RD17

This is just more idiocy coming from the Herald. UND is not wanted in the MVFC. How hard is this for people to understand? Solving this problem is simple: Drop women's hockey and M/W swimming and diving. Invest all available funds in the following sports: M/W Basketball, hockey, football and volleyball.

Random thoughts: The corners were outstanding yesterday. Harris is turning into a big time player. The safeties however were not good. BG ran the same play on both long TD's and either there was a blown coverage or Arnell just isn't that good. Reyes got burned on the last TD, took poor angles at times and he never wraps up. Overrated in my opinion. Both guards cannot handle penetration from the 3 technique. 76 had a better game than 65 however. Until they get this fixed the running game is going to have problems. The pass pro however was pretty decent. The best thing about Studsrud is that he doesn't turn the ball over. He also made some decent throws at times yesterday. However the rolling out 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage in the face of pressure like it's Tecmo Bowl has to stop. He needs to step up in the pocket and run more when faced with pressure. Not enough speed at the skill positions. Santiago is the only home run hitter and the defenses know it. The young receivers are decent possession types but not having Georges is going to be a huge problem all year. Biggest loss from last year's team is not Ratelle or Grady, it's Adler. He was outstanding towards the end of last year of setting the edge and lead blocking for Santiago. In addition to the problems with the guards, the perimeter blocking from the receivers and tight ends/fullbacks has to improve. They are finally getting some linebackers that can get depth on their drops in pass coverage. I was pretty impressed with O'Brien and Johnson in coverage yesterday. This has been a huge problem for years with this program and it looks to be getting better. Defensive line did a decent job after the first two drives. Played a lot of guys. The starters do a nice job and I also like Greer off the second unit. He's not real big but somehow causes problems. Don't have a problem with the decision to go for 2, but I do have a problem with the personnel used. It was obviously set up to be a high/low look with the 2 receivers on the roll out. Why use 6'2" Carr as the back guy when you've got a couple of 6'5" guys? Doesn't make sense. I think all of the talk of going 8-1 and still making the playoffs is crazy. Oline isn't good enough and lack of play makers on offense is going to make it too tough to score. Defense is pretty good but they won't win on that alone. 5 win team? If they win the next two (not likely in my opinion) then I guess there is a shot at 6 wins. Bottom line is that winners win. Our friends to the south have been in 2 similar games and won them both. UND lost them both. Schweigert is a great guy and he says the right things. He's also 34-34 in six plus years as a head coach. Just sayin.

Losing wide receivers isn't nearly as big of a deal as losing Grady or other offensive linemen. The games are won and lost with the play of the oline and having to replace Meehan, Boas and Grady is going to be difficult. This is why I'm thinking 2016 might be a step back from last year. However, they should be poised for a big year in 2017 if some of the young linemen come into their own.

There are several stories in today's Wichita Eagle (subscription required) detailing Wichita State's future athletic plans. WSU is looking at reviving football but the President wants FBS and sees the MVFC as just a stepping stone to getting there. WSU is also considering moving out of the Missouri Valley to a higher profile conference. This could create some opportunities for the Dakota schools.

I wouldn't agree with USD being a better job. WIU has been to the FCS playoffs ten times and is in a pretty good location from a recruiting standpoint.

I am also hearing that the PFL is being looked at as a possibility. Something has to be up at WIU for Nielson to leave. He wanted to get back to that area of the country because he and his wife had family there. He nearly left his AD/ football coach position at UMD to take the AD position at Upper Iowa (huge step down obviously) before his football team won the first national title. Going to USD makes no sense unless he knows that there is no future at WIU.

I heard the rumor about a week ago that Nielsen was looking to get out because behind the scenes WIU is seriously considering a move down to Division II due to finances.

After how this whole process has played out, I question everything.

I find it amazing that Roughriders gets 82% in this exit poll but yet Fighting Hawks is the favorite to win? Does Qualtrics count every FH twice or something?

The Massey Ratings give UND a 74% chance to beat UNC but just a 22% chance to beat Cal Poly. Hopefully Portland State can beat up on UNC a bit this week so they come in with their tail between their legs. I do think UND's defense matches up pretty well with Cal Poly but they are pretty good for a two win team.

Abraham Lincoln while campaigning in 1858:

If Studsrud is indeed back I think UND will give MSU a run for it in this game. The UND defense hasn't forced any turnovers all year and they are due to get a couple of cheap fumble recoveries or interceptions. That said, I just don't think UND can outscore them. MSU 38 UND 31

There is no need to apologize. I appreciate the debate and understand that others are passionate and may think differently than I do. And I agree that the change at president will be a very good thing for this University. Hopefully some other changes in the athletic department are made as well.

Thank you for the concern, but I am quite happy actually. My hope in pointing out the negatives is that someone in a position of power will read this and come to the realization that the current path the athletic department is on will not work. There are ways to possibly fix things and turn the tide but they would take some drastic measures. I'm not sure anyone at this University has that kind of fortitude.

