UND-FB-FAN

PAC-12 Network

Huge opportunity today for UND's football program. It's certainly not just about the big stage and pay day, but mostly about the chance to elevate UND football to new heights. A win against a nationally ranked FBS opponent would do tremendous things for UND football. Bubba and his team are approaching tonight's game with this mindset, I hope. A win would be spectacular for UND. GO HAWKS

Go UND Fighting Hawks

I fear that the attitude of most on this board mirrors the attitude of the UND coaches and players: Utah 31 UND 3 If UND actually believes they are a top 10 FCS team, and plays accordingly, it will be a lot closer.

There are always areas of necessary funding. Are all FCS programs, including NDSU, now so accomplished that they are complacent in their funding projects? Bubba expressed priority areas of potential funding; that shows dedication to making the program even better, not the contrary that you are trying to falsely spin. Most can see right through your comments as typical Ag school crap. As usual, I hope NDSU fails this season. Good day.

Special teams is a key component of the game. Overlooking it has cost UND in the past. Perhaps time to start using more talented players. Blocked punts and botched punt returns are unacceptable.

If the Fighting Hawks can't open up holes for the ground game, then UND will lose handily. Utah plays in the PAC-12; they are familiar with spread offenses and passing attacks that are far superior to what Studsrud and UND can offer. UND needs to establish the running game if they want to produce any sort of advantage for the offense. Play-action shots are fine, but the running game needs to get going first. I think back to the game against North Dakota State in 2015 and the Stony Brook game in 2016. Without a running game, it could get ugly quick.

CU would be smart to continue to stay out of that endless money pit.

Bubba has done one thing tremendously well: believe that UND is a special place for football. The previous staff had limitations in their confidence and vision. Bubba and his staff have done the polar opposite. It's been tremendous for this program. Great things are ahead.

All fair points; thank you for the analysis! I would say the University of North Dakota's strongest unit is by far their defensive line (and running backs if all 3 are healthy). UND runs a 3–4 base system and UND has 3 units (9 players) of experience and ability at d-line. That will be the matchup to watch closely: UND's defensive line vs Utah's offensive line.

With this game approaching, I am becoming more concerned about the University of North Dakota's ability to handle the environment in Utah. In 2015, the University of North Dakota played in two high-intensity college football environments: North Dakota State University and the University of Montana. Both games ended very poorly for the University of North Dakota. Wyoming is also a consideration from that year. That win remains a promising staple from 2015; of course, that Wyoming team was also very very bad. UND will have to do a much better job of handling the crowd noise on August 31st. If anything, the matchup should prepare the Fighting Hawks for their October 14th game against the University of Montana in Missoula. That game, ultimately, will be more important due to its conference implications. Bottom line: if the Fighting Hawks can prevent big plays on defense and get their three-headed rushing attack going, they may just be able to offset some of the crowd noise and pull off the upset.

The ring situation is minimal in priority but yet disappointing. The University of North Dakota's athletic department is mishandled to some degree. Yes, the budget crisis is troubling, but if funds were properly distributed, the football team would have championship rings. There are still hiccups in various corners of the athletic department, likely attributed to biased mainstays. The University of North Dakota still has work to do in terms of emulating more successful Division I athletic departments around the country. All in all, this situation is definitely not worth jumping off the ledge for. That much is fortunate.

One hell of a goal line/short yardage offense coming up ...Norberg and Johannesson lead blocking for Oliveria with a possible jet sweep action to Santiago? Damn UND's offense has potential. Not to mention Keaton is a senior and has best receiver corps yet. Rudolph needs to be thorough and smart and get the job done this year with logical playcalling.

UND needs to be competitive and attempt to win this game. It would be a program-changing win. With those kind of stakes, you need to go all out. See NDSU vs Kansas State in 2013.

There were plenty of wide-open throws that Studsrud missed last season. I think the 70% mark is unrealistic, but Studsrud definitely can improve a few percentage points in 2017. A lot is on him. The receivers and offensive line will be more experienced and better in 2017. It's time for Studsrud to step up or UND will maintain the status quo or, even worse, have a disappointing 2017.

Ha, no to the damn reverses at this point. Yes to downhill tough UND football, which is what Oliveira and Johannesson in the backfield will provide. Santiago keeps the defense honest horizontally so him in the slot gets UND's talented big backs on the field more which is where they belong.

So UND is going to miss on all these recruits they've evaluated in-person? Get a grip man. Must be extra pungent in Northside Fargo this morning.

In terms of hockey dictating the choice, why not Nike or Under Armour then? The favorite has been Adidas but a surprise with Nike or UA would be welcome.

I agree with this and I'm quite certain Rudolph is going to try this some non-conference to see how it goes.

I completely understand that and appreciate that. My point is an obvious one: UND *must* have early afternoon games during the second half of their schedule due to hockey. That makes things difficult for folks who don't want to attend two games and thus opt for hockey and/or can't get to Grand Forks by noon/1 pm for football. Hockey will always be penciled in for late evening start times. UND football has to work around that. Not a big deal but a fact of reality that may affect attendance a bit on "double-header Saturdays".

I think games around 2:30 pm or later are the norm for "primetime games". Additionally, those games would possibly be better attended in Grand Forks considering large groups of attendees struggle getting to the Alerus by noon for some reason. Blame it on the drinking "have a good time" crowd

All around the country, college football plays primetime at late afternoon or evening. UND hockey interferes with UND football playing late afternoon/evening games; therefore, UND may actually need to do something unique such as attendance vouchers. UND hockey naturally soaks up the crowd due to the REA and their game times which isn't fair to Bubba and the UND football program.

It all comes down to UND's season at that point. If UND underperforms in prior games, the EWU game will have an inappropriately poor crowd due to deer season opener.

Of course. Needs to be done.

!@#$ All the games got tougher now. !@#$ Redshirt left yet for Harris fortunately. Next man up; team needs to rally around Deion and still strive for Frisco. Crazier things have happened. Go Hawks