Teeder11

Looks like more than 11,600 tix are spoken for already for UND-Bobcats.

I've been watching this recurring debate for a while now and have been biting my tongue trying not to judge too quickly. Well, here goes: Me thinks more and more that Rudolph is turning into a bit of a scapegoat for Bubba and Schmidt as criticism of the latter two has become somewhat sacrilege because of all that they have legitimately done for the program. I CAN'T STRESS THIS STRONGLY ENOUGH -- I AM NOT SAYING SOME OF THE CRITICISMS of the OC ARE NOT VALID but I also think nothing is as bad or good as the fan boys make them out to be as we break our ankles jumping on and off the bandwagon in game threads ( Ok, maybe the J.J. run was that good and more! ) Just spit balling here, but Rudy is the most "outsider" of the three top coaches and has the fewest good ol' boy connections in town and has absolutely no connection to UND's glory years of the 1990s and early 2000s. So when things click, it's Bubba's doing, when things don't it's Rudy's fault...or the players' talents covered up for any ineptness. My hunch is their are hundreds of programs across the nation where this very same dynamic is playing out on fan message boards. So my question is what is the deciding factor for coordinators on good teams? Are they inherently good, or is it their players' talents that make them good coordinators or cover up for them if they are deemed "clueless"? Or is it an arm-chair-you-know-it when-you-see-it-gut-feel kind of thing? Some fans seem to focus on the good and dismiss the bad as flukes... others choose to magnify the bad and discount the good when it comes to our offensive series. For the former, it's as if they see what's going on as more of a team effort with more input and dynamics involved than just Rudy. They defer to UND's body of work over the past three years and see gradual improvement with some inevitable hiccups along the way. The latter seems to pin it on one guy -- who can't catch a break with them -- damned if he does and damned if doesn't. There's just so much we don't know that is happening behind the scenes that lead our coaches to make the decisions they do. What may look like a no-brainer from the cheap seats...may not be so cut and dried when your down on the sideline wearing the head set or in the coaches' booth. The team is currently 1-1 with games against legit Power 5 member Utah and MVFC cellar dweller Missouri State. UND was respectable against Utah on the road as evidenced by Utes' fans' biased assessments of the Fighting Hawks. UND demolished the lowly Bears of MSU at home. Last year at this time we were 0-2 with the Yotes coming in. UND lost to Bowling Green last year by 1 point with a legit shot to win it, at a time when UND still was figuring out who they were as a team. The Yotes just beat Bowling Green by 8 points, going in with all the confidence of knowing how UND played against the Falcons last year. They probably felt how we did going up against WYO in 2015. Bottom line is that UND has acquitted itself quite well in the first two games of the year, with its full attention on the Yotes for this weekend. No matter how successful the team is this year -- or not.... none of it should be pinned on one individual, IMHO. Team game, team effort. All that said... I love the passion that we fans have and that we try to hold our team accountable! Go Hawks!

Walk-on DL turned TE/FB type Logan Alm .... he's a stud. From Hawley, Minn. Had a really good fall camp.

What a game! Packed house! Biggest crowd ever to witness a VB game in North Dakota 2-0 against little brother ( soccer and VB) How awesome is it to see Faith Dooley serving? I've been waiting four years for that. Huge not to have to take her off the floor so much. Finally a complete player! Speaking of service... we have 5-6 women who deliver really difficult serves, and all in different ways -- Syd, Tepavac, Merseli, Fraase, Ziegler and Brekke. UND is first in the nation to 10 wins, and most wins overall in the nation!

I think it's a sellout!!!!

Still wearing a hard cast on his left forearm.

Watchbigsky.com

Got some young players in too.

Not Big Sky, but old foe Stony Brook up 10-7 on #19 South Florida in Tampa at the half. Charlie Strong just loves the hot seat.

12th man needs to be loud on all snaps next week and Tank and crew need to hold many meetings in the offensive backfield.

It's kind of like a bat signal, only in the form of a Texas Hook 'em Horns gesture.

Yes... great point. It's never as cut and dried as it can be made out to be. Great context!

