UND-FB-FAN

Wow ... tremendous surprise. Welcome back to UND, Elijah Grady. Best of luck! Let the speculation roll; 2017 should be a special season for UND football.

I would be quite surprised if he gets that "higher" opportunity, considering he hasn't done anything special at the FCS level. You never know, I suppose. EDIT: One could argue that UND is "higher" after the 40-7 thrashing they put on Sac State in 2016.

Timing is proabably wrong, but I think Bubba and his staff should definitely discuss bringing Ketteringham in. The QB room needs added competition because, in my opinion, the quarterback position - along with the offensive line - are the two spots keeping UND at good and not great. Ketteringham would add competition (beyond that of the two ND kids, sorry) and he's familiar with the Big Sky Conference. I'm sure UND made a good impression talent-wise with the a** whooping they put on Sac State out at their place in 2016. Of course, as far as positions in need of upgrades, we'll have to wait and see how the defense does after losing all starting linebackers. My gut feeling tells me UND's defense will be even better this season (more depth and experience in secondary and defensive line is very good).

You should invest in a mirror.

If anyone suggested a different DI university should drop football in order to preserve women's ice hockey, they would be laughed out of the room without an ounce of serious consideration. It is embarrassing that folks think UND and the people of North Dakota should somehow be held to different standards. UND is a "hockey school"? Well that pseudo-title sure didn't improve UND's WIH program's attendance or success, so I too think that descriptor is demeaning and embarrassing. People need to move on. UND and President Kennedy made the correct decision.

Not to the degree demonstrated last Friday. UND's defense is playing very fast right now and is light-years ahead of the "Mussman days". But yes, it takes time for offensive line combinations to mesh and that certainly was a factor in the spring game descrepancy.

UND's offense is playing catch-up to the UND defense. It has been that way since Bubba's first year as head coach in 2014; there is a slight bias towards building defense that you get with guys like Bubba and Schmidt running the show. Nothing wrong with that: "defense wins championships". Plenty of athletes have been shifted over to the defense from high school to illustrate this. As the offensive line continues to grow in depth and ability, UND will continue to rise in the rankings. The offensive line really is the final missing piece keeping UND from being a complete, championship-contending top-tier FCS football team (that and maybe QB play). Lastly, I agree that this time of year typically favors the defense. All in all, UND's offensive line needs to improve but it is far too early to panic.

Obviously Utah will be a tough opponent being from the PAC-12 and all, but with that said, it will be the first game of the season for both teams. There will be plenty of first game mistakes by both squads ... hopefully less for UND. UND will have the most experienced squad yet under Bubba's HC tenure in 2017; if confident and able to execute, UND can pull the upset.

Yeah, and not every coaching staff has class. Not saying NDSU is the worst of the worst, but some staffs are certainly better than others.

Good deal. lets get a big crowd down in Vermillion to watch UND stomp the pups

It's a tough position to move anyone from since UND is so thin on quarterbacks to begin with. Only 4 guys on roster, with only 1 having started a game, and only 3 starting as scholarship players ... tough situation.

I wouldn't be too worried about this; UND has been quite good against the run ever since Schmidtty got his hands on the defense in '14. The defensive line is very good and deep and having Cole Reyes as an 8th defender in the box never hurts. One-on-one corner play is still the major area of concern despite the linebacker turnover, in my opinion. Plenty of young athletes to choose from for LB spots.

The two favorites to win the starting inside backer spots appear to be Jake Disterhaupt and Donnell Rodgers. The reserves will see the field plenty with the rotation so that is where the real battle is, in my opinion; look for guys like Jake Geier, Oscar Nevermann, and even upcoming true freshman Noah Larson to battle it out for those #2 reps. Rodgers and Disterhaupt both played plenty last season, although Disterhaupt was on the outside in 2016. If both guys stay healthy in 2017, #44 and #48 will both have big seasons for UND.

What about donations and gifts from alumni and fans? I would imagine that skyrockets following successful seasons like 2015-2016 UND men's hockey and 2016 UND football. UND football season ticket status is at an all-time high at this point, as I understand it. How has Grand Forks progressed economically and business-wise to accommodate the interested crowds for hockey and football?

Yes, and this is partly why I believe more consistent quarterback play will help out UND as much as anything else.

Offensive line will be better; how much better remains to be seen. Nevertheless, as Coach Knauf has said, when you have 4 out of 5 starters returning, the line will undoubtedly be in a better spot than it was beginning 2016. In the BSC, an average UND offensive line will do just fine due to the status of defensive lines in the league. Against FCS playoff teams and FBS Utah, though, it goes beyond just superb line play - it will take some big-time throws from Studsrud to beat Utah and/or advance deep in FCS playoffs. No matter how good the offensive line, there will be good teams that will stack the box and take the run away. With all that said, top-notch offensive line play would've gave UND a playoff win against Richmond given the position UND was in during the 2nd half of that game. The playcalling questions remain, though, for that game; UND definitely needed to pound the rock with that 24-7 lead in the 3rd. Ouch. Sorry for bringing that up. Still stings to think about.

The ironic thing in all this is that, despite the new, very talented three-headed monster in the UND backfield, UND's offense will only take the next step if Studsrud and the passing game progresses. There will be games, potentially playoff games, this season (2017) that will require clutch passing plays from Studsrud and the offense in order to get a positive result.

Kennedy "gets it". Thank God

Couldn't agree more. Cutting the blackhole that was women's hockey and re-focusing on more geographically-suitable conferences will only help out UND in the long-run, particularly football, basketball, and volleyball (the non-men's hockey sports that need to be expanded big time for UND to make that next step as a DI athletic department).

Divide football's net loss by the number of student-athletes to figure per student loss. You could also take a look at the number of alumni and the donations as such belonging to football, which is not particularly reported here for UND football. As Kolpack includes via NDSU AD, the NCAA reportings aren't all that black and white in terms of net gain/loss.

The arrogance of the "twins" and this entire WIH sh*tshow shouldn't delay funding for the HPC. I agree that a public announcement of any kind should be delayed for a few months, though. All in all, if this ridiculous, illogical situation regarding WIH affects HPC phase II funding, then UND will need to go on the offensive (release the numbers and stand by them) in order to protect their core DI sports, in this case football.

Biased news reporting. What else is new these days?

Won't happen unless MAJOR renovations are made. Budget aside, Memorial is not even close to capable in terms of hosting a DI football game right now. The soonest I could see UND back at a renovated, upgraded Memorial Stadium would be 10 years from now (but most likely longer than that). HPC Phase II is unquestionably the priority right now in terms of funding/upgrades for football; UND needs new coaching offices, locker rooms, and meeting rooms to take the next level as a DI football program. Until then, UND and the Alerus Center need to work together to make that arrangement an even better homefield advantage for UND football. It got better the last year or so but there is still work to be done to enhance the fan experience and atmosphere.

It's not just potential. Its the number of student-athletes, donating alumni, and butts in the seats. It all far exceeds that of women's hockey. No comparison. Its amazing to me how football can even be brought up still in this context.

REA could easily become a tremendous basketball arena, but it just needs to be filled like the REA is on hockey nights (men's, obviously not women's). So, you're right that the atmosphere could take some time to build in the REA, but I'm nearly certain that MBB attendance would be considerably higher if UND was in the REA consistently or at least a few games per season. Each one of the REA games would draw over the max Betty capacity crowd. So, my thoughts are more towards absolute attendance and the beauty of the building than the upper bowl empty seats and initial atmosphere. Depending on the cost to set up the REA for basketball and the degree of attendance increase, the improved attendance numbers could help UND MBB's bottomline.