Irish

The PA announcer sounds like the William Macy character in Fargo.

58 yards passing is not good in a game like this - I believe that a good part of our running difficulty is that teams have absolutely no respect for our passing game. Studsrud is not ready to make the reads and deliver the ball on time. There is a fine line between giving someone a chance to prove himself and being stubborn about a decision and I think our coaches have stepped over it. The other two guys must figure that they will never get a chance to win the job back.

Agreed - and also agree with Siouxfan 512 about style - if we see more of this one yard running in the middle of the line offense, I am afraid we will lose home crowd momentum for most of the season, barring something spectacular. Time for coaches to pick it up.

I think the core fan base has completely bought into Bubba Ball. However, my feeling is that the second and 9, third and 7 progression is deadly to both the offense and the crowd. I know we are a couple of recruiting years away, but only playing Bubba Ball for the defensive front 7 is a game killer. Our offensive philosophy so far appears far to stubbornness. It's a little like "we are going to run this one yard dive until you stop us". We seriously need to open things up a bit. So far I haven't seen any willingness to do so.

From your perspective, what do you think the rest of the season holds for the O line and the offense in general? Are we just a few improvements away or do you think this is a fundamental problem that will stick with us?

Agreed - but so far we are moving no one off the line of scrimmage - either we need a serious talent upgrade or we need to rethink our plans. The last two gameplans reek of stubbornness.

i respect your football knowledge and think you are somewhat of a program insider but I have to ask - how in the wild wild world of sports has the line play progressed? This is the worst line push I have ever seen and our play selection is nothing to write home about either. Adjustments - ha, what adjustments. It's like Bubba got the coaches together and said "this is what Bubba ball is - dominant running game, great line play, and possession football. Now don't bother me, I'm off to worry about the defensive front 7. Let me know how things work out.".

I agree - and it doesn't look like he will get a look. If Studsrud hasn't played himself out of the lineup in the last 3 halves of football, he probably never will.

Where to start - I think with the off season program and coaching - not sure if it is possible to work out all summer and return weaker and with less technique but that seems to be the case with the O line. They can't move anyone off the ball. No development here to speak of. Receivers - not a great lot - can't get separation to save their butts which is why waiting until it is 3rd and long to throw is counter-productive. QB - we have 3 fairly highly recruited QB's and haven't developed any of them. If it was only 1 that wasn't moving along then that sometimes happens, but all 3 are stagnant. In addition, with the anointment of Studsrud, it doesn't appear that any other QB will get a chance. You hate to go into a game like Saturday and see that "deer in the headlight" look in your QB. Play calling - I understand that with our line push any play is a challenge, but sauntering up to the line and taking time to call one of three easily diagnosed running plays on first down is deadly. With our talent the worst thing you can do is get into a 2nd and 9 or 3rd and 7 situation. Adjustments - hard to say - I think you would actually have to make an adjustment in order to judge their effectiveness. Like I said previously, the two worst halves of offensive football I have seen from the Sioux in 40 years. Too long, didn't read version - low talent, lack of development, poor play calling.

I know Bubba is still kind of golden here - he has a strong Sioux history, people are fired up for "Bubba Ball" and he's not Muss. However, some of this fiasco needs to be on the coaches. The offense is worse than last year, we have the same QB problems, and we are remarkably unimaginative. As for Bubba Ball, I was hoping that a hallmark of this would be getting after the other team regardless of talent or game situation. Well, the front defensive 7 give the illusion that we as a team are playing strong, physical football. They are, but the rest of the team ain't getting after anyone. D backs were soft in coverage and certainly are not ball hawks. Our offense - well if you saw this game and last you know. Not only are the players getting pushed around, the coaches don't seem to know more than 4-5 plays and are painfully predictable. I expected a much better effort and frankly better coaching at this stage. This is painful to watch. Changes need to be made (not in the coaching staff, but by the coaching staff). I hope we aren't stubborn to a fault. On a positive note, The Bison were good hosts and with the exception of Jr. High kids like 2011BisonAlumni (whose idea of a fun Sunday is to come on here and tell us how bad we are in numerous posts) they were fun to mingle with - makes me hope that we can resume this series.

