UND-FB-FAN

Punishing them? I don’t think nearly every DI football school punishes their students by having them sit at the 25 yard line. Lastly, it is not just the product on the field that dictates attendance. It is about a 50/50 split with wins and entertainment. There are countless schools around the country with average to below average teams that consistently have a packed house with a great atmosphere. University of Michigan, University of Nebraska, and University of Montana are just a few places where the attendance is still superb despite poor results. Same with UND hockey: attendance remains good even when the product is not good on the ice. Point is the Alerus Center gameday Presentation needs to yet improve. The UND athletics staff and Alerus Center gameday crew both have a lot of work to do.

You don’t win when you have 6 turnovers. UND’s offense, specifically the QB position, failed UND on Saturday. Need to protect the ball way better.

probably maybe perhaps i think you might be an a**hole

I agree with most everything in your post; however, this statement is a bit controversial to me. I think UND still has a long ways to go in recruiting in order to obtain the talent necessary to be successful. Overall, the roster is still devoid of big time talent that is characteristic of a top 25 fcs team. Everyone loves to coach from the couch (point being x's and o's talk is fun), but the most important thing is the players on the field. Major caveat being that the coaches are the ones who recruit the players.

EXACTLY. Hoping Paul Sather (who isn't necessarily young - sorry Coach) works out for Men's basketball in the sense he is an up-and-comer from Division II now getting his first shot at DI basketball. UND football needs a similar hire. A coach that has demonstrated great accomplishment at a lower level (DII head coach or FCS coordinator) but just needs the opportunity to excel as a DI head coach. It is okay to treat UND as a stepping stone because it means UND will be successful. NDSU football has technically been a "coaching stepping stone" and I don't think anyone affiliated with NDSU is upset about that. Bohl leaves for Wyoming and Klieman leaves for Kansas State and yet NDSU is left with the best program in the history of FCS football. Point is, UND needs to hire young guys with very high potential looking for opportunity.

That ship has sailed (after only 6 years), which highlights the enormity of the mistake made by Faison during December 2013.

Some folks at the University of North Dakota have too much pride to admit when they’re wrong. Furthermore, they especially have too much pride when they have to admit they are wrong and that the rival institution 80 miles south is actually correct.

I do not think anybody is proposing that athletics takes precedent over academics. The question is what portion of alumni donations goes to athletics.

I know there are several. And that would be one of the major arguments to my proposed change of seating arrangements.

Leadership has to make the decision. If UND leadership decides to move the student section down and allow champions club seating at midfield on the visitor side line, they will have to appropriately price those seats. UND should probably price those seats similarly to 25 yard line seating on the UND sideline. just my 2 cents. I haven’t looked into the seating chart and seating prices enough to give an educated assessment on pricing.

They don’t have to cost more. They could cost the same as UND sideline 25 yard line tickets. Right now, visitor sideline 50 yd line seats aren’t even available because they are reserved for students who do not attend the entire game.

I’m happy you don’t spend too much time on this website. It is certainly reasonable, and really the right thing to do, to communicate directly with leadership instead. As for seating in the Alerus Center, my final point is that there are season-ticket holders sitting at the 25 yard lines who would rather be sitting at the 50 yard line. These season-ticket holders remain present for the entirety of the game. The students consistently leave during half time. Nearly every division 1 football venue has their students sit at the 25 yard line or so. I just don’t understand why people figure UND needs to be the exception. It is hurting the seating options for committed season-ticket holders, and, as a minor issue, hurting the aesthetics of the broadcast.

There are empty seats all over the Alerus Center. The highest attendance density is from the 40 to 40 yard line; therefore, the least number of empty seats exists in those sections. Not a difficult concept and everyone understands it; the difficulty is getting leadership to consider change and then ultimately moving forward with it.

Not sure how moving the student section would decrease student attendance. In fact, I think it won’t affect student attendance at all. I can almost guarantee you that whether the students sit at the 50 yard line or the 25 yard line, it isn’t a top 3 factor of whether they show up or stay the second half.

You are mistaken. Sure, the 40-40 yard line Champions Club sections occasionally have a few empty seats, but it is by far the most filled up section in the entire building. The student attendance is simply too poor, particularly in the second half, to even consider that Champions Club seating would be inferior in terms of attendance. At the worst, it would be a parallel move, but moving the students would most likely drastically improve the distribution of attendance to the midfield seats - and rightfully so. UND football is in no way, shape, or form in a position where maintaining the status quo should be viewed as insightful. Moving the students is only one of many changes that the football program needs to undergo.

6 turnovers! UND loses. Need WAY better quarterback play.

“You play to win the game [now]!”

Story of the game for UND is 6 turnovers. Awful. You won’t win doing that. Turnovers are partially because of coaching (scheme to protect the ball or lack thereof) but mostly due to poor execution. Ketteringham played a bad game. First game playing with the knee injury so I bet he improves, but it still just wasn’t good enough from the QB position yesterday for a win. If Ketteringham can’t protect the ball, then UND will have to try Schuster - he actually protected the ball against SHSU. Still, the QB situation is not ideal and UND desperately needs a couple new players at that position for next year. The next thing is run defense and run offense. 6 years into the Bubba era and the offensive and defensive lines are still not nearly good enough. It showed yesterday in the weather conditions. I’m most concerned about this. UND needs better players at QB. Offensive line and defensive line need to be better. The skill position players are a step too slow. Plenty of concerns remain from a talent/recruiting standpoint.

Nothing will change in the next 2 years, I’m afraid. I heavily caution against complacency, because UND athletics and specifically UND football has been all too conservative lately and look where it has got them ... Why does UND think they are too special (or simply the exception) when it comes to the seating orientation compared to nearly every other DI football venue? Students don’t get 50 yard line seating nearly anywhere else, ESPECIALLY when the student section is consistently empty in the second half of games year after year.

This game will come down to what most games comes down to: turnovers and clutch plays. UND has to protect the ball and force a few turnovers like they did against Sam Houston State. Also, when Eastern Washington faces a third or fourth down, UND needs to get off the field defensively. Against NDSU, und could not stop Trey Lance on 3rd down. Und needs to be able to stop the EWU quarterback in this game in those situations. Conversely, when UND faces third down offensively, they must convert. Too many three and outs will put too much pressure on the UND defense. It happened against NDSU, it cannot happen against EWU.

Ill contact him regarding seating. Obviously the students support UND football but not well enough to stick around the entire game. For the past decade plus, the student section is 75% empty come the 3rd quarter. It is an awful waste of great seating that season ticket holders would love to sit in from start to finish. Not to mention the minor detail that the broadcast cameras face those seats! You think prospective student athletes want to play in a place where it looks dead empty on tv...... Move the students down a few sections. This is the Orientation in nearly every division I football venue!

UND needs to prepare to win. I have confidence that Bubba and his team are doing that. Moral victories are for losers. External expectations for UND are horsesh*t but what else is new. Expectations - most importantly the internal expectations - are a major factor in success or lack thereof. This year's UND team needs to prove people wrong. I’m confident they can. The juggernaut in Fargo affects the external expectations, whether naive supporters want to admit it or not. Bickering about “the problem supporter” does not amuse me. You’ll have to find someone else if you want to carry on this petty argument.

What the hell?

Way better.

Students in mass numbers don’t want to go to the games. Its an issue all over the country, including big 10 schools. To expect the students to fill up the prime midfield seating is just wishful thinking without logic. Move the student section down, and reserve the midfield on BOTH sides for season tickets. It really is disappointing that it has taken this long for UND’s athletic department to figure this out; and really, they technically haven’t yet.