UND-FB-FAN

You throw to score, you run to win. I don’t trust this UND team’s defense, so honestly, the key to the win is for UND to come out behind Hoosman, Smith, and Ziebarth (maybe some Red Wilson, too), and run the ball. Demoralize Indiana State early and take them out of the game. UND needs to get their running game rolling as we approach playoff football, anyway. And, of course, can’t have fumbles/turnovers or penalties. UND does those three things (1. run the ball well [4+ ypc], 2. win turnover battle, 3. win penalty ratio), and then UND can beat both Indiana State and South Dakota. Heck, that recipe will beat the bizzzoon.

Is every game that UND football plays, where they are considered the favorite, considered a trap game? And if so, why?

Something that brought a tear to my eye yesterday … return of the traditional green helmet, green jersey*, white pants. I’ll take a ton more of that, please. Thanks. *yes, I understand the style of the jersey with white shoulders is a bit goofy, but still the best overall look. Next time, have Adidas just give us nice clean all KELLY green jerseys with white numerals, black outline.

I don’t know - The Jerry Kaminski kid from Wisconsin looks pretty good.

Thoughts on your thoughts: offense - Schuster, Hoosman, and Belquist are stars. Agree there should be one more big time playmaker, doubt it will be Klein, at least not at a “Luepke level”. Hoosman will graduate after this season, next up will be either Isaiah Smith, Ziebarth, or someone not on roster? Red Wilson might be in line for breakout season next year in lieu of Hoosman. Freund is a good coach, really only one of the staff I trust when it comes down to crunch time. defense - worst unit on the team. Sad reality given tradition of UND football. Off-season loses aren’t as much of an excuse anymore given the transfer portal. Staff should have prepared better for this. it’s on them somewhat. Honestly, as I said yesterday, everyone and everything needs to be looked at closely: players, coaches, schemes, approach to recruiting, etc. Special teams - at times it’s good, but I think it’s net negative effect. Can’t trust the kicker at all, and so many bone headed decisions at times. Ultimately, the lack of a trusted kicker is a huge issue.

Opportunity for Bubba to right the ship and his MO as head football coach. Recall Idaho State, anyone?

UND hockey with another clunker destination game, this time In Vegas vs Arizona State. If it wasn’t for the beautiful Ralph Engelstad Arena, and Grand Forks’ unhealthy obsession with hockey, I’m pretty sure attendance would start taking even more of a hit by this point. UND hockey certainly hasn’t been the top program since 2016, but that much is obvious. It’s just that they also haven’t been top 3 either, at least from a postseason perspective. Count me not impressed with this “top five program in the nation”. Perception is reality, though, I guess.

Nope.

UND plays a 1-7 team on the road and then against a 2-6 team at home before the big one in Fargo. Definitely got a shot to make some noise here, but UND needs to keep their composure and execute. Concerning thing is, despite the 1-7 and 2-6 records of Indiana State and South Dakota, respectively, we all know what Bubba led teams have done in the past. It haunts me. Let’s see if 2022 is any different. Go Hawks!

Cheer for another team? I can’t take a comment like that seriously. Not worth my time explaining. On to the next one.

My goal is for UND to keep getting better and win championships. You can shove it where the sun don’t shine, @shep. Go Hawks!

A good offense that knew they needed to keep their !@#!$ defense off the field. Cudos to Freund, Schuster, Hoosman, and the offensive line for finishing out the game. Like I said in my previous post, was fun to see UND grind out 7+ minutes of clock to earn the win. Now, you can call it a trap game to justify the close nail-bitting nature of it, but I’ll just say that UND did what I thought they would and could do: keep it close and see how it goes. Glad UND won, but there were opportunities throughout the game to put it away but they kept ACU in it throughout. Philosophy, style, and demeanor of Bubba’s teams in the past and present predicted that one. Ultimately. glad UND won. On to Indiana State. Fight to go 8-3 via a win @ NDSU.

Defense was unable to get off blocks or consistently pressure today. They’ve been the weak spot all season. They have allowed long TD drives and failed to consistently produce takeaways. They have allowed nearly 30 points - sometimes more - in basically every game. That puts a lot of pressure on the offense, especially when the offense turns it over a couple times. I’m sorry, but the defense this year has been awful. New players, new coaches, new schemes - probably all of the above - is needed.

For the record; today went as predicted. Not good enough if we/UND want the football program to be a championship contender.

Defense is awful, special teams are awful. Coaches a major factor to blame for kickoff woes today. Offense under Freund is only capable unit. It’s why UND got crushed by SDSU when UND offense turned it over a bunch. As for this game (ACU 10/29/22), UND offense won it. Defense and special teams did all they could to lose it for them. As I said, under Bubba, I expected a toe to toe game. One error away from losing at all times. Frustrating. But reality of UND football under Bubba. Fun to see Hoosman grind out a victory at the end, though. Freund will some good calls. Tommy Schuster is a warrior; makes his overall pedestrian receivers look better than they are by buying time. Belquist is good, though, as per usual. I give Freund credit for sticking with Schuster, and I eat crow. On to the next big game; next week at Indiana State. Goes without saying, UND must win.

