Feff

It's not that simple. Physically yes, they are large enough and that size would be beneficial. However, the ILB has all sorts of reads, adjustments, and sometimes plain old instincts that are necessary to be successful.

Have we fallen in the rankings or has Portland St been playing exceptionally well?

I don't think you'll find a lot of people calling for the end of Bubba or Schmidt, there is still a lot of faith in them. Schmidt is dealing with a tough break in that he has no inside linebackers due to injury and attrition. What you are hearing is the call for the head of the OC (and some for the special teams coach). The offense is mostly unimaginative and emphasizes ball control but starts far too slow too often. Some of the best displays of the Rudolph offense have been when they are playing from behind and the offense is put into Keaton's hands. The offense that Rudolph wants to run relies on a dominant offensive line and we haven't really had that for awhile. Through three games the line has either been flat beaten or held even. People thought the Utah game was an aberration due to the skill of the Utes line and that could be the case. The second game they struggled to get a push for quite some time against what's considered to be one of the worst MVFC teams, they eventually opened holes but only after the passing game was fully established. Then there is the USD debacle where the line flat out got whipped. There was supposed to be more depth and more skill this year with the offensive line and we're not really seeing any of that. So either UND needs to place a much higher emphasis on the type of linemen they are recruiting, or else the offense simply needs to adapt to not being able to control the line of scrimmage. Sorry, this got longer than I intended. Just frustrated seeing the same offensive woes game after game.

The concerns about the team and that have so many people disheartened are due to the two main weaknesses through 3 weeks. That being the offensive line and any lack of consistent push, particularly in the running game which is supposed to be our bread and butter. And the lack of depth, experience, and size with the linebackers. Any team with any intelligence is going to attack our inside backers over and over again. Those two weaknesses are incredibly hard to cover up and are major components of both sides of the ball. Add in the plethora of undisciplined penalties and then the lack of emotion during the thumping last week and you have a recipe for a let down season. Coaches can and should be disciplining and trying to straighten out the penalties, but it's on the players to show up with an attitude to smack the other team in the mouth.

UND takes it 3-1

Audio is awful on this.

Must be due to the crisp, clean Greely air.

My prediction, UND's offense will disappoint, UND's defense will hold up for awhile. Win or lose, the fanbase won't be happy.

Unless UND runs the table, this loss likely knocks them out of the playoffs. This is an embarrassment and likely will be used against them for an at-large bid later on.

UND doesn't have the offensive line to play the way they want on offense against decent teams. Showed against Utah, showing against USD, hell even Missouri St gave the line trouble. The offensive line simply is too soft for this type of offense.

Team looks like garbage. Missed coverages, missed tackles, way too many penalties.

Hunt needs to get his head out of his ass.

Seriously, you are right on top of the damn ball, stop jumping!

After reading their boards it's apparent that UND has never seen a high powered offense the likes of which USD has. We'll never be able to keep up... /s

I think some of the errors are the fact that it's early, they had the long road trip so practices were likely a bit sparse, and the home competition has been weak. I expect those things to be cleaned up and the team start to perform a bit sharper now that they've been able to be home and practice for a bit.

We have 4 of them, just one can't play this season.

Holy crap, you just can't give up on this. We get you want to marry the OC. I'm done with it.

Love seeing a dive hit the hole the defense slants away from!

Poor decision by Santiago on the punt and UND is stuck back at the 2.

The reason Rudolph gets so much crap is that the playcalling is more often than not predictable. Yes, he has some great moments and there are times where everything he calls seems to work, but there are many, many times that the calls are run, run, pass with a 3 and out, rinse and repeat.

Perfect blocking on that TD.

Christmas came early for Haas, that was a gift hah!

Give it a rest. Going for it on 4th was Bubba's decision. The playcall was good, no denying.

Missouri St can't cover outside.

Mason Bennett is a beast, really good speed on the edge.