Agreed. I think defense is the key, but the offense still has to be capable and put points on the board. There should have never even been a doubt about going for it on 4th and 1 (the first time) especially against Washington. I'm not saying you always go for it in that scenario, but when you are playing a superior team, and you finally have a little offensive momentum, and you NEED to score, you absolutely go for it.
Game 1: Outplayed our opponent the entire way, though not to the degree I was looking for. This could be because we had to knock some rust off, we had some players coming back from injury and need to re-acclimate, new players altogether, or maybe we just aren't as good as we hoped (time will tell).
Game 2: Truly hung in there longer than most expected, though we had opportunities to make it much closer. Can't fumble in our own end, that handed them points. Can't hesitate on 4th and 1 when we are driving, that again turned into points for them. Can't continue to miss FGs; those should be hit regardless of the opponent. By the end of the game, our defense had just been on the field too long, and were completely wore out.
Game 3: As everyone has been saying for a while .. this is your measuring stick. The talent and matchups make this game extremely winnable, BUT the coaches also need to call it right. If the Prairie View RB can run for 250 against SH, we should have no problem putting up some big numbers. That is not all on John, but the running back group should have a big day. See Prairie View, see the Bison last you. You CAN run against this team. Need to mix some passes in and be smart, but that should be easier against SH corners compared to Washington corners.
I liked how some of the players stepped up in the Washington game. Saw some flashes from Blubaugh, especially on special teams. Saw some flashes from Canady at safety. and Harris and Holm looked better, which I expect to see continued improvement as they bounce back from injury.
As UND-FB-FAN previously, everything is not summed up by W or L, but everything cannot be summed up by the score either. This game was not a blowout until late in the game. UND hung tough with a superior opponent for a good chunk of the game. Now, I'm not into moral victories, but if you watch the game holistically there are some very encouraging aspects to this team. Reading Washington's message board; they were pretty ticked and frustrated until the 4th. They expected the game to be over by the end of the 1st and to be watching back ups play. Instead they saw us limit their star RB, and they had to watch their star QB play until the 4th.
I'm really pumped for next weekends game, and really do expect us to come away with a W. Bubba needs to make better decisions, and Rudy needs to make smarter decisions too (Rudy showed why he is not a coordinator as the FBS level, but he needs to seriously proved he even belongs at the FCS level). All that being said, players need to execute when their number is called. I would personally like to see a little less Toivenen and a little more Adeoti.
Yes, what happened to Zach Zimmerman?
