fightingsioux4life

Another first down for the Dogs!

Dogs to North Dakota 33. Come on defense, don't let them establish rhythm on offense.

Sounds like a tough, hard-fought NCC road game so far. Let's use our depth and talent advantage and finish up strong.

TOUCHDOWN DANNY FREUND!!! 23-7 UND!!! 15 plays, 66 yard drive PAT good UND 24 UMD 7

Incomplete to Dressler at the 5. 3rd down coming up. We have to start finishing drives.

Gain of 1 on first down by Chappell

First down North Dakota!!! Let's punch it in.

Freund on the sneak for what appears to be a First Down. Measurement coming up.

Trenbeth to the UMD 12 yard line. Gain of 5. 3rd and 1

This is the problem. We get off to bad starts before Christmas and then have to win almost every game in January and February just to catch up in the standings. There are league points at stake this weekend, points that are going to count just as much in March as they do now. On paper, this is the most balanced and complete team we've had since the 2000-01 season. But games aren't played on paper and other teams aren't going to lay down for us. If we work hard and make the most of our talent, we should contend for the MacNaughton Cup, the Broadmoor Trophy and the National Championship. But if we don't figure out how to score on good goalies and good defensive teams, we'll be talking about fighting for and securing "the fifth and final home playoff spot in the first round of the WCHA playoffs". And that, ladies and gentlemen, would be a bigger farce than the Friday game in Boston last week. Is it too early to panic? Yes. Is is too early to feel a little concerned? No. Pencil me in as a concerned fan right now.

It's way too early to panic. It's just a road loss in October. But there are some reasons for concern. The offense hasn't been very efficient or effective so far. The Michigan State game was 6-0, but we had some nice bounces that helped out; the game was much closer than that. We struggled to score goals against Northeastern last week. And then we have tonight's loss. And enough carping about "running into a hot goaltender", because we had better be able to score on good goaltending if we are going to hang some banners this year. I don't think there is a team in this league that doesn't have good goaltending (and that includes us). If we don't learn how to score on good netminders, it's going to be tough sledding on the offensive side. Next week's opponent is Colorado College, who also has an excellent goaltender. We had better figure this thing out or we'll get the brooms put to us at home. Having said that, I think Hak and the rest of the coaching staff will keep working with the players in practice and I think the offense will come around. I just hope we don't leave too many league points behind in the process. Let's get a split on Saturday and get back home next weekend.

Note to Fighting Sioux Defensive Coaches: PLEASE, NO RUSHING THREE AND DROPPING EIGHT INTO COVERAGE!!! We tried that in Mankato and almost lost. If we do it again, we might not get away with it this time. Having said that, we are healthy again and Bubba just doesn't have the depth to keep up for 60 minutes. Prediction: UND 49 UMD 21

I wonder how Uncle Sid Hartman is going to spin this tomorrow on the Sports Huddle? I bet he and Dave Mona talk about Twins offseason crap instead (Who should we keep, Santana or Hunter?). Congratulations Bison, way to take it to the Rodents!

I am watching Gophers Suck Live on FSN; boy are they good at spinning a loss!

I am looking forward to seeing the mens team make some progress this year. It's been a long time since we had a good mens team in Grand Forks that wasn't a visiting team. GO SIOUX!

Well, it looks like a repeat of last year's playoff setup for our squad. A first round game at home, then a trip to Allendale to end the season (unless Omaha or GVSU lose a game down the stretch). And if the season ended today, South Dakota would probably get bumped out in favor of Winona State because of that "earned access" crap. But a lot of things could happen between now and playoff selection time.

Good points, but let's not forget the history of this program under Behrns. After a big win like this, the Mavs will sometimes go on to lose a game that they absolutely should not lose. In 2004, they lost to Mankato on the last day of the regular season and missed the playoffs. In 2001, they beat UND in the Alerus Center and then proceeded to lose their last two regular season games. They limped into the playoffs and lost at Pittsburg State. I don't know if they have won a single playoff game during the Behrns era. Pat Behrns has become the Denny Green of D-II football! Do they have the talent this year to change that? Yes. But I will believe it when I see it. And I wouldn't count out our squad just yet. I wrote us off in 2004 after we lost to UNO in Omaha and look what we accomplished after that. If UND can win their last three games (@ UMD, St. Cloud, @ USD) they will have at least one home game (more if UNO or GVSU get knocked off during the next couple of weeks). The road will be tough, but not impossible.

On Saturday, it was the offense not cashing in on golden opportunities. But over most of 2007, its been the defense that hasn't lived up to its usual high standards of excellence. If the defense could just cut out the big plays, the numbers would look a lot better.

