UND-FB-FAN

Game day!! Unbelievably excited! UND comes away with a W against SDSU tonight and the fan base will be buzzing again!!

Our offense played them tough and put up points; our defense on the other hand was about as porous as a defense could be. Anyway, we couldn’t tackle their RBs to save our life. Zenner is probably just as good as those RBs were. Best RB we played last year, though, was Zach Bauman from Northern Arizona.

Only Two Thoughts: I am very excited for the game tomorrow, including tailgating! Weather should be great. I am not going to bring up Mussman or predictions or anymore possibly playoff scenarios until after tomorrow’s game. We know essentially nothing about this year’s team, and until after tomorrow’s game, we won’t know anything. Perhaps this year’s D has made a huge turnaround and Bartels is the next great UND QB, or maybe the D hasn’t improved and we’ll get run all over. Won’t know until tomorrow night. Period. But that makes it so exciting!!

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South Dakota State's defensive inexperience is in the secondary and UND has quite possibly one of the top receiving corps in the FCS, so it may only make sense for them to throw the football all over the yard. EWU is an example of a team that primarily throws it around and they get plenty of Ws. My point, UND does need to the run the ball some, but they could still pull this game out if Bartels plays essentially a mistake-free game and gets the ball to his playmakers out on the edge.

If I had to predict, I'd say SDSU wins just because I don't think the UND offensive and defensive lines are capable of playing at a high enough level. Of course, I hope UND surprises and I think they can because this is their first real test of the season. This game will be like the NAU game last year, where a big time back by the name of Bauman, who we will see again this season down in Flagstaff, came to the Alerus. Only thing, SDSUs defense is better than NAUs and UND now has a freshman QB. South Dakota State 38 North Dakota 24

From article in Grand Forks Herald: "I think we're on our way," Faison said of the football team. "We've seen significant progress. Obviously we're in a very competitive conference. But at the end of the day what gets you into the playoffs is wins." Lets see them W's! Starting this weekend with SDSU!

Could care less what the bison "faithful" think/thought, because Bohl had the team once ranked #1 before the 09 and 2010 season issues even started. He obviously had produced well before the spoiled Ag School fans got pissy during the '09 season. Lets wait and see this year on Mussman; no reason with the HOME schedule he's been given that this should be another blown season.

No way it's that lopsided. 2 TDs at the most. Now, if it is that lopsided, well, then....

I think to a certain degree acting like a confident leader makes a difference, but it certainly isn't everything. With that said, Mussman hasn't produced and his timid coaching style has led to losses vs. DII teams and blowouts vs good FCS teams. Not to mention that elephant in the room that is no FBS wins while NDSU has knocked off 4 in a row. Like I've said before though, lets get through these next 5 games and see then where he's at for this season.

The problem is he hasn't got the job done. I'm not saying he won't eventually get it done, but how long do we wait? 10 years? 15 years? He hasn't delivered yet. It's fine if supporters are optimistic for this season, as am I, but don't commend the man for doing nothing so far. He's obviously on a different level (in a bad way) compared to Bohl. Now, hopefully this season is the year Mussman takes a big jump as a leader/coach by getting us into the playoffs and it starts this weekend vs. South Dakota State.

Couldn't agree more. If we make the playoffs this season, it will be despite of Mussman.

IF we win the next 4 home games along with the 1 road game (everyone keeps overlooking Idaho State in Pocatello), then we definitely will be ranked in the top 10 because we would be undefeated and 2 current top 5 teams (MSU and EWU) will have a loss. Unfortunately, I don't think there is anyway we can go 6-0 to start this season. I'm just hoping for a 4-2 start - that's my best case scenario. Now, until we see this team play against real competition like what will happen this weekend vs. SDSU, there is no way to know if UND is really capable of going 6-0 or 4-2 in the first 6. Based on last season, it would seem that 2-4 is the most probable start. This weekend's game will be a great measuring stick!!

Unfortunately, Fargo with 19,000 is easily just as loud as the Alerus with 10,000. Noise will help, but ultimately UND has to just come out and play a good football game to win this one.

This thread is labeled "congrats to NDSU" for a reason; give credit where credit is due. Now lets move on and look forward to our awesome matchup vs. South Dakota State this weekend. Gonna be a good one and I'm looking for UND to come out on top!

WIN. Playoffs or bust this season. That simple.

Apparently QB Johnson is going to make a huge difference this season. And their defense must be quite improved also. Looks like Montana is back to their old self, which isn't good for UND.

Winning the Big Sky is going to be one heck of a feat this season. Montana State is darn good like we already knew, but Montana is evidently back as their victory over Appalachian State proved and Eastern Washington downed a ranked FBS team to prove they're no joke either. It's very possible UND could be 2-4 going into week 8 of the season (Week 4 of the Big Sky conference schedule). Hope Mussman and Co. prove me wrong!

If UND wins: 1) Offense has big day through the air connecting to Hardin, Golladay, Jackson and company, and forces SDSU to play catch-up 2) Defense contains Zenner and forces SDSU to throw If SDSU wins: 1) Zenner goes off for another big game on the ground 2) UND's young QBs struggle with turnovers and the UND running game can't get going Those are the simple keys to the game in my opinion: UND's passing game and SDSU's running game

Congratulations to NDSU and their football team - they have a darn good one. Not only are the players talented, but they are also extremely well coached, which I find to be the most impressive component of their team. As far as FCS football goes in the Dakotas, NDSU has set the bar very high. If UND football wants to make progress and start climbing the stairs so to speak, they could help out their fan base with a win against South Dakota State this weekend. No more moral victories along with stagnant seasons; time to produce! Since moving up to DI, UND football has yet to have a season or a signature victory that truthfully can make their supporters/alumni proud. I find that to be quite concerning, but I'm hopeful this is the season we break through.

Well, nothing but respect for NDSU's program and coach Bohl. As a realist, a football fan, and a lifelong native of North Dakota, what NDSU just did and has recently done is quite spectacular.

Intro was spot on. Crowd was really into it when the team hit the field. No complaints here. Now just need to have a good turnout and a lot of volume DURING the game next week vs. the bunny rabbits.

Thoughts on game: 1) I thought Bartels looked better than Mollberg. Of course, Bartels played longer with the first team offense. Bartels should be the starter going into the South Dakota St. game and if he plays well, I think he should be named the starter for the rest of the season. 2) Running game looked okay against inferior competition but I just can't get over how small and light-weight Miller and Garmin are. Just like I thought last year, I think Sparks and Shaugabay should play a lot more. 3) Defense still needs to improve against the run. Too many long runs right up the middle tonight. Right now, I'd predict Zenner goes off for well over 150 yds next weekend. 4) Special teams looked very weak. On the one long snap for a punt, it was low and bobbled. And Garmin produced the only turnover of the game with an all to characteristic muff on a punt return. Golladay or someone else needs to be a punt returner full time and Larson needs work on his snaps. Even ol' reliable Zeb Miller missed a field goal. In a more positive note, Hardin and Golladay were awesome returning kicks and punts, respectively. Next weekend, with the hopeful return of Jameer Jackson, I feel our only chance to pull out the upset vs. SDSU is to pass all over their defense and "contain" their running game. Tonight didn't prove to me we can consistently stop the run and run the ball on offense. Bartels did look good though. I'm still hopeful though that we can get a big win on Sept. 7th.

Update: Jackson wasn't running routes with the team in the Alerus so it looks like he won't be playing tonight. Hope he's still on the team...

They won't have the homecoming game against Eastern Washington in HD either because hockey is at home against Vermont. That's cute I guess...