Not if you hurry up in order to run two running plays for 3 net yards before your third down incomplete pass.

So far this year I have witnessed probably the 2 worst halves of offensive football that I have seen in about 40 years of being a Sioux fan. If they can't do anything but run, run, pass, punt - rinse and repeat - don't plan on packing the Alerus Center anytime soon. I figured that we would be schooled, but the first half was brutal. Changes need to be made - starting with the guy who calls these exciting plays.

This series was run pass pass punt - Is it crazy of me to think of this as "progress"?

Gee - start the second half with run, run, incomplete pass, punt - what a surprise - I just threw up in my mouth a little bit

I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and crap out a better game plan than Rudolf - at least the randomness of it would prevent run, run, pass, punt from coming up so often.

Ok, I get your point, but Hawks tie into the proud history of what? The consultant formula is Adjective Bird.

Ok, here goes - Roughriders because it is not Nodaks (sounds like a slur against North Dakotans), North Stars (MInnesota state motto), Sundogs (you know why), or Whatever Hawks (up yours consultant). Not a good name but look at the alternatives. A sad state of affairs.

Will we have a 100 yard rusher? Depends upon whether our O line gets on the bus for the game - I haven't seen them since halftime of last week.

I have been watching Sioux football for over 30 years and the second half offense was as bad as I have ever seen. Get a couple of frosh to dance on the sidelines and you couldn't tell this team from a Muss team in his prime. Absolutely no line push, turnovers, and play calling that would make a Jr. High look conservative. Bubba can hand out all of the tickets he wants, but if he puts this product out on the field again he will lose most of the students for at least a year. Bubba sold the farm to get two away games with the Bison and he darned well better bring a team that comes to play.

If we want to keep them, especially the students, we have to put a much better product on the field. The second half was brutal and students won't stay for that. Actually, I have had my fill of unwatchable football myself. We seem to have had a regular diet of it the last decade.

Today I learned that Bubba Ball only works if your O line comes out of the locker room at half time. Otherwise it looks almost unwatchable, especially given the "exciting" play calling. We have some serious work to do before next week. A sad Potato Bowl performance.

Our mods are notoriously slow on the draw - In my opinion, a few Bison trollers have signifcantly reduced my experience on what should be a Sioux forum.

Couldn't agree more - like an earlier poster, I, too am a Champions Club member and have season tickets to two sports - so I feel I give plenty. For some reason, giving more and having the possibility of it going to swiming and diving or baseball puts me off (women's hockey, too, but that's another thread). The NDSU athletic department seems laser focused on excellence, UND not as much. For craps sake trim the fat and start leading instead of following. Hey, maybe we should form a committee since we have had such good luck with those.

It is hard to second guess Bubba on starting Studsrud since he has way more info than we do. However, the reasons it happened leads to speculation on different scenerios, not all of them wonderful. Best case = Studsrud won the position by excellent play in a spirited competition (I don't think this is what happened). Other possibilities include having no one looking great and taking the position and coaches pick Studsrud because he is the youngest and has the most room to grow. Or ... Bartels and/or Molberg are not 100%. OR ... in spite of being red-shirt Juniors neither Bartels or Molberg have developed much and neither has done well enough to be number 1. In any case I feel it is concerning that neither of our highly-touted Juniors have taken the reins.

There is no denying that Bubba has had a huge grace period given the relief we all had escaping from the dumpster fire that was Muss (although the Muss regardless of anything supporters share some of the blame). This is his first big decision that could be second guessed. Even though the mantra is "all hail Bubba ball" now is the time we need to see it on the field. Not saying he is wrong, just saying this is an important decision for Sioux football.