UND-FB-FAN

Statement run by Olivera!!!!!! Give him the ball!!! And play smashmouth football like you've preached! Santiago deserves it too. Between those two, that's what the offense needs to keep doing.

17-16 Portland State 3rd QTR last TD is on the offense. Bubba needs to get on the offensive staff and Studsrud for that decision.

Well Studrud just threw it into quadruple coverage. And an injured UND player as a result. Questionable play call by Rudolph and horrible decision by Studsrud.

This offense is so frustrating to watch. Need to keep it up though.

I hate to speculate but it's a possibility. He's out for the rest of this one. Biggest injury is by far the one to Cole Reyes. His replacement William James is a great kid but he's getting beat countless times from what I can see.

Patented Studsrud up the middle for a TD!

Big break. And then Matthewson - not use to carrying it - fumbles it out of bounds. Big gainer. Injuries starting to pile up. No Idowu, Reyes, or Iwarri Smith.

Offense is sputtering. Need more traditional football. Scrap jet sweep. Line up in 21 and 22 personnel and run power and sweeps. Then PA off that. Hopefully a run busts open soon.

10-6 Portland State with 0:33 remaining in 2nd quarter. I'd imagine that we'll take this thing into halftime. UND gets ball to start 2nd half.

Damn

These penalties are absolute B.S.

Labat missed a huge opportunity when PSU's QB dropped the snap. Unfortunately Labat didn't see what was going on!

Questionable holding call.

Some condescending assholes for announcers. Hope we take care of business.

Need to play physical and hold onto the ball. Almost a fumble that went the wrong way and then almost threw a pick six. Need to do better. Now horrific kickoff coverage.

There's no question - winning covers up many deficiencies. The effort put forth by the Alerus Center is certainly one of those deficiencies.

Then the Alerus Center needs to realistically adjust their expectations and actually support their tenant. Remember when Alerus Center denied the UND logo at mid-field of the field turf because they desired advertising rights? In my opinion, the Alerus Center has hurt their reputation rather then enhance it with their treatment of UND football. Its this kind of thing that perhaps justifies a move back to campus for UND football. I hope the Alerus Center eventually comes to their senses and better supports UND football.

Although it is hard for me to say this, I must admit that I am very impressed by the football in-game features presented 70 miles south; it just shows that it is possible to put on a great show for FCS football within an indoor facility. Winning is the ultimate atmosphere builder (as I can imagine it also positively affects the imagination of athletic production staff); however, it certainly is not the only thing that contributes to the gameday experience. The lights need to go off for the introduction video and there needs to be suspense/"build-up" for the team's entrance. Using the lights (that is, the lights turned off) along with an introduction video and a long-term entrance song is the perfect way to build that suspense and excitement for kickoff. Music needs to be played before kickoff to get the whole crowd into the game, so that by the time the game is ready to begin, the whole crowd is standing and ready to go just as both teams are. There is a trick to building college football atmosphere, and once perfected, it will bring the Alerus Center crowd to their feet and improve the gameday atmosphere tremendously. Furthermore, there are dull moments throughout the game that need to be addressed in order to maintain a positive atmosphere. In particular, during delays or timeouts, music needs to be played and the video boards need to be utilized for more than a single "dance cam", perhaps by doing several "dance cams" or some regular showings of highlight reels of past UND football action (not just reserved for pregame). Lastly, I believe the PA announcer needs to do their part in exciting the crowd; for example, get the fans up for kickoffs and third downs. Also, following wins, the PA announcer could perhaps say a cue that gives attention to a highlight reel of UND's recent win to be played on the video boards. I certainly appreciate your desire to turn the Alerus Center into the ultimate home-field advantage for UND football, because that is what the UND coaches, players, and fans ultimately want. However, for that to happen, I feel there needs to be a commitment to excellence and a willingness to try new things by both UND and the Alerus Center. NDSU and the Fargodome work together and produce a great atmosphere. UND and the REA work together and do it. Of course, both of those circumstances involve significant emphasis, and I think its time to also place an emphasis on UND football. Turn UND football games into an event that will be looked forward to by both the hardcore fans and neutral spectators alike. Football is the most popular sport in America, and as a result, I believe the potential is here in Grand Forks and the surrounding area, it just needs to be embraced and tapped into.

