Devils

We've had a couple new RB coaches over the years haven't we? Not sure they were necessarily "poached" though. Would be curious to know the turnover on SDSU's staff over the last 10 years (other than Stig retiring). Obviously NDSU has had several guys move up... Very much agree that with the D talent we have, scheme probably isn't going to matter much. You have D linemen that get no pressure, LB that aren't physical or very good in space and mediocre Dbacks and I don't care if Brian Flores is here it's not going to be great. Obviously recruiting = coaching in college football. Think I heard a coach once asked what the 3 most important aspects of coaching in college are, his reply: "recruiting."

And I agree with yours.

Guess it's just the way the cookie crumbles. Just a little hard to understand how 2 teams with basically the same resumes and the one that lost the head-to-head (badly) gets the weakest opponent in the field and we got probably the toughest of any team that didn't get a home game. Not to mention SIU and Youngstown got very easy matchups. Guess it's bad luck being on the western side of the field.

Definitely a head scratcher. Does Sac St not draw well or why didn’t they have a home game? Hard to figure out how us and Ndsu both have 3 fcs losses and we win head to head and they get paired with the worst team in the field…

Was also at the game. Lack of speed on Defense definitely jumped out. D line just doesn’t win many battles and the loss of McNaboe hurt. As I’ve mentioned in previous weeks, just nobody on the defense that really stands out. A few times we had guys on the edge to contain the QB and he just went around us like youd see in a high school game. Expected the edges to be tough for us but was also surprised at how easily they ran it between the tackles. Need to recruit D hard this year. also agree that we almost surely win the game if we don’t pass at all in the fourth quarter. Had first and 10 from midfield to start the quarter with all the momentum and then two plays later it’s 3rd and 30 after two sacks. Most days offense takes some imagination but I don’t think this was one of those days. also agree with someone who mentioned all the subbing on offense - we are constantly running three or four new receivers out there, not sure why, it’s not like we are spreading the ball all over the place. Let guys get in a rhythm a little bit. Other than Bo our receivers had three catches for 13 yards today. odd how the passing game took a step backward this year - seemed like a strength last year with pretty much the same personnel. Or at least I can’t remember dreading passing downs last year like I did this year. kudos to sac st. Played a clean game and made plays when they had to. I do not believe they committed a penalty (nor a TO) today which is impressive on the road.

Judging by the seat map, looking pretty light. 6-7k maybe.

Sac. State's averages of 250 passing/175 rushing definitely scare me. Defense is going to have their work cut out for them. They do give up some points so hopefully the offense can get out of their funk and put up 30+

Not sure how many are getting D1 interest. I saw Pietrzak just got an offer from Southern Cal and Shaffer has had some P5 interest. Believe St. Romain is committed to NDSU. Conklin I believe just got offered by NDSU after their title game. Ovsak is a nice athlete but pretty small.

Not sure the math quite checks out on that one, that'd be about 9.5 mill/year. So about 8 years worth at that rate.

Listened to the 4th quarter on the radio - Ralston was actually fairly critical of the offense, at one time said they "disappeared" in 2 of their biggest games (UNI). Berg was definitely getting cranky as the game wore on. I've mentioned before, we need better talent on D. D line is average at best (pass rush below average), Linebackers average and undersized at best, same with secondary. Adds up to a mediocre defense which is what we've seen most of the year. Just a weird team with no clear strength from week to week.

Such an inconsistent team, which probably means we just aren't very good. D plays well, O plays terrible one week. O plays well, D looks like a sieve vs. Murray and ISU. Seems we caught lightning in a bottle and everything went right vs. NDSU. Odd but that's what teams that just aren't great do. Maybe working in the run game more in the 2nd half would have worked, although it seemed we were pretty committed to it in the first half and only scored 3 points so idk. Have been a Tommy backer but am ready to move on. All of the drop back and hesitate and then scramble is getting old - have a hard time believing there is no one open. Plus the lack of the ability to throw a deep ball - seems like anytime we (rarely) try it's rarely accurate enough to be caught.

No kidding! No idea how that call gets missed - thank goodness for the fumble!!

Loaded up the site just in case Q didn't convert that sneak to see the meltdown that would have occurred...

Also think this is going to be a tough one. If it were at home I think it'd be closer to 50/50. On the road I think we'll have a hard time scoring to keep pace with as weak as the defense has looked.

FYP.

Main postgame thought for me, which has been pretty consistent for a couple years, is that we just lack playmakers on defense. No one there really who is much above average. I thought McNeal looked like a traffic cone much of the second half. Sure would be nice to get Ziebarth back. Skokna should realistically think about hanging it up at this point, just never healthy for 5 years.

Dude, we get it.

Hard to say on that, of course they're capable but they got pounded by Weber at home (Weber is 3-4) and squeaked by Indiana State who's 0-6 and of course got pounded by SDSU which is going to happen to everyone most likely.

About 80 million dollars??

Was nice to see us pull away in the 2nd half after a tightly played 1st half. Was thinking at halftime, here we go again like the last couple years this is going to be a nailbiter but we put them away soundly.

500% But I’m sure it’ll continue as he thinks it shows how much he cares.

Way to turn a thread dedicated to showcasing former players' successes into a program-bashing litany. Congrats.

I’m not going to say I am a football genius nor do I break down film of our defense, but I have a hard time believing that scheme was the main problem last year. Getting pushed around on the line, no pass rush, poor coverage and poor tackling seemed to be the main issues. Sure, those are linked to scheme and coaching but more so we need better athletes. Other than maybe CJ I can’t remember anyone really stepping up and just making plays where you’re like “that guy is a stud.”

I'm sure it has been mentioned along the way here but I can't imagine there were too many guys with a good resume available in late February. Willing to see how Schwenzfeier does. We all know we need more size/speed on D to take the leap.

Sounds like Bagnell is going to USD.