fightingsioux4life

Like I said above, two steps forward and one step back. Last week's win was not a fluke and this week's loss does not necessarily mark the end of the season for this team. A winning record is definitely within reach for this team. And that would be yet another two steps forward.

Well, like Bubba said when he took this job, #daybyday. Rome wasn't built overnight and neither will this program. And I am a little surprised that NDSU Men's Basketball doesn't get more love with some of the success they have had since moving up. That is really too bad for those guys; they work just as hard as anyone on the football team.

I didn't really have a problem with that call. There wasn't much time left. Your offense had stalled against the "vaunted" ISU defense. You could have gotten either a) a touchdown or b) a PI call (which I think there should have been). But it just didn't happen. Sometimes, you just gotta pull out all the tricks to win games. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

I still think this was a bad loss. ISU was totally dependent on the passing game. They had been giving up tons of yards and points this year, especially on the ground. At home, this is a game you absolutely must win. That is a hurdle our program has to re-learn how to overcome.

Actually, Tom Dennis has proved to be a right-wing shill on a lot of issues. Jacobs is more of the PC type, but he's retired and no longer runs that paper. I think the Heraldo is just trying to stir the pot, which always drives sales. And that is all they really care about anyway.

Totally fair point. Obviously, the fan base is still a little gun-shy from the poor teams we have had since we moved up. It will take some time to get them back.

Today's game reminded me of the Denny Green-led Minnesota Vikings of the mid-1990's. Stuff the run, rely on the back four to cover receivers and you are good to go. Except it doesn't work. It didn't work in the 1990's with the Vikings and it didn't work today. Every great defense I have ever seen has been predicated on terrorizing the QB and disrupting the flow of the offense. Once you accomplish that, INTs and fumbles soon follow, and usually in bunches. Obviously, this team does not have the depth or talent to do this right now, but that is where we need to get to or today will happen again. And again. Also, this makes CB Chris Brown's decision to leave the team a few weeks ago look even more selfish and shortsighted. He almost definitely would have gotten a chance to get back on the field with our injury situation right now, but he chose to take his ball and go home. Unfortunate really, for him and the team.

One last point, we put ZERO pressure on their QB. You cannot let a QB sit back in the pocket and go through all his reads before he has to throw it. You could have Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, Darrell Green and Ed Reed back there, but if the QB can just sit there and zing it all game, you are going to give up yards through the air. If we are banged up on the back end, we will need to do something to generate more pressure from the front seven. What happened today must not happen week after week or this season might go into nuclear meltdown.

Let's not sugar-coat it: This was a bad loss. Pure and simple. I do not want to hear from anyone what an outstanding football team Idaho State is because they are not outstanding. They are just not very good. And we blew a big lead at home and lost to them. This feels like the Weber State game last year. Weber State comes to Grand Forks winless and leaves Grand Forks with their first W of the season. Prediction: Idaho State does not win another game this season. Also, is anyone else sick to death of opposing fans having victory parties in our house? That is getting really old. I know that will change as Bubba gets better talent in here, but I have just about had my full of watching that over the past 3 years or so. There was a time when a trip to the Alerus Center was difficult for opposing teams and fans, not a cure for what ails them. This is a case of two steps forward (last week vs. Portland State) and one step back (today vs. Idaho State). This team simply does not have the depth to withstand the inevitable injuries that happen in a sport like this. That will come with more recruiting classes and that will take time. As Bubba would tell us, #daybyday

But UND was the official host school. And the nickname policy says schools with non-PC nicknames cannot host tournaments like that.

I wonder if B.R.I.D.G.E.S. wrote it for him?

I don't see our defense giving up more than 20 points. Throw in some turnovers and our offense should be able to put enough points on the board to win. UND 31, ISU 17

LOL, you are one of the best excrement stirrers on this forum!!!

ROFL, I say the same thing about some work weeks!

I don't think you understand, I think we should have evening football games before hockey starts. Football starts in late August or early September. Hockey doesn't start until October. Once hockey starts, then go back to 1:00pm games.

But the Imperial Cass-Clay County media will spin it and sell it to the masses as the gospel truth. That obviously won't make it happen, but it will continue building on the perception (false as it may be) that NDSU is a big-time institution with big-time programs in everything (like Notre Dame) and that can generate a sort-of self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to enrollment, attracting better students and better athletes. That is what the Ag College might get out of this. And that is why UND's next President needs to be a man (or woman) of vision and purpose, something the current regime sorely lacks.

I think this whole obsession with 1pm games started with Dale Lennon. I heard him say he doesn't like night games, so that is probably why they stopped doing them. The first year in the Alerus Center (2001), we had night games until hockey started and they were very well attended. I think we should definitely go back to that. PS: At least we don't have those infernal 11:00am kickoffs they have at Minnesota. I honestly don't understand what television has to do with that. A lot of programs don't do that.

It is a fair question to ask; why would a bunch of Imperial Cass County and/or NDSU people care about what UND does or doesn't do with the nickname and logo? I don't put much past NDSU when it comes to trying to harm UND. The little Ag School is worried that we'll resolve this issue and turn our focus back to what it should be: education, research and athletics. Too bad for them they have little or no control over this.

I think the transition to college hockey is easier for forwards. Most goaltenders need to adjust to the speed and pace of the game as well. I think defensemen probably have the toughest transition out of all of them.

I think Roger Thomas once said that you don't want to lead your league in pass defense...because that means you are giving up yards on the ground.

According to UND officials, the results of the vote are supposed to be binding. Kelley will have to come up with one whopper of an excuse to override that after the fact.

It is much easier to replace forwards than it is goaltenders or even defensemen.

If Zane had come back for his senior season, this team wouldn't have any major question marks. If we can solve that one, we are in good shape.

To be honest, I always felt Hakstol was a better fit for the NHL rather than the NCAA. And if they give him enough talent to work with, he'll do just fine. But that is always the rub, isn't it? Hakstol could get fired for mistakes made by the front office. Often times, in the NHL, you are hired to be fired.

I guess that was one of Mussman's problems, he didn't recruit the right kids. He focused too much on out-of-staters and the almighty Tale of the Tape. There wasn't enough focus on character, work ethic, attitude, etc. That is just one area where Bubba is light years ahead of Mussman.