RD17

Agree, but that's why you need a couple of impact recruits on the offensive line every year and you have to retain those players.

Yes, but they have to retain players. That's the trick, especially on the offensive line.

Yes, the offensive line is the whole key. If they were playing like the line did at the end of last year, it would open up all kinds of possibilities for the offense, even with the limitations at wide receiver. I know I have been hard on Bubba on this forum. But I do believe he is attempting to build this program the right way philosophically, especially when you consider UND's geography and the types of athletes that are available. He has done a nice job rebuilding the defense. I particularly like the length UND now has at corner and the quickness and pass coverage skills we see out of the linebackers. However, offensive line is still a big sore spot and I don't see any Bubba recruits that are making a huge impact in 2016 which is something I thought we would see by now. To compete at a championship level in FCS football, UND needs to bring in a couple of Stockwell level talents each season and I don't see that happening. Hopefully that changes soon.

I question whether Taylor has the footwork to be a real good offensive lineman at this level. However, he is still young and it's possible he will improve. Like you said, it's just alarming the way he completely whiffs on some blocking assignments.The good news is that Bell played better last week so there is no longer glaring holes at both guard positions. The thing is the way the line is currently configured the pass pro seems better than the run blocking but throwing the ball isn't what UND is built to do. I agree that a shakeup is probably in order at this point because things just aren't meshing.

My point was that the value Studsrud brings to the team is that he doesn't mess up- he has only thrown four interceptions dating back to the start of last season. With the way UND is built this is extremely valuable. I would much rather have this type of QB and run a vanilla, conservative offense then have a guy like Streveler who will be the best guy on the field at times but then also kill you with his mistakes. And again, the offensive line is new and two of the top three receivers are true freshmen. With a solid defense, it seems like a good game plan to me to keep chipping away with the run game and just not make the big mistakes that put the defense in a bad spot. The bootlegs and roll outs open up more when the running game is successful. UND hasn't quite been successful enough running the ball to get to that point, but my feeling is that things are trending in the right direction.

UND will probably be favored in all the remaining games after next week, but with the lack of offense they will still be in some dogfights. Odds are that UND drops a game or two because the breaks and calls don't go their way on a given Saturday. Also, the last time UND went an entire season with one quarterback was a long time ago I'm thinking. They are doing a nice job so far of trying to protect Studsrud physically, but if he were to miss any period of time they could literally lose to any team on the schedule.

Agree that the tight end probably needs to be used more. As much as defenses are keying on Santiago, I would think a play action pass to the tight end would be there all day and would loosen up defenses a bit. If they pulled the redshirt on Cloyd, why wasn't he used at all this week?

Pretty ugly, but I'll take it. To go to MSU on their homecoming and win is huge. Nice work by the entire team. Some thoughts: -Reyes played like a great player yesterday. He made some huge plays and had no coverage issues that hurt the team. Arnell also had a much better game than the last couple of weeks. -Studsrud is not a great FCS quarterback, but he just doesn't make many big mistakes which is perfect for UND's offense and style of play. After seeing the disaster MSU had at the QB position it could be much worse for UND. -Donnell Rodgers is going to be a great player at UND. In fact he is already very good. -Coe had a great block while playing RT on the long TD run. Hate to see Cox get hurt, but maybe they found something here? Would be tough to roll with a freshman at center though. -Not sure why all the hate for Rudolph. Everyone knows this is the style of play UND is going to use. The offensive line is new and they lost the home run hitter at WR. They are going to have to play close to the vest and try to win games this way. -I'm not sure I would have gone with the all out blitz on the long pass play that MSU converted. The QBs had extreme accuracy issues, why not rush four and make MSU drive the field? -Several of the penalties were killers. Have to be more disciplined. -Game of the year next week. Beat Cal Poly and I think this team has a good shot of getting to 7 wins.

Yes, I watched the game. I believe the fullback should have been his responsibility over the top on the longer pass, but I can't say for sure. However, the last touchdown the previous week against BGSU was on Reyes. Reyes played a much better game against USD than he did against BGSU. He has the physical tools for sure but needs to clean up some things in coverage to be a truly great safety. All I'm trying to say is that I don't believe he is consistent enough to be considered the All-American candidate many believe he is.

I don't have a huge problem with what Rudolph is trying to do, but I don't think the talent is there yet to make it all work as well as we would like. When you have to replace four on the offensive line, plus another great blocker in Adler and you are running with two true freshman receivers it's tough to be consistent. But if you look at the overall body of work the last two weeks, the offense has approached 400 yards each game and Santiago has been over 100 yards rushing each game. It's been ugly at times but those numbers should be enough to win.

Be careful. I found out last week that this kind of talk about Reyes is not acceptable around here. What you are saying is correct. He is the most talented player out there on defense for UND, but he makes too many mistakes to be considered an elite defender. Great safeties do not make coverage mistakes each game that lead to TDs.

That's what happened with Mussman and it obviously backfired. It appears as if Bubba is willing to go outside the area, but he would rather do so for transfers than freshmen. This approach makes sense but the problem is I don't know if he will be able to recruit enough talent locally to become a relevant program nationally. To offset this I really would like to see this staff hit Canada harder as UND has always had a niche up there and has name recognition due to the hockey program. I know a couple of kids were lost late in the process a couple of years ago which hurt, but we have also have landed Wilson, Bennett and Oliveira and each looks to be a future difference maker. Continue to go after the midwest kids as the base of the team but also bring in 3-4 impact Canadians each year along with some transfers to add speed and production at the skill positions and UND might be on to something. I think recruiting high school seniors in FL, TX, AZ and CA is fools gold and something the staff wants to avoid.

