UND-FB-FAN

Chris Mussman - National Sales Representative, ATS Logistics Services, Inc., St. Cloud, MN

Dom should just make the commitment and get “NDSU” tattooed on his forehead.

Waletzko was a great player for UND. Need to continue to develop the offensive line and get more players like him for UND. As said previously, NDSU and SDSU’s consistent development of the offensive line is what puts them out in front of the pack. I think Smith needs to still take a step forward. He was too inconsistent in 2022. He would have a big play, but then follow that up with several lackluster plays. Hence the reason Hoosman easily surpassed him on the depth chart. Hoosman was the textbook definition of consistent. Smith needs to do better with that, especially given the opportunity in front of him for 2023.

Yes

Yes

What’s more funny is how much UND kool aid you drink. UND gets recruits quite equal to SDSU but the rate of development between the two programs is embarrassingly contrasted.

No, not a coincidence. Offense is led with more vision and intelligence than the defensive side of the ball.

Money, warm weather, and girls … sounds like a done deal for most 18-22 year olds. Hell, most 45-50 year olds …

Kinda missing the point, aren’t you? Re: Player utilization and development.

Too busy running for 300+ yards on everyone …

Few other staples: qb counter, jet sweep, running back/full back wheel route, qb power … but yes, a gap power is their bread and butter lets be honest, ndsu has won for over a decade plus not because of their deep play book, but because they develop line of scrimmage (OL/DL) players better than any other FCS program. They consistently take guys with minimal expectations and turn them into NFLers

But the turd crushes the will of the opposing team.

This isn’t correct though; they do some exceptional things. It’s a misconception, probably spread on here (SiouxSports) mostly. NDSU does change it up formationally and with shifts. Lots of different ball carriers. QB run game is well thought out. If you want to see “classic” old school football done the wrong way, go back and watch Rudolph’s offense at UND. It was basically what Minot State ran in the late 90s.

Watch their stuff … it’s good. And most importantly, it works. QB run game is a staple. Lots of misdirection and motion. Several different ball carriers. Despite what you may think, contemporary doesn’t mean pass happy. In fact, best teams in football, regardless of level, still focus on running the ball. You pass to score, you run to win.

NDSU has it figured out. They call a very contemporary offense yet still use 22 and 23 personnel. They have a Qb that can’t throw yet can win championships. They win semifinals despite completing only 1 pass (goes 1 of 12, I repeat, 1 of 12)! Moral of the story is formulate an offense and call plays to utilize your personnel; doesn’t matter if it looks good, just matters if it works. Bottomline, winning always looks good at the end of the day, regardless of how you get there..

Danny Freund is way way better than Rudolph, no comparison. Just his contemporary formations and play calls scream this. Now, for Bubba and his archaic defense, I can’t say the same thing … it’s broken … and he gets emotional and pouts if you call him out on it.

Another example of our coaches out-coaching themselves. I’m a broken record, I’m sorry, but man, UND football could be so better off … damn it Chaves

This is the exception to the rule. Please stop using this example to justify Bubba’s ignorance and UND’s complacency. With all that said, UND football is Bubba ball for the foreseeable future so get on board and support it … I guess.

Agreed. Bottom line, UND football is adverse to change unless the building is on fire and everyone has evacuated. So, with a 7 win season, we move along, business as usual. UND football is a 7 win program right now, with occasional lapses that result in losing seasons. Nothing was changed this off-season, so things remain the same. As said above, favorable schedule in 2023 makes 8 wins possible.

Danny has final say, but the position coaches need to advocate for their groups. I get what you’re saying, though; final say falls on Danny. He’s done well, but has had his blunders also.

Well, not all of them …

One of several errors on the development front for UND. In this particular case, the player definitely had talent, but nothing was done to develop it and utilize it. Many examples of this over the years under Bubba’s program.

We often are forced to recruit to certain roster numbers, but yet those players aren’t DI capable, and unfortunately our strength/conditioning doesn’t turn them into DI players. I agree with recruiting best available kids, but you then have to fit the offense to them, and that hasn’t always been done. Also, no question the ND/MN region has a ton of TE body types, but yet our offense doesn’t utilize them. Danny’s offensive philosophy doesn’t use many tight ends, but we then have to get better at receiver. Other than Belquist, UND’s receivers were too slow and not explosive enough for running 4 and 5 receiver sets all the time. And recruiting tall slow white boys from the cities won’t fix that. I think the USD transfer will help … but that’s just a 1 year band aid.

I like reutilizing players to different positions to help the student-athletes see the field, but let’s be honest: if the UND defense is going to rely on players that couldn’t make it at TE on offense, the ‘23 defense will be worse than the ‘22 defense … and that’s saying something. Need more athletes on defense. And since we can’t (and aren’t going to) get several transfers for each spot, UND will be forced to develop their players better. Coaching staff and strength/conditioning staff hasn’t made any changes to my knowledge, so I think ‘23 could be an improvement only due to a more favorable schedule. 7-5 to 8-3? It’s a possibility for sure. Not groundbreaking, but improvement.

Agreed. The program absolutely has to have this mindset. No way in hell a 7-5 football team should be complacent or think that they are at the pinnacle of FCS football in anything (other than maybe grade point average).