UND-FB-FAN

Weber State is a very good FCS team. A win would be huge for UND this season and beyond. Important Bubba and his team are very aggressive today and go for the win. Do not play to just keep it close.

I couldn’t agree more.

Awesome to see. This is the backbone of successful UND football teams; that is, top North Dakota high school student-athletes. Ihry from FSHP and Belquist from NRS will both be great additions to the UND football program. Kudos to Bubba and staff for finding these guys. Keep recruiting small town ND!!

Maybe losing to ISU is understandable when you lose by a couple scores to a bad team on the road. NOT when you lose to a bad team by multiple scores ...

The ISU loss was rock-bottom bad when it happened. Can't get any worse. Just weird how Bubba's teams consistently can't prepare for and perform against lowly Idaho State.

We’ve already waited too long. Needing “familiar opponents” is an excuse I don’t buy, I’m afraid. Students need to be moved for next season. When 215 was opened for Champions Club seating a few years back, it filled up relatively quickly. Opening 214 to season ticket holders will fill that section up consistently.

It appears we are on paper. Not on the field. It is a mental issue against them, for some reason, under Bubba. In 2019, Idaho State is 3-0 at home and 0-5 on the road. UND played them in idaho, of course. Still no excuse to lose 55-20. Idaho State is coming off a 54-39 loss to lowly 2-7 Southern Utah.

A loss to Weber and two home wins vs UNC and SUU puts UND at 7-4. Hopefully they would make playoffs at that mark. I could see them being a bubble team and either last team in or first team out in that situation, unfortunately. Best situation would be a Weber State win and a 3-0 regular season finish, obviously. I think the playoff committee is going to heavily hold the Idaho State blowout loss against UND, as they’ve done before. Idaho State is - once again - not a very good team and they embarrassed Bubba’s UND squad.

I guess I just don’t see this support he speaks of. The student section is consistently over 80% empty. And, for Chaves being a DI AD, he should know what the precedent is for student seating at college football games. It just doesn’t happen very often where students are given midfield seating (taking away from season ticket holders), especially when the attendance has been poor for years. But yes, more season ticket holders need to contact Chaves regarding this. The seating at the Alerus Center is not being best utilized, in my opinion. Chaves appears to be misinformed. Folks should take photos of student section (visual evidence) and email them to him.

The student attendance hasn’t been good for years. Thus, I seriously want UND athletics to move the student section down and allow season ticket holders to occupy the midfield areas on BOTH sides. Better alumni relations AND aesthetics, especially for visiting recruits. The current student seating situation is an outdated DII model and doesn’t make sense to me at all.

Weber State game is season-defining for UND based on how it could turn the season. UND has to play well to have a chance. Blowout loss and I could see UND not recovering. Win for UND, and I see a first round home playoff game and 8-3 season. I, unfortunatley, don’t see the UNC and SUU games going as smoothly as some envision. Hopefully both wins, but likely gonna be close. Bubba’s tenure at UND has taught us that - nothing comes easy.

Biggest offensive issue is NOT the quarterback position with Nate Ketteringham. Could it be better, absolutely. But @iramurphy hit it right on the head; #8 is completing over 70% and with no turnovers. That is good QB play. The biggest offensive issue is the lack of a running game. If the running game could ever get on track, UND would have a complete offense and put up 30+ points routinely. Freund is having the offense do what it does without the threat of a running game, which is even more impressive for the first year coordinator. Just imagine ... hopefully next year with better o line and backs. Also could use more explosive receivers. Plenty of opportunities to further expand offensive talent for Freund.

That’s also a function of the receivers. UND has no deep ball threat on the perimeter. This offense could be much more explosive with better quarterbacks AND receiver play. The short to intermiediate routes are run really well by UND’s guys, though (Wanzek, Toivonen, Maag).

Sure wasn’t Rudolph performance to me. UND would’ve been shut out with Rudolph. Did you see UND’s offensive TD? Not a Rudolph play for sure. But the offense needs to be more consistent. Too many mistakes to maintain drives. Fumble in first half by Gee didn’t help either. Running game is still absent putting a lot of pressure on misdirection and smoke & mirrors.

Never would have thought the two phases that would play the best would be defense and special teams. Offense made timely plays too, but need to be more consistent. Really a great all around team win. Good job, guys. Go UND!

Well, the blocked punt certainly was a game changer. Glad the special teams came through this week. Good team win for UND.

7-6 UND at halftime versus #9 Montana State Outstanding first half for the UND defense. Shows how much us “football experts” knew about UND’s defense. They play the games for a reason. UND needs to play an inspired second half to pull the upset. Go Hawks

Watch Big Sky not working either; linked to Pluto tv. The app might work. Try that I guess.

No, not working. Not sure if this is from the UND end or not. It better not be a limited resources issue because of ice puck tonight versus bemidji fricken state. Need to have people working on this.

This game will take great effort from UND’s players and coaches in order for UND to win. UND can sometimes surprise in the Alerus Center. Obviously worried about UND’s ability (or lack thereof) to stop Montana State’s running game. Game has a similar feel to 2017 game (Mon St won 49-21) when UND defense was depleted and awful. I’ll go ... Montana State 42 UND 28 Hope I’m wrong.

Well, of course.

Combo. Doing both.

I think UND has to have 8 in the box nearly every play. Make Montana State beat UND with the deep pass. Sure, it can happen that way, but it would be the more challenging task for MSU I’d say. Allowing MSU to get 5 + ypc up the gut each play definitely won’t lead to any success for UND. CJ Seigel, Holm, Blubaugh, etc. would be put out on an island and asked to make the necessary plays.

Recruitng deficiencies. Doesn't matter what scheme you run if you can’t recruit to it. Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football. 3-4, 4-3, 3-3-5, 4-6, 2-4-5, I don’t care. You have to recruit (and then develop) the big boys regardless of simple alignment.

Sounds like Morrison might play, albeit not at 100%. Mason Bennett will be out. Even if UND was completely healthy at defensive line, it would be tough to stop Montana State's running game. I agree with you; UND will need to scheme some things up to stop the run. Will likely have to play the numbers game and bring an extra player in the box and hope to not get beat on the deep pass. UND's offense has to show up big time in this game. Freund needs to scheme some things up like he did against UC Davis and score in bunches. I know I already said this, but SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL TEAMS! UND can win the game if they play flawless in this area, something I'm not comfortable with. Need to make field goals when presented with the opportunity. Need to cover kicks and punts well because the defense needs all the field they can get to defend. Definitely cannot give up a blocked punt ...... alternatively, what if UND blocked a punt? Game changer