I really do like the UND defense. It finally feels like the athletes are in place at linebacker and in the secondary to combat the offenses you see at this level. I don't think anyone will be a mismatch this year that goes out and puts 40+ points on the board against UND. However, I'm afraid the offense is going to be very average all year. The loss of Georges is huge and might cost a couple of wins because there isn't anyone else on the roster that can come close to duplicating his skills. Toivonen, Stanley and Wanzek all look to have bright futures but none of them possess the game-breaking ability that you need to take some of the focus off Santiago.It's going to be a grind all season to score points. I think the USD quarterback will make some plays, but I'm really not concerned about him having a big day. What I am concerned about is UND taking advantage of all opportunities to put points on the board. UND is just two for five in scoring touchdowns in the red zone this year and has missed two field goals. Can't lose out on scoring opportunities when you lack explosiveness offensively. If UND takes advantage of opportunities to score then this game is probably a 27-21 win. If not, then USD has the ability to win the game.

I agree that the revelation of the expenses being allocated incorrectly is important. There is nothing that says equivalent men's and women's sports must be in the same tier, although the overall opportunities within each tier must be similar. Please see my other post on why I don't agree that UND is in compliance. There is no such thing as "hyper-compliance" with prong one. I believe "hyper-compliance" is code word for "let's give women's sports more numbers than deserved because no one cares if we screw over the men's sports."

No, what UND did does not meet the definition of substantially proportionate. To clarify, the standard is as follows: (page 30) How the definition has been applied in the real world: link Remember, before baseball was cut males were already the under-represented sex when it comes to percentage of student-athletes on campus. It could be argued that UND actually needed to add another men's sport to meet the OCR's definition of substantially proportionate since the addition of 22 men's opportunities would have made the percentage of male student-athletes 53.7%. Or alternatively- since the budget is an issue- a female sport should have been cut. Cutting soccer or softball (both have 22 players) would have left UND with 53.9% male student-athletes which would easily have met the standard of substantial proportionality.

Analyzing some information from different sources: UND's student body is 53.8% male Source 50.5% of all scholarship $ go to female student-athletes Source In 2015 51.7% of all student-athletes on UND campus were male Source on page 41 Why is the above information important? Because this proves that under the proportionality "prong" of Title IX Source, males are actually the under-represented sex. Which then leads us to.... UND cutting two men's sports last spring. Even with golf being reinstated, baseball was cut, eliminating 30 male student-athletes. Using the same numbers from above, this drops the percentage of male student athletes on campus to 48.9%. The three prongs of Title IX read as follows (one of which must be satisfied): Provide athletic participation opportunities that are substantially proportionate to the undergraduate enrollment. Demonstrate a continual expansion of athletic opportunities for the underrepresented sex. Fully accommodate the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex. Remember, Title IX works both ways folks. Did UND set itself up for a potential Title IX lawsuit by eliminating baseball? I would say yes, based on the fact that the school does not meet any of the three prongs to be in compliance. The bigger question is, did our athletic department leadership or interim president even consider any of this when choosing to cut sports?

Which is why I said "available" funds and not excess. In hindsight, cutting programs is probably something that should have been addressed years ago when the D-I move was first made, or at the time when UND accepted entry to the Big Sky. Instead, UND plays a lot of sports at a mediocre level. Time to find out if the new president has the cojones to do what needs to be done so that ALL of the high profile sports can be successful. Somehow, I'm doubting that this "committee" will be of much help.

You should know from reading my posts that if I really mean something I will come right out and say it. In fairness to Bubba, he has been up against it at both of his head coaching jobs and there are similarities. Duluth was a winning program when he took over but they were just joining the NCC and trying to ramp up scholarship dollars etc. to compete. At UND he took over a program with significant problems and limitations but is expected to win as well. My point in posting his career record is to emphasize that 10-1 seasons are probably not just around the corner.

Yes! They gave up almost 800 yards of offense to a team with several new faces on that side of the ball.

The last one. Peeled off the receiver heading to the flat to go after the QB.

No, I have watched him in the past as well and always had the sense that I don't see him as being one of the best in the country. Like I said, good player, but not an All-American.

But UND didn't play Bryant. All we have to go on so far is that the two teams UND has played have looked really rough when not playing UND. That's a cause for concern. Hopefully UND comes out and smokes USD on Saturday but my gut tells me that won't happen.

What concerns me is that even though UND has been "right there" in both games, the teams they have played have looked like complete garbage when not playing UND. USD is the more winnable of the two because it's at home, but MSU will be a 24-21 type game on the road. To me, all UND has proven so far is that they come up short in those type of games. Advantage MSU.

Go back and watch a replay of the game. Reyes didn't wrap up on some tackles, took really poor angles a couple of times and missed his assignment on a key TD. For a player that is supposedly an All-American candidate, he didn't play like it on Saturday. He's still a good player, but not the superstar many here make him out to be.

Where did I call for a coaching change? This staff is doing a much better job than the old one but there still isn't much evidence that the program is much better than .500 in FCS football. UND was +3 on turnovers (including one returned for a score) and +75 in rushing yards against BG. No excuses, that's a game that has to be won.