UND92,96

Prior to this week, when was the last time UND was a clear underdog at home? It's been a long time. Possibly 1999 (Lennon's first year) when we knocked off Northern Colorado?

It appears Oertel has committed to Washington State: http://www.cougcenter.com/2009/10/20/10928...ath-eric-oertel

Houdek, Rothfusz and Haring will red-shirt: link

There's been a kid on the sidelines in street clothes wearing a #27 jersey, but I'm pretty sure that's Binns. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I have to think that if the coaches expected Murray back, they would not have issued his number to anybody else.

I've been following UND football since I was a young kid in the early 1980's, and although certainly there were some NDSU losses during our dark years of the mid-1980's that were pretty embarrassing, last Saturday is up there at or near the top of the list of losses that really bothered me.

While it would be nice to have some of the skill position players from the mid-2000's, I think we miss the offensive lines from that era more. A lot more. Offensive line and linebacker used to be the areas where we seemed to excel year after year after year. Now, they are the areas which need the most improvement IMO.

I definitely agree that our complete lack of a pass rush has been very frustrating, and is probably the biggest reason our defense has mostly struggled. My own personal opinion is that the defensive line, at least when healthy, is probably less of a problem than the linebacking corps.

Here's a season preview: http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.d...TCLID=204817224

Here's a season preview: http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.d...TCLID=204817183 It doesn't mention anything about either Ledger or Privatsky being questionable due to their injuries last season.

Regarding the play of the defensive line, I have to think the erratic play has in large part been due to injuries. We know Boyle is a very good player. Bellmore has also shown some very good things. But both have struggled with injuries this year. I think Benjamin is going to be really good in time, too. The problem is that all three are probably best suited to play nose guard. Bellmore has also played some end this year, probably as a result of trying to get the best talent on the field at the same time. Brenneman will probably also be good at end in time, but like Benjamin he's just a redshirt freshman. If everybody were healthy, I'd kind of like to see a line of Benjamin at the nose, with Bellmore and Boyle at end. It seems like Boyle is athletic enough to be able to play either position. Ultimately, we need to hope that in the future at least one and hopefully more than one out of Brenneman, and red-shirts Stanchik, Lundeen and Cole can develop into an effective pass rusher from the end position(s). We may also see at least one juco transfer defensive end added before next season, particularly if some of the younger players aren't quite physically ready yet.

We need at least a one-week stay of execution. If Answer Guy makes fun of both UND and NDSU football, can he return? Please? I really need a good laugh!

I can't disagree. And frankly it's inexcusable for that to happen.

Two more commitments for 2010: link

UND actually beat Mesa State by a combined 131-14 in the two games at the Alerus in 2002 and 2004. The 2003 loss certainly was a choke, but I guess the fact that it was on the road, and the fact that I believe Mesa actually made the dII playoffs in 2003 made it more palatable to most fans than the Sioux Falls loss is.

Columnists and opposing fans are going to be riding this horse for all its worth for years. Here's the first shot from the Heraldo's own Ryan Bakken:

Here's a blog from Wayne Nelson about the loss: http://www.areavoices.com/waynenelson/

So I guess what he's saying is, we'd be a pretty good NAIA team this year. So we've got that going for us. Which is nice. (*in best Carl Spackler imitation*)

I can't really articulate exactly why, but I'd actually have preferred to finish this season 2-9, having defeated Sioux Falls (and S. Oregon), than to finish around .500, but with a loss to Sioux Falls. Losses to established FCS programs are just far easier to rationalize. The UNO loss you mentioned certainly bothered me, but I didn't have the "sky is falling" feeling I have now. Regardless of how good of a team Sioux Falls is, the stigma of losing to an NAIA team with a fraction of our resources is going to take awhile to get over, at least for me. I admit it, I have a very hard time getting over the NAIA label, not to mention all the other advantages we have relative to a tiny private school.

Lennon used to say the same thing at the dII level. Unfortunately, although our recruiting class of 2009 may have reversed the trend, we've had some trouble recruiting really good linebackers in recent years, too.

O.K., I've solved the mystery of the poor late season/playoff attendance--it was Dale Lennon's fault. How can I say this? Easy: 2008--Southern Illinois season attendance avg.--9055, BUT 11-15 SDSU 5829 11-29 New Hampshire 5461 (playoffs) 2007--UND season attendance avg.--9887, BUT 11-17 Winona St. 5370 (playoffs) Case closed (and no, I'm not serious )

I think the administration deserves some criticism in that that they didn't see this coming, and offer some sort of ticket deal to help boost attendance to an otherwise somewhat unattractive game. It seemed a lot of people knew in advance that student attendance (and probably overall attendance) were going to be down, but nothing was done to help the situation. Also, with regard to the student sections, how is it handled? Do you have to pick up tickets in advance? Are the sections reserved for students even if only a fraction of the tickets are picked up? It seems to me that some sort of system could be set up so that unsold student seats can be sold for $5 or some other discounted price on game day. Isn't that what used to happen with unsold student hockey seats (the availability to the public--not necessarily the discounted price)? Maybe it still is. Do what you need to do to ensure that some of the best seats can still be filled should the students choose not to use them.

I have to admit that I had previously thought that having football and hockey on the same weekend was actually something of an advantage, due to having even more UND sports fans in town than normal. But now, at least with regard to students, I see that it's probably anything but an advantage. As to why so many non-student hockey ticketholders do not regularly attend football, I don't know.

While it's all water under the bridge now, and I certainly don't begrudge Lennon for taking a big raise, the timing of the whole thing in retrospect is unfortunate. Buning was already gone when Lennon left, and Kupchella's impending retirement was roughly a month away. Looking back in time, I can only wonder what might have been had Lennon demanded a big raise (hey, it worked for Chapman ) , and coaxed Bubba back for the dI move. Lennon as head coach...Bubba running the defense...Mussman running the offense..sign some juco's to fill in the holes from all the early departures, and oh, what may have been...

When something like this happened to the men's basketball program, it resulted in fan apathy, which hasn't really been overcome since. That's my concern. We can all debate what, if any changes need to be made, but if the public loses faith/interest in the program, it becomes difficult to get back, and it costs the athletic department a lot of money in lost ticket sales. It may be a big problem in both Grand Forks and Fargo next season unless things improve quickly.

Good question. While our linebacking talent certainly isn't great right now, I question whether it's being utilized correctly. The 3-4 is clearly still working for Bubba at SIU right now. Heck, it's apparently even working better for Sioux Falls than it is here, and I doubt their overall talent level is any better than UND's. I'm afraid the problem is that few programs were using it, so when our d-coordinators have left, we've almost been forced to promote from within. Sometimes it has worked. Unfortunately, sometimes it hasn't. I hope Mussman consults with Lennon and Bubba after the season. I'm sure they could give an honest assessment of the state of our defense, and who may be out there who could improve it. Frankly, although I'm very unhappy with our defense, if the two coaches who built this system say that the coaching isn't the problem, I'll believe them.