And this is ultimately the approach the UND decision makers have taken, at this point. In the past, baseball and W hockey were “torn down”. There’s only a finite amount of resources for all programs, so it’s crucial future allocation doesn’t continue to go towards hockey, but rather towards football.

Not sure retracting funding from the “top five” hockey program will hurt them much. They’ve been within their niche for decades.

NDSU crossed the line, but ultimately, UND still needs to find more balance. NDSU’s issue still doesn’t proclaim pubic-private partnerships (like UND-REA, inc.) as being without concern. Saying UND should be like NDSU is an oversimplification of my thoughts. UND needs to have complete autonomy of their athletic department and better emphasize football and basketball, even if that means pulling back from hockey a bit. That’s all.

I’ll work on my emoji game. Admittedly, it’s not a strong suit.

NDSU and SDSU relatively speaking had declining attendance; but overall, they’ve done well. With that said, UND’s overall structure and sustainability is superior, but can it be improved for the long-run? Absolutely it can be, hence my previous comments. Are you implying by the second paragraph that I don’t think the UND alumni foundation has not done good things. Of course it has.

@The Sicatoka- this is exactly what I was referring to. Why would you paint the picture I’m not aware of this? Trying to fit your own narrative? I adjusted the wording of my comment to make it more clear. What do you think “look no further than their recent presidency change” means? I know a lot of people behind the scenes in regards to this - heard about the issues a year before Bresciani‘s contract wasn’t renewed. Interestingly, a lot of this is indirectly related to NDSU’s football funding structure. That’s all I can say about that.

Not surprising to anyone familiar with UND football in the context of regional powers (SDSU, NDSU). But thank you for providing the information here. Top third (budget) and mid-pack (salary) just within conference does not scream excellence. In fact, I’d argue it projects more average than anything else. Not surprisingly, those are the mean results of UND’s football success, also. Money talks in this day and age of college athletics. UND and REA, inc. push for it to talk for hockey, leaving other sports at a disadvantage, the degree of which can be further argued. Really, this comes down to philosophy. Do you think UND’s athletic success and regional popularity will be both sustainable and, more importantly, capable of growth by emphasizing college hockey and leaving other programs at average level funding?

Hard to argue with NDSU’s success, but there system is certainly still fraught with concerns and controversy. Look no further than their recent presidency change. All in all, I do think having the athletic department and AD (who yes, I have some concerns with) make the final decisions is what is best for all of UND athletics. REA, Inc. is not what is best for UND athletics as a whole; quite frankly, it’s a private venture heavily emphasized towards hockey and that hurts other sports - football and basketball - to a degree. Also, for example, if UND would like to place a Fighting Hawks logo on the ice or even just for the basketball/volleyball teams on center court in the Betty, what happens? It gets declined due to selfish private decisions. Lastly, hard to argue that some of the AD’s questionable decisions regarding budgeting and staffing have not been heavily influenced by the private ventures of REA.

The better way to do it would be to not have a separate entity from UND athletics receive over 50% of all ticket revenue and also be able to make independent decisions despite recommendation from UND athletics. The fact REA, inc. files as tax exempt is sort of irrelevant to the issue I initially highlighted. REA is primarily used for hockey, but the agreement allows REA to take over 50% of all UND athletics ticket revenue. The discordance there is propagating the ongoing imbalance with UND athletics. I get the national football versus basketball argument, but the niche hockey vs football argument is one that UND will continually find themselves losing. But UND for the past 20 years has had their hands tied; they now have no choice but to emphasize hockey at a rate that hurts football, basketball. Hell, it led to baseball being cut. Internally is this an issue? Maybe not, because there are several local traditionalists who are beyond fine with the status quo. But externally, UND athletics as a whole is a laughing stock. Has been since going DI in 2008. Especially compared to NDSU, regionally speaking. UND hockey is in tip top shape, sure, but since going DI, UND football has been overshadowed big-time by regional rival NDSU; UND M basketball has made it to one national tournament whereas NDSU has made it to several; and UND cut M baseball. UND women’s basketball and volleyball has had mixed success. In summary, I don’t think having a separate entity from UND athletics operating the REA is as advantageous as the tax exempt status alludes to. In fact, it further extends the disproportionate situation at UND. UND athletics has lost autonomy in its large scale decision making. To some, unfortunately, and sadly, that’s how they like it. Also, most athletic department hires are entirely complicit with the status quo. No attempt to buck the trend or right the ship, as they say.

“Parks ran for 93 yards and passed for 160 and had four total touchdowns in leading the Roughriders to a 40-7 win over Wahpeton in the North Dakota Class 11A quarterfinals at Cushman Field.” https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/prep/grand-forks-red-river-football-advances-to-state-semifinals-for-first-time-since-1991