UND-FB-FAN

1-4 on a season where UND is preseason top 10 and is picked to win the Big Sky Conference and now this? Really disappointing year for UND football. Horrible. Not to mention we see the attendance finally get to where it should be only for it to likely all come tumbling down now. This is a horrible nightmare. Things needs to be changed. I expect Bubba, as the head man, to identify the necessary changes and get those damn things done.

Recruiting and receiving more local ND and MN recruits is a must for UND. NDSU obtains the vast majority of the well-known kids, but they also recruit and develop many under-the-radar recruits. UND needs to improve this. Too much attrition from out-of-state recruits of late which has now partially contributed to this current disaster.

Ha So what's your independent variable? Technically it depends on your setup. What you're describing is a single sample test, such as a Z-Test. T-test would compare injured vs non-injured but would require adequate size of each. This year, such size exists. I digress.

Statistics 101 If you have an injury or two, it's likely random chance. If you have 13+ injuries, that's perhaps enough of a sample size to reject the explanation of pure chance. There's an association somewhere with these injuries and it's possibly with strength and conditioning ...

Talent is a huge part of football, but mindset and scheme also make up a huge part of it. I understand UND has lost talent on the field with the injuries, but the players that are on the field now are consistently out-of-position and getting pushed around. Maybe the coaches can put the players in better position. Maybe the players can play with more aggressiveness and belief. Maybe the coaches can recruit more talented players. Maybe the injuries are just too much. It's likely all of the above.

Hell, this should be titled "defense against Cal Davis" ... The defense was far worse than the offense last night.

Let me explain: 45-7 loss @ South Dakota 49-21 loss vs Montana State 48-24 loss @ UC Davis

No impulsive decisions are going to be made this season or shortly after. Bubba and his team could lose the rest of the games this season and, yet, nothing will happen going into 2018. They've earned that based on UND's progress from 2014 to preseason 2017. With all that said, no one should accept blow out loses to conference opponents, regardless of circumstances, including injury. Your "standards" or "expectations" should always be questioned anytime excuses supersede concern and frustration. This is also true for the players - I don't see much anger or fight from the UND football players on the field and that is concerning and frustrating, also. Remember, small dogs with big fight can also go toe-to-toe in fights. Right now, these 2nd and 3rd string UND players are small dogs with small fight and that is upsetting. There's very little passion out there; the team's actions suggest they believe 1-10 is inevitable.

UND football has gone from 9-3 Big Sky champs to a rebuild? Good Lord, that calls for someone to lose their job right there. Im completely convinced the issue we're seeing is in recruiting. Yes, the injuries hurt, but to the degree where you lose all competitiveness is a huge exaggeration. We're seeing poor depth (lack of recruiting) and an inability to change schemes based on available personnel. I hear how UND still needs more time to build depth - that's nonsense. This isn't Bubba's second season. Instead of freshman and redshirt freshmen out there, we should be seeing some backup sophomores and juniors that Bubba's staff recruited. Instead, we see young guys that are like fish out of water. The staff has missed on many players and it is hurting this program now as unexpected injuries hit. Too much attrition from Bubba's first and second year classes.

3 of those 4 are Mussman recruits ... can Bubba's staff recruit? The jury is still out on that, in my opinion. Fair amount of attrition at DB and LB since 2014, too.

No, I am not. I am "hinting" at Bubba and his staff recruiting better players. Its hard when NDSU takes every decent player out of North Dakota; I'll give them that. It still needs to be better or else UND will have very little room for error in terms of injuries (like we are seeing now). Bubba went 5-7, 7-4, 9-3 in his first three seasons. Right now, in his fourth season, he is 1-4. I think he will probably end with only 4 or 5 wins this season, which is very bad relative to may standards for UND football. With that said, of course I support the regime continuing into 2018 based on the improvement from 2014 to 2016. If 2018 is a lost year also, then my "hinting" may actually be towards a direction change. For now, Bubba and his staff need to just keep working as they have and hopefully hit on some better players during the recruiting process.

