UND-FB-FAN

No question. Just need to prepare for when passing game will be of greater necessity. It’s a matter of when, not if.

Izzo is a you know what …

Fair point that everyone should recognize, but I’m not advocating UND makes a change. The quarterbacks behind Romfo aren’t guaranteed to be better than Romfo (and likely won’t be), and I’ll trust Fruechte as of now as he has been impressive thus far in my opinion.

That’s a good thing. Means folks are starting to slowly (and I mean it’s been slow) care and expect more and more out of UND’s football program …

I agree.

No question the defensive coordinator and his secondary coach (we all know the individuals responsible) need to clean this up, because rest assured the big boys in the MVFC are guaranteed to see this and carve up UND’s secondary again and again if corrections aren’t made.

Easy to judge the QB situation in a vacuum. Bottomline is only the coaches have an idea what the back-ups look like, and I have to imagine it’s not very good. The fact that UND is 3-1 with Romfo (an undersized Class B North Dakota kid) at QB is an absolute fabulous job of coaching, actually, in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, though, want to see how UND looks like after a year of offensive recruiting with Fruechte. Future is potentially bright with Seidl and Deng Deng, just need to get the QB position’s future figured out. This overall approach is not all that surprising, honestly, when you look at Fruechte’s background as a player at Minnesota (2012-2014) and what Jerry Kill and Matt Limegrover were doing philosophically.

Many of those targets were awful throws, but at least they’re targeting their playmaker out wide. The two deep connections to Bo in the second half were critical (and great calls by Fruechte).

Don't want to proclaim too much yet, but it does continue to look like we have significantly upgraded at offensive coordinator and maybe even offensive line coach. Still want to see how year 2 looks like after a year of recruiting and transfer portal entrees into the program …

This thought went through my head, and I agree: we still aren’t quite there yet, and spotlight continues to focus on the aged “leader”

At a minimum…

Good look with some not so distant nostalgia - goes back to late 90s, early 2000s. I like this home look 2nd best compared to green helmets, green jerseys, white pants. All this stems from finally having competent green jerseys for the first time in a while …

“Don’t take them lightly”” narrative is a bunch of sandbagging B.S. to be frank. I prefer the confident approach (which hasn’t been at UND for the past couple decades) which means you put them down early and step on them when they’re down. The “don’t take them lightly” by our coaching staff has led to the UND teams of the past decade playing down to their opponents level often (just look at the history of performances over the last 10 + seasons). Last week was somewhat encouraging, but need to see consistency with that. If UND can’t put together a complete game vs a non-scholly pioneer league school, then that should be rightfully concerning and an indictment on the preparation and execution …

Let’s see what the leadership (coaches and players) comes up with … the level of intensity and focus we see on Saturday will be telling for the rest of the season. If the majority of the players think they can take this week off, and that won’t bode well for the rest of the season, namely the road games.

UND won by 24 points; it was a very good win. Could it have been better? Absolutely - UND could have won by more, but that’s every week. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. I think getting Romfo all the reps is a good thing to a point. Remember, this was only his 3rd career start, and he may be playing for us for many more games in the future (he’s a junior) so development between him and Fruechte is key. It is early but it is starting to look like Coach Fruechte is an upgrade at offensive coordinator. Coach Olson for the OL is also doing a solid job. Major plus along with the strength and conditioning changes. Defensive effort in the second half was not ideal and needs to be looked at. No reason to give up 21 points in the second half, and need to defend the QB running game better. All in all, though, if giving up 21 points in the second half is the only major gripe, I think it was a solid performance. Now, speaking of no let downs, have to continue the momentum and keep the focus against San Diego and Murray State.

No excuses, but you’re right. Need to adjust defensively. Can’t play base personnel designed to stop the run against a team that throws it all the time and also can’t put players with questionable tackling ability constantly in one on one situations with cover 0 man. We’ll see how it goes, but obviously important for UND to get pressure with only 4 and zone the back 7. Need to tackle well in space, no big plays. Will see if the defense shows up ready to play. Players need to show up ready to go, and coaches need to have put the players in the best position to succeed. Crowd noise (or lack thereof) will also be a factor; there is no question the UND pass rush feeds off the crowd noise if present in the Alerus.

Just play a goddamn complete game.

Two big questions remain on the 2024 squad based on Bubba’s previous deficiencies: 1) can this team put together a complete game after a big win? 2) can this team consistently win on the road? Saturday will provide some information towards one of those questions.

50 percent chance. Now onto Idaho State (just like Northern Iowa last season). Idaho State has stolen UND and Bubba’s momentum in the past. Good thing the game is at home in the Alerus.

Whoa! Crazy game. Awesome resilience in the 2nd half.

Statement game! Let’s Go Hawks! Git ‘R done!

UND needs to wear green and white as the good lord intended. At least we now know there are decent Kelly green jerseys in the wardrobe.

Bubba is not the solution; fortunately, UND football is much more than just Bubba Schweigert. Still need to move past Bubba ASAP before real progress can be made.

No question. All the positive talk coming out of Ames is nauseating - UND lost the game by multiple scores yet some are promoting the game as a basic victory. Expectations still need to be notched up if UND football wants to be the talk of the town/region. Still living in NDSU’s shadow, and ironically it is somewhat self-imposed (although the media presence being entirely in Fargo does not help). There’s plenty of opportunity, though, which keeps the UND faithful coming back for more. UND AD needs to step up and get this thing to the finish line. The facilities are a very nice addition - very nice - but the final touch needed for UND is intangible.

UND has historically been tone deaf when it comes to being engaging with the Alerus atmosphere. A night game with an outdoor concert is a nice touch, but what you do inside the building (both entertainment/music/presentation and on the field product) is still the most important. We’ll see if 2024 is any different, but based on how staffing has been handled, I won’t hold my breath. I’m just hoping for a good football game and a UND victory, anything else is just extra.