siouxfan512

Well I haven't written on here much as of late because there hasn't been much to write about. Partially watched UNI, as we were on vacation and it was an unmitigated disaster. If Tommy doesn't fumble that ball, maybe its a whole different game, who knows. We lost! If there was ever a win that felt like a loss, it is the ISU-B game. Yuck. Everything about that game felt uninspired. There was no emotion in the game and frankly it was just boring. For some reason I just never felt like we were going to lose until the very very end where it looked improbably. We are definitely the better team, but clearly didn't play that way. - Defense actually looked ok for a good chunk of the game, but WOW did they disappear in the 4th Q. - Wyatt Pedigo can play like a man possessed when he wants to. Hilarious watching him bull rush the RB and take down the QB. - Devin Hembry's INT was a pretty spectacular play. - Tommy had some terrible plays, but also had some very impressive scrambles. Should have had another TD in the game that Skokna just dropped, and that was after a very impressive scramble. Also made something out of nothing on the game winning TD. He still doesn't seem like he is playing to the level he was at last year, but hopefully he is ready to turn it out against Murray St. Need a blowout performance this week! Something to build momentum. - Not a fan of Jody Norstedt's commentary during the game. I don't care for guys that are total homers calling games, but he almost seemed like the exact opposite. Not trying to knock the guy personally, but there were multiple times during that game were he was tough to listen to. Ugly, uninspiring win! I usually re-watch games, but these past two games are not worth my time. Though at the end of the day, a win is a win. Our record improved. We are still ranked in a decent (not great) position and we still have some solid opportunities ahead of us. Dominate next weekend and you have an opportunity for a bigtime game against USD. I didn't expect USD to do much against SDSU, but they have clearly had a solid year and are ranked in a solid spot. A road win against a top 10 team would be huge for our resume (unfortunately I think UNI pretty much blew our seed opportunity). I will give some credit to ISU-B as well; they never quit on Saturday. As Kelly often says, there are two teams on the field and they both want to win. I'm sure they really want a win given their record and they have played everyone pretty close, so I wouldn't consider them as bad as their record shows either. Still plenty to be excited about this weekend, but if UND doesn't dominate against Murray State and show some explosiveness on offense, it will be tough to get very excited for USD. Hoping Z is back and the O-line can find that push they had against Moo U.

I'm not even sure why you'd make this comment at this point. (Think Motzko is on the hot seat after yesterday?) Anyhow, I agree that it should be a solid win, and we need to sweep at home. Hopefully no doubt by the 3rd period, but ya just never know. They will want to come in and knock off a top team.

Can't just win this. Need a complete blowout. Score fast and score often.

UND and MN is absolutely still a rivalry. UofM fans hate losing to UND, but it is probably a bit bigger for UND, as the Gophers also have Wisconsin. The beauty of the WCHA was there were multiple interconference rivalries. It will forever be said how that was the best conference. While this is still a rivalry, and I'm pumped that we play every year, the rivalry was so much better when we played twice per year. 4 games, plus WCHA tourney matchups, plus NCAA Tourney matchups. That many games between top programs is the recipes for a rivalry. Cheap shots, crazy goals, fights, heated tempers, close wins/losses, ending another teams season .... they all contribute. Just wish we could play them more often. I used to know their whole team. Who was good. Who was the agitator. Etc. Tough to keep track of their roster on a regular basis now.

Yeah, they really only had a few explosive plays in that game, and even on those plays we were a half a step from flipping the big play into a sack. Just an outstanding game by the D overall; need to keep playing like this and building on it.

If this is true, that is great to hear. I haven't been to a UND tailgating since probably 2007 or 2008, and back in 03 and 04 my only experience was marching through tailgating with the band. I have been to some Bison tailgating since, probably 4 or 5 years ago, and I was always really impressed. Tons of people and great setups; Not going to knock them for their tailgating. I'd really like to see Brookings tailgating someday and watch a game in their stadium.

I remember that same play a few years ago, but it was at mid field. A pitch from Q to Skokna for big yardage. Also, the USD game just got bigger. That will be fun!

Crazy! I was a freshman at UND and playing in the band. We actually moved over to the NDSU side and were sitting with their band during OT when we won. What an experience as an 18 year old kid.