Offense needs more talent and that talent will come with time. The fastest players on the offense are Santiago, Smith, and Georges. Two of those three are true freshmen and the other is injured. Santiago has improved already with his vision, and both Santiago and Smith will improve leaps and bounds over the next year. Also, the hope is Georges can make some plays downfield when he returns. With that said, the system (a.k.a. Coach Rudolph) needs to better utilize the offensive players' skills. Just last week I finally saw that with Smith taking jet sweep hand-offs and also faking that action, which allowed for both Santiago and Studsrud to find open gaps inside. Would also like to see some bubble screens, hot smoke routes, etc. to these players out in space. This is necessary to open up the middle of the defense for the power running game.

For some, step away from the ledge (in regards to UND being overrated and going nowhere). I understand where your concerns come from, but NDSU has badly beat many FCS teams in the Fargodome over the past few years that have gone on to winning seasons (2012 Youngstown State, 2012 Illinois State, 2014 South Dakota State, 2014 Youngstown State, etc.). NDSU has a very good home-field advantage and they have a very good football team. UND can still do very well this season despite their lone loss to NDSU. Against Portland State, I'm hoping the offense can continue their success running the football with Santiago and Smith (maybe even Olivera), and Studsrud can improve in the passing game. For a win, UND's defense needs to shut down the option run attack of Portland State and force a turnover or two.

McDonagh lost the starting QB job but is seeing the field plenty at WR now.

To a degree, the offense already did that last week with over 200 yards rushing; I hope they can keep that going with the offensive line changes. The passing game does need to improve, though. With that said, the receivers need to step up every bit as much as the QB.

Absolutely. Since we've only had one game with changes to the offensive line - and UND rushed for 240 yards in that game - I'd say its okay to assume UND can continue to successfully run the ball. If UND continues to rush over 200 yards, they should win most of the games on their schedule. This will be Portland State's biggest challenge in terms of defending the run.

The team needs to win in order to draw sellout numbers (10,000+), and that is the largest factor; however, the Alerus Center needs to do their part as well. The Alerus Center and UND need to do their best to turn football games into an "event"; that seems kind of intuitive to me, but it may not for most. Its been said before, but there is some truth to it: what does the REA do that could be transferred over to the Alerus? Here's a list that comes to mind: 1) Bar on concourse (maybe even on endzones platforms) for pregame and halftime. Playmakers and Tavern United are nice, but they are not for "in-game" action. 2) More pictures, memorabilia, etc.around the concourse. Need to make the Alerus Center look more like the home of UND football. 3) More in-game interactive features and music. During the game, when "dead moments" hit, there needs to be more music and features on the video boards (I like the inclusion of the 'dance cam' or whatever its called). Also, pump up the crowd a bit more with a half-way decent team entrance presentation (lights off, pump up music, video board/pyrotechnic usage, etc.). These things may seem minor, but they keep the neutral crowd involved, and most importantly, from leaving prematurely. Lastly, and again, just win.

3-1 despite him? There are several good things that Studsrud does that go unnoticed. For example, yesterday he got outside the pocket and threw the ball away on a couple occasions that would have certainly resulted in 10 yard losses if Mollberg or Bartles were in the game. Also, does Bartles or Mollberg pull off a 20 yard run at the end of the game to keep the defense off the field? Studsrud needs to improve, but right now the team is 3-1 (1-0). Its time to focus on improvement and not change. This whole "throw the QB under the bus" talk is such Monday Morning quarterbacking that it really is quite ridiculous.