Irish

Friday - Forbert Saturday - Rocco

I would feel a whole lot better about the officiating that we saw this weekend if next year we had a league run right. I thought the Sioux were movers and shakers in the new league. How in the wide wide world of sports did we end up with the director of officials being the only ref who has publicly stated his hatred for the Sioux (and hosed us again this weekend). What is Faison doing - I wish Sioux fans would insist on a public accounting from Faison on why this tool was selected for the new league. Have we no say in things at all. Someone needs to come clean on what happened because it is not good news for Sioux hockey.

I don't think this team will ever learn about bad shots and coach can't/won't insist that they do

We have a lot of guys on this team who won last year on sheer discipline and force of will. Why do all of Hak's teams have to revert to this kind of start?

This is really pathetic - if Football can't pull it's own weight there is something seriously wrong

Mediocrity is setting into the Sioux Football program. Remember, it took 4-5 years for Roger Thomas to dig us out of the 6 year hole left by Pat Burns. If things don't change and soon we need to get used to 7000 home crowds with a disinterested student body. It is telling that with a Big Sky opponent coming here for a game, the only interest in football on the Siouxsports site is this thread. If we get complacent, it will be a long black hole for Sioux Football.

As compared to your green tinted ones - what a logical fallacy - replace the part of our team that has played really poorly and we would have a pretty good season. Any team in the country could say that. Fact is this is the worst defense in modern Sioux history, so I suppose you are right - if they weren't so horrible we would have a better team. This program needs to get better and soon - maybe next year will be all you say it will - if so, great, we are back on track. However, remember how we predicted this season would go. I agree that we have some outstanding talent that we can be proud of and that gives up hope. We also have some areas that are so far below what is required at this level it is scary. I just would hate for us to settle in for a long period of average teams. Nothing I've seen so far in this transition indicates otherwise.

Agree that it's the first year of full conference membership and we shouldn't expect to win it all. However, our transition has been lackluster, 8-3 last year with the worst schedule ever, nonwithstanding. NDSU had two 10-1 seasons where they could at least thump their chests and talk about how well they would have done in the playoffs and had several signature wins. If we don't see significant improvement over the next two years, it'll be a long way back. Remember how long it took to recover from the Burns years. I think many Sioux fans are readjusting their expectations downward at this point.

Couldn't agree more - the question is how long are we willing to wait - for each season of mediocrity, the way back gets harder.

The reality is that this type of attendance is the new reality for Sioux football as long as we put out a mediocre product and for as long as the dedicated core of fans adjust their expectations downward. The idea that we are talking about tying football attendance to hockey tickets is pathetic - if football wants more butts in the stands then go out and have an outstanding season, make the playoffs, or get a signature win. Name one other campus where football doesn't carry its own water. Yes, there have been some exciting home games, but there also have been some real duds. Let's face it, our transition has been average at best. No signature wins, a so-so record, and some memorable losses. Even though the Sioux Falls game was 3 years ago, it definitely killed the buzz and excitement around the football program. Beating a 3-4 team at home is nice, but not a signature win - not even close.

Couldn't agree more - you could do this at Memorial - Alerus needs to try build crowds

Friday - Drake Saturday - Mark McMillan

This shows the difficulty of finding a defensive scheme that works when you just plain don't have the talent. Play tight and they go around you - play loose and they pick you apart. Add some missed tackles and you have a team that gives up 500+. I felt that they came out with some passion on Saturday, but that will only take you so far. The tackling was once again atrocious. I have never seen a team tackle so poorly. I think that all of the defense knows how to tackle. However, it looks like they just can't play at the speed of the Big Sky. Doesn't matter what the D coordinator does, he can't make these guys into DI talent. This is going to be a long fix. I hope we don't lose game atmosphere and fan enthusiasm before we get squared away.

In my opinion, the game was lost when we had them 3rd and 1 in their territory with momentum on our side. Pass, Punt. While we had a great punt, we put our defense on the field to give up a backbreaking drive. We make this first down and potentially score and it's a different game. This call is vintage Mussman.

That call is vintage Muss

5 Missed tackles and a face-mask for a first down on that play - so much for the D coming fired up and assignment sharp

What I was trying to say is that I wish we had tried this way earlier - I know there is more football to play

Agreed that this is a logical tactic - only problem is that we are going into game 7 not game 2

The problem with this program lately is that it has been neither great nor horrible (except for some notable games). If it was great, problem solved - if it was horrible, changes would be made to right the ship. If we don't win this week I suspect we will win other games this year and show flashes of good play that will be just enough to continue the course. It isn't horrible play that will do in this program, it is mediocre average play year after year. Many people's expectations have already started to be adjusted accordingly.

North Dakota is a small state - those of us who live here have to co-mingle with the fans of the farmers down south - we even have to put up with their trolls on this board. Even though we don't play them, we are often in comparison. It has been a long day already at work. While I don't expect us to be at the same point as they are, I don't expect what I saw on Saturday ever. We have had 5 years to prepare for the Big Sky. We need to raise expectations and right soon or we are in for years of mediocrity - remember how long it took us to recover from the Burns era.

We need to sit the defense down and tell them in no uncertain terms that if they don't want to go out and smack someone they can ride the pine - I'd rather lose with attitude playing second and third in the depth chart than this death of 1000 cuts. I think the defensive play is the reason why fans are so frustrated. We are used to Fighting Sioux Football where win, lose, or draw, you knew you were in a football game. Right now, the buck stops with Muss. I'm not sure who was responsible for recruiting the defense, but we are clearly in over our heads at this division. It's hard to tell if this is a failure to recruit, a failure of our scheme, a failure to adjust, or players failure to execute - probably some of each. I'm not sure I see a fix this year - we are preparing for game 7 - nothing has improved significantly so far. I just know that we are a long ways from where we need to be in order to compete at this level.

Rocco

Knight

Any of the several games where the crowd was able to chant Kaanguus, Kaanguus - and Kangus was pouting and sitting in his goal swatting a puck out

Anybody else think that we don't have the horses up front to play the 3-4? If the linemen can' hold and occupy the O line, you're gonna have a bad time. Linebackers need to be mobile and hostile (in the Digger Anderson mold). I'm not sure that a different formation would be the answer for this defense, but I'm starting to think that the 3-4's time has passed. It was put in to stop the Bison option, and didn't look like an option stopper yesterday.