Matt

You note the 2010 Idaho team as having a drafted QB rightfully as a reason they are a quality opponent that sioux struggled badly with, yet you ignore Central Michigan (MAC Champions) had Dan Lefevour (6th Rd), and Ball State had Nate Davis (5th Rd). Bohl just seems to take his teams into those games expecting to win, and coaching...and playing...accordingly. I won't argue with the result. How would the bison do vs the Idaho team? I'm sure they'd like their chances.

Ironic that Iowa is in the mix and NDSU announces Iowa on the schedule for what would be Mollberg's redshirt Sr yr. If Iowa doesn't offer, a chance to stick it to the Hawkeyes could be a powerful draw.

OK, I'll play D coordinator for a moment. If I believe I'm faced with a personnel mismatch in the secondary vs their pass offense, I would play a physical cover 2 ( I normally hate cover 2, because I believe it's not aggressive enough but if I am disadvantaged I would go to it). I would jam hard at the line of scrimmage to throw off timing, knowing I always have safety help over the top. Depending on how the game develops-am I getting pressure with my lineman--I would blitz a backer, knowing I'm giving up an underneath route, but again I have safety help, keeping everything in front. Schematically, if cover 2 is just totally not an option, I would play a soft cover 3. Line up 5-7yds off and keep everything in front of me. It's also pretty standard to roll from a 2 to a 3 and vice versa. Disguise coverages. Again, all this is predicated on believing we are at a mismatch with the Idaho pass offense. My strategy would be to make them string together a long drive. It's early in the season and teams are prone to penalties and turnovers. Take away the home run ball and make them march it. Maybe not what you wanted to hear, but when you believe you are vulnerable, it's sound defense try and hide that. Protecting from the long ball/giving a bigger cushion is a way to do that. Now, if he indeed does start stringing together 15 straight completions, as I outlined before you have to start taking a few chances. That said, if I believe I match up well with the opponnent I am a pressing man to man guy and I bring a lot of heat.

I agree with your analysis regarding the criticism Mussman chooses to make publicly. At the same time, and I'm speaking as a former defensive player here, it is a bit of chicken and egg. Yes the defense is out there a long time, but why? They can't make a stop on 3rd down. If they stop on third down, they are off the field. That's what the opponent's defense did, made a 3rd down stop. As a defense you have to hold serve in that situation. The opponent made a 3 and out happen, you must do the same. From a defensive perspective, allowing an offense to drive the field on you is the negative equivalent of your offense going 3 and out. Neither side of the ball is doing its job. The offense has just as much validity in saying to the defense "make a 3rd down stop" as the defense has in saying to the offense "get a first down."

Wasn't it 19-3 at half?

I know FOR A FACT there are former players that post their opinions on here frequently. Your assumption that you are exchanging comments with folks who don't know the game if dead wrong. Furthermore, considering Mussman's record as a head coach is less than .500, I guarantee you that if Faison paid me Muss' salary, I would take the job and do at least as bad as that. I know I could do as bad of a job as he has done.

UND switched? That's ultimately on the head coach.

You haven't come to that conclusion already? Have you been paying attention? New Mexico State has won 5 games in 3 years and they looked terrible the previous week, but they threw it all over the field and the Gophers could get no pressure. That was a disaster of a home opener. Disaster.

I could make you a long list of good coordinators that failed as head coaches.

You have this all backward. Mussman is what his record says he is. According to the athletic department website he is 15-17. .469 is a helluva batting average, it sucks as a head coach. With that record, criticism is expected. No one needs to justify criticism of Mussman with anything more than referencing his won/loss record. It is you that needs to do the explaining.

Not sure what you mean by that. What connection are you misinterpreting between the Drake game yesterday and the sports that will be joining the Big Sky?

I'm gonna give more than 2 extra days for perfection.

Defensively I think what most are getting at here is pressure. Yes Drake gets the ball out quickly but that doesn't mean you can't pressure him. The only thing that disappointed me defensively and its due mainly to my own expectations. I was hoping they would have enough skilled athletes in the secondary to press in man to man on the edges to throw off timing and allow for more pressure up front. Maybe they do and they just did't show it, but I didn't see it. Need to see much improvement the next two weeks, but glad they started out with a win.

Carlson said Monday that his objections are

I was talking about winning.

I wasn't referring to the quality of the opponent. The quality of Cal Poly in 2004 is secondary to the quality of ndsu in 2004. It's the quality of the home team which matters, which is what my bolded text was emphasizing.

I believe this is the key factor for attendance, inside a transition or out of one.

You ignored the stat that our regional peers increased attendance during the transition. That would indicate transition isn't the key factor.

FCS Coaches Preseason Poll - August 22, 2011 Team (No. 1 Votes) 2010 Record Points Previous Ranking 1. Eastern Washington (23) 13-2 687 1 2. Appalachian State (1) 10-2 617 4 3. Georgia Southern (3) 10-5 615 6 4. William & Mary (1) 8-4 614 8 5. Delaware 12-3 559 2 6. Montana State 9-3 540 11 7. Northern Iowa 7-5 448 18 8. Wofford 10-3 431 5 9. Jacksonville State 9-3 425 12 10. New Hampshire 8-5 415 7 11. North Dakota State 9-5 392 9 12. Montana 7-4 318 21 13. Villanova 9-5 276 3 14. Stephen F. Austin 9-3 265 10 15. Lehigh 10-3 259 14 16. James Madison 6-5 226 NR 17. Southern Illinois 5-6 181 NR 18. Liberty 8-3 179 19 19. Richmond 6-5 177 NR 20. McNeese State 6-5 170 NR 21. South Carolina State 9-3 131 17 22. Central Arkansas 7-4 130 NR 23. Chattanooga 6-5 113 NR 24. Bethune-Cookman 10-2 84 15 T24. Penn 91 84 16 Others receiving votes (points in parentheses): Western Illinois (72); Cal Poly (71); Southeast Missouri State (68); Southern Utah (67); Sacramento State (66); Murray State (50); Jacksonville (46); Eastern Kentucky (41); UC Davis (22); Colgate (21); Central Connecticut State (19); Stony Brook (18); Indiana State (15); Harvard (14); Dayton (13); Jackson State (13); Illinois State (11); South Dakota State (10); Florida A&M (9); Coastal Carolina (9); Sam Houston State (9); Elon (8); Grambling State (8); Northern Arizona (3); Weber State (3);Northwestern (2).

This quote shows you don't know what you are talking about, simply stating your opinion. I know several members of the Fargodome admin personnally. Your comments in no way represent their position re:NDSU football. In case you haven't noticed by the number of booking dates and the resulting effects on the bottom line of facilities, there aren't as many days being utilized anymore. Facilities like to have guaranteed dates from which to plan around. Hypothetically, if a more profitable event opportunity presented itself on a date on which ndsu football had a practice, I've no doubt it would be accomodated. NDSU is an accomodating partner for the dome as much as the reverse is true.

In my day we didn't have treats and candy like the spoiled kids today. We sucked on a handful of pennies, and it was delightful. Current UND students can't be trusted.

Link

That's the part that made my jaw drop. Before this issue one would have thought a university would have to commit an egregious offense to become irrelevant as a a d1 member. It is becoming more clear, if it wasn't to some already, that the NCAA does view this as an egregious offense.

Do you see this affecting the formulation of the commonly referred to hockey "superconference"?

Whose word are you taking in this Star, Kelley or Douple? It seems like you trust Douple more today, but reading your past posts about him that's hard for me to believe.