You and I agree on this. The way things are structured with REA Inc. is ridiculous. UND should petition the state to allow it to take over full control of the arena since it's proven that it's not a financial drain on the university (isn't that the reason UND wasn't allowed full control from the beginning?).

This is right, it will take sacrifice and heavy investment in football and men's basketball to make those programs successful. If the move to DI was made for other reasons than to do well in those two sports then UND made a big mistake. I don't think it's impossible (I would gladly say how I would do it in another post if people are interested) but all I'm saying is I don't think it's likely based on the leadership and culture currently at the school.

I'm not implying at all that UND has no tradition because that obviously isn't the case. But most of that tradition occurred at the DII level and it's a whole new ballgame in DI. UND can no longer rely on being being the major state university playing in a division with mainly regional teachers' colleges. At the DI level the institutions are similar to UND and everyone is trying harder to win. In order to win big, UND must invest heavily in its program.

You apparently missed this part of my post: I clearly stated that there are sports at UND that have tremendous potential in D-I. I simply don't feel football or men's basketball are two of those sports. NDSU does do a better job in it's other sports, no doubt about that. There are a few reasons for this. They are at or near the minimum in D-I sports requirements so there are more resources to spread around (UND should look at doing this). They have a high percentage of male students and they really don't seem to care about meeting the same prong of Title IX requirements as the rest of the schools do. They are also more than willing to act deplorably to win, like when they refused to suspend the football players involved in the petition fraud. But the biggest reason they are successful is that they give preferential status to football and then have all other programs fall in behind it. Most of the major state schools in this country that are successful in athletics operate this way. A very successful football program gives a major lift to an entire university in a way other sports cannot. It is the way things should be done at UND as well, but it will never happen because the hockey program's needs put a glass ceiling on the other sports on campus.

I am not accepting or condoning anything. I support the teams and hope they can win at the highest level. I am simply giving my opinion as to the state of the program and what I think it's future holds based on all factors as they are. If I was the AD or President of the University or had $200 million to finance a new stadium I would then have the power to affect change on the situation. I guarantee if I was AD things would be drastically different in regard to the athletic priorities at UND and that football would have a legit chance to become something special. Please re-read what your goal is for the football program. You appear to be one of the biggest "duckies and bunnies" posters on this message board when it comes to football and you won't even come out and say that the goal for the football program should be to win national championships. Contending both within the conference and nationally is what SDSU is doing in football. I would have expected you to want more.

Louisville is a national power in basketball, and while they are improved, they are not a power in football. Had a few nice years in the Big East but now have a losing record this year in the ACC. And if you are suggesting that UND can get some financial lift off its hockey program to benefit the other sports, there is little evidence of that happening now. REA Inc. has its own interests to look out for and financial gains back to the school in men's hockey are offset to a large degree by the money pit that is women's hockey. Maybe when UND has full control of the REA things will change but that is still years off into the future. SDSU was a 7-4 type of team in the NCC that has become a 7-4 team in FCS. The difference is they can make the playoffs with a 7-4 record in the FCS. I think they badly underachieved in football when they were in D2 and have done decent in FCS because of stability with Steigelmeier and because they jumped in at the right time. Long-term I believe SDSU has more potential than UND in football. They are getting it done with their new stadium and they have an untapped market of 250K people to make their own if they can ever really get it going (for the record, I would feel much more strongly about the long-term prospects of UND football if they had a large untapped market to get into as well). Yes, SDSU is in a basketball state and have always kind of been a basketball school and those factors may hold them back from ever becoming a true national power. But they are close to some fertile FCS recruiting grounds and with no real threat from other in-state schools to steal their thunder, they might not be able to screw it up. Yes, Brookings is a crappy little cow town but so are Manhattan and Stillwater and they seem to be able to make it happen in football as well. NDSU (and SDSU) men's basketball have benefited greatly by the power vacuum in the Summit. With Valpo, Oakland and Oral Roberts all leaving in the last few years somebody had to take over. There have only been 7 or 8 schools in the league for a few years and the others are a bunch of commuter schools that don't care. In the Big Sky there are 12 schools playing basketball which means more to climb over when all of these leagues only have a single NCAA bid.

Passion and demands from a fan base are exactly the reasons why some sports succeed at some schools and not at others. Excellence in football is demanded in Fargo. There is no other option but to be good. I have no doubt that they could move to FBS and be successful there as well because it is demanded. Same goes for UND hockey. On its face it doesn't make sense that UND was able to compete with and beat teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin for all those years, but the fan base demanded excellence and the administration, coaches and players along the way had no other choice but to get themselves to a point of competing with the best. This is the reason Alabama football can go 3-8 and go on probation and yet be back winning national championships a few years later. It's the reason why Kentucky basketball has a history of excellence. It's the reason Nebraska would fire a football coach that wins 9 games every year: their tradition demands national championships. On a smaller scale it's the reason USF has already been ranked in the top five after moving to D2: they expect to win big and will do whatever it takes to get there. Support for UND football is relatively lethargic. There is always the hunting season excuse for poor attendance late in the year. Does NDSU have this same problem? Of course not. Even the coaches and biggest UND supporters don't talk about I-AA national championships- they talk about winning the Big Sky. Do you think Montana supporters think the same way? Of course not. Winning championships in the Big Sky is a given, just a step along the way. The goal there is to win national titles and anything less is failure. It's why they have been so consistently successful over the years.

