jdub27

I agree he has the tools to be a good one. But if Tommy would have thrown that first pass you would have complained about his "weak" arm because the ball was underthrown and the WR had to slow down quite a bit to catch it. In fact I believe you have made the exact same comments previously. Schmid needs to rely on his legs a bit more because (for a senior) he's not all that impressive of a passer. 13/27 with 1 TD/2 INT's and he took 3 sacks vs. JMU. For the playoffs (his last 3 games), he's 50/88 (57%) for 578 yards with 3 TD's and 2 picks taking 6 sacks for a loss of 19 yards. Rushing, he had 23 attemps for 130 yards. For comparison, you've ripped on Tommy's for his last 3 games and his stats are 42/70 (60%) for 579 yards with 3 TD's and 2 picks taking 1 sack for a loss of 2 yards. He had 19 yards rushing on 3 attempts. Schmid's rushing wasn't the difference for SHSU, the play by the WR to put the DB in the turnstile and then multiple special teams miscues by JMU was the difference. What an absolute meltdown. If your whole point is that Tommy doesn't use his legs enough, that's a fair argument. I have a hard time buying into the rest of it.

Studsrud was held back by both the offense we ran while he was here plus the lack of a solid back-up which limited how much they utilized his legs. Ketteringham was the gun-slinger everyone clamors for when you just spent a few years watching an incredibly bland offense. I was surprised to look back and see he completed 64% of his passes his senior year. 10 picks was a few too many though. I think both of these guys would have ended up being remembered differently with a different OC (acknowledging Danny was in his first year of OC Kett's senior year).

I don't know who the play is designed for or who the first option is, but I know the Cochrane was coming across the linebacker's face as the LB was shuffling the other way reading Tommy's eyes and he was absolutely open, especially with the throw, if the linebacker didn't grab two handsful of jersey. It was 3rd and 8, UND had what looks like a very good drag route called that was open and would have very likely been a 1st down as Tommy led the receiver perfectly. While Maag was open at the end of the play, the weakside safety was right over the top of the seam until Tommy moved his eyes from Paulson to Cochrane. Would a pump fake or even a hard look at Cochrane and then going to Maag have worked? Hindsight makes it look like it would have absolutely and that doesn't mean both things can't be true and correct. It was also 3rd down and there was a reciever coming across who would have been in wide open space if he wouldn't have gotten mugged on his way by the linebacker. Again, freshman QB starting his 7th game. If these are his "struggles" that's a hell of floor to have and hopefully he continues to grow and get better.

We'll have to mostly agree to disagree. You don't complete 2/3's of your passes with a YPA of 7.25 if you're throwing the ball away every time your primary receiver is covered. Are a lot of the plays designed to have a primary target that the ball is thrown and it needs to get out quickly? Yes. But the ability to execute that is also the reason he's the one running the offense and not someone else. While there is no arguing he made a couple poor choices in the JMU game, I have seen him move past the primary receiver many times this season. I'd also argue that on the play you're pointing out, off the snap, he's following Paulson (whether as a target or to move the safety) before turning to the drag route, which was wide open if the linebacker doesn't grab the WR on the way by.

I don't think he's been explicity told not to, I think he's currently more comfortable extending the play and trying to find the open receiver. And with the lack of sacks he has taken, he has that ability. However I wil fully agree that there were at least a handful of times that he could have taken off and gotten a few yards and a first down instead of trying to find someone open. He is also a freshman and still learning to play at the D1 level. I think it will be easier to help him learn when to get a few yards with his legs and when to extend a play than it would be to teach him how to get more comfortable instead of taking off at the first sign of distress. He already has the pocket comfort, that's a much harder skill to teach someone.

QV has a bigger arm, but his accuracy and decision making are the reason Tommy was the starter this year. You also left out the game in 2019 where Tommy had a pair of runs, including a 21 yard scramble. And it isn't like he's a statue back there, only taking 2 sacks that had a combined 2 yards of lost yardage is absolutely huge.

Normally yes. Guessing there will be "this season" seniors who are told their scholarships aren't going to be available next year even though they have an extra year of eligibility (Paulson is probably an example of this). The athletic department is requiring scholarship levels to stay at normal levels even with extra availabilty this coming year (instead of kicking the can down the road). Not sure if that will cause them to "adjust" any other scholarships since football can offer partial but you are correct that the staff will be upfront with players.

