Irish

Who had the better recruiting year last year?

Couldn't agree more - successful programs at our level ususally have some kids that are playing FCS because of some issues (Crockett for example). I think what really makes a difference is the culture of the team they come to - and I think this was Muss's biggest weakness. If you come into a structured program with leaders it can help some kids tremendously. They can be part of a team that helps and takes care of them, but has some standards. Some kids can be very successful on and off the field with this. If you come to a program where the talented kids think little of the program and there is a culture where you can dick around on the sidelines or quit the team several times and be allowed back (looking at you , Muss), then you get what we had the last several years. Some great talents but no team. With Bubba's new culture, I think we are in position to get some Florida and California kids and have them be stars. I think that in the past when they have not been successful here it said as much or more about our FB culture than the kids.

Or more likely - pass for 0 yards - punt

I don't believe this because I saw him outplay Molberg on the field last year.

Agree - but last week we saw some of the stupidest penalties and poor punt decisions I have seen in a long time. I'm sure the staff is working hard to correct this as penatlies have been a problem so far this year. We can't teach big, but we can teach discipline. I expect to see some improvent.

I don't think anything is more demoralizing than getting pounded on the ground and am all in favor of it. However, at some point you have to adjust to the talent you have. So far we have tried pounding with a line that gets no push and for the first 2 games a 170 pound running back. Second and 9, third and 7 gets pretty old, especially with our QB play. Time to mix things up a bit.

What the actual hell? Bartles must be getting the message that there is no way he will start - I wouldn't blame him if he transfered. In my opinion he played better than Molberg last year and we haven't seen anything in a game that would change anyone's mind.

Cliff's Notes addendum - you other posters suck too.

That's a really great philosophy to have especially when you have had the championship success Alabama has had and when you consider last year's two loss season a big disappointment. Not saying that we are wrong to think this way too, but right now we are pretty far from perfection. I haven't seen much improvement on the mental side of things so far and that's something we should be able to control. I'm not sure how far we can move forward on some aspects of the game because of our talent, but we can sure stop fielding punts inside the 5 or interfering with the other team fielding a punt two successive times. I know we have to be patient with the won-loss, but we should insist on better play than last Saturday.

Sadly, what we were lead to believe 3 years ago is that we would have an absolute stud quarterback ON THE BENCH and that after a fierce competition our quarterback on the field would be even better. This appears to be part of the wild overestimation of our recruiting classes that seemed to be prevelant during the Muss years, not only on this board but from the coaching staff. Reality is setting in and it is pretty grim.

Agreed with your premise - however, we had another QB on the bench who should have been in at the half. That would have been the adjustment you are refering to. I'm not saying Bartles would have lit up the place - he didn't when he finally got in, but it was mop-up duty then. However, we needed to try something and came out with more of the same.

Wow - Molberg goes 9-24 for 70 yards and throws 2 picks and Bartles can't get a start. Unbelievable. Molberg has shown exactly nothing in any of his starts last year or this year to indicate he's the guy. Might as well tell Bartles "hey, kid, you're never going to start". I thought everyone had a chance with Bubba.

I agree that the coaches need more time, but for many of us fans the coaches talk about steady improvement didn't lead us to believe that we'd be here after 3 games. Still lots of mental mistakes and poorly timed penalties and turnovers. Special teams were brutal. Although we have a lack of talent, we should expect more in some aspects of the game than we saw here.

He got some pressure all right, but in my opinion the turnovers were preventable. Like someone said last game, the guy is a turnover machine. The speed of the college game seems to be too much for him. I'm sure he can zip the passes in during practice, but in a live game the reads, reacting to pocket pressure, the quick decisions all seem to be just a little more than he can handle.

Couldn't agree more - he presided over the great demise of the once proud Sioux football program.

Not blaming all of this on Bubba, but I sure would like to call up Muss and fire him again just for good measure.

The coaches have a huge blind spot. We certainly need to improve on smart play and discipline too - we were told that these would be the foundations of Bubba's teams - not saying that we won't have them under Bubba, but certainly we don't have them yet.

The mods are weak.

If it was a fight, they'd have stopped it.

I have learned in the past couple of years that there is no kind of whooping that can't be rationalized by Sioux fans. I am so sad for what we have let this once proud football team come to. Note to reactionaries - this is not a slam on Bubba, although we are playing the same stupid penalty, turnover, undisciplined football we swore off this year - complete with Molberg.

Let's give him 7 years and a brutal loss to Sioux Falls before we pull the trigger

What the actual hell - boy are we going to "pound the rock" again

I am Irish and I can certainly hold my own with the AC boys - however, it saddens me to see the small town I am from which used to have more Sioux fans than Bison fans almost all yellow now, with several groups purchasing buses or other vehicles so they can drive down and tailgate in Fargo. When you get out of Grand Forks you can see how low we let this program get. I'll admit that I have been expressing my frustration on this board about the attitude here that let Muss drive this program into this ditch and continue on the journey for so long. You are right - it's probably time I let this go. So far Bubba is doing what he can with the hand he was dealt. I like the new attitude. We need to reclaim our status around the state in more ways than one.

I hope he can get his weight down to about 165 - 170. That seems to be the sweet zone for Sioux running backs.

Couldn't agree more. In my opinion (and one I get ripped for stating) the lack of demand of excellence by both administration and fans led us down this current Muss-hole. That's why we are celebrating a 3 point home victory over Robert Morris and the Bison are hosting their second consecutive game day. I have friends that are avid Bison fans and am so tired of taking crap from them. We will see if we can develop the demand for championships. This is not a slam on Bubba who was handed a real crappy hand (but one he wanted badly to play).