UND92,96

Why does Mussman keep specifically referring to juco transfers? I would think the chances of finding a competent FBS transfer are at least as good as finding a juco who not only can play, but who doesn't have any NCAA clearinghouse issues.

I know Downing was let go based upon the body of his work, and not just this season, but it kind of underscores how disappointing this season has been for UND when you consider UNC is ranked ahead of UND in the GPI, Sagarin and Massey rankings.

I wonder if maybe it would make more sense to concentrate more on finding undersized "bigs" who have skills, but who are simply not tall enough to be seriously considered by bigger schools? I'd rather have a 6'6" post who actually has skills and who can score on the low block than a 6'8" or taller kid who may "look the part", but who simply isn't talented enough to play effectively at this level. Is there much of a chance of finding a kid like Chris Gardner in this day and age?

DeBoer.

Signings have been announced: http://www.fightingsioux.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205031248

I can't comment on the Jerry Olson era, as that was before my time. However, with regard to RT, he struggled in his first season with a fairly empty cupboard thanks to Behrns, but came back with 6-4 and 7-4 in seasons two and three. I think almost everybody was happy with the progress being made. Granted, the situations aren't identical, but both coaches stepped into difficult situations. I just feel RT did a much better job through three seasons.

Actually now 4-6, with a good chance to finish at 5-6. Sounds like they've had some injury problems, and this is kind of their version of UND's 2002 season. I would expect them to bounce back in a big way next year. There are too many quality coaches on that staff for them to stay down.

Coming into the season, did the coaches know, or at least strongly suspect that if Landry went down, the passing game would disappear? I'm just trying to understand what the contingency plan was, because clearly neither Goska nor Hendrickson appears capable of effectively running UND's usual offense. I know this is armchair quarterbacking, but it seems to me that either a transfer quarterback should have been brought in before the season to be the backup, and possibly the starter next year, or else some sort of option offense should have been put in for Goska and Hendrickson to compensate for the fact that they don't pass very well.

The following is a quote from Texas head coach Mack Brown. I hope Chris Mussman feels the same way.

Klancher played some as a freshman when Clay Wagner got hurt, and may have started a game or two, but wasn't really a starter. I can't recall a freshman actually winning the starting position at quarterback at UND. But barring a good incoming transfer, I think there's a good chance of it happening next year.

From the Bozeman newspaper: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/app/msu-bobcats/?p=7064

Just listened to it. I was a bit surprised that Mussman guaranteed a victory a la Joe Namath. Talked about the benefit of having one conference as opposed to a separate conference for football, how excited everybody is to join the Big Sky, how recruiting has already expanded westward and will continue to do so, how UND is committed to being a competitive football program in the Big Sky, how UND doesn't have the depth yet to be where we want to be, how youth and inexperience has resulted in a lot of mistakes this year, and how UND won't be intimidated at Montana due to experience of having played FBS programs the past two years.

I think you're referring to Josie Dillon, who is now a junior. To the best of my knowledge, she's still committed to UND.

It appears UND has a commitment from Hopkins guard Brianna Williams: http://www.gprep.net/200rankings.html

These are the regular season attendance averages since 2006: 2006 9,578 2007 10,790 2008 10,167 2009 8,539 2010 8,154

Lennon's first real recruiting class wasn't until 2009, making most of them red-shirt freshmen right now. The 2008 recruiting class would probably be half Lennon and half Kill recruits. But there's little question that this season has been a setback in terms of him moving on to a better job anytime soon. I'm sure there will be some pressure next season to get back into the playoffs.

I've brought this up several times before, but in 2008 we had probably the worst home schedule ever, and also the best per-game attendance average ever. People showed up presumably because of the momentum which had been built up over the previous 15-20 years. Fans were used to seeing a winner, and were willing to show up notwithstanding the extremely unattractive schedule. Now, the momentum has been lost, and I'm not convinced that a better schedule alone will make people come back. It may very well take a win or two similar to the UNI win in 2006 to generate a buzz again. And of course, that's easier said than done.

If this were any UND team of 1999 to 2007 (other than 2002), I'd like our chances of at least keeping it close. This year? I don't see it happening. Just too many weaknesses on both sides of the ball.

UND defeated NJIT today to clinch the Great West title. Congrats to Coach Hardee and the team.

Just got back from the game. Obviously a very disappointing performance as I really thought coming in that this was a very winnable game. Offensively, it really hurts that we simply don't have a very good passing game, although at least Hendrickson made a couple of very good throws. Goska seems to have more poise and possibly makes better decisions, but Hendrickson seems to have so much more upside with his speed and arm. I guess you play them both the next two weeks and see who moves the team better. I strongly suspect that unless somebody really emerges, we'll see a transfer brought in to compete for the starting job next year. Defensively, there just seem to be too many breakdowns in coverage. Far too often the receiver is 10 yards behind the corner. At some point somebody needs to be held accountable for this glaring problem. About the only area where I feel we're definitely on the right track is special teams. Coverage was good, and there were several good returns. Kotelnicki seems to be doing a good job.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm happy with the Big Sky, and I hope the Big Sky presidents are still happy with UND despite our lack of travel partner in the eastern Dakota's. With that said, IF--and I repeat IF--the Big Sky is no longer happy with adding UND as an all-sports member due to travel concerns, it would seem that the logical way out of it would be to give UND a football-only bid, a la UC-Davis and Cal Poly. That's the one and only way Kolpack's suggestion makes any sense whatsoever.

Agreed. The way Viverito went about this was a bit shady. It's clear they only wanted one more member at most. So why are the Stu Whitney's of the world acting like UND was the one that did something wrong here? That's what I find so baffling. That's understandable. The politics in SD are clearly different from North Dakota, and you need to do what's necessary to avoid ticking off the board and the politicians. I'm sure we'll all be fine. While the MVFC seems stable for now, I still wonder about where the Summit is going to look for new members in the future? Should be interesting.

You are a class act, Yote 53. I think you're seeing the big picture far clearer than many others in South Dakota right now. Now that things have settled down a bit, and people are hopefully getting over the initial surprise over the abrupt change of events, I hope the UxD's continue to play each other. Let's not have a repeat of the UND-NDSU and USD-SDSU situations from 5-6 years ago.

For some reason, I just can't let go of the article Jim linked yesterday from the Terre Haute paper, in which concerns over adding a flight to the football budget for Indiana State were apparently significant both when the xDSU's were added, and again this week. And then I compare that to the NCC adding UNC (a flight for everybody except UNO, and for basketball and volleyball, too), and then the Washington schools as affiliate football members. If it wasn't a deal-breaker for a dII conference, why should it have been such a big deal for at least two members of a prominent FCS conference? Seriously, if a long-time FCS program can't afford to fly two or three times per year, maybe they need to re-think whether they can even afford to be playing scholarship FCS football. To put it another way, if SIU is so strapped for cash, where did the money come from to pay Lennon big bucks (by FCS standards)?

Kolpack just tweeted that it looks like USD to MVFC.