If you hit on your recruiting classes, depth can be built relatively quickly. There's no set timetable. The way Thomas went about it in the 80s and 90s is completely different from the modern era of recruiting, not to mention UND is recruiting against DI institutions now. Its apple to oranges. Some coaches have gone 7+ years without ever building depth (and ultimately get fired) whereas some coaches arrive and the depth is built after only a year or two (because the classes are all successful in terms of quantity and quality). Its extremely variable. Is 3 recruiting classes enough for Bubba? Apparently not. Should it be enough? I don't know because its extremely variable in the world of modern DI college football. We'll see how the next couple seasons go for Bubba and UND football.

Be careful on your degree of "decimation". The injuries shouldn't turn UND from first to worst in the Big Sky Conference. That designation also belongs to below average recruiting from the past few years.

Per Tom Miller, UND has given up 45+ points in three consecutive games for the first time in program history. The depth is crap, and Bubba and his staff, as they are the recruiters, are directly responsible. Even if you have to play second and third stringers, giving up that many points is inexcusable. Get to work Bubba and staff; you have some major holes to fill via recruiting. On to Northern Colorado. As for those sticking to the excuses, you are right either way: the 2017 season will definitely be an underachievement.

As the announcers just said, UND needs to recruit better. Not enough depth and talent on the roster. The injury situation does nothing but show that. No excuses from my end; just identify the weakness that needs addressing. Get to work Bubba and staff. Obviously having the 13 guys that are out back would hide the depth issues and everything would be back on schedule, BUT, UND doesn't have those 13 guys or so and, as such, we see the depth is crap.

It wasn't full in 2013; it was crap. There were some talented players on the roster though. And Bubba hasn't built the depth up to the point where it needs to be. The coaching and leadership is much better under Bubba's staff, though.

Don't recruit chicken crap then. Thats obviously an exaggeration, but UND needs better players, even as freshmen. Maybe Mussman's players weren't as bad as some thought. Golladay, Will Ratelle, Reyes, Deion Harris, Keaton Studsrud, AJ Stockwell, etc... Bubba needs to prove he can win when injuries hit due to his own depth/recruiting. This season has shown a failure on that end thus far.

I agree with your observation.

Go to the recruiting threads; everyone thinks the incoming players from the past couple years were going to be tremendous. Now, everyone thinks they are too young and thrown into the fire. There's a ton of inconsistency. Should they be undefeated? No. Should they have lost their last three games (2 of which against opponents that beat last season) by 20+ points? Absolutely not. The degree of the collapse is not consistent with the injuries, even though they are extensive. Eventually UND will turn this around as the young guys get more playing time, but this season is lost.

The starters that UND has playing are playing poorly too. It's not just the injuries here, people. The team has regressed. For what reason, I don't know. Perhaps coaching, perhaps team leadership, who knows? All I know is this team just doesn't seem to be able to fight through the adversity as I think they should.

Injuries. Got it. Sam Bradford is hurt for the Vikings; I'll take your advice and not tune in tomorrow. Same with UND football; since they have injuries - which have ALWAYS been apart of football - we should all just accept loses (horrible ones, at that). Next man up and no excuses is the way any true winner goes about it. I'm not going to give in to these ignorant stances that some have come up with just to bear the current disaster.

I could've gone down to Memorial and said that to Mussman's 2013 squad and still got punched in the face. Thus, your point is meaningless. Of course Bubba and his players should be defensive to criticism, but the proof is in the pudding. 2017 UND football is currently a joke.

I'm not calling for a regime change; someone - not necessarily you - has obviously misinterpreted what I've been saying. Yes, it's nice to believe this coaching staff is great and the unfortunate injury situation explains it all; however, I'm not convinced that is the case. I think things are not as bad as they seem nor as good as some make it out to be with the injuries.' The injuries have hurt, but UND shouldn't be a joke at their backup spots and be playing so poorly that their performances are unbearable to watch.

This may be the most thought provoking comment. You may just be right.

You don't recruit JV players. You recruit players that can play. I don't buy this. Obviously this season is lost, but should it be? I don't think any competent DI football program would say so. Only UND fans who are used to hockey as a ultimate fallback would consider such an option. I'm disappointed. UND has regressed. Here's to 2018 being much, much better.