Feff

Yes, almost jumped a route earlier.

Kett is not really looking too good passing today. Thankfully he's been able to run. We need to find a passing game one of these years right?

It's apparently going to be penalty day for UND. *sigh*

How stupid are you on special teams? Really? 4th and 16 and you run into the punter. Why? Just stay the hell away if you can't get the ball.

I could have seen them waiving PI on that one too as it looked more like they collided with each other and got tangled. Could go either way.

And Kett forces another off his back foot which is an easy interception.

Really, really weak offensive PI call.

UND is carrying the play. Need another goal to take the wind out of Miami's sails.

Boys looking real good tonight, could have easily been 3-0 there.

The powerplay is just not good.

Sound just kicked in, but it's still off. I'm wearing headphones and hearing it through only one ear.

For UND to have any chance of making the playoffs, the remaining games on the schedule cannot be just wins but have to be utter dominations. The only way they get in at-large as 7-4 as an independent is by blowing out the remaining competition. I just don't see this coming.

There was a nice wrinkle put in with the jet sweep this last week at Idaho. Ran the sweep, came back with a reverse, Stanley then had the passing option which had Maag wide open downfield for what should have been an easy touchdown but which was underthrown by at least 5 yards.

What bothers me the most about the whole Rudy debacle (among such things as philosophy, in-game adjustments, and a general failure to adapt to personnel) is that the passing game is simply not there outside of a few outlier games. Using a run-heavy offense, particularly when you have stud running backs like UND has, should open up all sorts of opportunities for the passing game. 1 on 1 receiver match-ups, play-action to the TE or in general, bootleg action, etc. There is so much that can be done with a passing game with a run-first philosophy. The problem is that we don't use speed down the field except maybe once or twice a game, we don't look for the tight ends (and we've had some athletes there), we don't really do any swing passes. On top of all that, we never seem to develop a quarterback. Studsrud was a game manager who could run but we didn't run him because we had no backups for awhile. Ketteringham has the better arm but locks on to one receiver at a time, makes it easy for the defense. That is on the QB coach, who also happens to be Rudy. He is not good as a QB coach and if Bubba for whatever gods awful reason decides to stick with him, he should at least be removed as a QB coach. His evaluation, his development with young QB's is non-existent (Brad Heidlebaugh as #2 QB everyone).

The effort is there I'm sure. Bubba bleeds green. However, the skill is not present and there has been major mismanagement. No way, no how should Rudy have ever been the OC to begin with. Him calling plays most games feels like tying one hand behind the back for this offense.

Hence the wasting.

We're wasting the talent we have at rb. Imagine what our running game could be if we had a competent passing game to keep teams honest. The hope going on this year was that Kett would be better than Studsrud. Arm strength wise, yes, definite upgrade. But they share much the same problems, such as locking on to receivers and going through almost no progression. Teams therefore can load the box. We've had success on the ground because of the phenomenal running back talent.

Then with 4 minutes left if you have no wideouts, just run the ball. Don't try tossing it out to your h-back that really hasn't caught anything all year. That's not a high percentage play.

Doesn't matter what NDSU is doing at this point. At this point we can't even reach the playoffs so why are we bringing up national titles? This staff isn't getting it done, you don't sit there and keep hammering your head into the same wall, you move on.

Funny that DeBoer was the pick of the folks here. I really think we would have been more successful because he's much more innovative and would have fit better in a Big Sky league.

There's a reason the spread offense has become so prevalent in college football, you're able to spread out a defense, force one on one matches, and pull safeties/linebackers away from the box so that you can run against an unstacked box. The i-form where you bring in a tight end (or two) and a H-back/fullback type, you run into a stacked boss where a defense can throw in bodies and muddle it up. Yes, you can block it perfectly and open a hole but I think you're making it easier on the defense.

I find myself wondering what would have happened had we combined a Mussman called offense with a Bubba/Schmidt defense. I know it would never have happened but interesting to think about. Say what you will about Mussman's tenure, but he had some good offenses.

At this point, bringing up the idea of scrapping the coaching staff is not a knee jerk reaction. They've had years to show us something but really it's not been much outside of a good game here or there. Rudolph is a terrible offensive coordinator and has shown nothing in developing QB's. Kostich might be a nice guy and a player's coach but the woes of the special teams are completely laughable and all comes back to scheme and preparation. Bubba has hitched his wagon to these guys and unfortunately they are pulling him down. There could be a role somewhere for Bubba in the alumni office but I think his time as the head coach needs to be over.

Kostich should never again coach special teams for any collegiate team. He has been that bad. How Rudy got the OC job in the first place is beyond me. He has nothing on his resume to support being the OC for a FCS program, let alone D2.

What gets me other than the ingame calls is the fact that this team does not improve over the course of a season. Ketteringham has actually regressed as the season goes along. Wanzek goes out, so he switches and focuses on Maag. Maag goes out and Kett can't complete barely any pass from then on.