UND-FB-FAN

Same day, different sh*t. Program needed to earn it and change the narrative, but once again looked out of place and weak. Sure, it’s NDSU, but this is the standard/barometer, and UND and the leadership need to rise to it. Right now it is unacceptable. Work to do. Need to bounce back huge against UNI, but the big picture is, well, TBD

Mediocre expectations suck, though; hopefully UND leadership eventually changes philosophy. Need to rise up to the challenge… and that requires some consistent productive change.

It’s improved, no question. There’s different staff and a better emphasis on it this year … for the better.

Horns down FTB LGH Own the farm. Let’s do this. All about actions speak louder than words now. Earn the respect.

Respect is earned. Talk is cheap at this point. Bubba and the boys need to earn it, and I’ll be there to witness it in the event they earn it.

Spotlight is on the UND defense and Bubba ball (or maybe now Schwenzfeier ball?). I worry NDSU and Miller will score at will, and despite how good Fruechte’s offense has been the past month, UND can’t keep up with open floodgates in the Fargodome.

I’ll raise my hand. I was concerned, and I think justifiably so given the unknown replacements, but so far Fruechte and Olson have far exceeded expectations. With all that said, the schedule finally gets tougher now. Road games and top dogs in the conference are up ahead … UND needs to show they’ve found solutions for their road woes or else it’ll be same ol’ same ol’ 7-5 ball club.

That narrative has changed my man. Fruechte could be a better head coach at this point. Freund left for a conference rival and took players with him; hate to say it, but he’s not next in line anymore and that’s a good thing.

Status quo. At some point, have to rise above the expectation and create a new standard. I’m hopeful Coach Fruechte can get us there this year or next.

No moral victories. If you ain’t first, you’re last! Gonna be tough to win in Fargo, but this is why you lift all them weights (paging new S&C coach) … big game, tough game, huge opportunity. All you can ask for.

Sure, don’t start slow, but HAVE TO finish strong. Not easy but doable.

Fruechte has been an excellent addition, along with Coach Olson. Two excellent additions exemplifying why coaching matters. Defense is still suspect (same coaches on that side of the ball) but the offense is on a new improved level.

All short-lived love unless UND shows up and puts up the wins that matter: NDSU, SDSU, USD.

Huge game, huge opportunity. Obviously UND is the underdog, but they will be the underdog in the Fargodome for all of division I eternity until they actually win one in there. Why not October 5, 2024?

Bring them all to UND as far as I’m concerned. More the merrier at that position.

You can’t make this stuff up … back-up quarterback remaining the most popular player on a team, once again.

Oh I got it. And to my point, doesn’t matter if vanilla or not, do what you need to do to win big, because confidence is more important than smoke and mirrors X’s and O’s.

Love all the banter on uniform improvements - right now I’m very pleased with this uni combo. Yes I think silver helmet, green jersey, silver pants would also be awesome, but who knows, that could be coming in future weeks also.

Boom! Beautiful!

Yeah could go either way. UND played like crap versus Drake in 2015 after beating Wyoming and then proceeded to still play like the crap the following week versus NDSU. I guess I’m in the camp that playing well and winning by a lot - regardless the opponent - is the most contagious, confidence-building formula there is. With all that said, beating the top dogs (NDSU, SDSU, etc.) anyway you can is fine - just win, baby. However, not sure limping to a victory versus non-scholarship teams (San Diego) or conference bottom-dwellers (Murray State) is a great confidence booster …

Bubba ball may rear its ugly head on Saturday again (playing down to opponents level), but hopefully offense shows ongoing improvement and defense is opportunistic, allowing UND to play a complete game for once. No more first half sleep walking exhibitions…

At least a quarter of the posters here are therefore wrong … The most amateur take in all of football is the thought that the back-up quarterback is the second coming … TOO much Friday Night Lights or Varsity Blues or something (although both great films/series)…

Danny Freund left UND for South Dakota State, a direct UND rival, which facilitated an exit of some UND players. That hurts, and I’ll admit I was definitely critical of the situation. However, it is also okay to be hot on the new UND OC Fruechte and objectively compare the two and perhaps give the early edge to Fruechte. It’s only been 4 games, much more to come. It’s also not fair to Fruechte to be too critical given what he has to work with at QB, so need to wait until year 2 to see what the QB position and depth evolves into. Also, some 4th downs in red zone could perhaps be considered “go” territory but yet UND settles for FG - that’s as much up to HC as OC. Ultimately, though, you’re right in that red zone offense is key, and needs to be better. To give credit where credit is due, though, third down is the money down; and Fruechte has been damn good there considering what he has been working with in a small school, small guy QB in Romfo. The third and long conversion throw by Romfo late in the Montana game was a critical conversion not enough people are talking about. Major props overall are warranted to both Fruechte and Romfo, considering Freund left UND out to dry at that those positions (OC, QB, and QB coach) and UND could easily be much worse than they are right now.

I agree. Hunt should get more opportunities, either via injury or game situations. Always explosive and takes advantage of his carries when he does get in the game. Hopefully Hunt (and others, like Kaminski) get an opportunity this Saturday (if the team actually shows up ready to go from the get go).

Ultimately a running game is more important than a passing game, so UND has that going for them (and hence why I am loving Fruechte over Freund right now), but no doubt there needs to be some resemblance of balance moving forward. And I agree - hopefully there’s ongoing improvement!