There was definitely a badger thrown at the new Ralph though.

I know its not a Halloween game, but can someone sneak a badger in and toss it on the ice against Wisco? That was epic, but probably about 18 years ago.

But do they have a tactical defense or an explosive offense?

Apart from the Frozen Four (when we are in it), this is absolutely the best time of year. I'm so pumped for some hockey and there haven't been any letdowns yet.

Quick questions for those who may know more. Not trying to overlook Army at all, this is a serious question. Do we really expect them to be much higher of a caliber than Manitoba was? I'm not saying we win 10-0, but to me, this seems like the game that a good team wins 7-0 or 8-1 and outshoots by a significant margin. Then again, maybe I'm way off base here as I don't know a ton about Army. Again, not trying to underestimate, but know what real expectations should be. Only impressive spot from last year was a tie against Providence.

Agreed. No need for it, but could we also not use "The". Its stupid when OSU does it, its even dumber if we do it.

I remember leaving the Ralph after a win against Canisius in 2004. The dorms had just closed for Christmas break, so I stayed to watch the game and then left for the cities late. Ice was horrible after the game and traffic was crawling leaving town. (Smart college kid to leave and drive 5 hours late and in bad conditions). Was barely on the highway and we are crawling in the right late. Another kid comes flying by in the left lane and doesn't see the lane is blocked off by a cop car because of an accident. Barrels into the cop car at about 60 or 70. I remember seeing brake lights and no slowing down. Cop had to kind of hurry of to the side and was lucky not to be hurt. I drove pretty white knuckled for the next hour.

Understood, and for the record I'm a Tommy fan. While he is killing it in stats, there are certainly some other intangibles I'd like to see. That is me trying to be more understanding of the critics. He has also had more playing time on the field than most get in their college career.

Ha, I used to. Don't really go there anymore unless I want to see something about recruiting. They have a few guys that follow recruiting and put out good information. We have plenty of senseless banter here as well, but it nothing compared to that cesspool.

My first year at UND was '03. A good time to come to GF and enjoy some football. Beat the Bison and I got to travel to Alabama with the band for the Nat'l Championship. Obviously that is the level I'd like to see them back to. Deep playoff runs. Nat'l Championship appearances and wins. I still think the entire landscape could have looked different had we gone D1 when NDSU did. Maybe it wouldn't, but I think we would have competed with them on the field and on the recruiting trail. It could look very different, but maybe not. None of that really matters at this point though. I hope Jerry is the guy that can help get us there, I just don't think it is this year. I'm more concerned about our overall D. There are some guys and some flashes, but doesn't seem like enough overall talent and depth across the board. Maybe I'm wrong. I'd say this team is certainly better than a few years back where we were constantly teetering on the edge of the polls, we seem to have somewhat solidified ourselves in the 10-15 spot recently, but have yet to take that next step. This would be a great weekend to do that. Essentially what USD did with their win over the Bison.

I never said anything about controversial. I'm just saying you love to point out when Tommy makes a mistake. Or even when there is a completion, that it wasn't a good enough completion. Never see you posting screenshots or making comments about some of his good plays (and there are plenty of those too). Not saying he is the greatest of all time, so don't misinterpret me. Lets also remember a QB recruit is nothing but potential until they get their shot. Tommy's play, while not perfect has hardly warranted a benching. My bigger fear with Jerry would be rushing him into play when he is not ready and wrecking that potential. Maybe he would step in and be an absolute stud, but I don't think anyone in this forum has enough first hand knowledge to make that call compared to the coaches. Still hoping he gets some reps in this year, and while I think Feeney has some great potential I'd love to see Jerry earn the spot over him next year. I know there is talk about Tommy wanting to stay next year which would be fine if the QB room was bare, but I do think there is something to letting the younger guys take over when they are ready. Which seems to be more of the discussion ... are they ready or not?

Its hilarious; they are such an angry bunch. They used to at least talk a little football over there. Now its all anger and they've scared off any of their halfway decent fans. They're mad they are not FBS. They're mad UND has a football team. They're mad they have to play us. Now they're mad that they have a program that is just a bit down (and still damn good) after a decade plus. Our hockey fans (including myself) get really frustrated when we aren't as dominant as we should be, but those guys on bozoville are next level.

please elaborate. Any maybe "taking you seriously" was a poor choice of words, but you tend to get a lot of combative posts. Maybe its because you give the same criticisms over and over but never recognize when there are positives. It comes across as more of a personal vendetta rather than a player or game analysis.