I didn't follow the game thread during the game -- never do -- too many cliff divers for my liking. I do like going back and reading them after a big come from behind win. Entertaining. Things I saw on TV that I liked: Holm's INT Sacks against a Power 5 ranked team ... can't wait to add Greely to the mix against FCS foes Tank and Cieslak eating up blocks and getting through to the QB and RBs Disterhaupt is a beast and will be even better once Larson and Rastas and few others enter the mix. Tamas Stewart's de-helmeter -- clean and violent. Taubs Taubs Taubs.... touch backs and field goals all day Studs connections when the play book was opened up in the second half. Wanzek and Toivonnen. Add Stanley and Adeoti to the mix and look out! A couple times when Santiago lined up outside and caught passes in space. Decision to go over the top to Feidler for a TD instead of continuing to pound into the Great Wall of Utah during goal-to -go Punting and punt coverage was decent. Punt receiving was less nerve wracking last night Sustained drives in the first quarter kept the defense fresh. Olivera's relentless push after contact. Pass protection by the OL Things I didn't like: Key drops by receivers and TEs Norberg's injury Studs missing a wide open Feidler over the middle that would have gone for a TD. Settling to two FGs when we got deep in the red zone Punting with 8 minutes to go... need to have something in our arsenal in those situations (No, not a double reverse) Mis-timed jet sweeps looked brutal Wish our WRs could and would block like Utah's, minus the holding that the Utes got nailed for. Missed tackles... were the Utes wearing Teflon unis or was I having flashbacks to 2013?

Looks like I'm set in Grand Forks! Signed up for the free 2-week trial on Sling Orange with the sports extra package through my Roku device. Right now, I'm watching an encore presentation of last year's Utes-Colo Buffs game in Boulder on PAC-12 Mountain Network. Also just saw a preview of tomorrow night's Hawks-Utes game.

Looks like I'm set in Grand Forks! Signed up for the free 2-week trial on Sling Orange with the sports extra package through my Roku device. Right now, I'm watching an encore presentation of last year's Utes-Colo Buffs game in Boulder on PAC-12 Mountain Network. Also just saw a preview of tomorrow night's Hawks-Utes game.

I see ACC/ESPN Extra Network is really up on us. They think we're the Thundering Turds by the look of the programming line up. Get a clue.

Take your meds.

It looks like for some dumb reason whomever is in charge of the game stat tracker for this game decided to make it closed to everyone but credentialed media and SIDs. Anyway, another good win on a grueling road schedule to begin the year!

Obligatory. Dead horse.

Friday practice update: The boys reported for duty this morning in half pads and a select few must have showed up with less than half the effort, as Bubba used another chew-out session to get his team's collective mind ready for what's ahead. "How you practice is how you play," he said. Dranka and Larson were among those still out nursing various health conditions. You can add Engwall to that list too. There are others but they've been mentioned on here before. This is by no means atypical for fall camp for any team. From the Bozos to the south to the Coyotes even farther south, teams are nursing their own fair share of bumps and bruises. I read something the other day that Bob Nielson at USD said that he had something like 25 players out at one time with various health concerns -- four seemed to be long term. On the flipside, the Fighting Hawks welcomed back to practice guys such as a Mikey Greibel, Seibel, Pinke, Mason Bennett and even McKinney played limited reps with his hard cast on his right arm (don't read too much into that... i would assume he still won't factor in this season.) A couple of guys did sit out early in practice with lower body issues -- They were J.J. and Izzy. During skelly drills, Ketteringham had the best play with a long bomb to WR Jack Pifer in tight coverage. Pifer when up high and caught the pass in the end zone. S Chuck Flowers came to play today -- and by that I mean play rough-- he had a couple of PBUs along the sidelines with receivers. Chuck might have been a little more aggressive than coaches would want him to be in practice. No harm no foul, though. During team drills, WR Noah Wanzek went up high to pull down a 40 yard pass from Studsrud. Studsrud scrambled to his right and heaved what might have been not the most advisable pass into double coverage. Still, Wanzek went up between Geier and Blubaugh and snatched the ball at an altitude his defenders could not muster. Heidelbaugh then hit WR Stetson Carr on a quick in route and Carr used good blocking to take it in for what would have been about a 40-plus yard TD. The defense stepped up with a nice PBU by Canady on Carr that would have gone for a TD. Boltmann finished things off for the day with a nice toss down field to WR Travis Toivonnen who did a superb job of going up high over defender Kyle Heipas along the sidelines and still coming down within bounds and scampering in for the TD.

Looks sharp! I like it a lot!

Not sure I'm following you, but it's my understanding that UND coaches made the decision a long time ago (well before camp started) to suspend AG for the season and AG was well aware of it. I found out last week that he wasnt going to play this season. I chose not to say anything about it until it was officially reported. That happened today. There are student privacy rules at play here that limits what UND can say. If anything it is UND that has taken the hard high road here and AG respects the decision and has worked his ass off on the practice field despite it all.

It's been known for a while. Someone finally asked about it.

Not really... they all go through a similar progression and usually sometime between RS freshman and RS soph season it clicks and they figure out how to practice hard and still save their bodies at the same time. Santiago was an exception to this. I've never seen him sit out a fall camp rep.

Like every year, the IR is made up mostly of young guys, true freshman who haven't learned how to pace themselves for the rigors of fall camp. There are some exceptions, of course.