I agree with this. I don't think UND's offense will ever stop evolving with Danny running it and I don't think anyone is content. Again, we had a RS-Fr running it this year. As the knowledge in the QB room grows, there will continue to be additional wrinkles and more ability to adjust on the fly. The bigger question is how to juggle two guys who eligibility-wise will have 4 years of eligibility left with a true freshman who has pretty high potential as well.

The whole team, including the staff, failed to show up against NDSU. Tommy went 13-18 with 2 TD's vs Missouri State. That's pretty far from struggling. His passer rating the last 3 games was 135. Well below where he was for the season, but hardly terrible. If that is his baseline for "struggling" than the offense is in pretty good hands. The offense UND is currently running uses swing passes to RB's, quick passes to WR's and screen passes as an extension of the running game and to stay on schedule. This requires a QB that has above average accuracy to be running the offense. It is the exact reason that Tommy had the keys this season. He completed 65% of his passes this year. Is his arm the strongest in the QB room? Doubtful, but I don't think his arm is nearly as bad as some people are making it out to be. I also think his mobility is significantly better than he showed for most of the season, however he's conditioned to look for the completion. He's shown flashes, moreso last year than this year. He'll get better at that, he's a redshirt freshman. That being said, there is definitely a spot for a package for QV and maybe more as he continues to get better as well. You mean the game where UND was content to start running out the clock before halftime because both sides of the ball where having their way?

What is even a trick play? Was ndsu's first rush against UND a trick play? All blocking motion including a pulling lineman to the left and the running back takes off right against the grain for wide lane. That's not a normal design. Most trick plays work because the offense has intentionally set something up prior or the defense has shown tendencies that can be exploited. If UND would have had it one score closer towards the end requiring JMU's defense to play a little more true and UND ran a stop and go for a wide open TD, is that a trick play as well?

And an offense that scored 2 points against what I believe NDSU fans refer to as a charmin-soft defense.

Being on the road is an obvious concern for the fans. Guessing the staff and players don't feel that way. UND's run defense will determine the outcome. I also predict we see a bit more Quincy and also some rush yards from Tommy. I don't think it is a matter of him not being able to run, I think it was that he hasn't needed to (though it likely probably cost a handful of 1st down conversions through the season). He's a winner, if the opportunity presents itself, he'll pull it down and go.

The return equated to an extra 4th round pick in excess of what it "should" have been and he still got his guy at 24. Seems pretty savvy to me. Plenty of ammo to move up into the 2nd round and get a guy they had on their 1st round big board.

Amazing how that lines up with the perception/reasoning that UND is only succeeding this spring because they are some sort of veteran team.

I think part of it is a donor purchased a pretty large number of student tickets and that ate up a good portion. Forecast for Brookings is a high of 49* with a 10-15 mph wind. Not exactly balmy but not terrible.

A transfer QB from Virginia Tech that's appears to be a great athlete but have questionable accuracy and a transfer RB from SMU that was buried on the depth chart there. Both had pretty impressive resumes coming out of high school. Still not sure how that's going to fix all of their problems magically though. RB hasn't been an issue since Luepke came back. Adding a scrambling threat to the passing game will be something they have been missing but in the past, their QB's have also had talented arms and been able to keep the defense honest.

Looks like about 270 or so tickets remaining for UND (91% sold). For comparison, NDSU has around 750 remaining (84% sold) and SDSU currently doesn't list any tickets for sale as of this morning.

Honestly, no, I don't think so. They use him in a fair amount of jet sweep and from what I have seen, it is pretty hit or miss. Maybe in the slot, but to your point, I do think that DF has shown a little more creativity in creating mismatches and getting the ball to playmakers in space than his counterpart in Fargo. That being said, they have usually just relied on running over people and it has been pretty successful. But also more to my point on him being in an offense that doesn't quite know how to properly utilize him.

Tall and fast, but tends to have some brick hands (except of course when he's pushing off a defensive back right before halftime). Not sure he's in an offense that knows how to utilize him. They way they try to get him the ball in space doesn't seem to work.

Unfortunately with the 25% capacity, that gives them an extra 1500 tickets available. They are also selling their's at $45 vs. $25 for UND. That's an extra $125,000 they would have to work with when submitting a bid. My guess is they are one of a very few schools who would outbid UND.

What was weaker yesterday? Fargodome press box glass or the NDSU defense that gave up over 300 yards on the ground?

MSU at 6pm on Saturday?

You didn't see that whoever comes out of the bracket gets to play UNI for the actual title?

Well, the committee is off to quite the start...

Phil is such a whiny homer.