I am not accepting or promoting anything. I am merely providing commentary on the state of the football program. I am powerless to affect any change on the football program on a day to day basis. Athletics by its very nature is a zero sum game- for every winner there has to be a loser. Each school also has limited resources and must spend its resources where it sees fit. UND spends a great deal of resources on hockey leaving the scraps for the other sports. Yes, Florida is an anomaly along with Ohio State and now to a degree Wisconsin in the sense that they have been very good at both top men's revenue sports at once. What do they do different than the other schools? All three of them are in the top ten in the country in athletic budget so they have the excess money to throw at their "secondary" revenue sports. They can outspend the bluebloods in basketball to get on par with them. I think Alabama is now trying to do the same thing in basketball. UND is not in that position- resources are limited. And my hypothesis had nothing to do with women's sports. For the record, I am not bearish on all UND sports at the D-I level. I think volleyball has tremendous potential because of the availability of athletes and the fact the the Betty is a great facility for that sport. It also helps that NDSU is not what it used to be in that sport. Women's basketball also has potential because of the number of athletes in the region and the tradition of the program. I think potential in men's basketball is limited. NDSU and SDSU already have the market cornered on that sport in the region. Plus, will anyone care if UND makes the big dance as a 15 seed when the hockey playoffs are going on? I doubt it.

Personally I have never ripped UND for not winning an FBS game. Nor have I given much credit for beating a bad Wyoming team. Like I said before I don't get caught up too much in what division teams are from. Good football is good football. And that's fine if we disagree. I'm not posting here to change anyone's mind; just expressing my opinions whether they are popular or not.

In the four seasons before Bubba got to UMD they were 7-1 against NCC schools. The conference change did have something to do with it, but not to the extent you are portraying. And you made my point for me: it took someone else to win with Bubba’s players. Again, Bubba won four games in 2007 and in 2008 with Nielson they won 15 and a national championship. They beat Grand Valley on the road in the playoffs (something UND never came close to doing) and trailed on the scoreboard for a minute and a half the entire season. A coaching change brought them from not even .500 to one of the best teams in D2 history. Trying to rebuild a football program is like playing a game of whack a mole: Fix one thing and another problem pops up. So yes, I get what you are saying about injuries eroding depth, but a lack of depth is exactly the problem with bad football teams. This is why it’s so hard to do. It takes some luck (UND has none, see the injury problems the past few years) and the right coaching staff in place to find all the right players and turn things around. Some of UND’s current issues are on the administration for taking forever to find a coach which led to several players leaving the program in the interim. However, injuries or not there is no excuse for a D-I team having a secondary this bad. If they attempted to bring in guys to shore up the problem they brought in the wrong players. I’m curious to see what happens next year. Certainly the secondary can’t get much worse but losing Ratelle is going to be a major blow. He is probably responsible for two wins this year on his own by stopping the interior running game. Without him it will be easier for opponents to run the ball which will offset any secondary improvement. The great programs have another guy waiting in the wings to take his spot and I’m not so sure UND does. The game of whack a mole continues.

I am not hostile at all toward UND football, just very pragmatic. I rarely post here anymore so you wouldn’t know my recent views on the program. As the years have gone by I also have more experience in assessing programs in college football and I feel I know what I’m talking about. I would not be afraid to say what I’m saying to anyone. Sit me across the table from Bubba and Faison and I would happily tell them the exact same things I am writing here. I think people need to adjust expectations for the entire program, not just this season. I think many people here really believe UND can be a national championship caliber program because it happened in D2 and because NDSU is doing it. I don’t think that will ever happen. There are too many forces working against it, the main one being that this is a hockey school. It was possible to be successful at a national level in D2 football but that’s because UND had such an advantage as an institution over the schools it was playing. At this level that institutional advantage is gone and it’s all about which schools are going to put the most resources and support behind the program. Why do Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke etc. do so great in basketball but struggle to be relevant in football? Why do Alabama, LSU, Florida State, USC etc. do well in football but struggle in basketball? It’s all about tradition and the demands of the alumni and supporters. A subtle yet powerful force. Some UND supporters care about hockey to the extent that many would still throw the other sports under the bus to retain their precious logo. That is scary. When some other schools regionally and in the Big Sky are all in on football and UND is 60% invested because most of its supporters would rather focus on hockey, which schools are going to win out the majority of the time? So yes, I do question Bubba but beyond him I also question the future of football at UND. If Bubba can’t turn this thing around in the next 2-3 years then it starts to look more likely that UND turns into the hockey version of KU (great at one men’s sport, stink at everything else) at the D-I level. Sadly, I think many wouldn’t really care if this happened. This is my over/under on the performance of the UND football program over the next 10 years: Wins: 53 Conference titles: 1 Playoff appearances: 2 Playoff wins: 1