We need to learn how to tackle - the list goes on. We need to get our crap together and finish out the season strong - then hit the recruiting trail. Things weren't as good as we made them out to be after the first two games - hopefully they aren't as bad as Saturday night.

Many positives from this game - A road win is great - The one negative I saw was the play selection. Almost every series began with a 1 -2 yard run. We put Landry in many awkward passing situations - mainly 3rd and longs. If we want to make our mark this year, we have to mix things up. I too would like to stretch the field - third and long is not condusive to a good passing attack. If we play a team that doesn't make so many crucial mistakes, we could get beat unless we try attack them. I hope this will not be our offense this year.

Defense is great - would it kill us to do something else besides run for 1-2 yards on first down?

Interesting discussion - From what I've seen (especially last year) during the first half of the season we almost never carried the puck across - we almost always dumped it. As a result, our players looked for this option first. In fact I had a fan from another team ask me if we ever carried the puck into the zone - he was rather amazed at the amount of dumping we did. As a result of this style, we almost never had odd man rushes the first half and struggled as a team. In the second half, we seemed to open up and play more and our offense became much more potent. We finally started looking for the good pass and the open teammate - the results speak for themselves. As for Hak being more versitile than Blais, I'm not buying it. Versitile in this context seems to mean taking a full half year to play to potential every year (and having to try some different things because of it). Blais found a system that worked, recruited and coached to make it work, and won his second national championship at the end of his 6th year - he also took over a program in much worse shape. The continual dump/chase/cycle offense drives me nuts - give me Blais style every time.

Several questions come to mind- Are we getting beaten to the blue chippers? For now, the answer appears to be yes - We haven't had a first round pick in how long. Other teams seem to be picking them up. We have the facilities and program to compete with anyone. We should be getting our share or more. We used to be the program many sure-fire NHL prospects picked. Is this by design? Did we get who we want - are we confident that we have some great "under the radar" kids? Hard to say. At this point, coaches are reluctant to admit that we didn't get the players we were after and imply that they are not happy with who we have. Same with many Sioux fans. No one wants to put our class down. We do have some nice players comming in, which brings us to question 3 - Do we have what it takes to go all the way? I'm not sure - time will tell. Many posters seem very optimistic - however, almost no one else in the hockey community sees what we do. It would be nice to show them. I see some nice things on this team - good competition at goalie, 4 line that can score - and some question marks - defense, another slow start, can we get that hard nosed attitude? We have a lot of underclassmen who need to take that next step up. Regardless of how many posters have made high draft choices sound iffy, we would be a better team with a Parise, Toews, or Oshie or even a Schroeder. For me, the future is now. I would be happier with some blue chippers coming in. It's been long enough.

I agree that the entire team is responsible for defense, and outside of some glaring mistakes, many defensive lapses are the result of several players. UND has a combination of offensive and stay at home players - however the combinations don't always work. Sometimes one defenseman (many times Finley) is hung out to dry. What strikes me, however, is the total defensive breakdown we have had the last many years during our season ending loss. From goaltending to foreward play to defensemen, we have collectively looked horrible - usually one of our worst games of the season. How we can play so well at the end of the season and look like this is beyond me. I feel that this is the hump we need to get over in order to get # 8. Personally, I would like to return to the hard-hitting defenses of the past. While we have some physical players, top to bottom we don't hit like we used to. I'm getting restless for # 8 - We need put it all together this year.

Remember, in 2002 we were only a couple of years removed from an National Championship, which helped dull the frustration. In addition, we expected to reload and challenge for a Championship immediately (in Bais we trusted). The same type of season now would be met with a lot more frustration because another Championship has been a long time comming - we've come tantalizingly close but no cigar. I'm having a hard time deciding what I feel about this season - definately greater highs and lows than others. Although I love the second half surges, these types of seasons are wearing me out. When we rely on this, we need to peak exactly right or we get a finish like this year. The timing seems too fragile to want to continue this pattern. I know that there are different opinions out there, but I feel that we were one blue-chipper away from the big time this year. I like 4 solid lines also, but give me a Toews or Oshie to seal the deal. The high point for me was watching Duncan end a fantastic college career.

Is it unfair to compare this coach to his immediate predecessors and have roughly the same expectations - I don't think so Is it way harder to win a championship now compared to 10 years ago - I don't know, but since we last won one Minnesota, Boston College, and Denver have each won 2 and Wisconsin has won one. Am I writing off next year's season because I said I don't see a National Championship at this point - no more than others who are trying to be realistic - Big A HG picks us 4th in the WCHA, Yzerman states we're going to be in a lot of trouble defensively" - etc. I'm stating my opinion and could do without your snide remarks.

Kidding - no At this point in their coaching careers, Gino had 2 national titles and Blais 1 with another one coming in his 6th year. We have gone thorugh an incredible run of talent without one. Did we overachieve this year and win a MacNaughten - yes. My point is that we have tried it both ways now - loaded with top end talent and running 4 lines without a star. We still have not found a way to win it all. I don't see a national championship team next year either. I'm frustrated with the drought. Hak knew the expectations coming in. We need to pick it up.

Does anyone else feel that after all these years of playoff frustration and no championships that this type of year is unacceptable. It's time for us to bring in some studs and become an elite team again. I want the days back when we reloaded in stead of rebuilt. Hak needs to step it up. I'm getting impatient.

These playoff collapses recently all have the same feel. - Our defense looks like crap. I think the thing that killed us was our 5th goal - we then went into our totally ineffective defensive shell - I have Never see this work. Come on coaches. I am tired of our seasons ending on this kind of game. I want #8 and am getting impatient. We have just graduated the greatest recruiting class in our history (maybe in the history of college hockey) and have no championships to show for it. Unless we get turned around I see a long drought (good but not great teams). With our tradition and facility we expect better. I'm having another drink and going to bed - I can't believe we ended like this again.

Ah, what to make of our power play - I agree, lately it has been dreadful. We'd sometimes be better off declining the penalty. We are very slow to move the puck around and seem to need to tee it up in order to shoot. My solution is simple - SHOOT THE PUCK Everytime we seem to struggle on the power play it is almost painful to watch because we never put it on net. We went through a stretch last year - same thing. Why no one can convince our people to shoot is beyond me. At our level, if we struggle with a phase of the game, we should be making corrections in the next week. This type of play will kill us in the regionals.