I think this statement is a little more accurate if you replace 2005 with 2004. The 2004 team had the defense and special teams to win it all, but (outside of Dressler) didn't have enough offensive talent to pull it off. The 2005 team had a little of everything until that devestating loss to Omaha in the Alerus. They never recovered from that mentally or emotionally. I am not really a fan of adding JUCOs unless they are used to fill obvious, glaring holes. And you have to be careful of which JUCO kids you add. Some of them are JUCOs because of character issues or academic issues or because they quit their original school of choice because they didn't want to earn their playing time. Lennon won't put up with any of that garbage. If you can find good JUCO kids, then it can be a benefit. I think with the move up to DI FCS, Lennon will look more closely at JUCO talent.

I have had some of the same thoughts concerning the defense. I am not buying this argument that we are young and therefore will struggle all season long because of it. We have had young defenses before and performed much better than this (1993: 10 out of 11 new starters and our defense carried the team to the NCAA Semifinals). I also find it hard to believe that our recruiting of defensive talent has suddenly gone bad after years of landing top talent. Teams used to fear our defense. Now all they have to do is bide their time and wait for the inevitable big play (run or pass). On Saturday, we were solid 95% of the time, but it was the other 5% that ruined an otherwise solid performance. I don't think it's a coincidence that as soon as we went to this Co-Defensive Coordinator arrangement that the defense has gotten more vanilla than it used to be. I felt that the gameplan against Mankato was too conservative and too passive against a really good QB and receivers. Rushing three and putting eight into coverage just doesn't work if you have an accurate QB who can move in the pocket and find someone open almost every time. In football (just like the military), having two leaders at the same position just doesn't work very well. As the Bible verse goes, you can only serve one master. Lennon should pick one of these guys to be defensive coordinator and reassign the other one. I am sure they are doing the best they can, but I just don't think having co-coaches of anything works very well.

I don't know if I agree with this statement. In 2001, we lost to Behrns and company at home and went on to win the national title. In 2002, we lost to them again but that whole season was a disaster anyway. In 2003, the Sioux won in the Alerus Center and made it to the NCAA Title Game. In 2004, we lost in Omaha but made it to the National Semifinals. In 2005, Omaha basically ruined our season with that come-from-behind win at the Alerus. 2006 featured a loss to Omaha in the regular season and a win in the playoffs, both on the road. And in the years before 2001, our teams really weren't good enough in some key areas to win a national title or go deep into the playoffs, whether we beat Omaha in those years or not. With the exception of 2005, I don't think Omaha has single-handedly ruined our conference and/or NCAA title hopes. We have had much, much more success in the postseason over the past 6 years or so than Omaha has ever had under Behrns. Our annual war is the Super Bowl for Omaha. Our Super Bowl happens much, much later in the season. Maybe this year will be different, but it's probably too soon to tell.

LET'S GO SIOUX! I need to try and forget the football game today!

We had our chances in the first half (two or three potential touchdowns) and we didn't convert. UNO left Dressler open way too often in the first half, but we didn't take full advantage of it. In a game like this, you will only get "X" number of chances to score points and we didn't take advantage. UNO always saves their best game for us, so you have to be clicking on all cylinders to win. Today, we weren't. The defense played well in the second half, but once again gave up some big plays that ultimately made a difference in the outcome. The 80+ yard touchdown we gave up on the second play of the game set the tone for the entire game. Some of the missed tackles cost us time and field position in the second half. You have to play solid and fundamentally sound for 60 minutes in games like this and we had some breakdowns that cost us. I don't think anyone fears the Sioux defense anymore (man, I never thought I would say those words and mean it! ). All the injuries we have to the linebackers right now don't help either. Special teams was pretty good for the most part, but we gave up that one kickoff that set up Omaha's third touchdown. Kickoff coverage has been a little spotty this season. I know that the season isn't over and that if we run the table during our next three games (at Duluth, St. Cloud, at South Dakota) we will get a good playoff seed and at least one home game. But I just don't know if this defense is good enough to make a run in the postseason. We have to cut out the big plays that we have been giving up this season. If we don't, any future playoff matchup with Omaha will end up being The Brian McNeil and Zach Miller Show once again. On to Duluth (in two weeks). GO SIOUX, DOWN BUT NOT OUT!

I've heard this before and I am not buying it as an excuse. Both the teams playing in the Alerus today could kick butt on a lot of DI FCS teams. So could Grand Valley State. So could Northwest Missouri State. So could some of those Gulf South Conference teams (North Alabama). The problems of attendance at our home games are related to poor marketing and lack of TV coverage (today is an exception). If those things don't improve, the same problems will persist next year and beyond.

Alum (class of 1998 and 2000) living in Grand Forks and working at UND. Member of Fighting Sioux Club (Coaches Club Level) and season ticket holder for hockey and football. Not a bad situation to be in!