Matt

I don't think this team, no matter who is playing QB, can just line up and outscore someone. Never thought I would say this, but the play of the D must improve.

Honestly, I'm less concerned with what happened in the secondary (although in general that position group is a big concern). The Griz receiving corps made the ndsu secondary look foolish. The young Griz QB should have been confused and shown happy feet because he didn't know where pressure was coming from and either bailed or couldn't step into his throws. He looked like a veteran yesterday.

The disappointing thing about yesterday to me is the defense. When a third string freshmen is making his first start you make him uncomfortable. The opposite happened.

I don't think keeping Mollberg on the bench has anything to do with how they feel (being mad) about him. The coaches are trying to win football games. If they believed Joe could do that yesterday they would have played him. They do not believe they can win with Joe. That being said, it would not surprise me at all if they go over film this week and decide what they are seeing out of Bartels isn't significantly better than what they've seen from Joe and give him a chance to come off the bench this week. However, I think the team will have success the next two weeks and Joe won't be needed. I don't think Joe will see the field this year. His best chance would have been yesterday. If they didn't pull the trigger then, looking at the schedule I don't see it happening.

Not much to say, and at this point its just piling on. New big picture question though, I'm not sure how valuable it is in this league to hang your hat on stopping the run. Most teams will gladly cut your throat through the air.

They will be matching up with WR commit Jake Geier, 6'2”, 200, 4.5, Andover (Andover), MN (2 Star - 247) this week in the state quarters in st cloud.

Given the concurrent success in mens bb it doesn't seem "all" their effort went into football. This ability to walk and chew gum at the same time is something I'm hoping to see out of the UND athletic department.

Another terrible matchup due to style (hurry up offense), injuries to the UND defense, and having two weeks for the Griz to gameplan. Despite the 3rd string QB, the talent difference (and having two weeks to identify and exploit matchups) between the UND secondary and the Griz receiving corps is so large that there will be Griz receivers running so free downfield that the QB won't have to worry about hitting tight spots or throwing guys open. It will be just pitch and catch. The UND offense just can't keep up. Griz 31 UND 13

I did think USD looked scared shitless though...didn't you? I think outplaying them was just a cover to hide the terror inside.

An injury to the QB is actually causing fist fights (challenges to) to break out amongst the inmates on bville...staggering.

Mods-is it possible to archive this post? It should absolutely be saved for posterity as the ultimate representation of a bison fan-a seemingly genuine belief that a team which has a home playoff game is shitting themselves because ndsu is coming into their building for a football game...it really should be saved for sociologists to study.

Saying this team will not make the playoffs does not equate to giving up on them...I'm only giving up the belief they will make the playoffs. There's also another thing at play here. Yes every game is winnable from here on out. But as we've seen, even with the Griz, EWU, or MSU, every game on the schedule is loseable. That's life at this level of football. This isn't the d2 days where you can count on wins from the bottom of the conference. The margin for error you have between winning and losing is small. You have to be doing the right things correctly every week. If not, you'll get beat at home vs ISU (UND), or at home vs Weber (griz), or at UNC (Muss), or at home vs USD (ndsu).

Playoffs? This team can't string together 4 qtrs of good football. They would need to run the table to make the playoffs which, if my math is correct, comes to 16 qtrs of good football. That may be optimism to the point of foolishness.

The only thing I like about this matchup is they are wheeling out their 3rd QB. Hostile environment, two weeks to prepare, an offensive style that gives the defense fits, and they must have this game. Other than that Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?

It is capricious and arbitrary

UND 17 Weber 9

I think Bubba will have this team ready and they will win. Losing this game would really put a two steps back slant on what started as a significant leap forward this season.

You'll have to debate that yourself. I want no part of it. It's a loser's lament. Winning teams overcome them. See Kevin Klancher.

You are cherry picking. Passing and scoring also matter on offense.

UND is last in total offense which accounts for rushing yards, passing yards, and scoring. That is more than adequate to be referred to as the worst offense in the league.

Definitely didn't see this one coming. I'm a big believer in the day by day philosophy, but ISU is doing their own significant reclamation project so losing to them on homecoming doesn't fit with the day by day mantra. I love that the defense is so tough against the run, but we are seeing in the BSC the bottom of the conference will still beat you if you can't defend the pass...and score points on your end. Every team can point to key injuries that is forcing backups into significant playing time at important spots so while it certainly plays a big role in wins and losses, it has more to do with how your team responds to them rather than if you have them because most everyone does.

I don't know what the national ranking is but the O is ranked last in the conference in total offense. If we embrace the #1 ranking of the defense, we can't ignore the last place offense. That's why I like this matchup with ISU. Their D is ranked near the bottom of the conference.

This one does not worry me at all. The UND defense will slow the ISU offense way down. On the other side, this is the matchup the team needs. The conference's worst defense against the worst offense. This is the elixir the UND offense needs to get things going. UND 40 ISU 24

I've seen JMU and Jacksonville. Both are high end this year imho. And we've seen CCU can compete very well too.