Unless we are extremely good and they are extremely bad, I don't see a reason for confidence until we have actually beaten them. Hopefully, sure .... but we've played 2 big games this year and shown we are not up for the task. This is a big game and while they are not Boise or SDSU, i don't trust our team or coaches yet. Hoping for a W and to use this as a springboard for the rest of the season.

I've seen Mahomes miss some passes over the past few weeks as well. I've been saying it for years ... from the seat of my schwinn ... the guy is hot trash and should be replaced. Not really sure why he is in the league. Obviously I'm being facetious, but you're a tad overkill in your criticisms as well, which is why nobody takes you seriously on here. Yes, Tommy has missed some throws (probably more than we have seen over the past few years), I also think they are asking him to do a little more, which they should. You've made a habit of highlighting the few bad throws that he has made and none of the good ones. It would be ludicrous to say he hasn't made any great team plays this year, and I don't give a flying F if that is with his arm or feet or whatever. Bottom line, he isn't perfect but failures aren't only on him. Boise was the first really bad game I've seen him play. The scheme and preparation for SDSU was atrocious (Trying to run Q anywhere but 2 yards up the gut is a terrible idea). Coaches seem to outcoach themselves in big games and have done so for a while. Now Jerry may be able to throw the ball a mile and throw a bullet, I don't know. But can he consistently throw with accuracy? Can he quickly identify when it is safe to throw the ball into coverage and give his WR a chance? I only ask this because, lets say we flip the QB and Jerry throws for 400 yards but has 3 INT in a game, we haven't exactly stepped in the right direction either. I'm really excited to see what the kid brings to this program, but I don't think we can state with certainty he is ready to do that. I think it is also fairly clear that even if Tommy got pulled, Trey will be the guy ... though I would really like to see Jerry get some reps this season, maybe a quarter or even a half against Indiana St or Murray St? All arguments and opinion aside .... whoever is lined up under center this week (Tommy) lets just go get a win! That's what we all want and that's what UND football needs. 4-2 with losses to Boise and SDSU and a win over NDSU would not look too bad. Only problem is that they lost to USD and now if they lose to us it will be more about how they are having a bad year, rather than us having a good one, but I'll still take the W.

And I'm sure the nasty SU fans will want a win more now than ever. They love to throw out how we can't even beat them on down years.

Can't disagree with this at all. Coming off a game in Boise where we just didn't show up or make play, I expected more. There were definitely some positives in the Boise game, not like it was a blow out from the beginning, but it was just more of the same with not being IN the game (at no point did we look like we thought we could win). I'd have expected a big push heading to Brookings. Tough to go into the #1 teams house and come out with a win, but we didn't even put up much of a fight. We looked timid and unprepared. (Can we never use Q as a running QB again please? 4th and short sure, but having him try to run east in west was a bad decision in a long line of bad decisions in that game. SDSU wasn't fooled and even if they were, Q is slower than dirt. I really expected more out of Danny. Anyway, onward and upward. We should beat up on Western and I'd like to see the team take out some frustrations from the past due games. Don't win, beat them up. Run up the score. Try getting some guys in the game and use the 2nd half to prep for next week, because if you show up flat for one of the biggest games of the year, fans will continue to lose faith. This is still a playoff team, but if a playoff team can't pick of a higher caliber team once in a while, you're not going to do much. NDSU looks primed to pick off, but I can't say I'm confident in UND being up to the task. Hope I'm wrong! Everyone needs to step it up, especially Tommy! I know there are some that don't like him, but bottom line is if he is starting, he needs to play better than the past two weeks. Danny also needs to give him some opportunities. Lets see some more Elijah Klein, apparently all he does is make circus catches. Maybe we can get that screen game going? I don't know what the answer is, but I'm hoping Danny and Bubba get it dialed in a bit more in the next two weeks. We started off looking like a force to be reckoned with the first two weeks on offense and have dwindled ever since. With a mediocre defense, we can't have a mediocre offense.