Dustin

Yesterday’s defense and special teams performances should get recruits who were there excited to play those positions.

Defense and special teams! First game for me this year - great one to be a part of.

Topic for a new thread?

How many games has Schuster played in? Just one (SHSU)?

what Does the board want? A solid win to alleviate last week’s nightmare? A reason to cling to hope for playoffs? A reason to can Bubba mid season? i personally think UND will win (somewhat) handily. Thinking along the line of Big Green’s score. No matter what happens, I predict the board will have wanted something different :/

I would say that after the Griffin/Dooley/Merseli graduations, Pryor lost interest in this job and tapped out. Maybe even the year before that, since he knew he was getting them all back once more. I think he thought he couldn't take the program any higher. So, that hurt at least one year of recruiting, possibly two. And the last two years have shown. But, like CMSioux said, the turnaround can be quick, so hopefully Tiffin is on that!

I have a hard believing the coaches are instilling into their players a culture of mediocrity. Perhaps I'm wrong. It will interesting to see what happens from here on out.

When people use these words, are they meaning on the part of the team (players and coaches) or on the part of the spectators (fans and media)?

If that is the case at the end of the year, then it for sure is time.

This is kinda where I’m at right row. I’m not sure we can really read much into this game. Take care of the rest of the season and get a playoff game. Not saying it wouldn’t be mutually beneficial for Bubba to retire or take on a fundraising role, though.

Anybody been keeping tabs on him?

I think this will pay dividends.

Hopefully we don't lose our QB to follow him :/

He already looks good in green and white! Maybe we can get Receiver #25 to come with him

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/football/4711489-UNDs-QB-recruit-out-of-Indiana-plans-to-enroll-early-for-spring-ball

A lot of people have focused on the last possession as a poor way to end the first half. I don't think I've read one poster who's opinion was that they should have done what they ended up doing. I'm not saying that I disagree, but I have examined the scenario in my mind and do want to offer a few thoughts. -Why was Bubba nervous about giving the other team momentum? Did he not have confidence in the offense to keep moving down the field? Did he not have confidence that the offense could prevent a turnover? Or is it that he had confidence in those things, but just wanted to take a conservative approach? Is the risk of gaining 3 or 7 more points worth giving up 3 or 7 points? How upset would everyone would have been had our lead been less than 14 points given the situation? I think this would be the soundest reason to do what we did. -UCD seemed content to go to the locker room down by 14 and try to regroup. Perhaps all the more reason for UND to try to force them into submission. But in theory, UCD could have called time outs to force UND to make a play, and they didn't. Seemed like both sides were happy to call it a half. Perhaps this is what rubs people the wrong way - that we let an opponent leave the field on their terms. Hard to say what the best approach was.

"If this was the mid-2000s, I could see using that strategy, but our defense isn't good enough to stop most teams for an entire half when they start pushing downfield in tempo." "But when we can’t flip the field with our punting especially against a team that has proven they can move the ball, that can create momentum for the other team. I don’t think we were ever in a position to go conservative until the last possession at the end of the game." I think these two statements are the most telling of anything that's been written about this year's team. Until these statements are no longer true, a conservative, "Flip the field" offense prove in effective. The good thing is that our offense, when properly utilized, can keep up with most teams. Offense is the best defense we have right now.

Yes. Anything else would be a disappointment.

They talk like Holm could play his 4 games for games at the end of the regular season and still redshirt, but wouldn't that mean no playoff games? I think I asked the question before if playoff games count towards the 4 games, and someone answered "yes."

I've reserved commentary since the game, mainly to let the highly emotional packed posts have a chance to dissipate. Not trying to talk anybody off a ledge, because I do see concerns, but let's have a fuller scope of the season as a whole: Before the season started, if we were 2-2 after 4 games, I think most people would say that's about what could be expected. People are frustrated because the last game was winnable if the QB hadn't had his worst possible game. Given the circumstances, though, a great performance was probably not in the cards. The decision to play your starter after injury was a dicey situation for the QB and coaches no doubt. They gambled and lost, and hopefully lesson learned. The starting QB for the next game will tell a lot about our coaches. I still believe all remaining games on our schedule are winnable. That would be 7 in a row to end the regular season if it happened. Not out of the question. 2016 team rattled off 9 in a row to get to that same mark. With another loss, that puts the regular season record at 8-3, which I think most everyone would be pretty satisfied. It would be a playoff spot, and potentially a home game, perhaps even a seed. Hopefully the deficiencies are corrected. Like many have noted, the adjustments this season are better than previous ones. Our special teams could stand some (ok, quite a bit of) improvement. Not sure what the plan for the season is, but this may be something that can only be fixed with recruiting. Speaking of recruiting, many have mentioned our geographical recruiting challenges. Those aren't new, and we've overcome those many times in the past. I don't see why that won't be overcome again. All in all, I still have hope for the season. Hopefully the players and coaches prove my hope to be realized.

I’m now under the impression that this is a much more winnable game than before. Let’s get it done!!

I definitely don’t want to take away anything Mark Pryor did in 2016 and 2017. Those teams were fantastic. He quite possibly could have figured he’d never do better at UND and started looking for his next opportunity.

Unfortunately, Pryor left the cupboard with very little experience, and probably a little jaded. Setting last season was a joke. Glad she’s no longer on the team. My favorite player (Frasee) got her libero spot taken away, now she’s gone. I’m glad Bruggeman stayed on because without her, we’d really be in the hurtbag. Tiffen is going to have to put his own mark on the program, and hopefully it will be a good one. At least he has a car with North Dakota license plates (I checked last night!)

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/volleyball/4671060-UND-provides-new-coach-first-home-win-in-five-set-victory-over-Eastern-Washington?fbclid=IwAR0k8ULUVnHB6sqJsy9SYx5PUSW8qAhJzKeqS-ZuEU_H-_frFAxQzOwXleY This article mentions that Nieukirk is close to recovering from an injury.

The girls finally came out and played some spirited volleyball in the 5th set. Need to have more of that.